Queen Mary - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the Queen Mary afloat today?

Yes, she is afloat, and can be seen to rise and fall with the tide. There is usually a minimum of about 10 feet of water under her, but it is a bit muddy down there.

Does the Queen Mary still sail?

No. The ship had most of her machinery and all of her boilers removed in 1967-1970. She has not moved under her own power since 1967 and will probably never do so again.

Why was most of the engine machinery taken out?

The ship was purchased by the City of Long Beach to be used as a floating "Museum of the Sea". The space had to be created on board for this. Unfortunately, more space was created than was used, so some of the boiler rooms just lie empty today.

Is the hull really rusty now?

No! Contrary to popular belief, the ship's hull is very well protected by her cathodic protection system. The worst problem at the moment may be the decks, which need a lot of work (there are 6 acres of them) and they do leak in places.

What areas of the ship can you take a tour of? What are the costs/hours?

This varies, and is up to the management to decide. The company that runs the ship don't keep me up to date on this kind of thing, so I can only give you a rough idea.

The upper decks and after engine room are included in the entry price which I think is about $15.00. The hotel decks (A, B and M) are only accessible to hotel guests and guided tours ($5.00 extra last time I was there, but check). A tour might also show you some of the public rooms (though these are often locked), the old third class area up forward, a little bit of the areas below decks which the crew used to work in, first class swimming pool (not used now) and the grand salon on R deck. You might even see the boiler rooms. The tour is certainly worth the extra money if you go there. I believe parking is about $8. Again though, they don't keep me informed about the prices, so check first. Sorry.

I'd like to arrange a meeting/wedding/dinner etc on the ship - how much does that cost?

I don't know. Contact the ship on 562 435 3511 or look at their website http://www.queenmary.com/. They don't supply me with this kind of information.

How much does a room cost in the hotel?

It depends on how good a room you want. They normally go from about $65 upwards, but I don't guarantee this! Sometimes they do special deals, and weekend cabins may cost more. You can ask the ship on (562) 435 3511 or visit their web-site http://www.queenmary.com/.

My Father, Mother, Friend, Cat etc traveled on the Queen Mary once (or - my father traveled as a G.I or POW during the war). Can I see a passenger list for this voyage?

Passenger lists have not survived in great numbers. No-one as far as we know has more than a few of them, and only a few are in the ship's archives. You might try looking at the Cunard Archives web site, to see if they have anything about them. For wartime service, check out this site for more information than I can give you.

I have a deckchair in my house marked "Queen Mary - First Class only" or similar. Is it genuine? How much is it worth?

It might be genuine. When the Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach the City auctioned off a lot of things like this which were thought to be of no use to them in the conversion of the ship to a museum. There are lots of them around, and I get lots of email about them. I would have thought they are worth a couple of hundred dollars or so, but am no expert on value. There are still a few dozen of them on the ship in storage, and somewhere out in the LA/Long Beach area there are several hundred more. Many people think that real Queen Mary deckchairs do not have "First Class Only" on them.