Editing RMS Queen Mary (section)

===Conversion===
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2021}}
[[File:RMS Queen Mary 20100215.jpg|thumb|left|''Queen Mary'' from the stern in 2010]]
''Queen Mary'', bought by Long Beach in 1967, was converted from a seafaring vessel to a floating hotel.<ref name="PT 2017-03-13">{{Cite news|date=13 March 2017|title=A history of the Queen Mary in Southern California|url=https://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20170313/a-history-of-the-queen-mary-in-southern-california|access-date=22 May 2021|newspaper=[[Press Telegram]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The plan included clearing almost every area of the ship below "C" deck (called "R" deck after 1950, to lessen passenger confusion, as the restaurants were located on "R" deck) to make way for [[Jacques Cousteau]]'s new Living Sea Museum. This increased museum space to {{convert|400000|sqft|m2}}.

It required the removal of all the boiler rooms, the forward engine room, both turbo generator rooms, the ship stabilisers and the water softening plant. The ship's empty fuel tanks were filled with local mud to keep the ship's centre of gravity and draft at the correct levels, as these critical factors had been affected by the removal of the various components and structure. Only the aft engine room and "shaft alley", at the stern of the ship, was spared. The remaining space was used for storage or office space.

One problem that arose during the conversion was a dispute between land-based and maritime unions over conversion jobs. The [[United States Coast Guard]] had the final say. ''Queen Mary'' was deemed a building, since most of her propellers had been removed and her machinery gutted. The ship was also repainted with its red water level paint at a slightly higher level than during her service years.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} During the conversion, the funnels were removed, as this area was needed to lift out the scrap materials from the engine and boiler rooms. Workers found that the funnels were significantly degraded, and they were replaced with replicas.

[[File:Queen Mary Hallway -- January 2024.jpg|thumb|Passageway in first-class accommodation, now part of the onboard hotel, as of January 2024.]]
With all of the lower decks nearly gutted from R deck and down, [[Diners Club]], the initial lessee of the ship, converted the remainder of the vessel into a hotel. In 1969, it was reported that the hotel would be operated by Sky Chefs, the catering and hospitality division of [[American Airlines]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot/106507618/|title=Article clipped from News-Pilot|newspaper=News-Pilot |date=17 December 1969|pages=7|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Diners Club Queen Mary dissolved and vacated the ship in 1970 after their parent company, Diners Club International, was sold, and a change in corporate direction was mandated during the conversion process. Specialty Restaurants, a Los Angeles-based company that focused on theme-based restaurants, took over as master lessee the following year.

This second plan was based on converting most of her first- and second-class cabins on A and B decks into hotel rooms, and converting the main lounges and dining rooms into banquet spaces. On Promenade Deck, the starboard promenade was enclosed to feature an upscale restaurant and café named [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson's]] and [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|Lady Hamilton's]]; it was themed in the fashion of early-19th century sailing ships. The famed and elegant Observation Bar was redecorated as a western-themed bar.

[[File:Queen Mary bridge.jpg|thumb|left|''Queen Mary''{{'s}} bridge in 2005]]

The smaller first-class public rooms, such as the Drawing Room, Library, Lecture Room and the Music Studio, were stripped of most of their fittings and converted to commercial use. This markedly expanded retail space on the ship. Two more shopping malls were built on the Sun Deck in separate spaces previously used for first-class cabins and engineers' quarters.

A post-war feature of the ship, the first-class cinema, was removed for kitchen space for the new Promenade Deck dining venues. The first-class lounge and smoking room were reconfigured and converted into banquet space. The second-class smoking room was subdivided into a wedding chapel and office space. On the Sun Deck, the elegant Verandah Grill was gutted and converted into a fast-food eatery, while a new upscale dining venue was created directly above it on Sports Deck, in space once used for crew quarters.

[[File:RMS Queen Mary Long Beach January 2011 view.jpg |thumb|right|Queen Mary in Long Beach is alongside Cruise Terminal in January 28, 2011]]

The second-class lounges were expanded to the sides of the ship and used for banqueting. On R deck, the first-class dining room was reconfigured and subdivided into two banquet venues, the Royal Salon and the Windsor Room. The second-class dining room was subdivided into kitchen storage and a crew mess hall, while the third-class dining room was initially used as storage and crew space.

Also on R deck, the first-class [[Victorian Turkish baths|Victorian Turkish bath]] complex, the 1930s equivalent to a spa, was removed. The second-class pool was removed and its space initially used for office space, while the first-class swimming pool was open for viewing by hotel guests and visitors. Because of modern safety codes and the compromised structural soundness of the area directly below, the swimming pool could not be used for swimming after the conversion, although it was filled with water until the late 1980s. Today the pool can only be seen on guided tours and from the first class entrance on R deck. No second-class, third-class or crew cabins remain intact aboard the ship today.