Last Updated on July 6, 2023
I do not believe in ghosts. But I was a bit apprehensive when I settled into my art deco stateroom aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, reputed to be one of the most haunted ships in the U.S.
The 1930s British ocean liner is a hotel and historic attraction permanently moored in Long Beach, California. Shuttered for three years due to the Covid pandemic, the hotel began reopening in spring 2023.
I was among the first overnight guests.
Skyline Views from Queen Mary ocean liner
From my starboard porthole window, I watched the lights of downtown Long Beach flickering across the bay. That’s all I remembered until dawn.
I did not have a paranormal experience, but I spent 24 hours reveling in the ocean liner’s glorious seafaring–and ghostly past. I felt like a stowaway on a floating British history museum.
Queen Mary’s story began in Clydebank, Scotland. Named after the great-grandmother of England’s current King Charles III, the vessel set new records as the fastest ocean liner to cross the North Atlantic after her 1936 launch.
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Queen Mary Drafted into World War II
Queen Mary was also the fanciest ship on the seas—a favorite of British royals and Hollywood movie stars. But when World War II erupted in Europe, her precious artwork and fine China were stored. Recommissioned for troop transport and camouflaged with dark paint, “the Grey Ghost” safely delivered some 800,000 soldiers to England.
Queen Mary resumed ferrying passengers across the Atlantic until the 1960s when airplanes slashed travel times from days to hours. Cunard sold the ship at auction for $3.5 million to the city of Long Beach in 1967.
Since docking in Southern California, the ship has weathered some rough storms on the Pacific Coast. Plans to incorporate her into various tourist ventures, including a Disney theme park, came and went as the city struggled to support the iconic, but aging monarch.
The Covid pandemic dealt a near-fatal blow. A cash infusion from the city of more than $7 million in early 2023 to help pay for infrastructure and cosmetic improvements saved the vessel and allowed for the Queen Mary in Long Beach reopening.
About 200 of its 350 rooms and several restaurants now welcome visitors.
Almost Alone on the Queen Mary
While parts of the ship were still off-limits to visitors, my night on the mostly empty vessel was a fascinating trip back in time – and a bit eerie.
I was enchanted from the moment I saw the sleek black-and-white beauty with three cherry-red smokestacks. The ship that crossed the Atlantic 1,000 times is stationary now, moored near the Carnival Cruise Lines terminal at the Port of Long Beach.
Compared to the smooth, rounded bodies of most modern cruise ships, Queen Mary is all straight lines and sharp angles. Her deep V-shaped hull was designed to slice through tall waves on long ocean voyages. Today’s cruise ships mostly travel between nearby ports offering vacations, not transportation.
Queen Mary in Long Beach is just as distinctive on the inside.
After boarding the ship from a multi-story platform connected to port facilities, I stepped onto the well-worn teak planks of the Promenade Deck. As I toured her elegant salons and viewed photographs documenting her heroic wartime adventures, I began to understand the importance of preserving the oldest ocean liner in the world.
Tours Recount Ship History
Fortunately, I arrived just in time to join the last two tours of the day, which was an excellent way to learn about the ship before my overnight stay.
On the Haunted Encounters tour, paranormal guide Christyna’s vivid tales of the ship’s hauntings by deceased passengers challenged my skepticism. So many spirits are said to prowl the nearly 90-year-old ship that Time magazine ranked it as one of the 10 most haunted locations in the U.S.
Listening to ghost stories can be unsettling, and Christyna increased the tension as she led us to scenes of several ghostly sightings. At a now-closed swimming pool, I peered through an etched glass door to glimpse the ghost of Jackie, a small girl said to have drowned there.
Christyna also pointed to a metal safety door that crushed a young crew member whose ghost continues to haunt the engine room. In the hotel lobby, a woman in an elegant 1940s evening dress has been seen playing the grand piano.
Churchill’s Ghost Among Those Haunting Queen Mary?
My favorite paranormal sighting involves former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a frequent passenger during and after WWII. A staff member smelled smoke coming from the Churchill Suite. When she asked the portly man inside to put out the cigar, he vanished into Churchill’s photograph on the wall.
While the ghost stories were intriguing, I enjoyed the fact-based Glory Days tour even more.
Long-time guide Danny recounted the ship’s early days when she broke world speed records by traveling 35 miles per hour, crossing the Atlantic from Southampton to New York City in three and a half days. She carried about 3,200 passengers and crew. A first-class stateroom for two cost $1,000–the equivalent of $22,000 today.
Queen Mary was also a beauty queen.
Constructed at the height of the art deco movement, her magnificent décor includes etched glass sconces, onyx fireplaces, and intricate tapestries. Exotic polished wood paneling, from 56 countries once part of the British Empire, covers the curved walls of the ship’s posh salons and dining rooms as well as its elegant staterooms.
