QUEEN MARY 2
February 2, 2026 | Long Beach, California
Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line) reunited with Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, on February 2, 2026, nearly 20 years after their first Royal Rendezvous. We were there for both meetings and followed the liner throughout this morning’s approach, reunion and onward passage to Los Angeles. The event fell during her 108-night World Voyage and the 90th anniversary year of Queen Mary’s maiden voyage.
Queen Mary 2 reunited with her historic namesake, Queen Mary, in Long Beach, California, on the morning of February 2, 2026. Nearly 20 years had passed since their first Royal Rendezvous on February 23, 2006, bringing two generations of Cunard ocean liners together again within the same harbor. Queen Mary remained at her permanent Long Beach berth as the visiting flagship approached for the reunion and whistle salute. The meeting also took place during the 90th anniversary year of the original liner’s maiden voyage, connecting the occasion with another important milestone in her history. Carnival Radiance was docked between the two Queens and appears in many of these photographs as part of the harbor setting that morning.
For Ocean Liner Photography, this reunion carried a personal connection stretching back to the first meeting. We attended both events, photographing the two liners in February 2006 and returning to follow the morning’s movements in February 2026. Our coverage began with Queen Mary 2’s entrance into Long Beach Harbor, continued throughout the Royal Rendezvous and followed her onward passage to Los Angeles Harbor, where she docked at Berth 92. This gallery concentrates on the reunion itself, bringing the active flagship and her permanently berthed predecessor together within a collection that continues the story of our earlier photographs.
The rendezvous formed part of Queen Mary 2’s 108-night World Voyage and followed her first passage through the Panama Canal in January 2026. After the meeting, her overnight call in Los Angeles marked a return to that port after 17 years—a separate interval from the nearly 20 years between the two Long Beach rendezvous. The morning therefore brought together several strands of the ship’s history: her role as a working ocean liner, an expanding World Voyage itinerary, her connection with the original Queen Mary and the opportunity to photograph their reunion from the water.
Information List
Name: Queen Mary 2
Operator: Cunard Line
Type: Ocean liner
Role: Cunard flagship and scheduled transatlantic liner
Builder: Chantiers de l’Atlantique, France
Lead Naval Architect: Stephen Payne
Named: January 8, 2004, Southampton
Godmother: Queen Elizabeth II
Maiden Voyage: January 12, 2004, Southampton to Fort Lauderdale
Length Overall: About 1,132 feet / 345 meters
Gross Tonnage: About 149,000 GT
Published Service Speed: 28 knots
Power Generation: Diesel generators and gas turbine generators supplying an integrated electric system
Rendezvous Partner: Queen Mary
Partner’s Status: Permanently berthed hotel and historic attraction in Long Beach
Partner’s Maiden Voyage: May 27, 1936
First Royal Rendezvous: February 23, 2006, Long Beach
Reunion Featured Here: February 2, 2026, Long Beach
Anniversary Context: The 90th anniversary year of Queen Mary’s maiden voyage
Voyage Context: Queen Mary 2’s 108-night 2026 World Voyage
First Panama Canal Passage: January 24–25, 2026
Following Port Call: Los Angeles, including an overnight stay
Following Los Angeles Berth: Berth 92
Gallery Date: February 2, 2026
Gallery Location: Long Beach, California
Photography Context: Ocean Liner Photography attended both the 2006 and 2026 Royal Rendezvous events
History and Features
Building a New Ocean Liner:
Queen Mary 2 was built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France, with naval architect Stephen Payne leading the design team.
Her development continued Cunard’s commitment to passenger travel across the North Atlantic while also allowing cruises and extended World Voyages.
Queen Elizabeth II named the liner in Southampton on January 8, 2004, shortly before the beginning of passenger service.
Her maiden voyage departed Southampton for Fort Lauderdale on January 12, introducing a new flagship to Cunard’s fleet.
By the 2026 rendezvous, she had been in service for just over 22 years, compared with only two years at the first meeting.
Transatlantic Service and Worldwide Voyages:
Scheduled crossings between Southampton and New York remain central to Queen Mary 2’s identity and operating role.
Her service combines those crossings with cruises and longer voyages that take the liner beyond her regular Atlantic route.
Cunard marked her 400th transatlantic crossing in 2024, illustrating how extensively she had served the route before this reunion.
Her World Voyages bring that same working liner to ports where opportunities to see her are much less frequent.
The February 2026 meeting placed her continuing passenger service beside a predecessor preserved after the end of her seagoing career.
Scale, Engineering and Design:
At about 1,132 feet long, Queen Mary 2 is longer than the original Queen Mary, which measures about 1,019 feet.
The ships’ different proportions reflect the development of ocean-liner design between their respective introductions in 1936 and 2004.
Queen Mary 2’s generating plant combines diesel engines with gas turbines, supplying electricity for propulsion and shipboard services.
Her design incorporates sheltered balcony accommodation and a substantial promenade deck, providing different ways to experience time at sea.
These features support a ship intended for regular ocean passages as well as calls in ports around the world.
The Original Queen Mary:
Built by John Brown & Company in Scotland, Queen Mary began her maiden voyage from Southampton on May 27, 1936.
