I would like to share my experiences of the night we stayed on the Queen Mary. We stayed there on May 9th, 2009 and we stayed in room A107. I was really excited about staying there because I had heard all these ghost stories about the place and that they offered tours, but I knew we couldn't take any of the ghost tours because our 19 month son was with us. I was determined to get to that 1st class swimming pool since it is rumored to be a hot spot for ghostly activity.
We arrived around 2:30pm and were able to go to our room. As we were unlocking the door I noticed a little yellow flower on the floor in front of our door. (It was a fake flower) I picked it up and as soon as we walked into the room I instantly felt sick, almost like car sickness or motion sickness to the point I asked my husband if the boat was moving. His reply was "Are you joking?" I said "No, I really feel sick all of sudden." But I just ignored it. So we looked around the room, fiddled with all the knobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures and whatever else fun stuff was in our room. I left the little yellow flower on the vanity in the room. We had some time before my in-laws arrived so we walked around. We went up to the Promenade Deck where the main hall was like stepping back into the 30's. This was where all the shops were. As soon as we walked up the steps onto this floor I smelt cigar smoke or pipe smoke, and I thought 'Nobody is suppose to be smoking in here.' I asked my husband if he smelt anything and he only said food. (There was a lounge to our right as soon as we came up the steps) But the smell was gone instantly. So we walked around, explored some more and did a little shopping.
So fast forward to where my in-laws get there. Their room is A113, and as they are unlocking their door I noticed a yellow flower (same as the one I found in front of our door) on the floor in front of their door. And I said to my husband "Look another yellow flower." He said "No, our son must have brought it with him." So we looked around their room and were getting ready to go eat and I realized I forgot my cell phone on the charger. I went back to my room to get it and there on the vanity was the little yellow flower from earlier, right were I had left it. I don't know what this means but I thought it was weird that the same flower was in front of our and my in-laws door. As we were walking down the hall I was looking for more of those little flowers, but I didn't see any.
Later that night my in-laws said they would watch our son while we took a tour. The only one offered that night was the Twilight Historical Tour, which one of the stops was the 1st class swimming pool. I signed us up instantly. Armed with cameras (digital and disposable) I was ready! This was a great tour, you learn so much about the boat, and from what I learned on the tour, it could have explained some of the occurrences I had earlier in the day before I even knew about the history of the boat. (I will not explain every detail of the tour, only the parts that are significant to the story) So we started the tour and headed up the stairs to the Promenade Deck where all the stores are. Our Guide gave us history and told us what those stores where in the 30's. Now recall earlier when my husband and I went up to this deck I smelled either cigar or pipe smoke. Our tour guide explained that the shop now called Pacific Times (It's the first store on your left if you come up the stairs from the "M" Deck) was in fact a cigar/smoke shop. I thought there were no way after all the years that it could still smell like that in there. So as we were leaving I popped my head in there (this store is very tiny) and sniffed around. It smelled like magazines and newspapers.
Our guide took us to the Wheel House and in this room were smaller off rooms called the Chart Room, and what looked like quarters. As I was poking around in there a man walked by the doorway facing me dressed in gray and what looked like a naval uniform. I walked over to the doorway to look in the direction he went but no one was there. The thing that stood out the most was how deep the Grey color of his outfit was. I later learned that when the Queen Mary was called the Grey Ghost during the war, it wasn't just the boat that was painted Grey, everything was painted Grey. There was not one reflective surface inside or out the boat. The uniforms were Grey and all reflective medals and pins were removed for fear that any reflection would let the enemy know the boats position. Very cool.
Finally we were led to the 1st class swimming pool. While there we took pictures and I swear I kept seeing out the corner of my eye, even our guide said he had just seen something too as well as other members of the group. When we were getting ready to move on I lagged behind to take some more pictures. We were on the second floor and I was taking pictures of the first floor and inside the pool when I realized, there's water in the pool. There wasn't water in there a second ago. I grabbed my husband by the sleeve and said "Look there's water in the pool!" and I pointed to the deeper end of the pool. His response was "Where?" I looked again at the pool and the water was gone. I walked around a bit to see if maybe it was the lights were reflecting on the pool floor somehow, but that room was so dimly lit and what I saw was a bright reflection and movement like water. While leaving I asked the guide if they fill up the pool at all anymore, and he said it had not been a working pool for many years. None of the pipes to fill or drain the pool work.
