Deep-sea explorer Brock Lovett has reached the most famous shipwreck of all, the passenger liner Titanic. Emerging with a safe believed to contain a diamond called "The Heart of the Ocean," he finds that the safe does not hold the diamond but a drawing of a beautiful woman wearing it. When Brock is interviewed on TV, he shows the drawing to the cameras. A 100-year-old woman named Rose Calvert recognizes the woman in the drawing as herself! On a visit to Brock's exploration ship over the wreck, Rose tells her story of the Titanic and its ill-fated voyage. Engaged to the very rich Cal Hockley, she boards the Titanic's first-class suites with him and her mother in Southampton. Winning a lucky poker game, Jack Dawson and his friend Fabrizio, board Titanic in steerage. When Rose attempts to jump off the stern in third class, Jack pulls her back onto the ship. The two instantly bond and Jack is invited to dine in first class the next evening. Rose's mother and Cal try desperately to keep them apart. But on that fateful night, the Titanic collides with an iceberg and begins to sink. Now Rose and Jack must fight to stay alive.