A Deliciously Designed Holiday Season at the Queen Mary

Looking for a deliciously design-flavored excursion this holiday season?

Head down to the Queen Mary in Long Beach for a scrumptious design feast from the past, where luscious luxury meets delectable Art Deco splendor, where rich history meets spicy anecdotes – all with a holiday flavor.

Oh yes, and you can have a tasty meal there, too.

Before I talk about my favorite features of the Divine Queen M, I want to give you a quick bit of history and guide to holiday events onboard and dockside.

The best way to get a palpable sense of the incredible story of the Queen Mary is to take one or more of the many tours offered – including “Ghosts and Legends,” “The Glory Days,” and “The Royal Passport.” The guides (some of whom are the ship's captains) who lead the tours are walking encyclopedias on a luxury vessel that departed from Southampton, England on May 27, 1936, for its maiden voyage across the Atlantic.

They will tell you about the many celebrity passengers (from King Edward VII and Wallis Simpson to Liberace), the designers of the lush interiors, the artists, the murals, and statistics on every imaginable aspect of the floating palace, from the yards of carpet inside to the pounds of fish prepared for the ambrosial meals. (You can also get a whole lot of information just by browsing the Queen Mary’s excellent and extensive website.)

And you can combine your visit with several holiday delights – Sunday champagne brunches in fully decked-out Christmas décor; the “Queen Mary Chill,” complete with Ice Kingdom, Ice Tubing, Ice Skating Rink and more; and the incomparable “New Year’s Eve Aboard the Queen Mary.”

With that as a quick introduction, my two favorite spots are The Verandah Grill, which is now reserved for wedding receptions, and the Grand Salon, where the champagne brunches are served and private events held.

First of all, I should mention that I am a huge fan of Art Deco, and The Queen Mary is believed to be the world’s largest repository of the 1920s-30s design style housed in one place. And although Los Angeles has a rich Art Deco history, there are not many examples of the style’s interiors open to the public left in the city. So, for pure Art Deco fabulousness, The Queen is the place to be.

There is much to admire about The Verandah Grill, but what particularly captivates me about the space are its stunning murals, created by Doris Zinkeisen, the Scottish artist-designer. They depict circus life and various characters, including Queen Mary herself. The room is also carpeted in black, a color choice that was considered scandalous at the time.

The Verandah Grill – which had a strict black-and-white formal wear dress code only – was so popular it was booked way in advance, and passengers were allowed to dine in it only one time per trip.

The Grand Salon is a beautiful space with lovely wood paneling and majestic murals that include a map of a portion of Europe and the United States that shows the ship’s exact location on any one day on its transatlantic route.

Of course, if a tour doesn’t give you quite the full experience you want, you can always stay in one of the beautifully preserved cabins, because the QM is also a hotel. And if you had been one of the passengers on the ship when it was still sailing, you would have had the luxury of having the crew change your carpet in your cabin if you did not fancy its color.

I know this is just an hors d’oeuvre in the delicious design buffet that the Queen Mary has to offer, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for the stately vessel. Bon appetit!