The Queen Mary
The RMS Queen Mary resides in the Port of Long Beach, California. It was permanently docked in 1967 after a long thirty year career on the high seas. The QM as it is known here locally is enduring a promotion this month which made the State Lands Commission seasick.
With the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Queen Mary’s arrival in Long Beach, the RMS Foundation which owns the lease on the historical ship, is offering free admission during the month of April for all Long Beach residents. However, on April 2, the city received a letter from the California State Land Commission claiming the promotion is unfair to Californians who don’t live in the city.
The RMS Foundation in choosing not to rock the boat, (pun intended) is allowing all California residents in for free this month.
Out-of-state visitors will still have to pay. The ship is owned by the city of Long Beach and the attraction is run by the RMS Foundation.
The promotion is part of an effort to draw more people to the Queen Mary. It really is a fascinating piece of history regardless of any loss of admission sales for this month of April. This blogger feels that the whole idea of the 40th anniversary campaign is to make the ship more accessible. I also hope more and more people will discover the Queen Mary and all that there is to do on board. Naturally, California residents will need to show a photo ID to prove their residency. Unfortunately the free admission does not include parking or other ticketed attractions such as the Scorpion Russian Submarine which is docked alongside the QM. If you as a traveler find yourself visiting this port city, be sure and visit the Queen Mary, you’ll be glad you did.
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