Moving on he showed us what is called the Deadly Stair case were two people have fallen down the stairs and broke their necks. One of them was a little girl whom the crew has named "Jackie" and they believe that she is the one who haunts the swimming pool area. Our guide told us the little girl died because she slid down the banister but the other person may have fell (FYI-this staircase is kind of steep) because the boat rocked really badly. This is where we learnt that the Queen Mary was built with the flaw of being top heavy and would rock like crazy. SO passengers did not receive a smooth ride at all and many were sick. This may have explained the extreme motion sickness I felt earlier when we arrived at our room. So our tour ended on the "A" deck which is also called the Endless Hallway, and the floor we were staying on.
So were in our room getting ready for bed, and I'm noticing that you can hear all kinds of noises on the boat. The walls are kind of thin. Anyway, I asked my husband if he wanted the windows open, he said no because they are hard to open and make a very loud noise when you open them and he didn't want to wake our son. Now let me explain a little bit about the windows. I actually had to put my foot up to brace against the wall to open the window, that's how heavy and hard it was to open these. It also made a loud noise when you opened and closed it.
We also kept the bathroom door closed because there was a fan on in the bathroom that we couldn't turn off. So it's about 10pm, I was actually very tired for some reason I usually don't go to bed until really late. I also am a light sleeper so the slightest noise would wake me up.
So the lights are out, the only light in our room is the glow from the alarm clock on the vanity which our bed faces, and from the lights outside. I slept on the side of the bed closest to the windows. My husband slept on the side closest to the bathroom and the door to the room. Both doors were next to one another. My eyes pop open to the sound of really heavy raspy breathing, I look at the clock it says 12:14am. I'm thinking maybe it's another couple in the next room but then I realize it's in MY room. I lay very still and just listened, I thought it might be my husband but he was facing me. I thought there was no way my son could be breathing like that. I sat up to get out of bed to check on him and I froze. There was a man standing in my room to the right of the vanity, and the instant I saw him he literally melted in the small shadow on the wall. (This shadow, cast by the light hitting the vanity, was tall and thin. If a normal sized person where to step into this shadow, half of their body would be illuminated by the light coming in the windows.) The only thing I can recall about the man was he was dark like a shadow, it looked like there was a hat on his head and I smelt cigar smoke.
For some reason I did not feel panic. I was pretty calm, I got up checked on my son then lay back down and went back to sleep. I had no trouble falling back to sleep because I felt very tired and drowsy. My eyes pop open again to the sound of footsteps, I look at the clock it's around 2am. I'm thinking maybe its people going to their room next to ours or something. So I start to close my eyes when I realize the footsteps are coming around the bed to my side and they stopped right in front of me. I did not see anyone there although I got a faint smell of cigar smoke and it was gone in an instant. Again, I didn't feel panic. But really drowsy, almost drugged so I fell back asleep.
The last thing that I saw in our room occurred at 3:16am. I awoke to the door handle be jiggled very loudly and faint voices. Now there were a few drunken people on the boat, and I thought well maybe there at the wrong room and there trying to get into mine. But it didn't stop. So I reached over to turn on the little light over my head because I was going to tell them they are at the wrong room. I flicked the light on and turned my head towards the bedroom door just in time to see our bathroom door handle moving. It was moving right and left like some one trying to open it. As I was getting out of bed it suddenly stopped. I went over and peeked my head into the bathroom I didn't see or hear anything except the fan. Last check on my son, I got back into bed, turned off the light and lay down. Again this sudden wave of drowsiness hit me and almost instantly I was asleep.
We woke up around 8am, and as I was getting out of bed I noticed the left window was wide open. I asked my husband if he decided to open the window in the middle of the night. (It was not open when the door handle occurrence happened) He said no that he didn't wake up and he thought I had opened it. (Now recall how loud and heavy those windows were. I surely would have heard it opening because I'm a very light sleeper.)
Sadly we had to leave. This was a great experience and I would love to go back and stay a couple more nights. I would recommend staying there to anyone. As for what happened, I feel fortunate enough to have experienced something while there. My husband did not experience anything. As for my son, he would point to empty places and laugh or clap.
Another instant that morning as we were leaving we stopped in the Starboard Bakery on the Promenade Deck to grab some breakfast. This room was actually the children s playroom back in the day. My son kept laughing and clapping while in this room, and would walk to a spot and stop. There he would start babbling as if he was talking to someone or playing with someone. He had a little wind up monkey in his hand and he would hold it up as if he was showing someone how it worked. No one was there.
As for the shadow man, I will try and do some research on the rooms or passengers. I'll be sure to update this if I find anything.
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