PLEASE READ THESE NOTES: 1) The pool room has reopened to select tours. Soon after my video published, it went viral, surpassing 1 million views. All the attention sparked Queen Mary management to reopen a section of the lower level of the pool room for tours to see. Management had also expressed that the room will undergo refurbishment once more pressing projects on the ship are completed. 2) At 0:18 I said the Queen Mary held her maiden voyage in March of 1936. I misread my own script, her maiden voyage was in MAY of 1936. I discovered this mistake soon after uploading the video to TH-cam and considered correcting and re-uploading the video, but ultimately decided just to put a notation here in the comments section. 3). The Second Class Pool was destroyed in the early 1970s to make room for the Engine Room Tour lobby, today a 4D theater sits where the second class pool used to be. 4). 2:00 -Both classes had the exact same pool experience: They walked into a clean and freshly scrubbed pool room, all the furniture was arranged where it was supposed to be. The towels were clean, fluffy and warm. The water was freshly filtered just for them. You shouldn't be offended by the fact that the pool room was cleaned between uses. This is what luxury is. Luxury is getting good value for what you pay for (or at least it should be, but that's a whole other conversation). Third class's experience in the pool room was no different than that of first class. 5). Yes, I know, the Queen Mary is a BRITISH ship that served the UK, transporting people to and from the US and Europe. You don't make as many videos, and do as much research about the Queen Mary as I have and not know that much. I have Schizophrenia and each year it gets harder to structure sentences properly. I should have explained the Queen Mary's passenger service better so as not to confuse everyone, but hindsight is 20/20. 6). The reason why the boilers and generators were removed: The Queen Mary was purchased specifically for turning her mechanical spaces into a massive Jaques Custeau Museum of the Sea. Budgets ran short and the museum was only built into 1/3 of the spaces. This was between 1967-1971, nobody was sure an ocean liner would be popular as a museum, because ocean liners were still around and weren't romanticized like they are in this post-James-Cameron-Titanic era. It was assumed none of the visitors would want to climb down into the dirty machinery spaces. They learned they were wrong, but it was too late.
People want outdoor pools on ships but I think indoor pools are nicer, more luxurious and definitely don't let themselves be at the mercy of the weather.
Possibly because most people's experience these days is with cruise ships rather than ocean liners. I'd rather sit outside in the sunny Caribbean skies too... not so much in the mid-Atlantic or England!
Every indoor pool I have ever been in has been loud, echo-y and smelly. I never been in one on a ship, but I have no reason to believe it would be different.
@@tedthurgate I spend a considerable amount of time on ships. It would likely smell worse than regular indoor pools as the steel and paint would attribute to the musty smell. Also due to an indoor pool needing to be low in the ship to act as a balace there is very minimal air flow. Atleast indoor pools at the Y and what not have windows and can get some fresh air in. You could go all out and install air scrubbers but its definetly a lot easier and less expensive to just have an outdoor pool.
It truly makes me sad just how neglected thus beautiful ship was. Rooms that so easily could have been preserved were destroyed due to negligence, and the pool room is probably the saddest example.
I dont think it's fair to say it's "typical" of us. If we didn't buy the Queen Mary, nobody in Britain would have, and Cunard would have allowed the ship to be scrapped. We also purchased the Queen Elizabeth as well, before Cunard re-sold her to Hong Kong shipping magnate CY Tung.
@@AlextheHistorian actually the Canadians wanted it for the historical value ... but the Americans offered more ... we reduced our offer by the cost of the repairs needed on her at the time ...
My grandfather was a master joiner/cabinetmaker from Southampton, England. He worked on the Queen Mary in the 1930s, installing fixtures and fittings and removing them when she became a troop carrier during WW2. I have a bone door handle and a large soap dish from the ship. The soap dish was used in my grandparents' laundry room for as long as I can remember. My grandfather had so many stories about the Southampton docks and all the great ocean liners of the period that he saw and worked aboard. I miss him.
While on vacation in the 90s my grandparents took my uncle and aunt to visit the Queen Mary, however they “broke in” and without a ticket they walked through the ship and accessed areas that aren’t open to the public. In 2015 my uncle took me to visit the ship and we did the same thing, without a ticket we explored the depths of the ship. I will never forget that day. Later in 2020 just before the pandemic he took my sister and I and again without paying for a ticket we explored places we hadn’t before. My uncle passed away in 2022 from Cancer. He was an amazing person and those memories will always have a special place in my heart.
my uncle also passed away from cancer earlier this year. he was the greatest and would do anything for us. Nicest human on earth. And it still hurts. My condolence for the loss of your uncle he sounds amazing
I spent my honeymoon on the Queen Mary and my wife and I explored the ship as well. I have always loved ships and the QM was a bucket list visit for me. We spent three nights aboard the ship at $350 a night back in 2007. The bed was EXTREMELY hard and the TV was crap, but we didn't spend too much of our time in the room other than at night. We went out and had fun while we were there, but we also went on the Ghosts and Legends tour, saw the Titanic Exhibit (my most favorite ship ever), we went to Gameworks where we drank and bowled, we went to Catalina Island, we checked out the Russian sub that was moored at the port bow, and we got hammered in the Observation Bar. We also ended up on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood on our last day there. It was great.
We broke in so many times over the years. From the very very bottom of the boat, all through hidden and no longer used rooms, hidden ladders, hidden hatches,climbed into the pool and we found a way to get to the event center through the back end ( Halloween section). There is so much that most people never see including looking out that hole lol and seeing old boat supplies that haven't been used in decades. Just crazy stuff looking back and definitely dangerous. We went every year for a weekend event and it became a tradition and I started giving tours to friends/ people we met that had never been. It was fun to be honest but man once cameras were installed it became a tad bit harder to avoid the security chase but still doable 😉. Hope you get to carry on the tradition but please be careful
It’s so good to see Long Beach putting so much effort into restoring the Queen Mary. It’s not like it’s previous owners (after retirement) that just let it deteriorate because it was cheap and they wanted it to be a ghost attraction. Thank goodness it is back in the hands of Long Beach!
Lmao they will never get it where it needs to be, shes too far gone ive worked there for 17 years. The city simply does not have the kind of money required
I worked for QMI Restore the Queen, the non-profit currently working with the city on restoration plans on the Queen. We at QMI had contacts with wealthy individuals who offered donations of large sums once plans were hashed out. Believe me, there IS money to restore the ship. Not all at once, it will take about 10 years, but it will happen.
@@justayoutuber1906 A study found that in 2019, the attraction generated nearly 100 million in spending for the local economy. It seems like the only waste of tax dollars was on your education.
Former tour guide (early 1980s) - so glad to hear that the old girl is getting the TLC she needs! And yes, I have spent a LOT of time in the pool area.
Boy Alex did this bring back memories, many different times, friends and I would sneak in the First Class Pool and run around the pool. This was YEARS back. Besides the pool area we would sneak around anyplace that was closed to the public, times were fun before motion alarms were installed --- LOL. If we got kicked off the ship by security, we would find another way aboard again and continue on our adventure. Thanks Alex for all your time and HARD work....................
@@brober Funny thing, at the end of the day when we left, we were covered with mud from crawling the lowest part of the ship and bits of grease from other fun places. When we were older, I had a friend whose dad was a electrician, we would put on his company shirts, hats and carry clipboards and walk around the other parts of the ship that were for employees only. No body stopped to ask what we were doing there. Fun times..... Have a great day.........
So sad! If they just had taken proper care when the first problems emerged, it might just be as beautiful as it was originally to this day. I really hope they are able to restore this stunningly beautiful pool. Thanks for another interesting and fascinating video Alex.
No-one in the hotel business normally has to deal with problems on such an old ship so any action they take is like a one-off poorly thought out scientific experiment. After all, ships were usually scrapped when maintenance costs became unsurmountable.
@normandiebryant6989 True BUT the City of Long Beach should have thought of and created a division that would focus on the maintenance of the ship in conjunction with the hotel.
I agree in the 1970s they should have well established a method of maintenance. But for 40 years they put that responsibility on private corporations who were too greedy to care. As for your economics comment. Queen Mary always turned a profit, but the problem was that the corporations that ran the ship rarely, if ever, reinvested the profits into upgrades or annual maintenance. Simple things like a small leak on the upped decks, worked it's way down into lower decks over the course of decades creating much larger issues that were still ignored. Queen Mary's annual maintenance is $5 million. She can more than cover that. But the issue is fixing the 30 years of neglect.
I own an 1890 worker’s cottage in the Chicago area. It’s simple, by Victorian standards, but complex by modern day standards, and contractors frequently run out of here in terror & frustration after not being able to figure out how to fix items like a non-working hallway light or refinish my 133-yr old oak floors. (You can’t refinish them, but you can buff them & restain) What I’m trying to say is: Good luck, Queen Mary Stewards. May you find skilled artisans who don’t run away in tears. I gave up & no one but me is allowed to work on my house because no one loves it like I do. Gimme a call if you need help with that pool. Neither ghosts nor historic places scare me, so that’s a plus.
Regina put out an amazing buffer in the 1940s. Really easy to use and it has attachments! I sanded, stained and buffed our hardwoods back in the 70s. I was 12 at the time and it wasn't the least bit finicky. My mother gave it to my brother and he broke it so I will need to find another one. 😢
I worked on the Queen Mary '88-'91. I took a short cut through the pool to get to the Accounting Dept ONE time. I remember thinking to myself, 'wow I am all alone walking through the beautiful pool on the Queen Mary, how blessed am I?' Then out of nowhere I had an overwhelming feeling that I was not alone. The fear that came over me got stuck in my throat and my stomach felt like the bottom had dropped out. My heart was pounding my whole became clammy as the hair stood up on my arms in the back of my neck. I suddenly started walking faster and faster until I was running through the pool. Working on the Queen Mary I often felt spirits, walking along the gangway I could feel someone or something behind me. I never went to the pool by myself again. It's truly a beautiful magical place. I still live near the Queen Mary I see it everyday. Nice video ⚓♥️
My GF and I separated from the tour on purpose to take a selfie with the pool on the background. We take a selfie then we begin to walk back to catch up. My GF behind me trips and falls. I begin to laugh. I then feel a shin across my legs. I fall forward onto my torso. We get up like wtf happened. We continue to catch up then she points to the back of my shirt. It had on slash and now torn
Indoor pools, especially when installed on above ground floors are always a constant source of problems and need a lot of maintenance. Given the nearly 100 year old structure of the QM, and the fact that it was a seagoing vessel for much of its life, it’s understandable that the pool area has severely deteriorated. A thorough rebuilding is needed just to restore its cosmetic appearance. Hopefully at some point, funds and craftsmen can be found to do just that.
