Boarding There Is Half the Fun

In this modern era of are-we-there-yet travel characterized by long lines and impossibly cramped cabins, it is hard to believe there was an era when the Cunard Steamship Company could honestly promise, "Getting There is Half the Fun."

Ladies donned finery and men wore suits and ties to board Cunard's greatest ocean liners. Among the company's palatial ships, none was more stately that the RMS Queen Mary. Built during the Great Depression, she was a mix of understated Edwardian elegance with touches of Art Deco flair.

"The Mary" remained in service for 31 years, until faster ships and affordable trans-Atlantic jet service rendered her obsolete. But unlike her contemporaries, most of them consigned to the scrap yard, the Queen Mary, had a glorious sendoff at the end of 1967. The band struck up "California, Here I Come" as she departed Southampton, England, for the last time, on a voyage that would end in Long Beach, Calif.

The City of Long Beach purchased the great liner for $3.45 million in 1967 with ambitious plans to run her as a museum and hotel surrounded by shops, apartments and a marina. After five years and nearly $100 million in upgrades, the Queen Mary finally opened to the public in May 1971. To their dismay, visitors found a quasi-mall in which glorious spaces such as the ship's elite supper club had been turned into a hot-dog stand. In the years that followed, the Mary endured a long list of operators. Some, such as The Walt Disney Company, oversaw historically unsympathetic refits, while others simply neglected the ship. Maintenance became so bad that when it rained, buckets caught the drips—a far cry from when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor or Winston Churchill walked the liner's wood paneled companionways in extraordinary (and dry) luxury.

Instead of a glorious retirement in the sun, however, the Mary had sailed into financial difficulties worse than any Atlantic storm. Today, after more than 40 years in Long Beach, "she has little to show for it," says John Thomas, a local Art Deco expert and historical consultant to the ship's latest operators. For many visitors and local residents, she's all but forgotten.

The Queen's Recent Facelift

In 2007, there was a flurry of excitement as a new operator, Save the Queen, bid $43 million to take over from the bankrupt managers. At a press conference in the ship's Veranda Grill, Save the Queen unveiled plans for restoration and the development of the surrounding 45-acre site. "It's great for the city to be able to restore and upgrade this ship," Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said at the event. "The acreage around this ship has the potential to be the marquee project in the City of Long Beach."

Save the Queen pledged $6 million to upgrade and restore and made significant progress. The first phase of the expansive project, completed in 2008, focused on capital upgrades, including new cooking equipment, refrigerators, and air-conditioning systems. A three-month effort revitalized the expansive, glass-enclosed promenade decks where Greta Garbo and Fred Astaire once strolled.

The Queen Mary, however, was far from a safe retirement. Like all other tourist destinations, she felt the effects of the worldwide economic downturn. In January 2009, one of Save the Queen's partners defaulted, forcing one of its investors, Manhattan-based Garrison Investment Group, to assume control. Garrison, which bought the group at an auction, plans to "maintain the integrity of the asset," says Andy Kwon, vice president. "[We] are still working on sorting out the plan."

New Hope

The Queen Mary's three 70-foot-tall funnels were repainted "Cunard red" in 2008.

Credit: Allan Jordan

Today, Hostmark Hospitality Group, one of the hospitality industry's largest independent management companies, is responsible for its day-to-day operations aboard the historic liner.

"Hostmark is moving aggressively to put the Queen Mary back on the map," says Chris Zappia, director of marketing. "Our marketing focuses on the unique experience the ship offers." In January 2009, more than 34,000 Southern Californians came aboard for free as part of a promotion. With more than 80,000 square feet of meeting space, Zappia is working to attract more associations, religious organizations, and local groups for events and meetings. Each year the Queen Mary also hosts more than 200 weddings, many in a former smoking lounge that was converted to a chapel.

Hostmark has also completed renovating the 314 hotel rooms and eight suites on board. This included replacing the beds, pillows, and curtains, and—in a nod to the 21st century—adding flat-screen TVs and iPod docking stations.

The Queen Mary's majestic lounges are also being spruced up.This includes two of the most distinctive spaces, the cavernous Queen's Salon, formerly the First Class main lounge, which is 96 by 70 feet and nearly 30 feet tall; and the Grand Salon, the former First Class Dining Room, which now hosts a lavish Sunday brunch. "Carpets with more Art Deco-appropriate patterns will be replacing the over-the-top, grotesque colors," Thomas says.

Already benefiting from the refit is the semicircular Observation Bar, where passengers once watched the ship's bow push through the mighty Atlantic, and more recently has been the set for TV shows and movies ranging from "The Aviator" to "Being John Malkovich;" "What Women Want;" "Pearl Harbor;" "He's Just Not That Into You;" and an episode of the TV show "Ghost Whisperer."

The most visible symbols of the liner, and of her restoration, are her three massive funnels that tower nearly 70 feet above the decks and stand out along the Long Beach shoreline. Neglected in the California sun, the emblematic "Cunard red" color scheme faded to a salmon color. Starting with an original paint chip taken from another historic Cunard liner of the 1950s, the color was replicated with environmentally-friendly water-based paint that contains ultra-low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In 2008, the funnels once again became Cunard red.

Much work still needs to be done, from basic maintenance to the formation of a new nonprofit to raise money for future restoration. But the Mary's new operators hope that in eight years, when the ship marks 50 years in California, they can reintroduce her as a historically sensitive attraction with appropriate meeting and entertainment spaces. Then the Queen Mary might be able to fulfill the words of astrologist Lady Mabel Harrison Fortescue, who reportedly predicted in 1934, "She will know her greatest fate when she never sails another mile and never carries another passenger."