Tuesday 3 February 2026
The late 1950’s saw the first of the transatlantic jet flights and within ten years air travel had nearly completely replaced travel by ocean liner. When Cunard retired the original RMS Queen Mary in 1967 she was sold to the City of Long Beach, California where she was converted into a museum and hotel. It wasn’t until shortly after we boarded her namesake, Queen Mary 2 last month that we learned that we’d be witness to an historic meeting of the Queens when we arrived in Los Angeles. On our way to our scheduled berth in San Pedro the Queen Mary 2 paid a visit to RMS Queen Mary at her berth in Long Beach at 7:00 AM yesterday morning. Folks gathered from near and far and watched from various water craft as the two Queens saluted one another for the first time in nearly twenty years. It was an inspirational and amazing sight. Then today we had the opportunity to take a shuttle bus over to Long Beach for a tour of the incredibly beautiful RMS Queen Mary. She was named for the queen consort of King George V, Mary of Teck, upon her launch in 1934. As a group we took an hour long tour aboard what is still a floating, though no longer seaworthy, museum ship. Chris toured us through many of the public areas of the ship telling us bits of her history. She served as a passenger liner, a troop ship during World War II, and as a royal mail ship from 1936 until 1967. There was also details of her Art Deco decor including the many varieties of wood from all over the British Empire and the golden onyx light fixtures and fireplaces. Of course there were also tales of the many celebrities who traveled on her. Among our favorites were the slope of the Promenade Deck, the Grand Salon, and the First Class Lounge. It was also fun to see the preparations for this afternoon’s presentation by naval architect and Queen Mary 2 designer Dr. Stephen Payne, to greet him as he arrived, and to also recognize marine historian Bill Miller as he came aboard for Dr. Payne’s address. However for the two of us, a mechanical engineer and spouse, the highlight definitely was the self-guided Engine Room tour. Once back aboard her namesake we really began to notice details of this ship that were inspired by her predecessor, harkening back to a different era. It’s exciting to be a part of the history of Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and to learn more about her heritage!
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