The Legend of the Titanic

With five tickets on offer, even my “too cool for school” teenage grandchildren were thrilled to be invited. Bookings are made at 15-minute intervals, so there’s plenty of space for participants to wander without feeling squashed.

As we stepped into Dockside Boarding, a beautiful recreation of Southampton Harbour, we were ushered forward not only to be given our Boarding Passes but to pose for a group photo and to be greeted with a virtual welcome aboard by Captain Smith.

If you wanted, via an augmented reality app, you could be guided through the exhibition. This is available in five languages

The show begins in traditional fashion – you stroll along the pier, lined with posters detailing all things Titanic history. Seagulls were squarking and steam engines were billowing as, eventually having climbed onboard, we moved into a large room filled with gorgeous china from other White Star Line ships of the time.

There were examples of clothing that first-class passengers would have worn, along with original exhibits from the 1997 film. There was also a replica of the Diana of Versailles statue that would have been seen in the first-class lounge and has now been identified from the seabed.

And then we moved into the first room – having walked past all manner of pretend cabin doors that felt as if we should peep inside – and arrived at the virtual reality room filled with chairs, where we were shown to a group of five and asked to put on our headsets.

Wow, oh wow! We were immediately transported on board the Titanic. The music playing was a specially composed piece titled ‘Until The Orchestra Fell Silent’ by Rene Merkelbach and performed by over 50 musicians from the Budapest Symphonic Orchestra and the Audiocult Choir/ As we listened – not forgetting to swivel our chairs and get the full 360 degree experience – we entered the iceberg room where we witnessed that towering ice block alongside a replica lifeboat.

As we exited the room, we literally stopped for a while to ponder what we’d just seen

Walking on, we entered an enormous area with 360-degree floor-to-ceiling projections as we followed the Titanic’s progress through laying the keel. We sat feeling the launch of the Titanic into the waves and met the fictional Callaghan family – a father with his little daughter as she plays hide and seek all around the ship.

The room took us from the beginning right through to the iceberg. In fact, one little girl sitting to one side of us was so scared as the iceberg hit that she jumped up and raced across the room to where her mum was. The projections were so real that we’d been given a seasickness warning. As the ship was going down, and you were facing the stern, you could see it rising, water coming in and crashing through the Grand Dome over the Great Staircase. It was a marvellous recreation.

You could actually sit through this part of the show as often as you like, enjoying the wonder of it all.

Leaving the Immersive Room, we stopped at the Command Centre. This features interactive tabletop games where you could dodge the icebergs as you steamed through them, a la carte menus served on board, along with legends and detailed accounts from survivors – all verified by the Exhibition’s historians.

Just for the record – only my cool grandson managed to negotiate the iceberg, whereas I didn’t even get out of the harbour!

And then came the interactive Metaverse journey incorporating 5D sensory elements. We waited outside whilst listening to a talk detailing what to expect. We were then taken in small groups to a large room showing the Titanic resting on the ocean floor as we gradually moved through the ship. My granddaughter Victoria and I were so disoriented that we held hands as we fumbled our way around.

We marvelled at the Café Parisien, the Grand Staircase and peered into both first- and third-class cabins. At the end, we were met by Captain Smith, who bade us goodbye and showed us where to step through the door. Convinced we’d been wandering up and down stairs and in and out of cabins, we were amazed when, taking our headsets off, we realised that we’d just been in one large room all the time!

Moving past a second photo opportunity – where you could pretend to be Jack and Rose – there is a sketch and post area in which the family is invited to draw their own Titanic pictures and take part in an interactive quiz.

And of course, a visit wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Café Parisien, obviously inspired by the original, for tea and pastries and then a wander around the gift shop, where we picked up the photos taken as we boarded.

Running until February 2026, adult tickets are £24.00, and children’s are £16. Under-threes get in for free. It’s so easy to get there as well – it’s literally a hop and skip from Canada Water overground.

I literally can’t praise this immersive exhibition enough – it was amazing, fantastic and any other adjective you can think of. I actually think I’m going to go and see it again.

You can find out more and book tickets on their website.

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