Ghost Hunting Aboard the Queen Mary with Peter James
By Cheri Sicard
Photos by Mitch Mandell

Flashlight beams punch holes through the endless pitch black darkness before us, dimly illuminating dusty stacks of wooden deck chairs, art deco style furniture and other accoutrements and accessories that adorned the interior and decks of the Queen Mary at various times over the past seven decades. These tangible souvenirs of the historic ocean liner's glorious past now rest in a storage limbo deep in the bowels of the ship's hull, all but forgotten by everyone except the somewhat less tangible ghosts and spirits who make this area one their favorite haunting grounds.

Our nocturnal tour guide, psychic Peter James, regularly communes with over 150 separate entities who call the Queen Mary home. On this evening, like he does on the first and last Fridays of every month, he hopes the ghosts will make their presence know to the group of fascinated amateur ghost hunters and history buffs who have joined this unique expedition in search of irrefutable evidence of the ship's ghosts. The group will also join James for conversation and questions over an elegant dinner at Sir Winston's, the Queen Mary's premier restaurant, featuring gourmet continental cuisine.

Once an historic ocean liner whose passengers included the most celebrated people of the time, including royalty, top entertainment figures and important world leaders, like The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Clark Gable, George and Ira Gershwin, and Sir Winston Churchill, the Queen Mary is now permanently docked in Long Beach, California, where she is enjoying a new life as luxury hotel and meeting facility and a popular Southern California tourist attraction.

The Gray Ghost

From March, 1940 through September of 1946 the luxurious ocean liner was transformed into a carrier ship that aided allied forces during World War II. During this period she carried a total of 765,429 military personnel and sailed a total of 569,429 miles (916,407 km). Conditions during this period bore little resemblance to those experienced by the Queen Mary's paying passengers. During the war, she often carried as many as 15,000 troops at one time.

The ship's nickname during those years -- "The Gray Ghost," due to the drab paintjob that helped her remain nearly invisible in misty waters -- in retrospect seems oddly prophetic. And little wonder. Peter James claims that at the most crowded periods during the war, a death on the ship could occur about once every seven minutes!

Despite these gruesome statistics, the ship once again metamorphesized into a luxury liner after the war, and passengers again flocked to her opulent decks, staterooms and suites (not to mention her more economic third and 4th class cabins).

Searching for Spirits

Peter James has been conducting ongoing research at the Queen Mary since 1991, and he claims it is one of the world's most haunted locations. One of America's most respected psychic investigators and a regular contributor to TV's popular Sightings show, Peter has dedicated his life to conducting ghost research. Of the 600 plus ghosts he says that still roam the Queen Mary, he's made personal contact with about 150.

The ghosts are as diverse as the ship's history, and some are more vocal and outgoing than others. Some of the spirits that tend be less shy include Jackie -- a small child who died in what was then the 2nd class passengers pool, Captain Jones, one of the Queen's past commanders and John Henry, a worker who regularly roams the ship's engine room.

Throughout the evening, Peter continually called out, attempting to coach his favorite spirits to come out to play.

"Captain Jones! Are You There?"

"Talk to me Jackie!"

"John Henry, make yourself known."

And in fact, we did hear strange noises -- some were distinct knocks in response to James's rapping on the ship's metal walls, and others sounded like a distant high pitched squeal. Were the sounds actually ghosts? I can't say for sure, but we did hear things.

The management of the Queen Mary has pretty much given Peter James carte-blanche to go anywhere on the ship that he sees fit, likewise you're likely to see areas on this tour that have never been accessible to the general public.

The bi-monthly ghost tour is strictly Peter James' "party" and he is the consummate host, continually striving to make his guests comfortable and facilitating social interaction between members of the diverse group of amateur ghost hunters.

Our evening began in the Observation Bar, an exquisite space restored to the art deco splendor that served first class passengers during the ship's sailing days. The twinkling lights of Long Beach, across the bay, visible through the lounge's panoramic windows, create one of the most spectacular and romantic views in Southern California. Even if you can't make it to the ghost tour, it's worth a stop in the Observation Bar for an after or pre dinner cocktail, for their daily happy hour specials or anytime you want to have a drink in an impressive setting.

After gathering the group together, Queen Mary employees escorted us to a small darkened theatre, where dramatically backlit -- his silver hair almost glowing in the darkness, our guide for the evening, Peter James, sat on the otherwise bare stage.

James explained how the evening would progress -- a pre-dinner tour that would take about an hour, dinner at Sir Winston's, followed by additional ghost hunting for anyone who hadn't gotten enough earlier in the evening (which turned out to be most of us).

