Queen Mary 2 Greets Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  02.23.06 | 7:13 PM ET

queenmary2

I just got back from watching the Queen Mary 2 float into Long Beach harbor where, for the first time, it saluted its namesake, the Queen Mary. I’d planned to drive downtown for an up-close view of the sister ships, but that was wishful thinking. I live a couple of miles away from the harbor, and the traffic was backed up as far as I could see.

Instead I walked down to Bluff Park and joined what had to be thousands of others along the rail overlooking the harbor. People ate picnic lunches and sat in beach chairs, watching the world’s largest cruise ship inch its way toward us. Helicopters and blimps circled overhead. Skywriters trailed disappearing messages: “HAIL TO THE QUEENS” and “WELCOME QUEEN MARY 2.” A flotilla of yachts and sailboats zipped around in the water, dwarfed by the QM2. Even the Queen Mary looked small in comparison to its 17-deck sibling.

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At 12:30 p.m., the two ships exchanged horn blasts, and an hour later the QM2 turned around and headed for Mexico. As I crossed the street toward home, I fell into conversation with a 50-something woman.

“Did you see the sisters?” she asked, excited.

I did, I said.

She beamed. “Now,” she said, “you can say you were a part of history.”

Perhaps, I thought. But I was happy just to have taken part in a spectacle. I hadn’t gone more than a half-mile down the road to a place I had visited dozens of times, yet it left me with a bit of a travel buzz. Can’t ask for much more than that on a weekday afternoon.

Tags: Cruising, News and Briefs


2 Comments for Queen Mary 2 Greets Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor

Tambourine Man 02.27.06 | 9:38 PM ET

Thanks for the report, Mike. As you know, I also live in the Long Beach area, but had no desire to go see the QM2. The only place I’d like to see that obscene barge is at the bottom of the ocean.

mike 02.27.06 | 11:33 PM ET

Obscene barge? Bottom of the ocean? That’s harsh Tambourine man, but I guess you must have loved reading about the Mikhail Lermontov.

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