Queen Mary With Kids: What Families Need to Know 2026

Luxury, legends, and a little spooky… visiting the Queen Mary with kids is anything but ordinary.

Built during the Great Depression, the Queen Mary set sail on her maiden transatlantic voyage in 1936, redefining luxury at sea. This legendary ocean liner hosted Hollywood icons like Clark Gable, welcomed British royalty, and later earned the nickname The Grey Ghost when she was transformed into a top-secret WWII troopship.

After the war, the Queen Mary returned to passenger service for two more decades before permanently docking in Long Beach, California, in 1967. Today, she’s one of the most unique places in Southern California where families can tour, dine, and even spend the night aboard a historic ship.

And yes… she also happens to have a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the world, which you know we absolutely love over here at HotMamaTravel.com.

So if you’re wondering whether visiting the Queen Mary with kids is worth it (history, spooky stories, and all), you’re in the right place. Let’s explore what families can expect when staying, eating, touring, and making unforgettable memories aboard this iconic ship.

Yes, the Queen Mary is a great experience for kids, especially families who love history, hands-on exploration, and a little spooky fun.

The Queen Mary offers a mix of interactive tours, open decks, historic exhibits, and immersive storytelling that keeps kids engaged without feeling like a museum. Families love that kids can explore real ship corridors, climb staircases, peek into engine rooms, and imagine life aboard a legendary ocean liner.

Add in themed events, kid-friendly dining options, and the ship’s famous haunted reputation (perfect for curious tweens and teens), and the Queen Mary becomes a memorable family adventure, not just a hotel stay.

For parents, fun bars and restaurants, and live music. Plus, it’s walkable, educational, unique, and easy to pair with nearby Long Beach attractions, making it an ideal stop for families traveling with kids of different ages.

Queen Mary Room Options for Families

The Queen Mary offers a wide range of stateroom options to fit different family sizes and travel styles. Families will love the Family Suites, which sleep up to four guests and are available with one king and one twin bed or two queen beds, perfect for parents and kids sharing a space comfortably.

Larger groups can upgrade to Mini Suites (sleep 4) or Full Suites (sleep up to 6), while couples or smaller families can choose from Deluxe or Standard Staterooms that sleep two. ADA-accessible rooms are also available, and every room offers multiple layout configurations to choose from.

For the bravest families (or ghost-loving parents), the Queen Mary also offers the legendary Paranormal Suite, Stateroom B340, known for one of the highest volumes of recorded paranormal activity on the ship. It's one of our favorite haunted hotels in L.A.

Reports dating back to Queen Mary’s final voyage in 1967 include unexplained knocking in the middle of the night, lights turning on by themselves, faucets running without reason, and bathroom doors slamming shut. The ship’s logs are full of these encounters… but are you brave enough to stay?

What It’s Like Sleeping on the Queen Mary With Kids

Staying aboard the Queen Mary is quite a treat. It’s like stepping back in time, drifting off to sleep amid the art deco décor and glamor of another era. Unless, of course, you are keeping one eye open to spy one of the many ghosts said to haunt this historic floating hotel. Yup, I said ghosts.

Queen Mary Restaurants for Families

Observation Bar

This Art Deco lounge is my favorite hangout on the Queen Mary with kids. It is kid-friendly, with great drinks and small bites, fantastic views, and live music. You can’t beat it. It just takes you back to a more glamorous era. Every time I visit, I secretly (okay, not so secretly) wish I would spot one having a cocktail in the observation bar.

Promenade Café

Like the other dining options on the ship, the Promenade Café has gorgeous views of the ocean and delicious food. Very family-friendly, the café is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Chelsea Chowder House & Bar

Chelsea's doesn't just have any chowder; they specialize in chowders as well as other delicious seafood options and steak. Surf and turf, baby! This is a fine dining experience for those looking to upgrade their time on The Queen Mary. Nothing sounds better than some warm chowder and a chilled glass of wine when you are on a boat surrounded by the blue ocean.

Midship Marketplace

The Midship Marketplace is your go-to stop on the Queen Mary when you need a caffeine fix or a quick bite between exploring the ship. Serving Starbucks coffee, this easy grab-and-go spot offers fresh sandwiches, salads, pastries, and drinks. It is perfect for fueling up without slowing down your day. Whether it’s your morning coffee or a mid-afternoon snack, it’s a convenient option for families on the move.

Afternoon Tea

Fashioned after British afternoon tea, it is available on Saturdays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Afternoon Tea offers British tea service as well as delicious salads, soups, and sandwiches. The Tea Room is elegant and will make you feel a bit like a royal. Kids love the tea experience, while mama can enjoy a glass of wine.