Her working career included scheduled Atlantic crossings, wartime troop transport and a return to passenger service after the Second World War.
She arrived in Long Beach on December 9, 1967, at the end of her final voyage and retirement from seagoing service.
Today, she is permanently berthed in Long Beach, serving as a hotel, historic attraction and preserved example of the great Atlantic liners.
Her role in the rendezvous was that of the resident historic ship, welcoming the visiting Queen Mary 2 to her permanent home.
The First Royal Rendezvous — February 23, 2006:
The first meeting between Queen Mary 2 and Queen Mary took place in Long Beach Harbor on February 23, 2006.
The occasion formed part of Queen Mary 2’s first visit to the United States West Coast, attracting spectators ashore and on the water.
The ships exchanged whistle salutes, establishing an audible connection alongside the visual meeting of the two liners.
Ocean Liner Photography attended that first rendezvous, creating the earlier collection to which the February 2026 photographs now connect.
Our 2006 Royal Rendezvous gallery shows the flagship during the early years of her career.
The Reunion — February 2, 2026:
Queen Mary 2 returned to Long Beach for the ships’ first reunion since their February 2006 meeting.
The event took place early in the morning, with spectators able to view the approaching liner from shore, the historic ship and harbor cruises.
The rendezvous included a whistle salute, renewing one of the defining elements of their original encounter.
Queen Mary remained permanently berthed throughout the occasion, while Queen Mary 2 made the approach and subsequent onward passage.
The reunion occurred nearly 20 years after the first meeting, within the same anniversary month rather than on the exact anniversary date.
A Whistle Shared Across Generations:
Queen Mary 2 carries an original whistle from Queen Mary, providing a physical connection between the two ships.
Cunard identifies the historic whistle as the starboard member of the pair mounted beside the flagship’s funnel.
The original whistle was refurbished for its role aboard the newer liner, allowing a piece of her predecessor’s equipment to continue at sea.
Cunard describes the whistles’ tone as a deep bass A, a sound closely associated with the presence of a large ocean liner.
During a rendezvous centered on the ships’ shared heritage, the salute connected their histories through sound as well as their names and appearance.
The 90th Anniversary Year:
The reunion took place in 2026, the 90th anniversary year of Queen Mary’s entry into passenger service.
That anniversary relates to her 1936 maiden voyage, distinct from her naming and launch in September 1934.
The exact maiden voyage anniversary fell later in the year, on May 27.
The February rendezvous formed part of the broader anniversary-year celebrations promoted by the historic ship.
Bringing an active Cunard flagship into view of the preserved liner gave that anniversary a connection with present-day ocean travel.
The First Panama Canal Passage:
Before reaching Southern California, Queen Mary 2 made her first passage through the Panama Canal using its expanded locks.
Cunard’s account places the beginning of the passage on January 24, 2026, followed by an overnight stay at the Cocoli Mooring Station.
The ship continued on January 25 and passed beneath the Bridge of the Americas, completing the Pacific end of the passage.
Fuerte Amador and Manzanillo featured in the onward itinerary before her arrival in Southern California.
The canal passage added another first to the World Voyage shortly before the reunion in Long Beach.
The 2026 World Voyage:
Cunard described the voyage as a 108-night journey visiting more than 30 ports across several continents.
Its itinerary connected destinations in the Americas, Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, combining ocean passages with extended port calls.
Overnight stays included Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and Cape Town.
The Long Beach rendezvous was an event within that wider voyage, while Los Angeles provided the subsequent overnight port call.
This context placed a brief meeting between the two liners within a much longer journey around the world.
Our Morning on the Water:
We followed Queen Mary 2 into Long Beach Harbor and remained for the entire Royal Rendezvous.
Having attended the first meeting in 2006, we returned with the earlier event forming an important part of our connection to the morning.
The coverage continued beyond the reunion, following the ship toward Los Angeles Harbor and her arrival at Berth 92.
Separate galleries cover the morning entrance, the rendezvous and the Los Angeles arrival, allowing each part of the sequence its own focus.
A companion Queen Mary gallery concentrates on the permanently berthed liner’s part in the same event.
From Long Beach to Los Angeles:
Following the reunion, Queen Mary 2 continued to the neighboring Port of Los Angeles for her scheduled overnight stay.
Her arrival there marked a return after 17 years, rather than the nearly 20 years separating the Long Beach rendezvous.
We followed her passage until she docked at Berth 92, completing our coverage of the morning’s movements.
The Long Beach meeting and Los Angeles docking were distinct parts of the day, involving two separate ports.
Together with the 2006 photographs, the February 2026 collection connects our experience of both reunions with the continuing career of Cunard’s flagship.
OLP Social: Nearly 20 years after their first meeting, she returned to Long Beach on February 2, 2026, to reunite with Queen Mary at her permanent home.
OLP Social 2: An original whistle from Queen Mary still sounds aboard, giving the salute between the two liners a direct connection to Atlantic crossings of the 1930s.
OLP Social 3: The reunion came during a 108 night World Voyage, shortly after her first Panama Canal transit and before a scheduled overnight call in Los Angeles.
OLP Social 4: Having attended both reunions, we followed her into Long Beach, stayed for the event and continued to Los Angeles, where she docked at Berth 92.
