I’m saying it right at the start: I am aware how privileged, snotty and ungrateful I will sound to some in this blog.

But what I’m trying to say is that bucketlist experiences can be a bit of a let down.

So, we were very kindly given a voucher for the Titanic Hotel as a joint 30th birthday present. I’d wanted to go for several years, ever since somebody told me about it when we first moved to Liverpool. I have always found the Titanic fascinating and once did a little summer project on it when I was about 11. So the voucher was such a lovely gesture.

What with one thing and another, 10 or so months passed and we still hadn’t used the voucher. In the end, I was early days pregnant when we managed to clear an evening in our diaries and arrange some babysitting.

As we pulled up outside the huge old building on the docks, I was full of expectation and very excited. But with hindsight, I should have realised that some of the shine would disappear when I was picking food from a slightly reduced menu and cocktails from a very reduced menu.

Now, I’m no restaurant critic, but I do like staff to be pleased to see me when I arrive somewhere. The front of house staff at the Titanic seemed a bit removed and cold. The decour and Titanic details, however, were very exciting, and I enjoyed looking at them.

So, food. It was nice enough. We had a starter each (there were things missing off mine), and then we had a steak and a pudding.

This is no fault of the restaurant’s, but I had to order mine medium-well, and some would argue that even that was risky given that I was about 8 weeks pregnant. But it was so far away from my preferred medium-rare (or even rare, if I’m in the right mood!), that it felt safe enough. The issue was that when Nathan’s plate came, his piece of meat (he now has his medium-rare too, since I showed him the light!), looked so much juicier and nicer than mine!

The puddings were nice but again, nothing spectacular. I stupidly tortured myself by reading through the cocktail menu and thinking about what I would have had if I could. Some of them were themed around the film and looked absolutely scrumptious!

So, the positives:

A rare night out with my husband.

The chance to get a bit dolled up.

Sophia said wow Mama! as I walked into the living room, which was possibly the biggest compliment I’ve ever been paid!

And of course, spending time together in a child and church free environment is very unusual. So I’m very grateful to our gift givers, gift organisers and babysitters! It was very kind and I’m glad that we got to go.

Would I go back? Yes, I would give them another chance. But for the price, and it’s not cheap, we could have 2 three course meals with a bottle of wine at my favourite chain restaurant. So if I ever win the lottery (I don’t play, by the way) or come into a lot of money, then we’ll pop back.