I only came across this site a couple of days ago, otherwise I would have asked this sooner. I heard on TV some time ago that many restaurants in different countries have had special "Last Dinner on the Titanic" events during the movie`s peak at the theatres. As I have beeen to one of these dinners, and I`m sure it must have looked quite different from country to country, I`d love to compare notes with the rest of you

-- Barbara Matul (matul-kalamar@siol.net), July 13, 1998

Answers

I live in Nasvhille (Tennessee) and heard of one here, but try as I might, I couldn't find out where or when or how much. I'm sure the pricetag was outlandish, but if there was a cheaper price, I didn't want no steerage class dinner! For me half the fun of the movie and learning the history of the actual ship was the luxury of it all. As well, I don't know if they only did it this past year because of the hype from the movie or if it is an actual annual event. Do tell about your experience; I am very interested.

-- Gilded Age Junkie (GildedAgeJunkie@yahoo.com), July 31, 1998.

Hello Gilded.

Nice to see that someone found my old question. Incidentally, I just read your story about finding th Titanic set and I wish I had a story like that to tell.

But anyway - here's my Titanic Dinner story (I've been dying to share it, so bear with me if it gets a bit long). For start, I live in the capital of Slovenia, a small European country, and even though we were the first European country to see Titanic (January 8th), anything Titanic related except the movie itself is hard to come across. For instance, the only book one can buy here is James Cameron's Titanic - no books about the ship. Sigh.

Anyway, the week before Valentine's day my husband found out that due to the movie's enormous popularity this fancy restaurant in our city was having a Last Dinner on Titanic event every Friday night, and rumour had it that although it hadn't been advertised anywhere, the event was constantly sold out. Of course, we immediately booked for next Friday. We were told the dinner wulod start at 8 pm and last till 1 am. Wow.

Bearing the luxury of Titanic well in mind, I spent the week wondering how the tables would be decorated, who would be our table companions, would the band play period music, would they chase us out of the restaurant towards 1 am, women and childrem first? Most of all, I wondered what to wear, of course. A set and costume designer by profession, I already pictured myself in a "Rose dress", even though we were told it was not a black tie event, and a "Rose dress" was definitely out of the question. Ah well..

Finally, the day came, and there we were, fashionably late at 8:30, me in my Opera-opening-night-dress, definitely overdressed but what the heck, how many Titanic Dinners does one get to go to?) Entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a huge Titanic poster and a maitre d'. Crystal light fixures on the ceiling (a bit bigger than the ones on the Titanic), paintings in gilded frames on the walls, some of old sailing ships (I love those), some impressionist (real paintings though on Monets).But, there was no band! Instead, Titanic soundtrack was playing, and in a way it set the mood even better.

As I said, we were half an hour late. And here we were, in a restaurant for fifty people, tables all beautifully decorated, with china, silverware and roses in crystal vases - AND NO ONE WAS THERE. The restaurant was completely EMPTY! "No," the maitre d' answered our hesitant quesion, "you're not early, we just had no bookings for tonght. YOU WILL DINE ALONE."

And so we dined alone. This lovely place prepared just for us, four uniformed waiters tending to our needs. It's impossible to describe how it felt, although the thought "Tihs is better than Titanic" somehow crept into my mind. (I must confess that once I was seated and faced with about a foot of silverware om each side of the plates, four crystal wine glasses, and the waiters seemingly watching for any breach of etiquette, I started to feel more like Jack than Rose).The words "RMS Titanic First Class Dining Salon" on the cover of the menu felt sort of eerie, and the menu itself was correct to the last dot.

And then we ate and ate and ate. Needless to say, the food was very good. At one point, they brought another complete set of china, glasses and silverware. We had some seven or eight different wines, mostly French, and the soundtrack played on.

Finally, it was "time for brandies in the smoking room" and the maitre d' offered us BOTH cigars. And since they were havanas, and we were alone, and they wine made me a bit cocky, he finally convinced me to take one too. (much to my husband's astonishment - I don't even smoke) What a breach of etiquette here! Of course I put it dow after 30 seconds and soon, it was time to go.

I still remember the dinner every time I pass that restaurant, and closing my eyes, I can even now see the table set in front of me, china and silverware and all, although in time this impression got a bit mixed with a certain part of the dinner scene from the movie. Ah, the curse of repeat viewings! :)

And, I almost forgot : the bii was approximately 139 $.

{-e- Paragraph breaks added for clarity}

-- Barbara Matul (matul-kalamar@siol.net), August 04, 1998.

The last sentence should read : the bill was approximately 130 $.

-- Barbara Matul (matul-kalamar@siol.net), August 04, 1998.

VERY fun story! I'll have to look a little harder around here next year (though I can't afford a bill like that...I better start saving). How fun for you to have the place to yourselves...

-- Gilded Age Junkie (GildedAgeJunkie@yahoo.com), August 04, 1998.

Actually, the bill wasn't that high at all, considering it was a nine or ten course dinner. I admit it was expensive per se, but a normal dinner for two (wine included) in a good restaurant costs about half as much here. How much does it cost in the U.S.?

-- Barbara Matul (matul-kalamar@siol.net), August 06, 1998.

Sweetheart...I wouldn't know. Sorry! Anyone else?

-- Gilded Age Junkie (GildedAgeJunkie@yahoo.com), August 06, 1998.

Hi, if you want to hold your own Titanic dinner party you may wish to have a look at my website. We regularly ship to the US and the rest of the world. Best wishes Ray www.titanicmementos.co.uk

-- Ray Perks (ray.perks@blueyonder.co.uk), February 05, 2005.