Art Deco Art and Architecture Tell Queen Mary Stories
Its authentic architecture and art have burnished the ship’s reputation as a world-class showplace of art deco style and a popular location to film period movies and TV shows. Every mural, sculpture, and wood carving has a story, which Danny dutifully relayed faster than I could take notes.
After the day trippers left, I felt like an interloper as I roamed the quiet hallways and decks. A few workers were still refinishing floors, but aside from a hotel night clerk, I was on my own to imagine what life was like aboard the ship in its prime.
Red torchiere lamps illuminate the classy semi-circular-shaped Observation Bar at the bow of the ship. Though it wasn’t open for cocktails, I envisioned guests in tuxedos and gowns sipping frothy drinks beneath an original mural of a British royal ball.
Queen Mary Model Ship Gallery includes the Titanic
In the Ship Model Gallery, miniature replicas of famous ocean liners like the Titanic, sunk by an iceberg, and the Lusitania, torpedoed in World War I, reminded me of the heartbreak and the romance of the high seas.
A model of Queen Mary’s younger sibling resides in the gallery, too. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, which began sailing in 2004, is the only ocean liner making transatlantic crossings today. There’s even a Lego version of the original Queen Mary built with 150,000 bricks that weighs 600 pounds.
Everyone who was anyone in the 1930s through 50s had their picture taken aboard the Queen Mary. I spotted photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as well as the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Comedian Bob Hope entertained ship passengers. Film star Elizabeth Taylor brought her poodles along. A poster of entertainer Liberace promotes his piano performance in the ship’s Starboard Lounge in the 1950s. I felt like I was in a Turner Classic movie.
Starbucks Coffee Served Aboard Queen Mary
British goods and memorabilia fill the Portside Marketplace, including bottles of gin and tea bags, T-shirts, and nautical caps. English tourists are among the ship’s most frequent visitors, I was told. But Starbucks coffee is featured in the Midship Gallery, where I stopped for a few snacks before heading to my stateroom.
I felt almost famous discovering fresh flowers in my stateroom. The room looked period-perfect, with two huge closets awaiting my steamer trunks, I assumed.
Built-in wooden wardrobes sport multiple drawers with beveled-mirrors top vanities. A flat-screen TV mounted on the wall next to a photograph of the late Queen Elizabeth was the only nod to the present.
I found fluffy towels and British bath products from Gilchrist & Soames in the bathroom. Though I was grateful for the modern showerhead, I was delighted to discover four porcelain handles that remain from the days when passengers could bathe in salt or fresh water.
Modern and Historic Features Mix in Queen Mary Staterooms
The original porthole windows were noticeably smaller and rustier than those on today’s cruise ships, but they framed the Long Beach skyline beautifully at night, allowing cool sea breezes to lull me to sleep in the comfortable king-sized bed.
I was up early the next day for a private Steam and Steel tour with Captain James. Like the other tour guides I’d met, his knowledge and affection for the ship were evident as we explored areas below the waterline. Special lighting and walkways make it possible to visit the boiler and engine rooms and view the stern, where steel plates have been removed to expose one of the ship’s giant propellers still sitting in the water.
En route to the main deck, we stopped at an exhibit that examines the roles of Queen Mary and Prime Minister Churchill during World War II.
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Churchill Exhibit Details Queen Mary’s Role in WWII
Churchill credited Queen Mary and her late sister ship, Queen Elizabeth, with cutting at least a year off the war. On one crossing, Queen Mary carried a record 15,000 soldiers to England. Despite a $250,000 bounty offered by Hitler, the ships evaded Nazi U-boats.
Captain James also pointed out the Churchill Suite, which I had not realized was right next to my room. When the prime minister was aboard, his top aides likely stayed there.
I began sniffing for cigar smoke near the adjoining door to his suite as soon as I entered my room. No luck.
I left the ship without a ghostly encounter, but with many treasured experiences of my nautical journey back in time on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Visiting Queen Mary RMS
Queen Mary in Long Beach is located at 1126 Queens Highway at the Port of Long Beach. Depending on traffic, the ship is about a 20-minute drive from Long Beach Airport and a 50-minute drive from Los Angeles International Airport.
Hotel Rooms: Guest rooms include suites with separate bedrooms, mini-suites as well as deluxe and family staterooms.
Tours: The Glory Days, Steam and Steel, and Haunted Encounters tours are offered several times a day. A two-hour Paranormal Hot Spots tour is available most evenings.
Food and beverages: The Chelsea Chowder House & Bar is open daily for lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday. The Observation Bar serves cocktails daily. The Midship Marketplace is open daily for coffee and snacks. Not all areas of the ship are currently open.
Special events: The ship hosts holiday celebrations throughout the year. Queen Mary in Long Beach is available for meetings and weddings.
