Queen Mary to partially reopen for tours
Long Beach’s historic Queen Mary will partially reopen to the public — for the first time since its March 2020 closure — for one-hour, guided tours through some areas of the ship this week, the city announced Monday.
“I am thrilled to welcome visitors back onboard the Queen Mary and share the beauty and history of this landmark with our community once again,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in the Monday announcement. “I thank our city staff for their dedication throughout the critical repairs process to ensure the ship’s safety and preservation.”
The limited tours, scheduled to begin Thursday, will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations must be made online and visitors will be required to present a photo ID to board, the announcement said. Tours are expected to fill quickly.
Hosted by a docent, the tours will include areas of the Queen Mary Promenade Deck including the Promenade Shops, Observation Bar, Queen Salon and Royal Salon. Attendees will learn about the ship’s history — both haunted and otherwise, according to the announcement.
The remainder of the Queen Mary — including the Queen Mary Hotel — will remain closed as Long Beach works to finish other critical repairs throughout early 2023. The Queen Mary closed to the public in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But by that point, the World War II-era ship had already fallen into massive disrepair under the management of its previous operators, Urban Commons, prompting its continued closure.
In June, the city approved a contract with Evolution Hospitality to take over the Queen Mary’s operations and oversee the repairs, which included replacing the ship’s boilers, elevators and restrooms; fixing plumbing; and upgrading parking — all deemed necessary to ensure a safe reopening.
The city and Evolution estimated in June that the $2.87 million in repairs would be completed, and the ship would reopen, by October. But when that date came and went, Long Beach pushed back the reopening date again and allocated another $1 million from the city’s Tidelands Area Fund to pay for more repairs.
That $1 million cost will be covered by revenue generated through city-issued permits that allow filming and special events on the ship even while closed, the city says.
Over the summer, Long Beach finally made progress and completed a series of repairs necessary to ensure the Queen Mary’s longterm structural stability and safety. In late November, the city announced it had entered the final stages of critical repairs and anticipated a partial public reopening before the end of the year.
Most recently, the city reinforced and extended the ship’s bulkheads — which prevent water from entering the vessel and greatly improve its overall structural stability — and began to install an automated bilge pump system, a critical safety mechanism necessary to discharge any water that enters the ship.
“We have worked diligently to make critical repairs to help preserve the structural integrity of the ship and make it safer for our many visitors,” Department of Public Works Director Eric Lopez said in the Monday announcement.
The remainder of the repairs — which include the installation of an emergency generator, interior and exterior lighting, other safety equipment, and two boilers and heat exchangers that will allow for hot water onboard — will be completed in early 2023, according Long Beach’s Monday announcement.
Evolution Hospitality, meanwhile, will reopen and manage the day-to-day operations of the Queen Mary Hotel, its food and beverage facilities, entertainment offerings and other ship-related events. No date for those reopenings yet, though Long Beach has repeatedly said all repairs are expected to be completed in early 2023.
“We look forward to soon reopening the historic Queen Mary Hotel,” Evolution Hospitality General Manager John Taffin said in the announcement, “and welcoming guests back to enjoy an overnight stay or experience scenic shoreline views, refreshments and dining at one of our worldclass restaurants.”
More information about the tours is available at longbeach.gov/pages/citynews/queen-mary-reopening-tours/. Long Beach also recently launched a Queen Mary-specific dashboard to keep residents apprised of ongoing and completed repairs onboard.