Sunday, March 22, 2015

Staying on board the RMS Queen Mary

Last month my wife and I did a bunch of stuff I'm only now getting around to writing about. One of those things was a visit to Los Angeles, and we stayed on board the Queen Mary - one of the last true ocean liners still afloat, and the only one left from the pre-war "golden age" of passenger ships.


The Queen Mary sailed from 1936-1967, after which she was permanently moored in Long Beach, CA and refitted as a floating hotel. During her time in service she carried passengers and also made for one of the largest troop ships in history. I've actually stayed on the ship before, back when I was a kid in the 1980's. Funny to realize now that the time between my two stays was longer than the time between my first stay and the ship's final voyage. I'm getting old.


I've always loved history in general and ocean liners specifically. When I was about 10 years old, my dad bought me this book about passenger ships, and I was hooked. It was the period from about 1910-1960 that interested me the most, when the biggest and most beautiful ships sailed and of course, some of the biggest tragedies occurred. (And some of the biggest mysteries - Titanic was found just after I got that book.) Of course it was also my dad who took me on my first trip to the Queen Mary.


The amazing thing about the Queen Mary is that, unlike many other floating museums around the world, she is basically as she was. The hotel operators (who seem to change weekly) have blocked off access to parts of the ship you're not meant to see, but except for some of the lower passenger decks, you're not missing much.

One of the now-blocked staircases.

You can even access the ship's infirmary, its engine rooms, and of course all the first and second class rooms and decks. And whatever updates have been done (mostly shopping and food options) have had to conform to the ship's original design. It's like going back in time.

The ship's "isolation ward", where contagious passengers were kept until arrival in port.

It even sounds like it's still a running ship, especially as you move aft. The important part of this video is the sound:


Most of that's probably the air conditioning system that didn't exist in 1936, but now not only cools the guest rooms but also provides a pretty convincing facsimile of the engines running and water rushing by.


The guest rooms themselves were originally first and second class staterooms, including suites that you can actually book that were once used by royalty and heads of state. We had a standard "deluxe king" booked at a AAA rate, and it seemed to be a pretty standard first class stateroom.

Parts of the ship were remodeled in the 1960's, and it shows - these green wallpapered areas have aged less gracefully than the wood-paneled art deco of the original 1936 decor. There are rooms in both sections of the ship, and it's kind of a crapshoot what you're going to get. Our first room had some wood but was mostly wallpaper; it also had two big portholes and a problematic door to the next room that let in so much sound it was like being part of the other room's conversation.

We asked to change rooms and got one that was actually smaller and less nice but had no between-rooms door and was very quiet. That's the thing with staying here - you really have to accept that you're paying to stay on a historic ocean liner, not a true hotel. The walls are steel and they are paper thin, and the doors between rooms are light and anything but airtight. The windows are real portholes, and some of them work better than others - the ones in our first room would not close.

There are various tours you can take but the ship's worth exploring on your own, and we did.








Almost all of the original etched glass still exists on the ship. Unfortunately a few panels (not this one) have been cracked.

It's definitely worth taking the tour, though, which gets you into a few places that are inaccessible otherwise and of course gives you a little more background on everything you see. If you're lucky, your tour guide will be old and crotchety. Ours was great; one of those guys that seems borderline senile until you slowly realize that it's all an act; just his warped sense of humor.

The first class lounge - not the even bigger dining room. Still a beautiful space. 
The dining room was in use (it's rentable). We caught a glimpse of it on the way out but I didn't get any pictures.

 Amazing metal work. No, that's not a painting. That's embossed and tinted metal.

 Here's our tour guide showing off a panel featuring every wood veneer used on the ship. I think there are 37 in total. This panel is not original to the ship, but they found it at the shop that first worked on the Queen Mary and they had to have it for display.

 This is the forward Observation Bar, still in use as a bar just as it was. The decor is unchanged since 1936, including that painting behind the bar.

 The art deco styling. Apparently everything in this bar is original except the TV's.

More great metal work.

Of course the ship is famous for its "ghost" stories, most of which were probably invented by the hotel to sell tour tickets.

On our first night on board, my wife and I had some of the best seafood we have ever eaten. This was not even at Sir Winston's, the ship's fine dining restaurant, but at the Chelsea Chowder House. This was the Alaskan Halibut (pdf link to the menu).

And this was the bread pudding. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

On our second day, we visited the interior stern of the ship - this is the one area they seem to have really gutted to create a museum. This would have been where the third class and crew accommodations were.

The engine room, which they've done amazing work to since I last visited. Somewhere I have a photo from this exact vantage point that just shows a big, empty, black room with some dirty machinery still in it. I'm saying you could visit this room in the 1980's, but they had done nothing to it and this is as far as you could go. Nowadays it's freshly painted, nicely lit and there are catwalks all around. You can even walk the length of the propeller shafts all the way to the end and pretend you're in the "Poseidon Adventure" (which was filmed on the Queen Mary).

