After spending the years between 1936 to 1967 taking well-to-do travelers around the globe, ultimately, the royal Queen Mary ship found competition from the jet age to be too much.
Luckily for us, though, instead of scrapping the British ship, it was permanently docked in Southern California, where it was turned into a tourist attraction and hotel. Find out more about it here!
The Queen Mary: The luxurious royal ship permanently docked in Long Beach
The HMS Queen Mary was the greatest, most luxurious ship ever to sail the seas. And now you will see the famous ocean liner as no passenger ever could.
Today the Queen Mary is a complete family entertainment center with all the ingredients to make your cruise on the Queen Mary Tour a day you’ll remember for years to come.
The Queen Mary Tour is hundreds of attractions in one, three separate tours in one — but all for just one admission. The Upper Decks Tour, the Queen Mary Museum and Jacques Cousteau’s Living Sea all combine to make the Queen Mary Tour truly the biggest family show afloat.
There’s history and spectacle throughout every inch of the Queen Mary. On the Upper Decks Tour, you’ll see everything from the bridge command center to the officers’ quarters to a stateroom for which passengers once paid $5,000 a voyage!
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Queen Mary tour, Long Beach (1976)
Don’t miss the boat! Spend an exciting and entertaining day on the world’s greatest ocean liner.
You’ll tour the Queen Mary from bridge to engine room and take an amazing voyage through Jacques Cousteau’s Living Sea. Plus intriguing shops and restaurants, a unique hotel — all on board the Queen Mary, the biggest family show afloat.
The original Queen Mary ship interior
Here’s a 1936 postcard showing the luxurious Cabin Observation Lounge and Cocktail Bar
Queen Mary Tour: 81,000 tons of fun in Long Beach, California
Enjoy every attraction on the biggest family show afloat!
In the Queen Mary Museum, you’ll tour the mammoth engine room with its 40,000 horsepower engines, and you’ll delight in the nostalgic and unique exhibits and films which comprise the Queen Mary Story.
Jacques Cousteau’s Living Sea is a complete attraction in itself. On your voyage of adventure and discovery through this remarkable place you’ll learn about life in the sea — past, present and future. You’ll also see plenty of strange and wondrous sea critters!
To make your Queen Mary Tour even more enjoyable, you’ll want to visit the fine shops and restaurants and the unique Queen Mary Hotel, which has more than 400 of the original staterooms as deluxe accommodations.
There is nothing like the Queen Mary, and there is nothing like the Queen Mary Tour. To enjoy both to the fullest, we invite you to follow the tour paths on the illustrations on the next pages. Bon voyage!
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Queen Mary haunted? They ‘rocked’ the boat with terror (1975)
The News Leader (Staunton, Virginia) August 10, 1975
During the conversion of the HMS Queen Mary from a seagoing liner to a permanently moored Long Beach, California, tourist attraction, a newspaper carried a story that the crews involved in the work had reported that the ship was haunted by the ‘ghosts’ of celebrities who had sailed aboard her during her illustrious lifetime.
Then, a different kind of crew, a television film crew, boarded the giant liner for location filming of “The Werewolf,” the episode of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” starring Darren McGavin, to be rebroadcast Saturday.
Soon, eerie and frightening things began happening on the ship. Prowling the decks, companionways and compartments where royalty, the affluent, and thousands of World War II troops once trod, was the unearthly form of a predatory creature brought out by the mystical spell of the full moon.
In the segment, McGavin, as reporter Carl Kolchak, is assigned to cover the nostalgic final cruise of a once-grand luxury liner. But the ‘swinging singles” excursion cruise turns into a voyage of terror when several passengers and crew members are savagely mauled as if by a wild beast.
Kolchak tries, in vain, to convince the captain that the attacks are being committed by a werewolf.
“This is a particularly frightening concept,” says McGavin of the episode. “To think that somewhere on board there is a human being compelled to kill when the full moon rises.
“Making it even more chilling is that, like in the Gothic tales of such beings, the cursed human realizes what is happening but has no control over it. There is no escape for himself or his victims. Let’s face it, I’ve met some deadly bores on shipboard, but a werewolf is the last thing anyone on an ocean cruise would expect to encounter.
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Vintage Queen Mary: Touch a Little History, and Make Some of Your Own
1936 . . . Britain’s Queen Mary, the world’s longest and most luxurious ship, visits New York on her maiden voyage. She was the ultimate ocean voyage experience for celebrities and heads of state for more than 30 years.
Today, she’s the star attraction in Long Beach Harbor. Take a fascinating 3-hour tour. See things that neither her passengers, celebrities nor soldiers were allowed to see. Learn why she was called the “Grey Ghost” during World War II.
Enter the mighty engine room. Visit the elegant staterooms. Hold animals from the “Living Sea.” Take command of the bridge. Enjoy live entertainment and good food.
Spend an entire day on the Queen, just for fun. Touch a little history … and make some of your own.
SEE THE QUEEN MARY TODAY: Find out about modern-day tours here
In 1936, The Queen Mary was the world’s most luxurious ocean liner (1978)
Amid her art deco opulence, the rich and famous cavorted in her grand salons, richly-appointed staterooms, and her luxurious swimming pool.
Queen Mary tour: A voyage through time
Each step you take on the magnificent teak and history-laden decks of the Queen Mary lets you touch a part of Her exciting past.
Her 1930s grandeur comes alive as you tour the magnificent ballroom, visit the fantastic engine room, and view the staterooms, now a part of the superb Hyatt Queen Mary Hotel.
You will sense Her yesterdays as you see the superb dining salons, first-class swimming pool, and even touch one of the four massive propellers. Experience all of this and more on your three-hour self-guided tour complete with unique entertainment and a voyage on the Sea Probe, a spectacular new attraction which simulates a thrilling deep-sea adventure.
Relive the excitement of yesteryear in viewing the changing of the Guard and experience the thrill of standing on the Command Bridge where Her Captains steered through storms and war zones for 1,001 Trans-Atlantic crossings.
Plan on visiting the Queen Mary today— it’s a Royal way to touch the excitement of yesterday. And, while on board, be sure to satisfy your appetite at one of the. several fine restaurants and visit the scores of unique shops.
It’s a fun-filled voyage through time. An experience worth repeating. Located in Long Beach, California. Open Daily. Free Parking.
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