Royal Champagne Sunday Brunch

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday is brunch, and the Queen Mary has a fantastic one! Held in the Grand Salon, the endless buffet of delicious dishes from all over the world wraps around the entire dance floor. Live music plays and champagne flows. It is truly a Sunday Funday.

Best Queen Mary Tours for Families

One of the reasons the Queen Mary is such a win for families is the variety of tours. Whether your kids love history, engineering, spooky stories, or just exploring cool hidden spaces, there’s a tour that fits their vibe and attention span.

Here’s how to choose the right one for your crew 👇

⭐ VIP Tour (Best for Teens + Parents Who Love a Little Extra)

This 3-hour VIP experience is the most in-depth tour on the ship and feels very “behind-the-scenes.” You’ll get access to restricted areas, hear rare stories from a ship officer, enjoy a gourmet lunch, and score shopping discounts.

Why kids & teens will like it:

• Exclusive areas = instant cool points
• Real ship officers sharing insider stories
• Feels like you’re part of a secret club
• Great for older kids who love history, ships, or Titanic-style facts

Good to know: This tour is not ADA accessible due to the ship’s historic structure.

⚓ Glory Days Historical Tour (Best Intro Tour for Families)

This is the classic Queen Mary tour and a great starting point. It covers the ship’s construction, the luxury travel era, and WWII service as a troopship.

Why kids & teens will like it:

• Fast-paced and easy to follow
• WWII stories keep older kids engaged
• Helps them understand why this ship is such a big deal
• Only about an hour—perfect attention-span length

📅 Offered daily (with extra tours Fri–Sun)

🇪🇸 Glory Days en Español

Same fascinating history as the Glory Days tour, but offered in Spanish on select dates.

Why families love it:

• Perfect for bilingual families
• Makes history more accessible and engaging
• Same kid-friendly pacing and storytelling

🔧 Steam & Steel Tour (Perfect for STEM Kids)

This tour dives into the engineering and technology that made the Queen Mary one of the fastest and most advanced ships of her time.

Why kids & teens will like it:

• Engines, mechanics, and ship systems
• Great for curious minds and future engineers
• Teens especially love seeing how everything actually worked

📅 Daily | ⏱ About 1 hour

🎨 Queen Mary Art Tour (For Creative Kids & Teens)

This tour explores the ship’s stunning Art Deco design, murals, woodwork, and artistic details from the 1930s.

Why kids & teens will like it:

• Beautiful visuals (hello, photo ops)
• Cool stories behind the artwork
• Great for creative kids, art lovers, and teens who appreciate aesthetics

📅 Daily | ⏱ About 1 hour

👻 Haunted Encounters (Spooky—but Not Scary)

This is the perfect first ghost tour for families. It introduces the Queen Mary’s paranormal legends without being too intense.

Why kids & teens will like it:

• Ghost stories without nightmares
• Mysterious vibes = instant engagement
• Perfect for tweens and teens who love spooky fun

📅 Daily | ⏱ About 1 hour

🔦 Paranormal Ship Walk (Best for Brave Teens)

This after-hours experience takes you into hidden areas of the ship while diving deeper into its ghostly legends.

Why teens will love it:

• Exclusive access to off-limits spaces
• Dark hallways + creepy stories
• Feels adventurous and thrilling without being over-the-top

📅 Daily | ⏱ About 2 hours

⚠️ Graveyard Tours (Older Teens Only – Ages 16+)

This is the most intense paranormal tour and takes place after midnight. You’ll explore rarely seen areas and decide for yourself if the ship is truly haunted.

Why teens love it:

• Late-night experience = instant cool factor
• Real ghost-hunting vibes
• Perfect for teens who think the other tours aren’t scary enough

📅 Fridays & Saturdays | ⏱ About 2 hours

🐠 Queen Mary + Aquarium of the Pacific Combo (Best Value for Families)

This combo ticket pairs history with hands-on fun.

Why families love it:

• Balance of learning + animals = happy kids
• Penguins, sharks, otters, and touch tanks
• Easy way to fill an entire day in Long Beach

🎟 Two iconic attractions, one ticket—no brainer.

💡 HotMamaTravel Tip

If you’re visiting with younger kids, start with Glory Days or Haunted Encounters.
If you’ve got teens, Steam & Steel or any of the paranormal tours are a huge hit.
And if you want to keep everyone happy? Pair the Queen Mary with the Aquarium of the Pacific and call it a perfect family day.

Self-Guided Tours: Explore the Queen Mary at Your Own Pace

Not ready to commit to a scheduled tour? Good news, you can chart your own course aboard the Queen Mary with a self-guided experience. This is one of the best options for families, especially if you’re traveling with kids of different ages, teens who want freedom, or anyone who prefers to explore without being rushed.