One deck is full of what seem to be completely handmade models of famous ocean liners - this, obviously, is Titanic. A few of the models are full cutaways on one side.

 We figured out that this is where Jack and Rose would have had their dance scene in the movie. James Cameron made it seem like it was down in the bowels of the ship!

"I'm the king of the world!"

All of the models that I can remember are Cunard White Star line ships - except this random model of the Normandie. From what I gathered the staff on board the Queen Mary seem to have a feeling of kinship (no pun intended) with the Normandie, most likely because of this famous photo and the fate the Normandie suffered just afterwards. It capsized while undergoing the troop ship conversion that Queen Mary had already successfully completed. That first photo is now prominently displayed on the promenade deck and is the first part of the main tour.


Queen Mary is an amazing ship, but I will say she could use a new coat of exterior paint!

Closing with a pointless 360 degree panorama from the stern of the ship.

6 comments:

  1. Mc Tran11:45 PM

    Just wanted to say great blog. Recently when i was visiting some friends in Japan they invited me to go to a Scandal concert and man was I blown away. Not only are they great live but like you said Scandal has to be one of the loudest bands out there. I picked up the newest album Hello World when I was there and after stumbling onto you blog I bought Temptation Box and Standard on Amazon mp3. Just wanted to see if you had any other recommendations on any other Scandal albums. Keep up the great work Sir.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey there. Nice to see a new Scandal fan! First, let me just say I fixed the links in the post above if you didn't managed to get to my other show reports (I used to have a dedicated Scandal blog where these posts originally were but closed it a while ago).


    To answer your Q, here's how I'd personally rank their albums at this point, just in terms of quality:


    1. STANDARD
    2. Temptation Box
    3. Encore Show
    4. Baby Action
    5. Hello World
    6. BEST SCANDAL
    7. Queens are Trumps


    I started listening to them with BEST SCANDAL, their first album, but it is starting to sound a little dated to me. It does have some of their most iconic songs, though - DOLL, Shoujo S and SCANDAL BABY are all songs you need to have one way or another.


    Encore Show is a B-side compilation and might be a little advanced for someone new to them, but I love it - their B-sides are often where they do things they can't do on albums or singles, so it's more varied and experimental than their other albums.


    Of course different people might rank their albums differently. They all have good songs. Queens are Trumps is the one album I really just have never listened to much, though.


    They do have a best-of album called "SCANDAL SHOW", but the only original song on it is "Playboy" (not my favorite) so you might not need it if you're planning on getting the other albums.


    Anyway as someone new to them and with the three albums you have now, I might get Baby Action next, then BEST SCANDAL, then Encore Show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mc Tran9:26 AM

    Thank you for the recommendation, I was going to get Queens are Trumps next but I'll pick up Baby Action. Your review of Standard is spot on its not only a great Scandal album but a great rock album period. Even Brand New Wave isn't that bad but maybe thats because I was force to listen to AKB48 and Girls Generation every where I went last time in Japan. Now I have to plan some time off for the American Leg of their tour. Keep up the good work I look forward to more updates.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks - yeah I'd definitely get Baby Action first, although both "Taiyou Scandalous" and "Bitter Chocolate" are great songs on QAT. Baby Action is definitely a better album, though.


    I was wrong about "Playboy" - it's actually on Encore Show, not Scandal Show. Scandal Show has "Scandal no Theme" as its lone "new" track, which makes it even less essential to own.


    Do yourself a favor and buy a DVD or two of theirs also. I'm of course partial to the Scandal vs. Budokan disc, but they're all good in different ways. "Video Action" has all of their music videos on it up to "Love Survive" and it's also a great collection. Watching them is half the fun of being a fan.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mc Tran11:55 PM

    I was planning on picking up the Budokan concert because those shows are always over the top productions. Never heard of the Video Action one but it just jumped over the Osaka JO Hall concert for my next pick up. Again thanks for the recommendations

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chance Hooper7:14 PM

    I had an 85 firebird with that same engine and gearbox with chrome wheels and a raked stance as a first car in the UK - mind blowing when most of my friends had 1-litre economy hatchbacks! I agree on the drive/feel - it was always quick enough to be fun and I never felt tired after a long drive. I have driven faster and more powerful cars since but I still miss that car and wish I had just spent the money to keep it going forever!

    ReplyDelete

About This Blog

This is increasingly not a blog about Alphabet City, New York. I used to live in the East Village and work on Avenue B, but I no longer do. Why don't I change the name if I'm writing about Japan and video games and guitars? Because New Yorkers are well-rounded people with varied interests, and mine have gone increasingly off the rails over the years. And I don't feel like changing the name. I do still write about New York City sometimes.

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