Hail to the Queens!!!!
 

I was supposed to stay home and clean house today. HA! I was all set for it until I got a call from Disneyphile. Her company is located in a tall building on Ocean Ave in LB and they were allowing employees on the roof to see the meeting of the Queens - Queen Mary and Queen Mary 2.

So much for cleaning. :evil:

I took a few pics and T took video and we'll both post them later, but seeing these two grant ocean liners in my hometown harbor was breathtaking. The QM2 is longer than the QM but is sooooo much taller it looks completely different. They did a horn salute/salutation to each other right about 12:30. The QM2 showed off to the docked-in-cement QM by doing a slow 360 in the harbor - showing off all of her good sides.

Here's a stock photo of the QM2:



I then drove down to the harbor and got a view from ground level. I've always been in awe of the size of the QM, but the QM2 is GINORMOUS! Even with the impressive size, I still like the beauty of the more-streamlined and classic Queen Mary. It is so much more elegant (or is it Swellegant?).




Anyways, it was a great day of wonderful diversion.

Now, about this house........

I love your way with words!!

I had so many things going through my head, wondering what you meant by 'Queens'. :blush:

Eh, the house work was still there when you got home, wasn't it? Don't worry, it'll still be there if you run out for a while for more fun. :cheers: :D

All of this talk of the Queen Mary, I'd love to go to see the two ships as well as see the Titanic exhibit.

Can't wait to see your photos. :snap:

Well, I can't take credit for the thread title. That was actually written in the sky by a sky writer. Seriously!

The Queen Mary is floating, it ain't docked in cement...

Well that'd have been a cool sight to see!!!

This docked in cement, does this mean it is floating but is surrounded by cement to keep it steady? I have been there but I can't recall.

I can't remember if I've asked on LoT, but, has anyone ever stayed on the ship? I'd love to but then I wonder what else there is to do beside look around the ship?

Cool. :cool:

Sometimes, it really sucks to be landlocked. Landlocked, in a valley, surrounded by semi-arid frozen tundra in a sparsely populated, horrifyingly lackluster and culturally bereft backwoods.

Yup- I needs me a vacation.

That sounds so desolate, so sad!

I think you are right, you need a vacation. :snap:

Actually, MW- NA's pics got me thinking about our cruise next fall, and I grew depressed thinking about how far away it was. I think just about any place that experiences actual winter weather starts to suck about now, especially landlocked ones.

You are right. I know other people, a few that live up north where it had rain since Thanksgiving until just a couple of weeks ago? Well, their moods definitely take on a *sigh* *blah* tone after a while.

And, while fall is some time away, at least you have a cruise planned!! Wahoo! To get back home in time for another winter!{sorry} What type of cruise? I'd love to go on an Alaskan cruise but I guess that is just more winter? :D

We're doing a New England one this time, MW- New York to Nova Scotia.

I heard it was. BUT if it isn't, that would explain me getting seasick in certain areas of the ship.

Yes, it floats in water, but is tightly surrounded by land. There's got to be an analogy in that to someone we know, but I can't think of who.


I didn't see the QM2, but I did see the venerable QM just the other day, while out Whale Whanking (that's a whale-watching swanking) and was able to compare her to a nearby modern cruise ship, the Carnivale's Somethingorother. These modern ships are, well, ugly. They look like office buildings plopped onto a ship base. Just plain-wrap, generic buildings - sort of like how the Disneyland Hotel now looks without any Disneyland Hotel signs.

The Queen Mary, though ... well that's a ship. It looks like a ship, it feels like a ship, it screams nautical royalty. It's for awesome.


I've had so much fun aboard the Queen Mary. I once attended a wedding there, performed by the ship's "captain." After dining and dancing, a bunch of us snuck "backstage," so to speak ... past the old first class indoor swimming pool to the ladders and tiny passageways leading down to the bowels of the ship. Down, down, down we went, crawling through small passageways in our tuxedos and gowns, and walking narrow catwalks above cavernous empty spaces at the bottom of the hull. It was like living the Poseidon Adventure.

We spent New Years Eve there once or twice, parties in each of a dozen ballrooms. One of those years was the year "Titanic" came out, and dozens of guests spontaneously played that theme with us as we tried to escape through locked steerage section gates to save ourselves from drowning, or stoicly bid farewell to our wives and children as they boarded the lifeboats. Heheh. (Then it was off below decks again in tuxes and gowns, because New Years Eve is also the perfect night to play Poseidon Adventure aboard the Queen Mary - which actually "played" the Poseidon in the camp classic film.)

As I recently relayed in the Titanic Exhibit thread ... as learned from a Queen Mary officer: The Titanic Historical Society often has its annual banquet aboard the Queen Mary. One year, a water main broke, and the ballroom hosting all the Titanic geeks filled with three feet of water!


