With the New Year in full swing, it’s time to make good with resolutions like eating better, traveling & exploring, making new friends, living large, and fulfilling your bucket list. With that being said, there’s no better way to check off all these resolutions at once than by heading over to the historical Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA and embarking on a first-class and frightfully-fun adventure at Dining with the Spirits featuring fine dining, a ghost hunt, and haunted history tour. And better yet, the experience starts off at Sir Winston’s Restaurant & Lounge, featuring five-star dining, seaside views—and named as one the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America for 2015—making it a FABULOUS place to celebrate Valentine’s for a unique date night or gather with friends for a PAL-entine’s to remember!
What’s good Gab had the opportunity to board the Queen Mary to experience Dining with the Spirits—and we can tell you firsthand that it’s sure to raise your “spirits” to live like royalty—and celebrate a special occasion and life in an over-the-top and otherworldly fashion.
THE EXPERIENCE
Sir Winston’s Lounge
(Image: Y. Chiong)
The night starts off at Sir Winston’s Lounge where you’re instantly transported back in time in a dimly-lit cocktail lounge with a pianist, signature cocktails circa 1951 and rich-tapestries on the wall complete with framed pictures from the ship’s grand days.
(Image: Y. Chiong)
Sir Winston’s Restaurant
(Image: Y. Chiong)
Dining with the Spirits’ guests are then ushered into a fancy, reserved area inside Sir Winston’s Restaurant where you gather with a group of fellow ghost-hunting enthusiasts and history fanatics along your paranormal guide of the night, all in a fun and private group dining setting.
This first-class group dining experience gave us all an opportunity to acquaint ourselves and learn of each other’s ghostly encounters and curiosities—and we found that the group had similar ghost-hunting interests and eerie-excitement of what awaited us ahead. And best of all, we were able to enjoy first-class fare from a specially designed menu that included choice of an appetizer (we really enjoyed the Classic Lobster Bisque), an Intermezzo (the Pink Champagne Sorbet was DIVINE), an Entrée choice of Steak, Salmon, Chicken, or Vegetable plate (the group LOVED the Steak!), and concluding with a Dessert (the Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brulee was to die-for, pun intended).
It was also really fun to hear our paranormal guide, Daniel, share his experiences on the ship, including his first encounter in the swimming pool area where he heard a little girl laughing. Daniel was seated at our table throughout the dinner and entertained guests with his personal stories, the ship’s history, ghost encounters, and was also available to answer any questions the group had.
GHOST HUNT AND HAUNTED HISTORY TOUR
(Image: Y. Chiong)
The tour began around 9:30pm, and we joined our fellow Dining with the Spirits’ companions along with a bigger group of guests who purchased just the tour portion. After eating to our heart’s content and exchanging ghost stories and travel explorations, we were ready to roll up our sleeves and begin the tour and investigations.
Our tour guide Daniel began with a history of the Queen and took us into the ship’s deep, dark corners where its haunted past reigns supreme, including the engine and boiler rooms where we were able to explore. And if you’re lucky, you might even have the opportunity to channel the spirits with dousing rods, as 2 guests from our group were able to hold the rods while Daniel called for the ghost of John in the Engine Room. John Pedder was a fireman in the engine room who was crushed by the now infamous “Door 13.”
We were also able to venture into the Boiler Room, where Daniel shared that his scariest experience ever came from Boiler Rooms 1 and 2 where he heard whistling and was grabbed by the right arm with no one in sight!
(Image: Y. Chiong)
THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE
The Queen Mary’s Dining with the Spirits adventure was an exclusive and eerie night filled with fine dining, nighttime exploration, haunted history—and all with the unique guidance of our very own personal paranormal tour guide. We ate like royalty, made new friends with fellow ghost enthusiasts, and were met by several frightfully-fun surprises along the way, making it a must go-to experience to book for Valentine’s, a birthday, anniversary, special occasion, or simply for a fun date night or unique gathering with friends!
HOURS & INFORMATION
Hours: Fridays & Saturdays at 7PM
Parking: $8 with validation (up to 3 hours). Subject to change based on Special Event schedule here.
Tickets and Pricing: $134 per person, includes a three-course dinner. Purchase tickets here.
Tour time: 4.5 hours (2 hours for group dining followed by guided Shipwalk Tour)
Map: The Queen Mary can get confusing. Download the map and bring it with you!
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