Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 21, 2004, Day 11 of our Northern Europe cruise. Thousands of spectators gathered to watch the liner depart, with the crowds visible in this gallery. The visit followed an overnight call in Hamburg and was the final port before returning to Southampton.

Queen Mary 2 (Cunard) spent February 6, 2026, in San Francisco during her 108-night World Voyage, completing an overnight call before departing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge for Hawaii and the Pacific. The visit came just four days after her historic Royal Rendezvous with RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, placing San Francisco at an especially memorable point in the ocean liner’s journey around the world.

Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) during her inaugural visit to Hamburg, Germany, on July 19, 2004—Day 9 of our Northern Europe cruise. The overnight call formed part of our July 11–22 voyage roundtrip from Southampton, following visits to Scotland and Norway and before continuing to the Netherlands.

Nearly six decades after arriving in Southern California, the RMS Queen Mary remains permanently berthed in Long Beach as a hotel, attraction, and preserved ocean liner. These views from November 1, 2025, show the historic former Cunard liner during the final weekend of the Queen Mary’s fall Dark Harbor season.

Nearly sixty years after her final voyage, the RMS Queen Mary remains one of the most recognizable ships in Long Beach. These views from May 30, 2026, show the former Cunard liner at her permanent berth, where she has been preserved since arriving in Southern California in 1967.

RMS Queen Mary is seen from across Long Beach Harbor on June 25, 2026. Permanently moored in Long Beach since 1967, the former Cunard liner remains one of the most significant surviving passenger ships of the twentieth century and an enduring part of the city’s waterfront.

This model of SS United States became part of the Ocean Liner Photography collection on June 15, 2025, after the passing of a friend's father. Along with his collection of maritime books, the model was given to me to preserve and became a meaningful addition to my own collection. Although its maker, age and scale are unknown, the model represents one of the most important American ocean liners ever built and preserves another small connection to the people who have shared an interest in these great ships.

This collection preserves original paperwork and memorabilia from our honeymoon crossing aboard Queen Elizabeth 2 (Cunard), sailing from Southampton to New York on April 14–20, 1999. Voyage 1160 celebrated QE2’s 30th anniversary in service and formed the final transatlantic leg of her 1999 World Cruise.

In March 1990, we traveled aboard Azure Seas (Admiral Cruises) from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico. Originally built as the ocean liner Southern Cross, the ship later became a familiar part of the Southern California cruise scene and helped establish the popularity of short cruises from Los Angeles.

In December 2024, we traveled aboard Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) on a seven-night eastbound transatlantic crossing from New York to Southampton. Departing New York on December 3, the voyage spent six uninterrupted days at sea before arriving in Southampton on December 10. The crossing took place during Queen Mary 2's 20th year of service and continued Cunard's long tradition of scheduled passenger service across the North Atlantic.

A July 18, 2025 visit to the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach offered another opportunity to revisit the former Cunard liner and her art deco surroundings. Permanently moored in Southern California since 1967, she preserves a connection to the era of express Atlantic crossings and the wartime service that earned her the nickname “Grey Ghost.”

The SS Rotterdam, former flagship of Holland America Line, remains an impressive sight at her permanent berth in Rotterdam. These photographs from July 26, 2024, show the preserved ocean liner in her namesake city, where she now welcomes visitors as a hotel, maritime attraction, and event venue.

In July 2004, we traveled aboard Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) on an 11-night Northern Europe cruise from Southampton during the ocean liner’s inaugural year. Beginning with embarkation on July 11 as Day 1, the voyage visited South Queensferry for Edinburgh, the Norwegian fjords, Ålesund, Bergen, Hamburg and Rotterdam before returning to Southampton on July 22. This master gallery brings together our photographs from the voyage, with individual port galleries documenting each stage of the cruise in greater detail.

This collection preserves the story of my friend, jazz musician Alan Rowe, through the original tickets, daily programs, menus and other memorabilia he saved from his September 10–15, 1964 transatlantic crossing aboard RMS Queen Mary (Cunard). Traveling Tourist Class from Southampton to New York, Alan was on his way to the United States after receiving a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.

On Day 6 of our July 2004 Northern Europe cruise, Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) visited Ålesund, Norway, on July 16 during the ocean liner's inaugural year. Arriving after the previous day's visits to Hellesylt and Geiranger, the call continued Queen Mary 2's first voyage through Norway and placed Cunard's new flagship against Ålesund's distinctive island and mountain setting.

RMS Queen Mary is one of the most celebrated ocean liners of the twentieth century and an enduring symbol of the golden age of transatlantic travel. Built for Cunard White Star and entering service in 1936, she competed for the Blue Riband, served as a vital Allied troopship during World War II, and carried passengers across the North Atlantic for more than three decades. Since completing her final voyage in 1967, Queen Mary has been permanently preserved in Long Beach, California.

On Day 5 of our July 2004 Northern Europe cruise, Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) made her first visit to Norway, calling at Hellesylt before continuing through Geirangerfjord to Geiranger on July 15. The inaugural-year visit placed the new ocean liner among the steep mountains and waterfalls of the Norwegian fjords, where Marco Polo (Orient Lines) was also anchored at Geiranger.

Queen Mary 2 (Cunard) entered Long Beach Harbor on February 23, 2006, for her historic first meeting with RMS Queen Mary. Thousands gathered around the harbor and hundreds of boats took to the water as Cunard’s modern flagship approached her legendary namesake, bringing together two generations of transatlantic ocean liners during Queen Mary 2’s first visit to the U.S. West Coast.

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 arrived in Los Angeles on January 23, 2006, during her annual World Cruise. Illuminated at Berth 93 that evening, the legendary ocean liner was nearly 37 years into her Cunard career and less than three years from retirement, yet still making long-distance voyages around the world.

Marco Polo (Orient Lines) is seen at Geiranger, Norway, on July 15, 2004, photographed from Queen Mary 2 during our Northern Europe cruise. Originally built as the Soviet liner Aleksandr Pushkin, the classic passenger ship shared the dramatic setting of Geirangerfjord with the new Cunard liner during QM2’s inaugural season.