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After the VR exhibition of the Titanic, expectations were high and it was going to be a tough act to follow, but this Titanic experience did not disappoint.

Whilst it doesn’t have the digital immersive experience, the exhibition is cleverly structured as visitors to the Titanic arrive on the boat and are given a boarding pass and identity of an exact individual who was on the ship in 1912.

You are then led through the ship and given exclusive access to hundreds of original pieces that have been retrieved from the Titanic, including furniture and features from the ship.

The standout pieces include one of only a handful of surviving Titanic deckchairs, pulled from the floating wreckage by the cable ship Minia in the days after the disaster.

You can also see what is believed to be the largest surviving section of the ship’s Aft Grand Staircase, the only surviving piece of teak decking recovered from the wreck site, and the only intact wooden door known to survive from the ship’s galley.

On the tour you are able to sit on a genuine second class dining room chair, and there are crockery sets from several of the restaurants, not to mention letters and personal possessions of passengers on board.

We were particularly taken with a letter written during the voyage by the assistant to White Star Line chairman J, Bruce Ismay.

Tom Rudderham, Director of White Star Heritage, who have curated the exhibition said:

“Every object in this exhibition has survived against extraordinary odds.

“These are not reproductions—they are genuine pieces of history that connect visitors directly with the people who built, sailed and travelled aboard Titanic.

“We want people to leave with a much deeper understanding of the ship, the lives she touched and why her story continues to captivate the world more than a century later.”

There are also photos and short films with added context and detail of the fateful night in April, and how the tragedy played out.

Another unique aspect of the experience is the presence of industry expert Dik Barton, one of the very few people on Earth to have dived to the Titanic, and the first British person to do so.

To listen to his personal anecdotes and stories, Dik is holding daily lectures where he will be sharing his experiences of examining  the wreck site, the deep-sea operations and what has inspired him to make over twenty trips to the seabed to see the Titanic.

Lectures from Dik are available at 10am and 1 pm Tuesday to Sunday, and this well structured, fascinating and family friendly exhibition is due to run at Olympia til mid August.