We were told that unlike the Queen Mary's Ghost & Legends attraction, this was the real deal. We were looking to actually make contact with genuine ghosts. As such there is no guarantee of the level of activity that might be experienced on any given night, although James, Queen Mary staff members, and repeat visitor guests (of whom there were many in the group) all claim it's a rare evening indeed when the ghosts refuse to make their presence known at all. (Side Note: In this writer's opinion, the Ghosts & Legends attraction is a hokey, overpriced psuedo haunted house walk-through that won't even amuse the kids -- don't waste your time.)

To be honest, even if our group hadn't experienced anything potentially "ghostly" I still would have had a marvelous time. Ghosts or no ghosts, wandering the halls and nether regions of Queen Mary is a unique experience that evokes an awe-inspiring awareness of history that's hard to duplicate elsewhere.

Flashlights (conveniently provided by the staff, for those who didn't bring their own) in hand, we set off to explore. James took us down to 50 feet below the water level to the ship's engine room. Used in the filming of the Poseidon Adventure, the ship's engine room is also the scene of a lot of paranormal activity. In fact, the room's infamous "Door 13" crushed at least two men to death, at different points during the Queen's history. James believes the men were actually murdered, left by their co-workers to die painful deaths crushed in the heavy automatic doors which were designed to seal off sections of the engine room. Both men regularly make their presences known to James and his guests.

The poolroom is another of the ship's most active areas. Peter James says that an area in the pool's locker room is the ship's vortex of energy -- a place where the spirit energy is particularly potent. Temperature fluctuations, for no apparent reason, are a common phenomenon experienced here. Jackie, a little girl who James says drowned in the second class pool also likes to play in the poolroom. One evening Jackie entertained guests and a camera crew, her voice clearly audible to the astounded crowd. While Jackie remained quiet the night I visited, several of the returning guests recalled other nights when she was significantly more vocal.

Dinner and More Ghosts

After leaving the pool room, we ventured to Sir Winston's, what used to be the ship's first class dining room and is now the Hotel Queen Mary's finest restaurant. We dined on an elegant prixe-fixe dinner that included appetizer, soup or salad, entrée (beef, chicken seafood or pasta) and dessert.

Peter James is a fascinating dinner companion. He held court, regaling the enraptured crowd with tales of his ghost hunting adventures around the world and encouraging his guests to share their own experiences and ask questions. The ingenious way the Sir Winston's staff had set the tables allowed everyone in the group a seat with a view of the host, so that nobody felt left out of the conversation.

After dinner, James gave his guests another chance to return to the pool area and contact Jackie. We spent a good 20-30 minutes exploring the pool area and locker room, including the mysterious "vortex," and listening for sounds of the ghosts.

A surprising number of guests on the tour are multiple return visitors. There can be no greater testimony to how good a time the ghost tour evenings are than the fact that people come again and again. Most nights James is able to capture some sort of paranormal activity including audible sounds, smells, distinct temperature changes and, occasionally, visual activity or apparitions.

So did we conclusively experience evidence of ghosts on the night I attended? If you polled the group, some would say absolutely yes, others would give a resounding no, and the majority, like me, are not really sure. We know we heard something, exactly the source of the sounds, who knows? But nonetheless, it was a fascinating expedition through history, complemented by a wonderful dinner accompanied by a side order of mystery. And like most of the people on the tour, I can't wait to do it again.

Practicalities

The 2003 schedule offers ghost tours with psychic Peter James on the first and last Friday of each month. Private group tour parties are available seven days a week, subject to prior arrangement and availability. The tour meets in the Observation Bar at the Queen Mary between 6:30 and 7 PM. Group size is limited to no more than 25 people and is often sold out in advance, so make reservations early by calling 562-499-1657 or visiting www.QueenMary.com.

Price of the ghost tour and dinner package is a reasonable $99.00 per person. For those who wish to take advantage of the full experience and spend the night aboard the Queen Mary, tour participants can receive a special room rate of $89.00 (plus 12% room tax). To make room reservations, call 562-435-3511 and be sure to mention the Peter James Ghost Tour.

You can keep up with all of psychic and ghost hunter Peter James' adventures and investigations by visiting his website at www.GhostEncounters.com.

LOOK!

PETER JAMES PARANORMAL CONVENTION September 12th-14th , 2003 The Queen Mary Long Beach, California. Click here for details.

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Cheri Sicard, in addition to being the editor of FabulousTravel.com and its sister site, Fabulous Foods.com is the author of The Great American Handbook: What You Can Do For Your Country Today and Every Day. To learn more about Cheri, click here.