Self-guided touring lets you wander through exhibits that reveal the ship’s history, engineering, luxury, and legendary lore, everything from the crow’s nest to the engine room on your timeline.

Why families love self-guided tours:

• Go at your own pace (snack breaks encouraged)
• Skip what doesn’t interest your kids, linger where it does
• Perfect for kids who like to explore and teens who want autonomy
• Mix history, hands-on exhibits, and a little spooky fun

Here are the standout stops kids and teens won’t want to miss 👇

🚢 Bridge & Captain’s Quarters (Sports Deck Forward)

This is the nerve center of the ship, sitting nearly 90 feet above the waterline. Kids love standing where major decisions were made, while teens are fascinated by the charts, wheelhouse, and docking wings.

Right nearby, the Captain’s Quarters show just how luxurious life was at the top. Think first-class suite vibes, uniforms, memorabilia, and stories about the people who ran the ship.

📡 Radio Room (Sports Deck)

This is a sleeper hit for kids. The Radio Room still houses original equipment, and it’s actively used today. If you time it right, your kids might even see a live broadcast happening.

Translation: history that feels alive, not dusty.

😬 Isolation Ward (Capstan Deck – Stern AFT)

Equal parts history lesson and creepy curiosity. This space once housed sick passengers, stowaways, and anyone needing isolation. Today, it’s known as a favorite spot for paranormal investigators and YouTubers.

Kids love reading about stowaways; teens love the eerie vibes and ghost lore.

🖼 Commodore’s Office & QM Heritage Room (Promenade Deck)

These spaces give the ship a human story. The Heritage Room features video interviews with former crew members, soldiers, and war brides, great for helping kids connect emotionally to the past.

Bonus: photo ops with the Commodore or ship officers if they’re around.

🛳 Ship Model Gallery & LEGO® Ship Model (Promenade Deck & D-Deck)

This is a can’t-miss for families.

• Giant cutaway models of RMS Titanic, Lusitania, and Normandie
• Incredible craftsmanship kids actually stop to stare at
• The world’s largest LEGO® model of the Queen Mary (250,000 bricks!)
• Challenge your kids to find the white LEGO cat 🐱

Instant win.

🔫 WWII Gun & Cunard Story (Bow Forward & A-Deck)

These exhibits highlight the Queen Mary’s role in WWII and her connection to Cunard’s legendary fleet. Teens especially love learning how the ship safely transported nearly a million troops during the war.

🎶 Music Room & Children’s Playroom (Promenade Deck)

Parents will love this part. Seeing the original children’s playroom, complete with toys and artwork, helps kids imagine what life onboard was like for families traveling decades ago.

It’s also a nice reminder that kids have always been part of the Queen Mary’s story.

⚙️ Engine Room, Propeller Box & AFT Steering (D-Deck)

This is where the ship really comes alive. The massive engines, propellers, and steering systems are jaw-dropping for all ages.

Why kids and teens love it:

• Huge machinery = instant awe
• STEM-friendly and hands-on feeling
• Paranormal fans will want to check out the infamous Watertight Door 13

👻 B340 Stateroom & First-Class Pool Viewing Area

If your family enjoys spooky stories, these stops are legendary.

• B340 is the most famous haunted room on the ship
• The First-Class Pool is often called the most haunted location onboard

Even skeptical teens tend to get quiet here… just saying.

🧠 History Buff Bonus Stops

• Printing Press (a floating city needed its own newspaper!)
• Winston Churchill exhibit featuring film set pieces from Darkest Hour
• Sisters of the Sea ship models are beautiful, detailed, and impressive

💡 HotMamaTravel Tip

If it’s your first visit, start with a self-guided tour to get the lay of the ship, then add a guided or paranormal tour later. It’s the easiest way to keep kids engaged and avoid burnout.

Self-guided touring gives families flexibility, freedom, and just the right mix of learning, exploring, and “whoa, that’s cool.”

Seasonal Events at the Queen Mary

One thing that surprises a lot of families? The Queen Mary isn’t just a ship you tour once and move on from. There’s always something happening onboard, no matter when you visit.

All year long, the Queen Mary hosts fun events like movie nights, murder mystery dinners, live music, silent discos, line dancing, and special dining experiences. Even if you’re just staying overnight, chances are something entertaining is happening that night.

But let’s talk about the standout seasonal events, the ones we plan trips around.

🎃 Dark Harbor (Fall / Halloween)

Hands down, Dark Harbor is one of Southern California’s most iconic Halloween events.

Every fall, the Queen Mary transforms into a full-blown Halloween festival, both onboard the ship and throughout the surrounding harbor. This isn’t just a haunted house… It’s an entire spooky playground.

