The Queen Mary is a boat. Why in the world would I ever want to see it?
That’s what I said before I went to Chill (a winter wonderland down in Long Beach right next to the Queen Mary) and since we arrived 2 hours early and tickets included free passes to see inside the Queen Mary, we thought, “Why not?”
Everything I ever read and hear about the Queen Mary gave me the feeling it was old and yucky. And it’s true. But there is a whole world inside this old boat you’d never know if you didn’t get on and see for yourself!
As a seasoned travel writer I’m insanely curious and excited when I fall upon something new and exciting I was unaware about AND that I can share with others. The Queen Mary is one of these finds!
Besides being something unique and different to do with a date or your family, here are the 5 reasons you should take an afternoon and go visit Long Beach and the Queen Mary.
1) The engine room. It’s a tour of the bottom of the boat. Scary, interesting and very creepy. With photos of history all over the path of the tour, you will feel like Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure or Kate Winslet in Titanic. All around the ship I felt the presence of old people and times. It’s just eerie.
2) The Queen Mary is a hotel! Not only can you just visit, you can SLEEP over! Down in the rooms where men used to sleep, you can actually see what the rooms looked like long ago as they’ve dressed them up – many rooms – samples of what it looked like back then! Very cool! That’s where the triple bunk bed came from in the photo to the left!
3) They say the Queen Mary is Haunted!! In fact during Halloween, the dress up the Queen Mary and have special events just to creep you out even more!
4) The Ship itself. It’s old….so much of the ship is falling apart, but you have freedom to walk around on the decks and inside the halls as if you were a guest from long ago. And the views of the Harbor and ocean from the ship are remarkable.
5) Shopping. There are many gift shops on the boat! Many that have huge sales and discounts with very unusual unique items perfect for this people you can never find anything for!