At Halloween, I like to be a little scared.
Not fear-for-my-life scared.
Just fast-roller-coaster, Grand-Canyon-Skywalk, scary-movie scared.
The Queen Mary is a well-known haunted destination.
With Halloween approaching, what better time to spend a night on the ship and take the Paranormal Shipwalk? I booked reservations for the night of October 24th, which unbeknownst to me, was a night with a full moon.
The Autumn full moon is sometimes referred to as the “Hunting Moon”, which seemed appropriate, since we were hunting ghosts.
We boarded the Mary at dusk and checked into our stateroom on the B Deck. Our room was on the small side, but with enough modern amenities to be comfortable and enough original elements to harken back in time to the romance of an ocean voyage.
This authentic, but non-operational fan:
In the shower, a choice of fresh or salt water :
My favorite feature of our stateroom was the porthole windows, which gave us a beautiful view of the water as well as downtown Long Beach.
We dropped off our bags and headed topside.
The Halloween Paranormal Shipwalk tour.
We began our tour on the Promenade Deck. The Paranormal Shipwalk focuses on the areas of the ship where people have died or where paranormal happenings have been reported. As it turns out, there are quite a few.
The Most Haunted Stateroom on the ship
Stateroom B340. It is the only room without a room number because people keep stealing the number plate. Many guests reported the stateroom door being opened and closed in the middle of the night, lights going on and off, and waking up to see a dark figure standing at the foot of the bed. Our stateroom was nearby on the same deck, so we were in a good location for ghost hunting.
After being closed for quite a number of years, the Queen Mary reopened the room to overnight guests beginning on the appropriate Friday, the 13th of April 2018. Tarot cards, Ouija board and a crystal ball are accessories in this room, as well as instructions on how to conjure up the urban legend Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror.
My own Halloween flashback
This gave me a frightful flashback of when my sisters and I were little girls and we thought we would call up the vengeful spirit of Bloody Mary on Halloween. We were terrified! Remembering our experiment, I tiptoed quickly past this door.
I talked with one of my sisters as I was writing this, and we agreed we would probably be too scared to do it again, even now. For those of you who are not familiar – Bloody Mary was a nickname ascribed to Mary Tudor, due to her penchant for executing Protestants during her reign.
The Royal Mail Ship The Queen Mary is named in honor of Queen Mary of Teck.
The first class swimming pool – empty of water and closed to the public. People have heard children’s voices, sounds of water splashing and giggles, possibly of a young girl. Many believe they are the ghosts of the three children: Jackie, Daniel and Sarah, who lost their lives onboard the ship.
Our tour guide led us down several flights of dimly lit stairs to the area overlooking Boiler Room #3 – the area supplying steam for the ship’s propulsion. Shadow figures have been seen and disembodied voices have been heard, especially on the undersized catwalks and upper areas of the boiler rooms.
The Queen’s Salon – an elegant setting for an elegant apparition. The Lady in White frequently makes an appearance here. A young, beautiful lady in a white evening gown dancing to music only she hears.
The ship’s most popular spot for Halloween ghost hunters: The Aft Engine Room’s Water Tight Door #13.
A man was crushed to death by this door. The guides will only refer to him as “J.P.” at the request of his family. Some say the 18-year-old was playing a deadly game of chicken or maybe he was trying to make it through the door before it closed and didn’t quite make it. Whatever the circumstance, his presence is often felt onboard the ship, especially in this area.
It was an interesting, fun history lesson on this beautiful ship, even though we didn’t see or photograph any spirits.
Later that night, in our B Deck Stateroom . . .
We were getting ready to go to sleep. The air conditioner was not working in our stateroom. I called the front desk and they told me they sincerely apologized, and would bring us a fan. When we plugged the fan in, it didn’t work. We checked the electrical outlet (even though I’d charged my phone with it earlier in the evening). All seemed to be in order. Again, I called the front desk. Again, they sincerely apologized and said they would send us another fan. When we plugged in that fan, it didn’t work. Rather than call the front desk again, we decided to just open the porthole windows and let the ocean air cool our room.
In the morning, I was wondering about that. Facilities HAD to have checked that second fan. The first one, yes – they probably didn’t check to see if it was working. But the second fan? After we’d called to say the first one didn’t work? Yeah, they checked it.
Draw your own conclusions, but I choose to believe that one of the spirit residents on the ship was having a little fun with us. Because I like to be a little scared, and spirits know that kind of stuff.
Visit the Queen Mary and have your own little bit of haunted Halloween history!
I love it! Great black and white photos too, it really adds to the eeriness of the story. I bet you would have just flipped if your porthole had been found shut in the morning. Do I see a re-do coming but the stay to be had in the haunted room?
Thank you so much! I wouldn’t mind a re-do at all – not sure if I would want to stay in the haunted room, would you?
I really enjoyed reading about the Queen Mary and your experience. What a fantastic destination to spend the night with a Full Moon–eeekkkk!
It was really fun! You should definitely check it out –