Giant passenger liner, retired as a hotel on the Long Beach, Calif., waterfront, is chock-full of history — but its days might be numbered.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — A vast piece of history floats serenely in the quiet coastal waters here, watching the pigeons and the decades fly by.
The RMS Queen Mary, which made her maiden voyage from Southampton 81 years ago, and played a key role in World War II, has operated as a stationary, floating hotel, moored in Long Beach since the early 1970s. It has — for better or worse — not changed much since those transatlantic days; you can still see the shadows of footprints in the lobby’s phone booth (the Queen Mary was, a tour guide said, the first ocean liner to offer ship-to-shore calls to passengers), and sip a drink in the Observation Bar, whose smart Art Deco curves seem beautifully frozen in time.
I love historic hotels because of the stories their walls can tell — and I figured the Queen Mary, of which I knew sadly little before visiting, might have a few. But I wasn’t quite expecting the powerful spell the ship cast on an overnight visit earlier this month. Though the Queen Mary’s staterooms can no longer be called posh, and overall the ship is clearly in need of refurbishment and repair, it’s still a magical place. Stories of soldiers and war brides and Hollywood glamour seem to still live in its seemingly endless hallways and worn-shiny wooden pillars.
Spirit of adventure
Spending the night on board nowadays needs to be approached with a spirit of adventure: Though the tiny staterooms, with their round mirrors, wood paneling and Deco sconces, are utterly charming, as a hotel the Queen Mary leaves something to be desired. The walls are paper-thin (neighboring sounds once drowned out by a churning engine are now all too evident), the policies not entirely hospitable (we were charged a fee for early check-in, something I’ve never encountered in years of travel), and the bathrooms, though the height of modernity in 1936, can now be politely described as shabby. If this sounds daunting, you might consider staying in a hotel in downtown Long Beach and visiting the Queen Mary by day. My goddaughter and I, giggling in our little twin beds under the portholes, found the overnight stay to be great fun.
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But you don’t book the Queen Mary for creature comforts; you do it to find its stories. The Glory Days Historical Tour, which we took shortly after arriving, outlines the ship’s remarkable history: Designed in 1926 (hence the glorious Art Deco detailing everywhere), the Queen Mary was built in Scotland in the early 1930s; taking several years to build and ultimately approaching twice the size (in gross tonnage) of the doomed Titanic. Launched in 1936, she immediately became a favorite of the rich and famous. (Cary Grant, reportedly, planned his travels around the Queen Mary schedule.) According to our guide, a first-class crossing in 1936 cost about $1,070 — enough, at the time, to buy a house. For years, she was the fastest ship to cross the Atlantic.
During World War II, the Queen Mary became a speedy troop transfer ship, carrying as many as 16,000 servicemen at a time — and, frequently, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose office can still be seen. After the war ended, she transported numerous English war brides to America (a documentary, running continuously on board, tells their story), and resumed life as a luxury liner in 1947. Twenty years later, due to competition from air travel, the Queen Mary took her last voyage and was bought by the city of Long Beach. She arrived in California via Cape Horn; too big, our guide said, to traverse the Panama Canal.
History galore
Wandering the ship, you find history everywhere: the original shopping arcade, designed to look like London’s Piccadilly Circus; a display of menu cards from the ship’s early days; photographs of beaming celebrities arriving onboard (Elizabeth Taylor brought her poodles); the ship’s playroom, with its dusty vintage toys. Though not every part of the Queen Mary is accessible (both of the original swimming pools are now off-limits), you can visit much of it without a guide, noting that even the second- and third-class hallways are detailed and beautiful. Down a staircase, you can visit the engine room, now eerily silent.
Speaking of eerie, the Queen Mary is known for its alleged ghost population, and the Haunted Encounters Ghost Tour, in which you get trotted through dusty corners of the ship while a guide intones spooky stories, is very popular. I was underwhelmed, but it might be fun for Halloween. (For the record, no bumps in the night were heard from our stateroom. Except for my unintentional encounters with the sconce.)
After breakfast, we strolled around the ship one last time, visiting the original wireless room and its display of antique radios and enjoying the morning sun from the deck. It was near empty, and I kept imagining faces from the past: a group of war brides giggling together; a young deckhand, thrilled to be part of this history-making ship; a stateroom transformed with bunks and filled with newly uniformed soldiers, heading off to an unknown fate.
Though the current operators of the Queen Mary have already begun some restoration work, there’s a now-or-never urgency: Just last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that a new marine survey predicted the ship’s rusting hull will collapse within 10 years “unless major action is taken soon.” Cost estimates are in the near-$300 million range, and it’s unknown what the Queen Mary’s future might hold.
See it while you can — it’s a beautiful, fading place; haunted, I think, not by ghosts, but by what it once was.
If you go
The Queen Mary
Where
1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, California. Parking is available across the street: $18/day or $22/overnight.
Lodging
Rates for rooms and suites begin around $124, depending on occupancy; hotel guests receive a discount on tours.
Restaurants
The Queen Mary has an assortment of restaurants currently open, ranging from the posh Sir Winston’s (temporarily relocated to the ship’s Royal Salon, which is well worth a peek) to a Starbucks counter on the promenade deck. The Chelsea Chowder House and Bar is a moderate option and offers a tasty club sandwich.
Traveler’s tip
If you aren’t a hotel guest, you’ll need to buy a passport to go on board. The Queen Mary Passport includes an audiotour, one guided tour (either Glory Days or Haunted Encounters; I recommend the former) and a screening in the 4-D theater; it’s $27 online/$29 at box office. The First Class Passport ($34/$36) includes both guided tours. The Royal Passport includes the audiotour and the “Diana: Legacy of a Princess” exhibit (closed on my visit; reopens on March 25) for $32. See queenmary.com/tours-exhibits/tour-packages/ for details.
More information
877-342-0738 or queenmary.com