What makes Dark Harbor so epic:

• Multiple haunted mazes inside the notoriously haunted ship
• Hundreds of monsters roaming the grounds
• Immersive attractions and live entertainment
• Carnival rides like the Sinister Swings
• Themed bars, lounges, festive eats, and treats
• Tons of Instagram-worthy moments

The festival format lets you pick and choose what you want to do, perfect for teens who want thrills and parents who maybe want one maze and a cocktail.

🎟 Tickets are available exclusively online, and it does sell out.

🖤 Dark Harbor VIP Package (Worth It If You Love Halloween)

If you’re all in on spooky season, the Dark Harbor VIP Package is next-level.

VIP perks include:

• Overnight stay onboard the Queen Mary
• VIP Dark Harbor ticket (picked up at check-in)
• Early entry before the crowds
• Unlimited skip-the-line access to all haunted mazes
• Lounge access to the Observation Deck and Captain’s Club
• Access to Lady Mabel’s speakeasies
• Pirate’s Plunder interactive shooting gallery
• 13% off event merchandise

Sleep aboard. Skip the lines. Own the night.
This is Halloween parent winning at its finest.

🎄 Holiday Season on the Queen Mary (December Magic)

The Queen Mary goes all-in for the holidays, turning the ship into a festive, family-friendly winter wonderland with events for every age.

🍬 Peppermint Lounge: A Christmas Bar

A cozy, decked-out holiday bar serving seasonal cocktails, with live music on select nights. Perfect for parents who want to sip something festive while soaking in Christmas cheer.

🍸 Holiday Bar Crawl

Grab a passport and sip your way through the ship’s signature bars, ending the night with a limited-edition Queen Mary holiday pin. Very fun, very festive, very “parents night out.”

🎅 Royal Sunday Brunch with Santa

A holiday favorite for families. Enjoy a lavish brunch, festive entertainment, and a visit from Santa himself. Equal parts delicious and memory-making.

🎥 Holiday Movies on the Mary

Watch classic holiday movies like A Christmas Story and How the Grinch Stole Christmas inside the Queen Mary’s private theater. Cozy, unique, and perfect for winding down with kids.

🎨 Brushes & Bubbly: Winter Wonderland

A festive paint-and-sip experience where no artistic skills are required. Just bring your holiday spirit, and enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbly.

🎭 TIBBIE’S Holiday Follies Dinner Show

A high-energy holiday dinner show featuring classic seasonal music, dazzling costumes, and Broadway-style performances. Fun for all ages and a longtime Queen Mary tradition.

📸 Pictures with Santa (Dec 19–21)

Professional photos with Santa onboard the Queen Mary, perfect for holiday cards or keepsake memories.

🏠 Build-a-Gingerbread House

One of the best hands-on holiday activities for kids. Build and decorate a gingerbread house, sip hot chocolate, write a letter to Santa, and enjoy festive photo ops. Ship admission included.

☕ Chelsea Afternoon Tea

A classic, elegant experience featuring fine teas, scones, and pastries in one of the ship’s most beautiful spaces. Ideal for parents, grandparents, or a special holiday treat.

🎷 Alex Mendham and His Orchestra

A glamorous night of jazz and swing classics straight from Hollywood’s golden age. Whether you dance or just soak it all in, it’s pure Queen Mary elegance.

🎭 New Year’s Eve Aboard the Queen Mary

Ring in the New Year with a Masquerade Soirée featuring live music, performances, casino games, and fireworks at midnight. Dress up, mask on, champagne ready.

🏴 Scottish Festival (A Fan Favorite… Hopefully Returning!)

One of our all-time favorite Queen Mary events is the Scottish Festival, a lively celebration of Scottish culture featuring kilts, bagpipes, Highland dancing, music, and history.

The festival hasn’t been held since 2020, but there’s been talk of bringing it back, and we’re crossing all fingers and toes. If it returns, it’s an absolute must-do for families.

See our family travel video from the last ScotsFest on The Queen Mary.

💡 HotMamaTravel Tip

Before booking your visit, check the Queen Mary event calendar. Pairing a stay or tour with a seasonal event turns a simple visit into a core memory.

One ship. Endless experiences. And a reason to come back again, and again.

At the end of the day, the Queen Mary is one of those rare places that actually works for kids, teens, and parents. It has history, hands-on exploring, a little spooky fun, and plenty of “wait… this is actually really cool” moments.

Whether you’re visiting for a few hours, staying overnight, or timing your trip around one of the ship’s seasonal events, it’s the kind of experience your kids will talk about long after you leave the dock.

And if you’re ready to keep the adventure going, head over to my California Family Travel Guides and my Best Haunted Hotels in California Guides for more family-approved destinations, unique stays, and unforgettable experiences across the Golden State, because California is full of trips that are just as fun as they are memorable.