Family Fun Aboard the Queen Mary

This summer marked my 15th wedding anniversary, so we took the whole family on a Southern California adventure. We, of course, did Disney (check out my allergy friendly dining guide), then Catalina Island, and also Universal Studios (review coming soon), but I had to schedule a day at the Queen Mary because I really wanted to go, the kids are totally into Ghost Adventures, and because I knew Hubbyman would totally enjoy the history of the ship.

If you find yourself in the LA area, the Queen Mary is close by. It’s docked in Long Beach and so it’s only about a 30-45 minute drive from Anaheim or LA. There are several tours to take, a coffee shop, several gift shops, or just explore on your own with an audio tour.

We took advantage of the Haunted Encounters Passport since it had two different ghost tour (the Haunted Encounters tour and Ghosts & Legends), plus we could do the self-paced audio tour. If you aren’t into ghosts then skip the haunted tours and just do the audio tours or pick one of the other guided tours. However, the Queen Mary is known as a haunted ship so it’s kind of neat to see them recreate some hauntings and tell stories of what others have seen.

(sorry for the grainy photo…we took it of our scared faces in the dark)

Do I believe in ghosts…nah..not really, but it’s a fun experience. If you are easily scared then skip the Haunted Encounters tour…my kids made it through without getting too scared (they are 4 and almost 9); however, my Mother-in-Law and 16 year niece were scared and left the tour half way through. Ghosts & Legends goes deeper into the ship and the guide shares stories (no recreations), but it’s a good way to see a majority of the ship while hearing some of the history from a guide. I think it was my favorite part…I know my 9 year old really enjoyed the Ghosts & Legends.

I could have spent all day wondering around the ship, but I was out voted for lunch. There is a free bus that will take you over to the other side of the maria to the aquarium, shopping, and dining. Love only having to find (and pay for) only one parking spot for the whole day!

The Queen Mary set sale for the first time in May 1936 and made 1001 transatlantic crossings before she retired. She carried movie stars like Bob Hope and Clark Gable and it also served as troopship in World War II and was nicknamed the “Grey Ghost”. There is so much more history that you just have to go visit.