I agree, that's one of the things I try to tell people, that it is amazing she has lasted this long as is structurally in as good of shape as she is despite 30 years of neglect. She was just built THAT well.
I wish Disney didn't feel the need to add the special effects to the pool that necessitated drilling through the glazed brick. When various operators "Violate" the original integrity of the Queen Mary, it feels to me like they're ruining a piece of art. Excellent video, Alex!
@@angeltomlinson6354 If you decide who to trust based on what others think, and not on whether or not the individual or group in question is actually trustworthy, you're only going to make your life more difficult than it needs to be. And so, if you seriously believe that Fox News is the only group claiming Disney is untrustworthy, then I have a bridge to sell to you. And also, what's the point of making it political?
In '85 my friend and I visited the Queen Mary. She is a special ship not only for her beauty but for her historic career as one of the premier ocean liners. I am very happy to hear that she is enjoying a renewed interest in her. Her WW2 service is fascinating as well, able to transport 15,000 soldiers and their equipment per crossing. Incredible!
I read that the 1st class pool was drained during WW2 and had standee-bunks stacked 6 high! Apparently, those soldiers teetering on the top bunks developed a hobby of prizing the mother-of-pearl tiles off the ceiling with pocket knives. The article didn't outline how they were replaced after the war - maybe the original tile suppliers from the '30s were still around in the late '40s?
Yes the information you read was correct. Only a few pieces were pried loose, very small. And there are still empty spaces up there to this day. Again it's hardly noticeable unless you're specifically looking for it.
@@visionist7 Actually, while down in the engine room area we hung back and let the tour go on. In '85 apparently things were more relaxed than today and no one came looking for us. So we missed the rest of the tour but climbed all over the engineering spaces. We saw where the driveshafts, which were about three feet in diameter, went through the hull. We saw the steering pistons and tiller for the rudder which were massive and amazing. Although we missed the rest of the tour we saw what I really wanted to see. The things that made the ship move, turn and operate.
@@thejerseyj5479 that reminds me of when me and my mum visited HMS Belfast in 2000. We separated from the main group and went through a door into the officer's wardroom, the fanciest room on the ship. It was empty of people and we hung out there for a good while and nobody came in to tell us off for accessing a private party only area. I still remember that ship and her many compartments & decks we explored. Never been back I wonder what's changed.
The internal design has such a amazing vibe & aesthetic. When empty it gives off this liminal space aura, even if it wasn't fully empty, it just has that perfect design and feel to it. I could imagine being there with only a few people and still having that interesting liminal space type feel to it all.
Thanks for the interesting video. Brought back many memories of swimming in it when we crossed the Atlantic in 1964. It was such a beautiful pool and a pleasure to swim in as an 11 year old.
Back in the 1990s I did volunteer work in the ham radio room on the upper deck and, on several occasions, took walks around the ship and even back then you could tell there was a bit of a problem with the pool area. Down in the engineering section, there is still at least one tubro generator that is still in operation. When all the renovations are done I hope they leave the ham radio room in place. The W6RO station is very well known world wide, it would be a shame to remove that.
@XJ290 I spent 3 years volunteering there, including at a time when they did the Gray Ghost summer. We even had Charles and Dianna there at the time, good times great contacts from all over the world.
@@mysticwolf2842 Wow!!!! That’s an incredible experience my friend!! I have since moved from CA over to the East coast. If your still hamming I’ll drop my call sign. If not, I’m really just so happy to see the QM has such a great group of people that love her!
I really hope they can open up the swimming pool again in the near future. I’ve always wanted to go inside of there but thought it was too dangerous to do so. I’m pretty sure they could repair all of the stuff but maybe instead of using water they could use lights to illuminate the blue water effect. I personally think it looks so much better.
One possible way to open the pool again would be to construct a one piece reinforced fiberglass pool section that entails the part of the pool holding the water. Remove the bad supports from below and put in steel I-beams under the new fiberglass pool. This would likely mean removing the original pool to replace it with the fiberglass one piece pool.
I worked in John Brown’s Shipyard when the QE2 was being built. I visited The Queen Mary around 1990 and took the tour which was spectacular. In the photos taken during construction I looked for faces that had started their career at that time and were finishing their career designing/building The QE2 As a Draughtsman I know they would have designed it properly. I have a tabletop book on the QM complete with technical drawings. I enjoyed this insight. Thanks for posting
The pool just needs 4 things done to have it open to the public again and even used for it's intended purpose as an actual swimming pool - 1) a proper and complete major refurbishment and repair followed by 2) proper ongoing maintenance, 3) proper ongoing maintenance, 4) and more proper ongoing maintenance! It's a bloody shame bordering on a crime that it's been allowed to deteriorate to the abysmal and completely unusable condition that it's in now!😠😠😠
It would also most likely need to be fitted with modern filtration systems and kept up to modern safty regulations. But I suppose that counts as part of refurbishing
Unfortunately old things become hard and therefore costly to maintain despite sometimes there being volunteers willing to work for free. For example, look at your local heritage train museum and despite all the very talented volunteers, how many trains and carriages are still rotting because they can't get to them fast enough? It takes money, and that either requires a very large donation or a way to get money back. This ship is a tourist oddity but not a tourist destination and while it's used, which is good, the expenses to keep it safe are phenomenal. Can it be done? Possibly, but often it's a race against time as the longer something is left the most expensive it is to repair it.
Great to see a definitive report and breakdown of the pool situation… especially after this great deal of silence on the room. Again as others have stated, despite the fact the pool tiles are slowly shattering and sagging, the room structure itself is still in immaculate condition for what it’s been through and it’s age. This just proves that they don’t make things the way they used to! This should be the go-to video for anyone with questions regarding the pool. Though it’ll take a while for the tank to be replaced and usable, they should at least brighten the place up!
Hi Alex, I'm so happy I found your channel - I love learning about the old ocean liners. My aunt worked on the QE2 for many years. Also wanted to say well done for being ao upfront regarding your schizophrenia, it takes a lot of courage. For what it's worth there's nothing wrong with your sentence structure, you are very relaxing to listen to. I have Asperger's along with other MH issues and it's rare I find a channel that I can listen to a lot as I'm super sensitive to certain noises and also the tone of a narrator's voice, but I already know I could listen to your vids all day (just subscribed 😊). You also provide such detailed and interesting information. Thanks for all your hard work!
My great uncle was a welder on the Queen back in Clydebank. I also had two great aunts who where stewardesses on the Maiden Voyage. I have toured the Queen many times & have a few unexplained experiences at the First Class pool. I highly recommend the Ghost Tour of the Queen, if still offered. Thank you for this informative/historical info!
Wow that's amazing! What kinds of Paranormal experiences did you have? It reminded me of an episode from Unsolved Mysteries that talked about the ship and experiences that former and or current crew members had in and around the pool area on the ship.
Really sad that Disney contributed to the decay of this amazing ship. I visited when the Spruce Goose was also there and its sad to see its condition now 😢 Hopefully they will find the money and get this repaired and looking beautiful again.
Alex, your videos are great. Don’t let any haters drag you down. I’ve learned so much about this ship that all just started as a passing interest but took off once I started watching your videos.
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. It can be really stressing to see so many negative comments, but the positive ones always far outnumber them.
I've seen the pool room twice and the 2nd time I got the tour guide to take us through the changing rooms, because I heard they were haunted. The whole tour group got involved and we all walked though the dressing rooms looking for cold spots. It was a fun tour... The pool was empty of water both times and the lighting was not that great, so this made the changing rooms real spooky. Glad I got to see the pool area up close. Its a memory I'll never forget. Its a wonderful ship to visit and explore!
Thats because the edge of the walkways poses a tripping hazard and they don't want you to trip over the railing and fall into the empty pool. But the decks can still support weight, they're made of inch thick steel with steel webbing.
So it was removed steel that caused the warping!? And no structural integrity has been compromised? Well. THAT’S a relief. And actually strengthens the ship’s credibility as a stable…you know, masterpiece. I haven’t heard ANY naysayers in a good long while. But I do have friends who are afraid to go aboard because they are claustrophobic. All the more credibility to the clean, beautiful, bright, happy, STRUCTURALLY SOUND, spacious Mary. This video is gold.
The context means everything. Only the steel plates are warping, not the webbing, or the structural girders. Just the plates. The structure does not require the plates to be installed for it to remain sound. That's how good engineering works. It would be dumb to design a ship that is structurally crippled if the floor plates develope a few bumps 1 inch high or low. And the rivets that hold the deck plates to the girders are designed to stretch. The structure is sound.
What a beautiful grand old lady - the way the light glitters on the ceiling of that pool room is astonishing. I'm glad they saving the pool room is on the docket, I just hope that the funds can be procured to restore it faithfully to it's original beauty.
Thanks Alex for your Video on the Queen Mary's 1st Class pool room they will need more volunteers to help renovate & restore the pool I bet it will look amazing when it's restored to how it was when it was new God Bless everyone who are working with the historians to renovate this historic Ship.
That was wonderful! Thanks so much for explaining the situation with the pool. I look forward to the day we can visit the ship and take a tour of a beautifully restored 1st class pool room!
I am involved with a group that is working on a proposition to restore at least 1 boiler room and 1 generator room (it is ridiculously expensive and unnecessary to restore all the rooms down there). We want to turn the restored power train spaces into a big attraction on the ship.
If you are ever near Long Beach…definitely worth visiting or better, staying overnight in the Queen Mary. It is a bit past its glory, but still amazing and parts are super creepy…you can walk through the huge winding engine rooms, and when we did…it was just us there and spooked the kids to the point they asked to leave the engine area.
Love your videos on The Queen. Your passion for the ship shines through in each video! From one ship guy to another thanks for all of the info and effort you put into your work, it’s really appreciated! I hope to visit The Queen someday, sooner than later!
My parents lived in Long Beach and would frequent the queen Mary. When they made me and brother they took us on a ghost tour of the ship and we saw the pool and engine room. Thank you for bringing back some memories!
In late 2000 a friend of mine was staying on the ship for a business conference and invited me to go ghost hunting with him. There were a bunch of areas that were left open because they were preparing for Halloween, so we snuck into some restricted areas that were usually closed to the public. I remember seeing a ghostly head in a red bathing cap swim across the top of this empty pool as we walked through.
See, now THIS is a ghost story I can believe. None of that nonsense about the fictitious "Jackie" girl that Disney made up. This is a story that sounds like an actual paranormal experience.
@Martys-4x4 You don't know that. A few years ago scientists discovered that particles of dark matter can move in and out of our dimension, they saw it during an experiment. Now they theorize that dark matter is everywhere all over our world and universe, somehow connected to the matter that remains in our dimension. How do we know for sure if after we die, the dark matter that was in our place, continues on, and goes in and out of our dimension? This is a whole new field of study that is currently being investigated right now. It's understandable if you want to reserve judgement until there is definitive proof. But saying that ghosts don't exist isn't reserving judgement.
@@AlextheHistorian Yeah, I mean, it's easy to say ghosts don't exist if he hasn't encountered any, but when the ghost of my best friend's brother comes to me and tells me his funeral is going to be on Thursday, and I tell her and she says "I don't know, the family's been fighting over what day to have it, first it was going to be Friday, then Sunday. I'll make some calls and find out," and then 30 minutes later I get a text from her saying "It's on Thursday" ... at that point ghosts seem pretty fekking real. I mean, sure there's a 1 in 7 chance of guessing right, but it was a little too on the nose for me to think it was a coincidence. Especially since that's not the only information he was right about.
I knew someone who worked on the Queen Mary at night. At his orientation, he was told not to be alarmed at the floating ghost male head that would sometimes appear. That sealed it for me! If the employer is telling employees about the ghosts, has to be legite.
@@SetCCC I spent the night there once with my sister's friends for her birthday, and we brought a Ouija board. We had a line of ghosts outside the door waiting to talk to us. One was a man who had died only a year or two before who was in his early 20's. He told us that there are a few portals inside the ship, and that the ship is a tourist attraction for ghosts. He was visiting because his High School prom was held there and it had nice memories for him. So it's not even just the ghosts of people who died there, it's freaking everyone from everywhere from all time periods. The ship is VERY haunted!
I visited the Queen Mary a couple of times in the 70's and 80's. Glad to see they are doing what's necessary to keep her together and restoring what needs fixing. I fondly remember trying to make the posted guards laugh (we did, and felt bad when he got in trouble), the tour guides dressed in period costumes, and the singers doing songs. My other favorite floating museum is the USS HORNET docked in Alameda, CA.
Alex, this video is a good synopsis of the various problems with the pool. I have been in the cofferdam under the pool on a few occasions in the 1990s and walked around the perimeter of the tank on D deck and the exterior framing looked to still be in excellent condition as well as the framing and gussets supporting the bottom of the cofferdam where it sits on top of FR 212 and FR 222. I have walked on the pool tank floor (deep and shallow areas) and the floor did not give an impression of flexing or collapsing... of course that was 20 years ago, but there hasn't been water in the pool since shortly after Unsolved Mysteries was filmed aboard. The filled pool is visible behind host Robert Stack. Agree, this will mostly be cosmetic work to deal with distorted metal plates and mortar / tile damage, but this will still be an expensive task. I am also of the belief the pool should be available for the hotel guests ASAP, even though this will require raising the shallow end floor, and bring the water level closer to the deck. Funny thing I can remember as a kid wandering around the QM in 1983 (and getting lost many times) was reaching the closed entrance door to the pool on R deck and smelling chlorine of a swimming pool, but never seeing it / figuring out how to get to it. First time I got into the pool area (and did a walk through of the changing area when it was still in decent shape) was in 1995. Fortunately I recorded a video of this, since the doors were removed and the entire changing area was pretty wrecked the most recent times I got into there, late at night in 2015 and 2017.
When you went inside the cofferdam, did you see the lumber beams as shown in the video? Were they terribly rotten? You said the steel webbing on D deck was still there and not distorted, but did you see any evidence of warping or sagging steel? Since it was 20 years ago when you were last walking exploring those areas, it's possible since then the corrosion was too much and the pool started distorting afterward. But I personally haven't seen the cofferdam from D Deck or walked around the pool tank.
Thanks for the update Alex! I always appreciate the accurate information you have on the Queen Mary. Maybe one day the pool can be restored, hopefully!
This is an extremely informative and useful video. I have crawled through that cofferdam myself, and thought I knew quite a bit of this story, but you really added quite a lot, and the diagrams were very helpful. Many thanks, and my compliments on your very good work here!
I think they should definitely repair and restore the pool room. There doesn't even need to be water in the pool once it's finished. As long as it's kept clean and maintained it will make visitors happy, especially since they won't let anyone swim in it anyway. I can't help but to feel a bit nostalgic after seeing the pictures of the ship's guests so many decades ago. What a blast that must've been to zoom down the little slide into the water.
It really was a beautiful room, and I'm glad the damage to it is just cosmetic, severe as it may be. I have a fun chemistry fact about pool water. Freshly chlorinated fresh water has no smell at all. The 'chlorine smell' is actually the result of the reaction of chlorine and urea. If a pool has a smell I'm not swimming in it lol!
Gotta avoid those Chloramines, indicator of overworked chlorine. You can’t smell clean chlorine water until about 20 ppm and at that point you’re starting to bleach hair & clothing. With regular pools & tubs running 2-10 ppm of chlorine.
Quick note: things like bulkheads are generally structural on steel ships. Ships aren’t built like buildings, because they have to deal with lots of loading conditions that buildings never do. That said, vertical loads from weight generally aren’t even close to the governing load condition for a ship, so given that QM is in a calm harbor and isn’t subject to seaway loads, if I had to make a SWAG, I’d guess that you are correct that the hole in the bulkhead is unlikely to be causing the issue.
Much worse problems are found on ships that are kept in dry dock for too long as they no longer have the compressive effect of the water on their hulls and the support of the water (from underneath). This means that the hulls slowly expand, deform and crack open. It's odd to think about but very obvious once realised.
Very interesting! I toured the pool room the first time I visited the Queen Mary, back in 1982. I remember that it was looking a bit shabby and in need of repair, but the tiles were beautiful. It's a great example of that Art Deco design which is all over the ship. It would be great to see it open again, at least the top balcony.
The pool area looks so creepy , went to Long Beach in 2008 while on holidays as an added bonus there happened to be a Star Trek exhibition in the dome building next to the Queen Mary.
that was a vivid explanation, and nicely visualized, thanks. i was once again peeking through that pool door a few weeks ago, hope to make it inside someday
Great research Alex! Thank you for clearing that up. I always wondered what the full story was. The short version never sufficed. One of the pillars, on the left hand side facing the slide is actually a service passage with a terrifying ladder inside that employees would use to move between decks. As much as I wanted to climb it just to say that I had, I never did. And I can't imagine what it must have been like when the ship was rolling away at sea. Nope. No thanks.
My wife and I were married in the chapel on the QM in 95 and the reception in the grand salon - it was in wonderful shape and our 30's themed wedding was great. See the ship, have dinner in the Winston if it's still available, and take the tours - it keeps the old girl vital.
Well done Alex, another interesting update on this grand old lady! I recently returned from a Cruise on the QM2 in June, I hope some time soon you will be invited to do talks and presentations to the passengers, this I’m sure will be an overwhelming success. Keep up the good work. Thanks Trevor🇺🇸🇬🇧
Well done video. I saw the pool a few years ago. It was closed, but had blue water reflecting effects you could see from the outside. I was there with my friend's young son, employees told him a ghost haunts the room.
I had the privilege of being able to take a tour in the Queen Mary's first class swimming pool 13 years ago the first time I visited the ship, it was amazing
First time I was on Queen Mary was in the 70s. I’ve always been fascinated by the pool room. It was kind of eerie to me. Pool of water in an empty room. Sad that it has been off limits in recent years. Hoping that the city will take care of her now.
From now on, whenever someone asks me about QM's swimming pool, I am just going to refer them to this video! Your video gets right to the REAL "NO BS" truth about the condition of the pool and the reasons why it is in the condition it is in today! This is very refreshing to have, because up until this, the internet/social media circles have been giving countless stories full of (fill in the blank) on pool. The only correction to the information you gave was the matter of the condition being stabilized... the pool tank corrosion continues on, although it has significantly slowed down over the years. However, what has been added to the equation is the constant (and improper) changing of the ship's trim and ballast. Currently, the ship is hogging, meaning that the bow and stern have more trim than the midships section (where the pool is located). This improper trimming is causing some stress to the deck plates and bulkheads in/around the pool location, which has caused buckling and additional ceramic tiles to come loose. Until the ship is properly trimmed and ballasted, there will continue to be further damage to the pool area (tiles mainly). If/when the City of Long Beach and Evolution Hospitality (operators of the ship) decide to rebuild/restore the pool and surrounding area, a major decision will have to be made... Functional pool for hotel guests? OR Cosmetic recreation ONLY? The hotel REALLY REALLY REALLY needs a pool to offer guests to use! This has been understood since the hotel opened in 1973. However, the pool's current tank design and depth made it legally unusable for guests and the public. It would be possible to build a new tank, making it conform to current regulations. BUT this will change the visual appearance of the pool and the water's surface, which would be quite different from how it originally appeared. Personally, I would be fine with the modifications and would make the pool available to hotel guests!
My dad slept in the pool /pool room on the way back from Europe after wwii , they would rotate between there and other areas including outside on the deck as the ship was filled way over normal capacity while being a troop transport.
Cool! I remember visiting before when there was water still and after when there was fog! If I remember correctly you can see the huge propellers from somewhere too. Very nicely done!
I remember doing the tour that lead through the pool room and they had the haunted effects in there. It was pretty cool. It'd be great if they can get a lot of these things on the ship restored.
Thanks for this video! I'm fairly certain I got to tour the pool room when I was a kid - sometime around 96-98. It's sad to see what it has become, and I hope they'll be able to restore it someday.
I've worked in the pool industry for the last 20 years. Salt water in a pool will permanently damage all metal it touches if there are no zinc anodes plumbed somewhere in the lines. I've seen heaters with top dollar cupro nickel heat exchangers get completely rotted out in 3 months in a regular chlorine pool if the alkalinity and ph levels aren't balanced.
Nobody is going to mention, that this pool and I am not sure if the rooms had a appearance in Quantum Leap? Did nobody watch it except for me? I remember watching that episode, and being amazed at the beauty of the pool, it looked small, but the finishings and art deco design was amazing. I agree with the others, that if the repairs were done properly, when they were found. This piece of history would still be shining as the day it was opened for people to swim. A comment was made about people wanting outdoor pools. But I agree with them, that indoor pools have a image, a presence, a elegant way that makes, at least me feel. To dig a hole in the ground, no matter how fancy and decorative it is made. (Yes, a grotto along with rocks, plants and other things to accompany the pool, makes a grand appearance. Butt, after all that, you have not installed a pool. You have redesigned your backyard. But, when these abandoned homes are documented. Then when they crest a corner, and a indoor pool appears frame by frame. I think, coffer dam, especially if the pool isn’t filled with living organisms, or destroyed. There are several one that I can’t imagine walking through someone’s home and then seeing something that beautiful and amazing, glistening in the artificial lights, begging for me to jump in. There is a few, that I could only imagine that whispered in the owner’s and to their visitor’s ears. Slide on in, bring a drink, and relax. These weren’t small indoor pools either. They were huge, but they had a presence. A presents that was relaxing, and calming. This pool was one of those pools where I could imagine going for a late night swim, and sliding into the pool, and taking several slow laps and laying back and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Modern day, I could imagine if a mono stereo, with good enough components was placed in the right spot, and maybe several places, to produce different effects. That the music would bounce around filling the pool with low bass. Giving a vibe that there could be someone who would walk in on somebody’s vibe session, and if noticed, say hi, and they would be back. Maybe, a couple could go for a swim, and be refreshed for eternity. The mids and high’s would be need also. Because they would not be the vibe base. The mids and highs would be the thing that would transport me to places where only I could go. It is the language that is only what certain people have, inside of them. It’s their happy place. Slide
A very concise, well researched and easy to understand video for all. Thank you for some great content. I really hope you're right. Her and what's left of the SS United States need to be preserved at all costs.
Your documentaries are always brilliant. I was in the pool room in the 1980s on a haunted ship tour. I think it was the first time it had been made public since docked at Long Beach. I have sailed on QM2 several times. A documentary on QM2 pools would be interesting?
@@AlextheHistorian A contrasting engineering analysis of both ships would be historic. Identify the tremendous engineering advances that have taken place.
I would say that QM2's pools - really the 12 deck Pavillion pool - is becoming historic; much like the Queen Mary's pool would have been when she was in mid-career (say 1950s). For now, the main interest for this audience would be the differences and the reasons for those differences.@@AlextheHistorian
MY G D I HEARD ABOUT THIS COLLAPSING BEFORE AND THE TILES COMING OFF BUT SEEING IT IN THIS VIDEO ITS A DISGRACE AND ABUSE... NOT TAKING CARE OF LONG BEACH PROPERTY AND WE THE PEOPLE WHO DO OWN THE QUEEN MARY THAT WAS BOUGHT FOR US IN 1967 AS A GIFT.. VERY HAPPY THE REST OF THE QUEEN MARY IS COMING ALIVE ,,MY FAMILY AND I HAVE SEEN IT, IT IS AWSOME ,,GREAT WORK TO ALL !!! WE CANT WAIT TO STAY ABOARD AGAIN,,.. CHEERS,,ALEX..
back in the early 2000's my family and I were on a cruise heading up to Alaska and along the trip we hit rough seas and so many of the passengers including me were sick AF to the point we actually had to sleep on chairs among various decks along the middle of the ship. The pools throughout the ship were literally sloshing back and fourth so violently that in between waves the pool looked nearly empty it was so crazy! Made for some pretty cool pictures but not fun to experience the more extreme conditions especially when you can't leave the ship.
Its an awesome ship, having looking around is number times back in 1990s (first time I visited it, it was operating with tourist tours along with the Spruce Goose). Its a pity they hacked out a lot of the engineering spaces (for an exhibit that never happened!), as visiting those spaces (which don't normally see on these large ship) would have been really interesting.
Is it known which company made the pool tiles originally? I wonder if they're still in business? I do know there are still a few Victorian tile factories operating in the UK which still make them traditionally (in the USA I have no idea!)
I personally don't know who manufactured them, but the ship still has thousands of original blueprints and manufacturers drawings in her archives. I would not be surprised if they still had original design drawings of the tiles, labeled by the manufacturer.
Excellent video, Alex. The quality is beyond excellent. I have one question why don't they restore the 1st Class Pool to its 1936 glory. So it can be toured on tours. And Restore the 2nd class pool for hotel guests to use?.
Thank you! Well like I mentioned in the video, restoring the room would be very expensive, one of the most expensive projects aboard the entire ship. And it would require hiring master craftsman. Nobody has that kind of money just lying around.
I suppose that would make sense because the 2nd class pool was built the same way at the first class pool. First the Cofferdam then the pool tank then the room itseelf.
My Father went to England on the Queen Mary. He had said that he had a bunk in the first class pool. He was on the queen when it hit the British ship and split it in half. Great video, Thanks
Hello, My company did technical support on the Queen Mary for over a decade and we were involved in many aspects on the ship. The pool transition from original to a ghost attraction was one thing. Let's play a game and just assume that there is no structural damage in the pool room. The pool holds water and everything is safe. Well, the pool still legally can't be filled. Long Beach requires that all pools have a shallow end. The QM pool does not. That was the original reason that the pool was not used. It would have been a more convincing attraction with water... Anyways., Great video. Thank you for your hard work. Joel
I personally find it sad that they let motorbikes in that room, I don’t even know who would let that happen.. I hope the person responsible got punished.
@duhjuh If people just walking through the room is enough to loosen tiles from the floor, then I'm sure spinning wheels, a 150 pound bike plus it's rider is enough to cause damage as well. There's also the principle of the matter, this ship is historic, it's a piece of world heritage, and it's history and construction have made contributions to our society in ways most people can't even fathom. To run a motorized bike through this museum like it's some Las Vegas stage performance is just wrong on so many levels. You might as well drive one of those bikes through a war memorial.
Well done Alex. You are obviously a master of restraint. I think the comment by @duhjuh is probably..... Well, I'm sure you can guess what I was going to say - speechless! I don't know how you do things over there, but aren't legions of capable volunteers available to help restore the ship, or does US red tape and bureaucracy frustrate this? By the way, a good technically plausible presentation about the pool - appreciated.@@AlextheHistorian
There are hundreds of locals who have expressed interest in volunteering to help restore the ship. But red tape stands in the way, the City of Long Beach claims it would be very difficult to insure each volunteer. I don't know how true that is, but that's the story they're sticking with.
The First Class Pool has been off limits for decades. I had a private tour and got to see it, and I did cartwheels in the bottom of it, and then followed the footprints into the dressing room.
Love this! I got to stay for a few days back in 2020 right before they locked down. I often wondered if they’d do more upgrades and I’m thankful to have found this video.
Well the pool room was used as a dormitory for soldiers at the time. The pool was decked-over, and the open space above the pool as well, so nobody could have fallen from any tall heights.
Interesting to see the pool 👍. Visited in 2019. Such a wonderful ship that we could tell then needed some TLC. So glad she is receiving some. We did the engine room tour. As a Enginner and 🇬🇧 it was sacrilege to see some of the damage. Ok the boilers had to come out and there was a lot of asbestos but ripping out one of the engine rooms😢. Luckily one still exists and it’s a work of art.
I am fascinated that YOU are able to get so much information, when most people who work for big companies aren't very forthcoming on the behind the scenes stuff. I visited the QM in the late 80's-early 90's 90's when it was still accompanied by the Spruce Goose. I stayed there as a guest in the early 2000's. I thought it was neat. I love classic ships.
PLEASE READ THESE NOTES:
1) The pool room has reopened to select tours. Soon after my video published, it went viral, surpassing 1 million views. All the attention sparked Queen Mary management to reopen a section of the lower level of the pool room for tours to see. Management had also expressed that the room will undergo refurbishment once more pressing projects on the ship are completed.
2) At 0:18 I said the Queen Mary held her maiden voyage in March of 1936. I misread my own script, her maiden voyage was in MAY of 1936. I discovered this mistake soon after uploading the video to TH-cam and considered correcting and re-uploading the video, but ultimately decided just to put a notation here in the comments section.
3). The Second Class Pool was destroyed in the early 1970s to make room for the Engine Room Tour lobby, today a 4D theater sits where the second class pool used to be.
4). 2:00 -Both classes had the exact same pool experience: They walked into a clean and freshly scrubbed pool room, all the furniture was arranged where it was supposed to be. The towels were clean, fluffy and warm. The water was freshly filtered just for them. You shouldn't be offended by the fact that the pool room was cleaned between uses. This is what luxury is. Luxury is getting good value for what you pay for (or at least it should be, but that's a whole other conversation). Third class's experience in the pool room was no different than that of first class.
5). Yes, I know, the Queen Mary is a BRITISH ship that served the UK, transporting people to and from the US and Europe. You don't make as many videos, and do as much research about the Queen Mary as I have and not know that much. I have Schizophrenia and each year it gets harder to structure sentences properly. I should have explained the Queen Mary's passenger service better so as not to confuse everyone, but hindsight is 20/20.
6). The reason why the boilers and generators were removed: The Queen Mary was purchased specifically for turning her mechanical spaces into a massive Jaques Custeau Museum of the Sea. Budgets ran short and the museum was only built into 1/3 of the spaces.
This was between 1967-1971, nobody was sure an ocean liner would be popular as a museum, because ocean liners were still around and weren't romanticized like they are in this post-James-Cameron-Titanic era. It was assumed none of the visitors would want to climb down into the dirty machinery spaces. They learned they were wrong, but it was too late.
the owners should set up a go fund me page to get the bulkhead under the pool and pool fixed
lol, didnt take long for you to cry about that one to youtube did it? take your clickbait bullshit and fuck off.
@anthonymcdonnell6615 there's nothing wrong with the bulkhead. They keep it open for the tour path to squeeze through it.
Your devotion and honesty is much appreciated 👍.
@LighSc4n👏🏽😎
Meanwhile the pool on the Titanic has stayed full of water with no maintenance for over a century.
Yea ikr I bet the guests love it!
Lmao
bruh
The fact that it was and still is a salt water pool is funny
ba dum tss
too bad there’s no climate control tho
People want outdoor pools on ships but I think indoor pools are nicer, more luxurious and definitely don't let themselves be at the mercy of the weather.
Possibly because most people's experience these days is with cruise ships rather than ocean liners. I'd rather sit outside in the sunny Caribbean skies too... not so much in the mid-Atlantic or England!
Oh yes! For sure an indoor pool! I would love it because i burn easily from the sun!
The old indoor pools were down in the bowels of the ship and thus helped give it a low center of gravity almost as a form of ballast.
Every indoor pool I have ever been in has been loud, echo-y and smelly. I never been in one on a ship, but I have no reason to believe it would be different.
@@tedthurgate I spend a considerable amount of time on ships. It would likely smell worse than regular indoor pools as the steel and paint would attribute to the musty smell. Also due to an indoor pool needing to be low in the ship to act as a balace there is very minimal air flow. Atleast indoor pools at the Y and what not have windows and can get some fresh air in. You could go all out and install air scrubbers but its definetly a lot easier and less expensive to just have an outdoor pool.
It truly makes me sad just how neglected thus beautiful ship was. Rooms that so easily could have been preserved were destroyed due to negligence, and the pool room is probably the saddest example.
profit over conservation ... typical American attitude
I dont think it's fair to say it's "typical" of us. If we didn't buy the Queen Mary, nobody in Britain would have, and Cunard would have allowed the ship to be scrapped. We also purchased the Queen Elizabeth as well, before Cunard re-sold her to Hong Kong shipping magnate CY Tung.
@@AlextheHistorian actually the Canadians wanted it for the historical value ... but the Americans offered more ... we reduced our offer by the cost of the repairs needed on her at the time ...
I said "nobody in Britain" Canada may be a commonwealth country, but it is not part of Britain.
@@AlextheHistorian Plus it was Quebec City who made the offer, y'know, the French.
My grandfather was a master joiner/cabinetmaker from Southampton, England. He worked on the Queen Mary in the 1930s, installing fixtures and fittings and removing them when she became a troop carrier during WW2. I have a bone door handle and a large soap dish from the ship. The soap dish was used in my grandparents' laundry room for as long as I can remember. My grandfather had so many stories about the Southampton docks and all the great ocean liners of the period that he saw and worked aboard. I miss him.
The door handle you have is Bakelite, an early plastic, considered a luxury material in its time. It looks like bone when it ages, but it's not bone.
@@AlextheHistorian Thanks for the information. 😊
Shame it was never fitted out there all built across the road from me in Clydebank
Are you kidding me? To leave a swimming pool filled with water for TWENTY YEARS? Are you serious?
That's what abandoned means dummy, it means it's left as it is and everyone fucks off
Titanic has been full for over a century dont be dramatic
@@KorokHaze93 💀
putting straws on the shopping list
While on vacation in the 90s my grandparents took my uncle and aunt to visit the Queen Mary, however they “broke in” and without a ticket they walked through the ship and accessed areas that aren’t open to the public. In 2015 my uncle took me to visit the ship and we did the same thing, without a ticket we explored the depths of the ship. I will never forget that day. Later in 2020 just before the pandemic he took my sister and I and again without paying for a ticket we explored places we hadn’t before. My uncle passed away in 2022 from Cancer. He was an amazing person and those memories will always have a special place in my heart.
my uncle also passed away from cancer earlier this year. he was the greatest and would do anything for us. Nicest human on earth. And it still hurts. My condolence for the loss of your uncle he sounds amazing
I know that entrance too.
I spent my honeymoon on the Queen Mary and my wife and I explored the ship as well. I have always loved ships and the QM was a bucket list visit for me. We spent three nights aboard the ship at $350 a night back in 2007. The bed was EXTREMELY hard and the TV was crap, but we didn't spend too much of our time in the room other than at night. We went out and had fun while we were there, but we also went on the Ghosts and Legends tour, saw the Titanic Exhibit (my most favorite ship ever), we went to Gameworks where we drank and bowled, we went to Catalina Island, we checked out the Russian sub that was moored at the port bow, and we got hammered in the Observation Bar. We also ended up on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood on our last day there. It was great.
You must continue the tradition in his memory and honour
We broke in so many times over the years. From the very very bottom of the boat, all through hidden and no longer used rooms, hidden ladders, hidden hatches,climbed into the pool and we found a way to get to the event center through the back end ( Halloween section). There is so much that most people never see including looking out that hole lol and seeing old boat supplies that haven't been used in decades. Just crazy stuff looking back and definitely dangerous. We went every year for a weekend event and it became a tradition and I started giving tours to friends/ people we met that had never been. It was fun to be honest but man once cameras were installed it became a tad bit harder to avoid the security chase but still doable 😉. Hope you get to carry on the tradition but please be careful
It’s so good to see Long Beach putting so much effort into restoring the Queen Mary. It’s not like it’s previous owners (after retirement) that just let it deteriorate because it was cheap and they wanted it to be a ghost attraction. Thank goodness it is back in the hands of Long Beach!
Lmao they will never get it where it needs to be, shes too far gone ive worked there for 17 years. The city simply does not have the kind of money required
I worked for QMI Restore the Queen, the non-profit currently working with the city on restoration plans on the Queen. We at QMI had contacts with wealthy individuals who offered donations of large sums once plans were hashed out. Believe me, there IS money to restore the ship. Not all at once, it will take about 10 years, but it will happen.
@@AlextheHistorian omg really YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fix my mary!
Waste of tax dollars
@@justayoutuber1906 A study found that in 2019, the attraction generated nearly 100 million in spending for the local economy. It seems like the only waste of tax dollars was on your education.
Former tour guide (early 1980s) - so glad to hear that the old girl is getting the TLC she needs! And yes, I have spent a LOT of time in the pool area.
Boy Alex did this bring back memories, many different times, friends and I would sneak in the First Class Pool and run around the pool. This was YEARS back. Besides the pool area we would sneak around anyplace that was closed to the public, times were fun before motion alarms were installed --- LOL. If we got kicked off the ship by security, we would find another way aboard again and continue on our adventure. Thanks Alex for all your time and HARD work....................
Remember those days well. Queen Mary was our our own private play pen. Good times.😁😁😁
@@brober Funny thing, at the end of the day when we left, we were covered with mud from crawling the lowest part of the ship and bits of grease from other fun places. When we were older, I had a friend whose dad was a electrician, we would put on his company shirts, hats and carry clipboards and walk around the other parts of the ship that were for employees only. No body stopped to ask what we were doing there. Fun times..... Have a great day.........
@@jetsons101yesteryear
@@kingsleaze3199 Sure am glad we grew up without smartphones, online gaming and social media. We had real friends and went "outside" and did stuff.
So sad! If they just had taken proper care when the first problems emerged, it might just be as beautiful as it was originally to this day. I really hope they are able to restore this stunningly beautiful pool. Thanks for another interesting and fascinating video Alex.
I agree!
Basic economics: income must exceed expenses.
No-one in the hotel business normally has to deal with problems on such an old ship so any action they take is like a one-off poorly thought out scientific experiment. After all, ships were usually scrapped when maintenance costs became unsurmountable.
@normandiebryant6989 True BUT the City of Long Beach should have thought of and created a division that would focus on the maintenance of the ship in conjunction with the hotel.
I agree in the 1970s they should have well established a method of maintenance. But for 40 years they put that responsibility on private corporations who were too greedy to care.
As for your economics comment. Queen Mary always turned a profit, but the problem was that the corporations that ran the ship rarely, if ever, reinvested the profits into upgrades or annual maintenance. Simple things like a small leak on the upped decks, worked it's way down into lower decks over the course of decades creating much larger issues that were still ignored.
Queen Mary's annual maintenance is $5 million. She can more than cover that. But the issue is fixing the 30 years of neglect.
This video is why I watch TH-cam and not TikTok. Very well made video. Thank you.
Drives me nuts when YT pushes blasted 'shorts' at me. DO NOT WANT! Very much agree - stuff like this makes YT worth the grief.
I own an 1890 worker’s cottage in the Chicago area. It’s simple, by Victorian standards, but complex by modern day standards, and contractors frequently run out of here in terror & frustration after not being able to figure out how to fix items like a non-working hallway light or refinish my 133-yr old oak floors. (You can’t refinish them, but you can buff them & restain) What I’m trying to say is: Good luck, Queen Mary Stewards. May you find skilled artisans who don’t run away in tears. I gave up & no one but me is allowed to work on my house because no one loves it like I do. Gimme a call if you need help with that pool. Neither ghosts nor historic places scare me, so that’s a plus.
Regina put out an amazing buffer in the 1940s. Really easy to use and it has attachments! I sanded, stained and buffed our hardwoods back in the 70s. I was 12 at the time and it wasn't the least bit finicky. My mother gave it to my brother and he broke it so I will need to find another one. 😢
I worked on the Queen Mary '88-'91. I took a short cut through the pool to get to the Accounting Dept ONE time. I remember thinking to myself, 'wow I am all alone walking through the beautiful pool on the Queen Mary, how blessed am I?' Then out of nowhere I had an overwhelming feeling that I was not alone. The fear that came over me got stuck in my throat and my stomach felt like the bottom had dropped out. My heart was pounding my whole became clammy as the hair stood up on my arms in the back of my neck. I suddenly started walking faster and faster until I was running through the pool. Working on the Queen Mary I often felt spirits, walking along the gangway I could feel someone or something behind me.
I never went to the pool by myself again. It's truly a beautiful magical place. I still live near the Queen Mary I see it everyday. Nice video ⚓♥️
My GF and I separated from the tour on purpose to take a selfie with the pool on the background. We take a selfie then we begin to walk back to catch up. My GF behind me trips and falls. I begin to laugh. I then feel a shin across my legs. I fall forward onto my torso. We get up like wtf happened. We continue to catch up then she points to the back of my shirt. It had on slash and now torn
Indoor pools, especially when installed on above ground floors are always a constant source of problems and need a lot of maintenance. Given the nearly 100 year old structure of the QM, and the fact that it was a seagoing vessel for much of its life, it’s understandable that the pool area has severely deteriorated. A thorough rebuilding is needed just to restore its cosmetic appearance. Hopefully at some point, funds and craftsmen can be found to do just that.
If anything, it's impressive that it held out for so long, especially with the poor maintenance later in her life.
I agree, that's one of the things I try to tell people, that it is amazing she has lasted this long as is structurally in as good of shape as she is despite 30 years of neglect. She was just built THAT well.
We rented the back half of the QM for my wife's 50th birthday, the Art Deco is fantastic !
I wish Disney didn't feel the need to add the special effects to the pool that necessitated drilling through the glazed brick. When various operators "Violate" the original integrity of the Queen Mary, it feels to me like they're ruining a piece of art. Excellent video, Alex!
Never trust Disney nowadays.
American companies and YT creators decimating our glorious and beautiful lady and irritating her longterm residents with their modern stupidity.
@@Rickets17 because Fox News told you not to? 😂😂😂😂
@@angeltomlinson6354 If you decide who to trust based on what others think, and not on whether or not the individual or group in question is actually trustworthy, you're only going to make your life more difficult than it needs to be.
And so, if you seriously believe that Fox News is the only group claiming Disney is untrustworthy, then I have a bridge to sell to you. And also, what's the point of making it political?
@@angeltomlinson6354You act like liberals like Disney is a monopoly that holds ips in hell and destroys copyright laws everyone should hate them
In '85 my friend and I visited the Queen Mary. She is a special ship not only for her beauty but for her historic career as one of the premier ocean liners. I am very happy to hear that she is enjoying a renewed interest in her. Her WW2 service is fascinating as well, able to transport 15,000 soldiers and their equipment per crossing. Incredible!
I read that the 1st class pool was drained during WW2 and had standee-bunks stacked 6 high! Apparently, those soldiers teetering on the top bunks developed a hobby of prizing the mother-of-pearl tiles off the ceiling with pocket knives. The article didn't outline how they were replaced after the war - maybe the original tile suppliers from the '30s were still around in the late '40s?
Yes the information you read was correct. Only a few pieces were pried loose, very small. And there are still empty spaces up there to this day. Again it's hardly noticeable unless you're specifically looking for it.
Could you still visit the pool room in '85? Did it have the mist?
@@visionist7 Actually, while down in the engine room area we hung back and let the tour go on. In '85 apparently things were more relaxed than today and no one came looking for us. So we missed the rest of the tour but climbed all over the engineering spaces. We saw where the driveshafts, which were about three feet in diameter, went through the hull. We saw the steering pistons and tiller for the rudder which were massive and amazing.
Although we missed the rest of the tour we saw what I really wanted to see. The things that made the ship move, turn and operate.
@@thejerseyj5479 that reminds me of when me and my mum visited HMS Belfast in 2000. We separated from the main group and went through a door into the officer's wardroom, the fanciest room on the ship. It was empty of people and we hung out there for a good while and nobody came in to tell us off for accessing a private party only area.
I still remember that ship and her many compartments & decks we explored. Never been back I wonder what's changed.
The internal design has such a amazing vibe & aesthetic. When empty it gives off this liminal space aura, even if it wasn't fully empty, it just has that perfect design and feel to it. I could imagine being there with only a few people and still having that interesting liminal space type feel to it all.
Thanks for the interesting video. Brought back many memories of swimming in it when we crossed the Atlantic in 1964. It was such a beautiful pool and a pleasure to swim in as an 11 year old.
Back in the 1990s I did volunteer work in the ham radio room on the upper deck and, on several occasions, took walks around the ship and even back then you could tell there was a bit of a problem with the pool area. Down in the engineering section, there is still at least one tubro generator that is still in operation. When all the renovations are done I hope they leave the ham radio room in place. The W6RO station is very well known world wide, it would be a shame to remove that.
No kidding? I volunteered at W6RO about 8 years ago for a few summers. Always enjoyed wandering the decks.
@XJ290 I spent 3 years volunteering there, including at a time when they did the Gray Ghost summer. We even had Charles and Dianna there at the time, good times great contacts from all over the world.
@@mysticwolf2842 Wow!!!! That’s an incredible experience my friend!! I have since moved from CA over to the East coast. If your still hamming I’ll drop my call sign. If not, I’m really just so happy to see the QM has such a great group of people that love her!
@XJ290 just getting another antenna so I can get back on 20 and 40, the call here is KD6VKJ , I am also working on my extra.
I really hope they can open up the swimming pool again in the near future. I’ve always wanted to go inside of there but thought it was too dangerous to do so. I’m pretty sure they could repair all of the stuff but maybe instead of using water they could use lights to illuminate the blue water effect. I personally think it looks so much better.
One possible way to open the pool again would be to construct a one piece reinforced fiberglass pool section that entails the part of the pool holding the water. Remove the bad supports from below and put in steel I-beams under the new fiberglass pool. This would likely mean removing the original pool to replace it with the fiberglass one piece pool.
I worked in John Brown’s Shipyard when the QE2 was being built.
I visited The Queen Mary around 1990 and took the tour which was spectacular.
In the photos taken during construction I looked for faces that had started their career at that time and were finishing their career designing/building The QE2
As a Draughtsman I know they would have designed it properly.
I have a tabletop book on the QM complete with technical drawings.
I enjoyed this insight. Thanks for posting
The pool just needs 4 things done to have it open to the public again and even used for it's intended purpose as an actual swimming pool - 1) a proper and complete major refurbishment and repair followed by 2) proper ongoing maintenance, 3) proper ongoing maintenance, 4) and more proper ongoing maintenance! It's a bloody shame bordering on a crime that it's been allowed to deteriorate to the abysmal and completely unusable condition that it's in now!😠😠😠
It would also most likely need to be fitted with modern filtration systems and kept up to modern safty regulations.
But I suppose that counts as part of refurbishing
@@jakehildebrand1824 Well, as can be seen, there's plenty of room for such systems underneath, given the size of the parts that have been taken out.
$$$$$$$
Real simple now that you've spelled it out maybe I'll go volunteer to execute that plan I'll have it done by Wednesday
Unfortunately old things become hard and therefore costly to maintain despite sometimes there being volunteers willing to work for free. For example, look at your local heritage train museum and despite all the very talented volunteers, how many trains and carriages are still rotting because they can't get to them fast enough? It takes money, and that either requires a very large donation or a way to get money back. This ship is a tourist oddity but not a tourist destination and while it's used, which is good, the expenses to keep it safe are phenomenal. Can it be done? Possibly, but often it's a race against time as the longer something is left the most expensive it is to repair it.
I appreciate how hard it must have been to make this video with all the clips and photos and things. It’s appreciated!! ❤
Thanks! Well I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Great to see a definitive report and breakdown of the pool situation… especially after this great deal of silence on the room. Again as others have stated, despite the fact the pool tiles are slowly shattering and sagging, the room structure itself is still in immaculate condition for what it’s been through and it’s age. This just proves that they don’t make things the way they used to! This should be the go-to video for anyone with questions regarding the pool. Though it’ll take a while for the tank to be replaced and usable, they should at least brighten the place up!
Hi Alex, I'm so happy I found your channel - I love learning about the old ocean liners. My aunt worked on the QE2 for many years. Also wanted to say well done for being ao upfront regarding your schizophrenia, it takes a lot of courage. For what it's worth there's nothing wrong with your sentence structure, you are very relaxing to listen to. I have Asperger's along with other MH issues and it's rare I find a channel that I can listen to a lot as I'm super sensitive to certain noises and also the tone of a narrator's voice, but I already know I could listen to your vids all day (just subscribed 😊). You also provide such detailed and interesting information. Thanks for all your hard work!
Thank you so much! And welcome to the channel!
My great uncle was a welder on the Queen back in Clydebank. I also had two great aunts who where stewardesses on the Maiden Voyage. I have toured the Queen many times & have a few unexplained experiences at the First Class pool. I highly recommend the Ghost Tour of the Queen, if still offered. Thank you for this informative/historical info!
Wow that's amazing! What kinds of Paranormal experiences did you have? It reminded me of an episode from Unsolved Mysteries that talked about the ship and experiences that former and or current crew members had in and around the pool area on the ship.
I had my senior prom on this great lady ship in 1972! Very classy👍
Really sad that Disney contributed to the decay of this amazing ship. I visited when the Spruce Goose was also there and its sad to see its condition now 😢 Hopefully they will find the money and get this repaired and looking beautiful again.
Alex, your videos are great. Don’t let any haters drag you down. I’ve learned so much about this ship that all just started as a passing interest but took off once I started watching your videos.
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. It can be really stressing to see so many negative comments, but the positive ones always far outnumber them.
I've seen the pool room twice and the 2nd time I got the tour guide to take us through the changing rooms, because I heard they were haunted. The whole tour group got involved and we all walked though the dressing rooms looking for cold spots. It was a fun tour... The pool was empty of water both times and the lighting was not that great, so this made the changing rooms real spooky. Glad I got to see the pool area up close. Its a memory I'll never forget. Its a wonderful ship to visit and explore!
I've actually been in the pool on a tour that went into the bowels of the ship but they told us to hug the wall essentially due to the problems.
Thats because the edge of the walkways poses a tripping hazard and they don't want you to trip over the railing and fall into the empty pool. But the decks can still support weight, they're made of inch thick steel with steel webbing.
@@AlextheHistorian Yea, it was a pretty good tour too actually as they took us really into the bowels such as where the Curacoa was hit
So it was removed steel that caused the warping!? And no structural integrity has been compromised? Well. THAT’S a relief. And actually strengthens the ship’s credibility as a stable…you know, masterpiece. I haven’t heard ANY naysayers in a good long while. But I do have friends who are afraid to go aboard because they are claustrophobic. All the more credibility to the clean, beautiful, bright, happy, STRUCTURALLY SOUND, spacious Mary. This video is gold.
Thanks!
If it's suffering warping rhen it's not structurally sound.
The context means everything. Only the steel plates are warping, not the webbing, or the structural girders. Just the plates. The structure does not require the plates to be installed for it to remain sound. That's how good engineering works. It would be dumb to design a ship that is structurally crippled if the floor plates develope a few bumps 1 inch high or low. And the rivets that hold the deck plates to the girders are designed to stretch. The structure is sound.
What a beautiful grand old lady - the way the light glitters on the ceiling of that pool room is astonishing. I'm glad they saving the pool room is on the docket, I just hope that the funds can be procured to restore it faithfully to it's original beauty.
Thanks Alex for your Video on the Queen Mary's 1st Class pool room they will need more volunteers to help renovate & restore the pool I bet it will look amazing when it's restored to how it was when it was new God Bless everyone who are working with the historians to renovate this historic Ship.
That was wonderful! Thanks so much for explaining the situation with the pool. I look forward to the day we can visit the ship and take a tour of a beautifully restored 1st class pool room!
Really appreciate your efforts and content. I love that this old lady survives and people want her to thrive!
Regarding the boiler rooms and mechanical spaces, will those be restored as well, since only 1/3 of the ship is museum?
I am involved with a group that is working on a proposition to restore at least 1 boiler room and 1 generator room (it is ridiculously expensive and unnecessary to restore all the rooms down there). We want to turn the restored power train spaces into a big attraction on the ship.
If you are ever near Long Beach…definitely worth visiting or better, staying overnight in the Queen Mary. It is a bit past its glory, but still amazing and parts are super creepy…you can walk through the huge winding engine rooms, and when we did…it was just us there and spooked the kids to the point they asked to leave the engine area.
Love your videos on The Queen. Your passion for the ship shines through in each video! From one ship guy to another thanks for all of the info and effort you put into your work, it’s really appreciated! I hope to visit The Queen someday, sooner than later!
It's my pleasure, thank you so much!
