I’ve had the pleasure of sailing on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 (QM2) several times, the first during her inaugural season in 2005. The QM2 was the largest, and grandest, passenger ship ever built for Cunard at a cost of nearly $1B. Today, she is the only ocean liner (she’s not a cruise ship) with regular transatlantic service from Southampton, England to New York.
The 2 in her name means she is the second Cunard ship to bear the name Queen Mary. The original Queen Mary first sailed in May 1936 and served as the flagship of the Cunard line for ten years until the title was given to the line’s newest ship, Queen Elizabeth.
During her course of service, she won the Blue Riband for crossing the Atlantic in record speed, served as a troopship during World War II, and regularly sailed the Southampton to New York route along with Queen Elizabeth until 1967. It was then when jets began to take over as the preferred method of transatlantic travel and the 31-year-old ship became too costly to operate.
She sailed her final journey on Halloween 1967 leaving Southampton en route to Long Beach, California where she remains permanently moored and acts as a floating hotel and museum.
Her post-ocean liner career has one that has been fraught with multiple owners, bankruptcy, many different renovation projects and most recently, a 2017 report revealed that parts of the ship are deteriorating leaving some areas, such as the engine room, subject to flooding.
Efforts are underway to make repairs to the ship and continue to preserve this valuable piece of history.
Each time I visit California, I always want to visit the Queen Mary or even book a room to experience this legendary ship that has been preserved and frozen in time. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to!
Until now!
I’ve taken on a project the requires me to be out in Los Angeles for a few days. Over the weekend, I was told that the venue chosen for our get-together is none other than the Queen Mary!
I’ll be spending three nights onboard the ocean liner and will be sure to take plenty of photos, partake in one of the self-guided tours of the ship’s history and maybe even book the ghost tour. Yes, the ship is rumored to be haunted and said to have plenty of paranormal activity. Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to get the stateroom that’s haunted by the spirit of the person murdered in it.
After my three days on Queen Mary in Long Beach, I’ll be spending another five days hitting up some of the west coast’s most famous theme parks – Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood.
Be sure to follow me on these social media channels for photos of this next adventure: