Currently Aboard the Queen Mary

[SSL]

Hey all! I'm here in Long Beach, CA onboard the RMS Queen Mary! It's looking better since my last 'voyage'!

Any fellow CC'ers here?

 

Steve L.

 

QM2 -- Maiden T/A -- April '04

QE2 -- Eastbound T/A -- August '00

Queen Mary, Long Beach -- week-long stay twice a year

Countless Royal Caribbean cruises

 

Upcoming:

QE2 -- Atlantic Isles Idyll, June '08

QE2 -- Final T/A -- October '08

[534]

You can see some improvements on her up-keep? I sure hope so.

 

Please tell my favorite liner hello for me and I'll be seeing her in May :D

 

Enjoy the beautiful Mary,

Betsy

[keelhauled]

Hey all! I'm here in Long Beach, CA onboard the RMS Queen Mary! It's looking better since my last 'voyage'!

Any fellow CC'ers here?

 

Steve L.

 

QM2 -- Maiden T/A -- April '04

QE2 -- Eastbound T/A -- August '00

Queen Mary, Long Beach -- week-long stay twice a year

Countless Royal Caribbean cruises

 

Upcoming:

QE2 -- Atlantic Isles Idyll, June '08

QE2 -- Final T/A -- October '08

Interesting...tell us more! How do you mean "looks better"?

[lannp]

I spent an afternoon visiting last month and being a first visit I have no comparison. I did feel that sections were in a sorry way and I'm glad to hear there will be improvements. It gave me a taste of what the older ships were like.

[SSL]

It looks like they're just sprucing things up a bit. They were doing some painting on the Sun Deck today -- some white paint on some of the superstructure here and there, and they primed and repainted the port side stairs to the Hollywood Deli.

Last night they replaced some of the burnt out green flood lights on the starboard side of the Sun Deck with blue lights -- so now they're half green, and half blue, and give off a general blue-green appearance (it looks nicer than it sounds, though I'm not quite sure why they chose blue lights).

Elsewhere, little changes I've noticed since last time -- check-in was smoother than in the past, the public rooms look a bit cleaner, the floor of the shopping area is very shiny and clean, some new things on the menu of the Promenade Cafe and room service (though they could still use some more vegetarian options), some new security cameras here and there, less birds and bird poop on deck (I guess the new "Don't Feed The Birds" signs are helping!), new tables and chairs outside the Hollywood Deli (teak, maybe?), stuff like that.

Betsy, you may be able to answer this -- do you know what kind of lights were atop the bridge wings until now? I thought they were the typical port/red, green/starboard lights, but I could be remembering wrong. In any case, now there are matching blinking red lights atop each bridge wing.

 

 

The funnels still need painting -- they are really faded!!!

 

 

Steve L.

 

QM2 -- Maiden T/A -- April '04

QE2 -- Eastbound T/A -- August '00

Queen Mary, Long Beach -- week-long stay twice a year

Countless Royal Caribbean cruises

 

Upcoming:

QE2 -- Atlantic Isles Idyll, June '08

QE2 -- Final T/A -- October '08

[534]

Hi Steve,

 

I thought they would be Red and Green also but I checked with a Mary expert and he agreed. Maybe the new owners need to realise they're not just running a hotel but also managing one of the worlds most famous ocean liners and they need to do things right :cool:

 

I was told that her funnels would be painted this year, lets hope! :rolleyes:

 

Have SOOO FUN!!! :D :D

Betsy

[bcscot]

I also really hope that things are improving for the old lady. I developed quite a soft spot for her after my stay onboard last November. I look forward to when I may be able to go back (maybe two nights next time plus the Sunday buffet).

 

Graham.

[534]

I also really hope that things are improving for the old lady. I developed quite a soft spot for her after my stay onboard last November. I look forward to when I may be able to go back (maybe two nights next time plus the Sunday buffet).

 

Graham.

 

Hi Graham,

 

She's quite a gal isn't she :D

I still love the frog idea ;)

Betsy

[bcscot]

Hi Graham,

 

She's quite a gal isn't she :D

I still love the frog idea ;)

Betsy

 

RIVET !:)

[SSL]

Well, I'm back home from another great QM trip. We had reservations for Sir Winston's last night, but didn't end up making it, but I imagine it's just as good as last time we were there.

I was wandering around today before we left, and saw they're still doing some painting -- more brown paint on some of the staircases, even some fresh white paint on some of the lifeboats!! That's the first time I've ever seen them doing anything to them.

There's also some filming going on this week, for a CBS TV show. Lots of flood lights being brought onboard, and I didn't see any filming going on today, so I'm assuming night shoots.

We were in room M019, which is beautiful -- wood-paneled walls, and nice original furniture. Some new furniture on the 'lobby' area' of M Deck, in front of what was the 1st Class Travel Bureau.

A new display on A Deck forward, relating to the 1st Class Pool (pool chairs, etc.) and some engineering equipment.

All the shops are the same -- just as good as always!

Everyone onboard I talked to is looking forward to the QE2 being in L.A. next week.

Couldn't leave without a milkshake from LOFAN!

I'll try and post a few pics tomorrow.

 

 

Steve L.

 

QM2 -- Maiden T/A -- April '04

QE2 -- Eastbound T/A -- August '00

Queen Mary, Long Beach -- week-long stay twice a year

Countless Royal Caribbean cruises

 

Upcoming:

QE2 -- Atlantic Isles Idyll, June '08

QE2 -- Final T/A -- October '08

[bcscot]

Thank you Steve. It is nice to get an update on the Queen Mary.

 

I have often wondered where she fits on the CC boards. She is no longer an ocean going vessel, nor is she part of the Cunard fleet. She does not belong to 'Other Cruise Lines' as she does not cruise & 'Whatever happened to...' does not apply either. I found a couple of discussions about her on 'West Coast Departures' where she technically fits as a floating hotel at a West Coast cruise departure port. We got a few stories going there for a bit, but not for long. I suppose, wherever she fits technically, her heart & history are Cunard, so this seems like an appropriate place to discuss this fine old lady.

 

That reminds me , I have not done anything about supporting the 'Foundation' yet. Can you tell us a bit about it, Betsy & give us the link? Thanks.

 

Graham.

[534]

Hi Graham,

 

I personally think she deserves to have a spot on this board but the folks who monitor our discussions may not. Mary is a Cunard liner no matter who owns her now :D

 

I've attached a link to the Foundation. I do believe the Foundation has changed it's name to "Save The Queen" but it's still the same organization. All proceeds go to Mary's restoration & conservation.

 

Thank you so much for considering to join Graham. Mary needs & deserves all the help we can give her ;)

Betsy

http://www.queenmary.com/index.php?page=jointhecrew

http://www.queenmary.com/pdf/jointhecrew.pdf

[SSL]

Graham,

 

I can understand your wondering about where the Queen Mary fits on the CC pages. She is no longer a Cunard ship, or technically a ship at all for that matter. But I think there is more to her than that, and more to the people who visit the Cunard page of CC.

Cunard, with its ocean liner history, brings to CC not only your typical 'cruise' passengers who use the site to find out which ship they should cruise on, or talk to people who are going to be on the ship the same time as them, etc., but also people who love the Cunard fleet past and present, and the shipping line's part in ocean liner history. People come to the Cunard CC pages even though they've never been onboard a ship in their life, just to talk about Cunard, and their liners throughout time. You may never see a Costa cruiser talking about one of their long-gone ships, unless they actually cruised on it, and then only in passing. Yet Cunard means something more to ship lovers, and their classic liners are just as near and dear to our hearts as any of their current ships. The QE2's retirement is testament to that. Would it mean nearly as much if Disney was retiring the Wonder? I also imagine (and hope) that, long after the QE2 is in Dubai, we'll still be talking about her here.

Which also brings up the fact that, unlike a ship like the former Caronia Saga Ruby, which now belongs to another company (so most talk of her would be relegated to the Saga page), or any of the ocean liners that headed to the breakers and no longer exist, making discussion of them more for a website related to just that, maybe not as much a discussion for the CC much more than in passing, and though the Queen Mary is no longer owned by Cunard, she is not only a part of their lineage, but a 'living' testament, a floating museum filled with Cunard memorabilia, literature, etc. As such, I don't think it inappropriate to talk about the Queen Mary here on the CC Cunard page, and I hope the CC Administrators, Community Managers, and Monitors feel the same!!

Lastly, I feel she is a fitting part of these CC pages if only because she has become a meeting place for people about to embark/disembark one of the Cunard ships when in L.A., as we'll see here next week when QE2 heads to SoCal.

To us Cunard lovers, the Queen Mary lives, and will always be a Cunard ship. We're glad we've got her to visit, note her changes/developments/news just like any other ship, and talk about her here as much as the Queen Mary 2, the QE2, or the Queen Victoria.:)

 

 

With that in mind, here are some pics that demonstrate some recent developments on board;

 

The new (at least since I was there in June '07) pool display on A Deck,

 

 

A pic of the Sun Deck starboard side at night, showing the new blue lights alongside the old green flood lights,

 

 

Staircases being primed and given a new coat of brown paint,

 

 

PS: Thanks also Graham for wanting to know more about the Queen Mary's RMS Foundation, or "Save The Queen", or whatever they're going to end up calling it! It, like the ship, seems in flux right now because of the lease changeover. In any case, it's well worth joining.

Thanks Betsy for supplying the info on the Foundation! BTW, I can't seem to find any pictures of the bridge wing lights -- still researching!

 

PPS: No insult intended to Costa or Disney cruise lines!:D

[bcscot]

OK OK I agree!!!:)

 

Thanks for the photos.

 

Graham.

[534]

Thanks for posting the photos Steve. Maybe I'll have some good ones after my visit to her in May :D Thank you also for being such a great Mary supporter ;)

Betsy

[RAL72]

I visited her in 1997, and had a wonderful day onboard. A big mixture of emotions, but overall just glad that she's still with us.

 

When I returned to the QE2 this past Christmas, for the first time since 1987, I was completely blown away by how much she reminded me of the Queen Mary - particularly the foward lobby on 2 deck (outside our cabin), the cabin corridors in general, and her rounded stern. In 1987 QE2 seemed brand new and modern to me, in 2007, she seemed like a lovely museum piece - and this more than anything made me appreciate the fact that she was still at sea!

[bcscot]

I have not yet been on QM2, but looking at photos of her interiors, I am amazed at how many features from the old Queen Mary they have copied or represented in a newer style, on the new ship.

 

Graham.

[534]

Hi Graham,

 

One of the things about the QM2 that reminded me of Mary was the paneling. The QM2 has many different types of beautiful wood veneer paneling throughout. The stairways also reminded me of Mary's. :D

Betsy

[bcscot]

We also saw similar lamps to those in the Observation Bar & various other Deco style features. It is nice to see how much of the look of the Queen Mary they have tried to capture.

 

Graham.