Historic Ocean-liner-turned-hotel Benefits from Shipshape Retrofit
Gracing the waters of Long Beach Harbor, the RMS Queen Mary cruise ship is an international icon and Southern California landmark. A floating city awash in elegance, the Queen Mary is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This “grand lady,” measuring 1,019.5 ft long and measuring 81,237 gross tons, features 365 hotel staterooms, 18 reception salons, several award-winning restaurants, and even a wedding chapel, for the passengers and crew who inhabit her 12 spacious decks.
The ship, having made 1,001 crossings of the Atlantic Ocean between her maiden voyage in 1936 and her decommissioning in 1967, was originally designed with steam coils for heating. Since the vessel was made for operation in the North Atlantic, she depended on Mother Nature for cool air. Vent trunks pulled outside air inside the ship and “punkah units” (nozzles similar to the air vents on airplanes) were used to introduce conditioned air into the cabin and control cabin air temperature.