Queen Mary Boat

If you love cruises, but have no time or money to spend a night on the Queen Mary - a historic ship that gives you the taste of a real cruise.

The Queen Mary in Long Beach is not going anywhere soon. But it really does not need to - there's plenty to keep you busy for a night or a weekend.

Building up to this giant ship ready to embark with your suitcase in hand is not unlike that scene in Titanic, when passengers are on board excited ran while the wealthy have their trunks and car port lifted on board. While the Queen Mary is small by current standards of cruise ship, it seems mighty big from the parking lot.

Up the elevator and along the bridge as you go, as you're aboard the Love Boat at the head of the Mexican Riviera. The first thing that hits you, once on board, is that this ship is historcal - it's like entering the lobby of a hotel with good old antique furniture, although many aspects of the ship and its neighborhoods have been updated for the 1960s, years later ship. It also emerged during this visit during the week that many people on board are involved in some sort of a conference - whether commercial, social or family.

After checking into the hotel lobby, we were eager to see what our accommodation on board ships were similar. Ours was a little larger than a standard cabin, but not huge. We had two king beds, and everything you would expect in a reasonably upscale, with lots of storage and workspace and a bathroom, although small, has offered both freshwater and salty, hot and cold. We were ONA ship, all right, but we have had telephone service and TV. We also had a window - you can request a view of the harbor, as we had a rather ordinary dock and construction nearby.

Then came the discovery of this great ship. Launched in 1934, the Queen Mary in 1001 crossed the Atlantic before his retirement in 1967. In its heyday, this was how American elites and forth between the U.S. and Europe and the ship was equipped to make the journey as enjoyable as possible.

When you move around the ship on a self-guided tour, you get on many shows - all with majestic decidedly British influence in the decoration. In-laid wood gives many of these areas feel a conference room, while the paintings and original art help to complete the atmosphere. Outside, the old wooden bridge it is easier to imagine that you are on the sea taking your daily walk and enjoying the scenery vast ocean. But the most interesting are some of the areas normally inhabited by the crew - the crew quarters, a radio room, the wheelhouse. Throughout your visit, you begin to recognize the Queen Mary is really a museum - a large vessel of the charming old not to be confused with the bright, modern ships of today.

The charm of the ship extends to restaurants where you can choose between fine dining at the 4-star Sir Winston, Chelsea slightly less spectacular and the surprisingly good Promenade Cafe, where we had a wonderful dinner at reasonable prices.

We also made a point to take a couple of special tricks. The Ghosts and Legends Tour plays on the reputation of the ship to be haunted and is a version of Mary Queen of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Thanks to special effects and a guide more over-this little adventure of 45 minutes is to put a little fear into fellow visitors. We were actually more intrigued by some of the places on the ship that this tour takes you, as the engine room and indoor pool area, all dimly lit to make them as scary as possible.

Moored next to the Queen Mary is the Scorpion, a Russian submarine cold war which seems to be in good enough condition to take off. Visitors can walk or see all the compartments of this Christmas.