LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Queen Mary has survived a depression, a world war, the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of sinking. And now, the grand dame of the high seas is about to resume public tours, following a sold-out run of limited tours that began last December and ran through the early part of this year.

What You Need To Know

  • The Queen Mary will resume tours starting Saturday

  • The ocean liner will offer three tours: Glory Days, Steam and Steel and Haunted Encounters

  • Tours last one hour and cost $10

  • Visitors between Saturday and April 19 will receive same-day limited admission to the Promenade Deck

The Queen Mary is inviting the public to “explore the ship from bow to stern, inside and out,” with expert guides, according to its website. Tours for its Glory Days, Steam and Steel and Haunted Encounters begin Saturday. Tickets cost $10.

Glory Days explores the ship’s past, including her construction in England during the depression and her service shuttling 15,000 American soldiers at a time to and from the European battlefield during WWII. Steam and Steel takes guests through the ship’s communications systems and engineering, while Haunted Encounters walks visitors through the ship’s most haunted areas and paranormal hotspots.

Tourists visiting the Queen Mary between Saturday and April 19 will receive same-day limited admission to the Promenade Deck. The ship’s restaurants, coffee shops and bar remain closed but are “opening soon,” according to the ship’s website.

Now in her 86th year, the Queen Mary has been a tourist destination for the past 55 years, though it was first built as the world’s largest luxury ocean liner. After first setting sail across the Atlantic in 1937, carrying celebrities of the day — including Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, Laurel and Hardy, and King Edward VIII of England — it was decommissioned and anchored in the Long Beach harbor in 1967. 

Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the Queen Mary hosted more than 50 events and attracted 360,000 people who spent more than $70 million in Los Angeles County, according to the Long Beach Economic Development Department. But for all her popularity, the Queen Mary’s age caught up with her in the form of decades of deferred maintenance. The city has invested millions in critical repairs for her long-awaited return as one of its top tourist destinations.