Ah, I've spent Halloweens aboard the Queen Mary, watched summer fireworks aboard the Queen Mary, and generally just hung out aboard the Queen Mary. It's like a time machine to a grand age of travel. And none of the newfangled office-building ships - not even the Queen Mary Two - can hold a candle to that grand dame in Long Beach Harbor, the true royal lady of the seas.

thought this was a tribute thread to Gemini and Sac

:cheers: carry on.

I hope you blow know a good lawyer, slander boy.

Bah. My photos and video will have to come this weekend. Sorry, folks. I didn't get home until late last night, so didn't have time to capture it all and upload it.

I'm working on uploading my photos now.

As far as the QM goes, I've actually managed quite a few events on property as well as stayed at the hotel a few times. The hotel is a novelty and while fun to stay at, is sort of creepy. The rooms are beautiful but only the suites have windows and I felt a bit enclosed. (Of course I gave the suite to the company President.) The walls are beautifully covered in birdseye maple with other beautiful wood complementing it. They rooms are really good sized compared to modern-day cruise ships. All of the fixtures are original to the ship or really authentic reproductions. If you are an Art Deco lover, a stay at the Hotel is a must.

Here are my Queen Photos. I can't get over how hazy it was yesterday after such a glorious weekend!

http://photos.xenarchy.com/thumbnails.php?album=34

In defense of modern ships:
We took this photo ourselves on our honeymoon.

iSm talked about this on our Whanking and he talked about how modern ships don't seem to have decks. Here, here and here are pics of the multi-layered deck.

Weren't there a bunch of ships that looked just like the Queen Mary? I don't know much about ships but I know the Titanic looked pretty much the same.

I do think the QM is very pretty. I guess I'd rather not have a ship that "feels like a ship" when I'm paying luxury prices, and I'd rather not stay in steerage and not be allowed on the decks set aside for rich people. I like modern ships. :D

Cool pics!

Eh, I'm not a fan of cruises but, if I did go on one, I'd prefer the elegance of the QUeen Mary over the city on sea monstrosities.

When I'm on the ship, I couldn't care less what it looks like from the outside. It's all about the luxurious experience on the inside.

I want a tall ship - Arrrrrrgg

Ahhh, yes, A Tall ship would do me fine. My, she was yar.

If you don't what a ship to have the feel of a ship, why be on a ship? Why not just stay in a hotel if you want a hotel?

Don't give me tripe about ports o' call. They have hotels in ports o' call. You don't need to travel by sea to visit ports o' call, and you can only visit ports o' call if you travel by sea. Whether you want ports o' call or inland destinations, hotels are everywhere. So are restaurants, swimming pools, poor theater, and mediocre buffets.

NA~ I love the decor/style of the QM. I think the non window might freak me out. Even being cramped in a 10 X 10 room with 3 sisters, we had a window. That gave some relief.

Now, this suite sounds right up my alley...not up my bank account, though.

I love the ambiance that the old ship gives! I could so dig on dressing in era clothing and enjoying a swanky night at the club there. {keeping away from the little coffee shop...too modern, and not swanky}{why did the movie with the big wire that comes across and slices people up just come to my mind????:eek: }

I love the ride up to the Hearst Castle {well, at least from our trip some years ago} when they play music from the 20's on the bus ride up. If you let it, it will carry you back in time.

Until the kids cry out 'Ma, when do we get there???' :rolleyes:

Ugh, one of the docents at Hearst Castle told me about events up there where everyone dresses in period costume. Sometimes the receptions are held at the (indoor) Neptune Pool [one of the most fascinatingly beautiful settings on earth, if ya ask me]. It's like monthly or quarterly or something. Pfffht, it was ultra-expensive, if I recall.

But even the day-tours of San Simeon are magnificent. Not as classicly deco swank as the ocean liner at Long Beach, but hedonistic swank of unparalled wealthy eccentricity that I'd love to check out again.




So when are the swankings to Queen Mary and Hearst Castle?

I'm up for the Hearst Castle swanking.

I swear we need a Partridge Family Style LoT bus for Swank road trips

Nope

You needs a relocation!

Ooooo! Come on get happy!!! :D

I think the idea is totally awesome. I think we don't need to do the docent events anywhere because so many on here {too many to name} are great with costumes and party planning. Don't you think?

If a group gets together for the Castle, seriously, I can recommend a motel and hotel, the closest.

So, where would we find era themed clothing, Lisa? I know you know.

And I mean besides your closet. :D

We could be the Merry Swanksters.
Of course, acid might be involved.
:D

Hydrochloric?

Works for me.

That ship is made for sneaking around backstage. It is surprisingly easy to do - getting to places where ya ain't supposed to be. It really is a blast to explore.

I didn't say I don't want o have the feel of a ship, I just don't care what it looks like from shore. It's all about the gentle rocking of the ocean, the beauty of being completely surrounded by sea as far as the eye can see, and the utter decadance offered. And yes, it is about the ports of call, spefically the luxury of visiting multiple ports of call in a single trip without worrying at all about transportation. Once you get to onto the ship, that's it, the vacation has begun. No plane flight, no rental car, no fumbling with maps, no getting utterly lost between cities. It's a fabulous thing.