Today we are in Long Beach Harbor for a tour of the Queen Mary. We're so excited to get to tour this beautiful ship.
Waiting to board the ship
L-R - Nancy, Debbie, Joy, Carol N, Sharon K
While we were waiting for our tour to begin, we walked around a little and found the Children's Playroom.
Children's Playroom for First Class Passengers
Next we found some scale models of the Queen Mary and The Titanic. There was a lot of reflection from the windows so the photos aren't the best.
Scale models of the Queen Mary (top row) and the Titanic (bottom row)
Our tour began with some history about the Queen Mary, a peek into the cocktail lounge to see the huge bar and amazing decor, and continued into two of the grand ballrooms.
Our tour guide, the cocktail lounge, and two of the ballrooms.
Check out the gorgeous metal barrels along the railing in the bar,
the huge mural above the fireplace in the first ballroom,
and the wood carvings in the second ballroom. So beautiful.
It wasn't part of the tour, but we asked if we could see the pool. It's still being renovated so we couldn't get a good look at it.
The swimming pool and some photos of how it looked back in the day.
After the official tour, we walked around the ship on our own to see more. Here's some of what we saw . . .
Plaques, bells, and a favorite visitor
The Engine Room
During World War II, The Queen Mary was called into service as a warship. The outside was painted battleship grey and it was used to transport military personnel. There was a huge exhibit detailing this phase of The Queen Mary's history. Here's just a portion of what we learned.
We watched a video that told about the Queen Mary's role in WW2.
Winston Churchill used the ship as a safe control center, and he sometimes even slept on the ship.
By this time we were hungry, and we had heard that the fish and chips were excellent, so we decided to give them a try. They were as good as advertised.
Lunch at the Chelsea Chowder House and Bar on the Queen Mary - Fish and Chips
Clockwise from left : Debbie, Josie, Joy, Nancy, Carol N, Seema, Sharon K
The Queen Mary (Couldn't get the entire ship into one photo)
A better Look
View of the harbor from the Queen Mary
Highlights of The Queen Mary's history
Thank you Queen Kathy for planning such a fun day. We're so sorry that a last minute change of plans kept you from enjoying your own event. We'll have to do this again.