My parents lived in Long Beach and would frequent the queen Mary. When they made me and brother they took us on a ghost tour of the ship and we saw the pool and engine room. Thank you for bringing back some memories!
In late 2000 a friend of mine was staying on the ship for a business conference and invited me to go ghost hunting with him. There were a bunch of areas that were left open because they were preparing for Halloween, so we snuck into some restricted areas that were usually closed to the public. I remember seeing a ghostly head in a red bathing cap swim across the top of this empty pool as we walked through.
See, now THIS is a ghost story I can believe. None of that nonsense about the fictitious "Jackie" girl that Disney made up. This is a story that sounds like an actual paranormal experience.
@Martys-4x4 You don't know that. A few years ago scientists discovered that particles of dark matter can move in and out of our dimension, they saw it during an experiment. Now they theorize that dark matter is everywhere all over our world and universe, somehow connected to the matter that remains in our dimension.
How do we know for sure if after we die, the dark matter that was in our place, continues on, and goes in and out of our dimension?
This is a whole new field of study that is currently being investigated right now. It's understandable if you want to reserve judgement until there is definitive proof. But saying that ghosts don't exist isn't reserving judgement.
@@AlextheHistorian Yeah, I mean, it's easy to say ghosts don't exist if he hasn't encountered any, but when the ghost of my best friend's brother comes to me and tells me his funeral is going to be on Thursday, and I tell her and she says "I don't know, the family's been fighting over what day to have it, first it was going to be Friday, then Sunday. I'll make some calls and find out," and then 30 minutes later I get a text from her saying "It's on Thursday" ... at that point ghosts seem pretty fekking real. I mean, sure there's a 1 in 7 chance of guessing right, but it was a little too on the nose for me to think it was a coincidence. Especially since that's not the only information he was right about.
I knew someone who worked on the Queen Mary at night. At his orientation, he was told not to be alarmed at the floating ghost male head that would sometimes appear. That sealed it for me! If the employer is telling employees about the ghosts, has to be legite.
@@SetCCC I spent the night there once with my sister's friends for her birthday, and we brought a Ouija board. We had a line of ghosts outside the door waiting to talk to us. One was a man who had died only a year or two before who was in his early 20's. He told us that there are a few portals inside the ship, and that the ship is a tourist attraction for ghosts. He was visiting because his High School prom was held there and it had nice memories for him. So it's not even just the ghosts of people who died there, it's freaking everyone from everywhere from all time periods. The ship is VERY haunted!
I visited the Queen Mary a couple of times in the 70's and 80's. Glad to see they are doing what's necessary to keep her together and restoring what needs fixing. I fondly remember trying to make the posted guards laugh (we did, and felt bad when he got in trouble), the tour guides dressed in period costumes, and the singers doing songs.
My other favorite floating museum is the USS HORNET docked in Alameda, CA.
Alex, this video is a good synopsis of the various problems with the pool.
I have been in the cofferdam under the pool on a few occasions in the 1990s and walked around the perimeter of the tank on D deck and the exterior framing looked to still be in excellent condition as well as the framing and gussets supporting the bottom of the cofferdam where it sits on top of FR 212 and FR 222. I have walked on the pool tank floor (deep and shallow areas) and the floor did not give an impression of flexing or collapsing... of course that was 20 years ago, but there hasn't been water in the pool since shortly after Unsolved Mysteries was filmed aboard. The filled pool is visible behind host Robert Stack.
Agree, this will mostly be cosmetic work to deal with distorted metal plates and mortar / tile damage, but this will still be an expensive task. I am also of the belief the pool should be available for the hotel guests ASAP, even though this will require raising the shallow end floor, and bring the water level closer to the deck.
Funny thing I can remember as a kid wandering around the QM in 1983 (and getting lost many times) was reaching the closed entrance door to the pool on R deck and smelling chlorine of a swimming pool, but never seeing it / figuring out how to get to it. First time I got into the pool area (and did a walk through of the changing area when it was still in decent shape) was in 1995. Fortunately I recorded a video of this, since the doors were removed and the entire changing area was pretty wrecked the most recent times I got into there, late at night in 2015 and 2017.
When you went inside the cofferdam, did you see the lumber beams as shown in the video? Were they terribly rotten?
You said the steel webbing on D deck was still there and not distorted, but did you see any evidence of warping or sagging steel?
Since it was 20 years ago when you were last walking exploring those areas, it's possible since then the corrosion was too much and the pool started distorting afterward. But I personally haven't seen the cofferdam from D Deck or walked around the pool tank.
No one loves her as much as you do Alex.
Thank you for the clear explanation.
Thanks for the update Alex! I always appreciate the accurate information you have on the Queen Mary. Maybe one day the pool can be restored, hopefully!
This was an excellent video Alex!!!
This is an extremely informative and useful video. I have crawled through that cofferdam myself, and thought I knew quite a bit of this story, but you really added quite a lot, and the diagrams were very helpful. Many thanks, and my compliments on your very good work here!
I think they should definitely repair and restore the pool room. There doesn't even need to be water in the pool once it's finished. As long as it's kept clean and maintained it will make visitors happy, especially since they won't let anyone swim in it anyway. I can't help but to feel a bit nostalgic after seeing the pictures of the ship's guests so many decades ago. What a blast that must've been to zoom down the little slide into the water.
It really was a beautiful room, and I'm glad the damage to it is just cosmetic, severe as it may be.
I have a fun chemistry fact about pool water. Freshly chlorinated fresh water has no smell at all. The 'chlorine smell' is actually the result of the reaction of chlorine and urea. If a pool has a smell I'm not swimming in it lol!
Gotta avoid those Chloramines, indicator of overworked chlorine.
You can’t smell clean chlorine water until about 20 ppm and at that point you’re starting to bleach hair & clothing.
With regular pools & tubs running 2-10 ppm of chlorine.
The way that water reflects off the ceiling is gorgeous!
Quick note: things like bulkheads are generally structural on steel ships. Ships aren’t built like buildings, because they have to deal with lots of loading conditions that buildings never do. That said, vertical loads from weight generally aren’t even close to the governing load condition for a ship, so given that QM is in a calm harbor and isn’t subject to seaway loads, if I had to make a SWAG, I’d guess that you are correct that the hole in the bulkhead is unlikely to be causing the issue.
Well I mean, I didn't just make this video based on an assumption, I did the research and found the reason for the deformities.
Much worse problems are found on ships that are kept in dry dock for too long as they no longer have the compressive effect of the water on their hulls and the support of the water (from underneath). This means that the hulls slowly expand, deform and crack open. It's odd to think about but very obvious once realised.
Finally some accurate and succinct information on this topic, bravo!
Very interesting! I toured the pool room the first time I visited the Queen Mary, back in 1982. I remember that it was looking a bit shabby and in need of repair, but the tiles were beautiful. It's a great example of that Art Deco design which is all over the ship. It would be great to see it open again, at least the top balcony.
The pool area looks so creepy , went to Long Beach in 2008 while on holidays as an added bonus there happened to be a Star Trek exhibition in the dome building next to the Queen Mary.
that was a vivid explanation, and nicely visualized, thanks. i was once again peeking through that pool door a few weeks ago, hope to make it inside someday
Great research Alex! Thank you for clearing that up. I always wondered what the full story was. The short version never sufficed. One of the pillars, on the left hand side facing the slide is actually a service passage with a terrifying ladder inside that employees would use to move between decks. As much as I wanted to climb it just to say that I had, I never did. And I can't imagine what it must have been like when the ship was rolling away at sea. Nope. No thanks.
You're sure that it's a service passage with a ladder?
Yup! There's a small door on the side of the pillar and inside is a very long, dark ladder.@@AlextheHistorian
@@trinketsmusings wow I never knew that! that's interesting!
My wife and I were married in the chapel on the QM in 95 and the reception in the grand salon - it was in wonderful shape and our 30's themed wedding was great. See the ship, have dinner in the Winston if it's still available, and take the tours - it keeps the old girl vital.
Well done Alex, another interesting update on this grand old lady! I recently returned from a Cruise on the QM2 in June, I hope some time soon you will be invited to do talks and presentations to the passengers, this I’m sure will be an overwhelming success.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks
Trevor🇺🇸🇬🇧
Well done video. I saw the pool a few years ago. It was closed, but had blue water reflecting effects you could see from the outside. I was there with my friend's young son, employees told him a ghost haunts the room.
Ah, I stayed on Queen Mary last week, and found it odd that the pool was closed - thanks for posting this!
THANK YOU ALEX FOR THIS GREAT INFO.. CHEERS!!
I had the privilege of being able to take a tour in the Queen Mary's first class swimming pool 13 years ago the first time I visited the ship, it was amazing
Same. I’m glad I was able to see it in person before they closed it.
Me too! The pool and a empty boiler room are the 2 things I remember most from my first trip to the QM
First time I was on Queen Mary was in the 70s. I’ve always been fascinated by the pool room. It was kind of eerie to me. Pool of water in an empty room. Sad that it has been off limits in recent years. Hoping that the city will take care of her now.
From now on, whenever someone asks me about QM's swimming pool, I am just going to refer them to this video! Your video gets right to the REAL "NO BS" truth about the condition of the pool and the reasons why it is in the condition it is in today! This is very refreshing to have, because up until this, the internet/social media circles have been giving countless stories full of (fill in the blank) on pool.
The only correction to the information you gave was the matter of the condition being stabilized... the pool tank corrosion continues on, although it has significantly slowed down over the years. However, what has been added to the equation is the constant (and improper) changing of the ship's trim and ballast. Currently, the ship is hogging, meaning that the bow and stern have more trim than the midships section (where the pool is located). This improper trimming is causing some stress to the deck plates and bulkheads in/around the pool location, which has caused buckling and additional ceramic tiles to come loose. Until the ship is properly trimmed and ballasted, there will continue to be further damage to the pool area (tiles mainly).
If/when the City of Long Beach and Evolution Hospitality (operators of the ship) decide to rebuild/restore the pool and surrounding area, a major decision will have to be made... Functional pool for hotel guests? OR Cosmetic recreation ONLY? The hotel REALLY REALLY REALLY needs a pool to offer guests to use! This has been understood since the hotel opened in 1973. However, the pool's current tank design and depth made it legally unusable for guests and the public. It would be possible to build a new tank, making it conform to current regulations. BUT this will change the visual appearance of the pool and the water's surface, which would be quite different from how it originally appeared. Personally, I would be fine with the modifications and would make the pool available to hotel guests!
Thank you, Alex, for this update.
Thanks for bringing us the real story Alex! - I've spent alot of time on the ship myself and most employees didn't even know this info!
