Cameron screened this for test audiences. They were devastated . He already had an R-rating scare; this scene would have guaranteed it. He said, "It was too much. One child death is a movie. This was a nightmare."
Cameron felt the film needed to get to young Rose and Jack faster. The Lizzy subplot, while warm, delayed the core romance.
Cameron felt it was too tidy. He wanted the final image to be the underwater Titanic transforming into the 1912 grand staircase, with Jack waiting.
