Last night I had the pleasure of visiting the Observation Bar located inside of the Queen Mary for the first time. My friend Amanda and her boyfriend, Miguel, invited me to one of their friend’s birthday that was being hosted inside.
I have only been on the Queen Mary once before and it was for their annual Halloween event, but that was over five years ago; so I had no idea what to expect this time seeing it from an adult’s perspective.
The three of us walked up to the main entrance around roughly 9:30 p.m. and were welcomed by three men and one woman dressed up as 30s style concierge. I really enjoyed the whole theme from the beginning. They asked us if we had already purchased tickets for the bar and when we replied, “no” and that we were paying with cash, the ticket lady allowed us to enter for free. I was already excited thinking that we were receiving some sort of special VIP treatment. There were elevators located to your left hand side, which take you to the second floor.
Once you step foot outside of the elevator you are welcomed with a beautiful entrance onto the ship. The Queen Mary is kept up as if it was its first time setting sail onto the blue abyss. The floors are lined with glossy wood panels that stretch as far as the eye can see.
We finally found our way to the Observation Bar and were instantly amazed by the beautiful artwork hanging above the bar. The lights in the bar were dimmed in a way to give off an elegant, romantic feel of wealth and radiance. The ship was not as busy as I assumed, so I truly did felt like I was one of the few to receive such an honor.
The birthday girl and her giant posse spotted us greeted us to their tables. They had tables aligned one by one along the windows that gazed out onto the top deck of the Queen Mary. It was completely breath taking. The water and night sky were so calming that I was already having a wonderful time. You were able to gaze out onto the front of the ship and the view of surrounding Long Beach. The city lights in the distance made you feel close to home, yet in a dream.
The waitress came to greet us as soon as we were seated. It must have been fate because Amanda and I were starving and they were only receiving food orders until 9:45 at which was four minutes away. We ordered their spinach and artichoke dip and vegetarian egg roll appetizer dish along with two of their house drinks, which consisted of Bombay Sapphire Gin, fresh lemon juice, and sparkling wine, which happened to be suggested by the waitress herself.
The two appetizer dishes were phenomenal! The spinach and artichoke dip came with multicolored tortilla chips and pita chips, which gave you the option to decide which consistency you preferred. The vegetarian egg rolls were cooked perfectly to a slight crisp and were accompanied with soy sauce for dipping. The drinks finally arrived and they were good at first, but left a very odd after taste, which lingered.
I opted out of ordering that drink again and went with a very refreshing vodka mixed drink labeled Top Deck. It consisted of Grey Goose, basil, cucumber, and squirt. It was actually very enjoyable and sort of had a mojito vibe to it. I decided for further research I had to try one more drink. I ordered their grapefruit Cosmo… for research of course. This drink was basically liquid candy and had no taste of alcohol whatsoever. Perfect.
As we enjoyed our finger foods and drinks a band played in the corner doing renditions of other peoples’ songs. They were very talented, even though the guitarist appeared to be bored out of his mind. Overall the whole experience was great from the wonderful, efficient service to the decently priced drinks. I had a great time and would definitely go back in the future. Observation Bar, you get a 4.5 in my book.