The effects of the light on the tiles are so cool. Hopefully this can be saved. Really a cool pool
My dad slept in the pool /pool room on the way back from Europe after wwii , they would rotate between there and other areas including outside on the deck as the ship was filled way over normal capacity while being a troop transport.
Cool! I remember visiting before when there was water still and after when there was fog! If I remember correctly you can see the huge propellers from somewhere too. Very nicely done!
I remember doing the tour that lead through the pool room and they had the haunted effects in there. It was pretty cool. It'd be great if they can get a lot of these things on the ship restored.
The pictures of the pool area which show it in its most dilapidated state really are quite spooky ! ( Even without any human embellishments ) .
That was the Disney tour
Never been on the QM, but appreciate its history. So thanks for this update and insight into the swimming pool issues!
Thanks for this video! I'm fairly certain I got to tour the pool room when I was a kid - sometime around 96-98. It's sad to see what it has become, and I hope they'll be able to restore it someday.
I've worked in the pool industry for the last 20 years. Salt water in a pool will permanently damage all metal it touches if there are no zinc anodes plumbed somewhere in the lines. I've seen heaters with top dollar cupro nickel heat exchangers get completely rotted out in 3 months in a regular chlorine pool if the alkalinity and ph levels aren't balanced.
Nobody is going to mention, that this pool and I am not sure if the rooms had a appearance in Quantum Leap?
Did nobody watch it except for me? I remember watching that episode, and being amazed at the beauty of the pool, it looked small, but the finishings and art deco design was amazing.
I agree with the others, that if the repairs were done properly, when they were found. This piece of history would still be shining as the day it was opened for people to swim.
A comment was made about people wanting outdoor pools. But I agree with them, that indoor pools have a image, a presence, a elegant way that makes, at least me feel.
To dig a hole in the ground, no matter how fancy and decorative it is made. (Yes, a grotto along with rocks, plants and other things to accompany the pool, makes a grand appearance. Butt, after all that, you have not installed a pool. You have redesigned your backyard.
But, when these abandoned homes are documented. Then when they crest a corner, and a indoor pool appears frame by frame. I think, coffer dam, especially if the pool isn’t filled with living organisms, or destroyed. There are several one that I can’t imagine walking through someone’s home and then seeing something that beautiful and amazing, glistening in the artificial lights, begging for me to jump in. There is a few, that I could only imagine that whispered in the owner’s and to their visitor’s ears. Slide on in, bring a drink, and relax. These weren’t small indoor pools either. They were huge, but they had a presence. A presents that was relaxing, and calming. This pool was one of those pools where I could imagine going for a late night swim, and sliding into the pool, and taking several slow laps and laying back and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Modern day, I could imagine if a mono stereo, with good enough components was placed in the right spot, and maybe several places, to produce different effects. That the music would bounce around filling the pool with low bass. Giving a vibe that there could be someone who would walk in on somebody’s vibe session, and if noticed, say hi, and they would be back. Maybe, a couple could go for a swim, and be refreshed for eternity. The mids and high’s would be need also. Because they would not be the vibe base. The mids and highs would be the thing that would transport me to places where only I could go. It is the language that is only what certain people have, inside of them.
It’s their happy place.
Slide
A very concise, well researched and easy to understand video for all. Thank you for some great content. I really hope you're right. Her and what's left of the SS United States need to be preserved at all costs.
WOW!! Very cool video 😎👍
Thank you as always Alex... You are the Man!
Your documentaries are always brilliant. I was in the pool room in the 1980s on a haunted ship tour. I think it was the first time it had been made public since docked at Long Beach. I have sailed on QM2 several times. A documentary on QM2 pools would be interesting?
What would I say about the pools on QM2? What about them are historic?
@@AlextheHistorian A contrasting engineering analysis of both ships would be historic. Identify the tremendous engineering advances that have taken place.
I'm not much of an engineering guy. I don't understand it very well, I just like sharing my passion for historic things.
I would say that QM2's pools - really the 12 deck Pavillion pool - is becoming historic; much like the Queen Mary's pool would have been when she was in mid-career (say 1950s). For now, the main interest for this audience would be the differences and the reasons for those differences.@@AlextheHistorian
MY G D I HEARD ABOUT THIS COLLAPSING BEFORE AND THE TILES COMING OFF BUT SEEING IT IN THIS VIDEO ITS A DISGRACE AND ABUSE... NOT TAKING CARE OF LONG BEACH PROPERTY AND WE THE PEOPLE WHO DO OWN THE QUEEN MARY THAT WAS BOUGHT FOR US IN 1967 AS A GIFT.. VERY HAPPY THE REST OF THE QUEEN MARY IS COMING ALIVE ,,MY FAMILY AND I HAVE SEEN IT, IT IS AWSOME ,,GREAT WORK TO ALL !!! WE CANT WAIT TO STAY ABOARD AGAIN,,.. CHEERS,,ALEX..
Good to see you here, Ronald!
@@AlextheHistorian THANKS ALEX!!! CHEERS..
back in the early 2000's my family and I were on a cruise heading up to Alaska and along the trip we hit rough seas and so many of the passengers including me were sick AF to the point we actually had to sleep on chairs among various decks along the middle of the ship.
The pools throughout the ship were literally sloshing back and fourth so violently that in between waves the pool looked nearly empty it was so crazy! Made for some pretty cool pictures but not fun to experience the more extreme conditions especially when you can't leave the ship.
Its an awesome ship, having looking around is number times back in 1990s (first time I visited it, it was operating with tourist tours along with the Spruce Goose). Its a pity they hacked out a lot of the engineering spaces (for an exhibit that never happened!), as visiting those spaces (which don't normally see on these large ship) would have been really interesting.
Thanks!
Thank you Donald, I appreciate it!
Is it known which company made the pool tiles originally? I wonder if they're still in business? I do know there are still a few Victorian tile factories operating in the UK which still make them traditionally (in the USA I have no idea!)
I personally don't know who manufactured them, but the ship still has thousands of original blueprints and manufacturers drawings in her archives. I would not be surprised if they still had original design drawings of the tiles, labeled by the manufacturer.
We snuck into the pool area about 15 years ago- what a cool experience. We got some great pictures 😊
Excellent video, Alex. The quality is beyond excellent. I have one question why don't they restore the 1st Class Pool to its 1936 glory. So it can be toured on tours. And Restore the 2nd class pool for hotel guests to use?.
Thank you! Well like I mentioned in the video, restoring the room would be very expensive, one of the most expensive projects aboard the entire ship. And it would require hiring master craftsman. Nobody has that kind of money just lying around.
@@AlextheHistorian true
Do you think the 2nd Class Pool would have had the same structural issues as 1st Class Pool does now, provided that if they kept the 2nd Class Pool .
If they had kept water in it for several decades like they did to the first class pool, then yes.
I suppose that would make sense because the 2nd class pool was built the same way at the first class pool.
First the Cofferdam then the pool tank then the room itseelf.
One of the best videos I have ever seen! Thanks Alex!
*...The dirt bike thing though...*
My Father went to England on the Queen Mary. He had said that he had a bunk in the first class pool. He was on the queen when it hit the British ship and split it in half. Great video, Thanks
I remember the unsolved mysteries episode about the queen Mary being haunted. Most of the hauntings occurred around that same pool.
Yeah...it was all stories made up by Disney in 1989. Part of their marketing scheme was to spread those stories on television.
Hello, My company did technical support on the Queen Mary for over a decade and we were involved in many aspects on the ship. The pool transition from original to a ghost attraction was one thing. Let's play a game and just assume that there is no structural damage in the pool room. The pool holds water and everything is safe. Well, the pool still legally can't be filled. Long Beach requires that all pools have a shallow end. The QM pool does not. That was the original reason that the pool was not used. It would have been a more convincing attraction with water... Anyways., Great video. Thank you for your hard work.
Joel
I personally find it sad that they let motorbikes in that room, I don’t even know who would let that happen.. I hope the person responsible got punished.
Well their company went out of business, so in a way they did.
It was a trials bike they weigh 150 pounds and have ultrasoft tires at 4-5 psi. no way it did any noticeable damage.
@duhjuh If people just walking through the room is enough to loosen tiles from the floor, then I'm sure spinning wheels, a 150 pound bike plus it's rider is enough to cause damage as well.
There's also the principle of the matter, this ship is historic, it's a piece of world heritage, and it's history and construction have made contributions to our society in ways most people can't even fathom. To run a motorized bike through this museum like it's some Las Vegas stage performance is just wrong on so many levels. You might as well drive one of those bikes through a war memorial.
Well done Alex. You are obviously a master of restraint. I think the comment by @duhjuh is probably..... Well, I'm sure you can guess what I was going to say - speechless! I don't know how you do things over there, but aren't legions of capable volunteers available to help restore the ship, or does US red tape and bureaucracy frustrate this? By the way, a good technically plausible presentation about the pool - appreciated.@@AlextheHistorian
There are hundreds of locals who have expressed interest in volunteering to help restore the ship. But red tape stands in the way, the City of Long Beach claims it would be very difficult to insure each volunteer. I don't know how true that is, but that's the story they're sticking with.
My grandfather helped build this ocean liner. What an interesting story this is. Thank ypu.
The First Class Pool has been off limits for decades. I had a private tour and got to see it, and I did cartwheels in the bottom of it, and then followed the footprints into the dressing room.
Awesome.
Love this! I got to stay for a few days back in 2020 right before they locked down. I often wondered if they’d do more upgrades and I’m thankful to have found this video.
Imagine being in that room during the 52° list 😱
Well the pool room was used as a dormitory for soldiers at the time. The pool was decked-over, and the open space above the pool as well, so nobody could have fallen from any tall heights.
Interesting to see the pool 👍. Visited in 2019. Such a wonderful ship that we could tell then needed some TLC. So glad she is receiving some.
We did the engine room tour. As a Enginner and 🇬🇧 it was sacrilege to see some of the damage. Ok the boilers had to come out and there was a lot of asbestos but ripping out one of the engine rooms😢. Luckily one still exists and it’s a work of art.
I am fascinated that YOU are able to get so much information, when most people who work for big companies aren't very forthcoming on the behind the scenes stuff. I visited the QM in the late 80's-early 90's 90's when it was still accompanied by the Spruce Goose. I stayed there as a guest in the early 2000's. I thought it was neat. I love classic ships.
The trick is to talk to people who used to work for those big companies, but not anymore.
Thanks for putting so much effort into explaining this! Not that I will ever see this place in my lifetime, but still, very interesting.