Sail away on Queen Mary, the original

Some “getaways” are wholly dependent on the strength of your imagination. With the new Queen Mary 2’s transatlantic crossings out of our reach, we did the next best thing: booked a night aboard the original Queen Mary and pretended.

Entered into service in 1936 and retired 31 years later after 1,001 crossings of the Atlantic, the ship epitomized elegance and wealth in its era. After making a permanent home in Long Beach, it opened for tours in 1971 and to overnight guests the following year, later earning spots on the National Register of Historic Places and in history as one of the world’s most celebrated ships.

My husband, daughter and I arrived last month just in time for 4 p.m. check-in at the 365-room Hotel Queen Mary, arguably more novelty than luxury these days. But how often do you get to sleep in a museum? The Queen is a frequent hostess to weddings, proms, conventions and private celebrations. We were marking my birthday -- on a budget that would have made the QM2 sneer.

We marched up the gangplank and were greeted with free glasses of champagne that went a long way toward offsetting the length and crawl of the check-in line.

Our portside stateroom ($189 plus tax) exceeded my expectations for space. Carved into two rooms, the suite sported a comfortable king-size bed and a twin, not that Vic and I could persuade our 6-year-old daughter Sophie to sleep alone after she had heard all the ghost stories that abound on the ship.

The low sinks with vintage plumbing fixtures and heating vents shaped like portholes weren’t lost on us. But the ship, originally refurbished about 30 years ago, is showing signs of age. At times it was hard to know what was meant to look old and what was just deferred maintenance. High-end toiletries didn’t mask the stained grout around the tub, but I did love the authentic “steady” bars and period pieces.

In one of the more amusing moments, Sophie discovered the fold-out padded blotter of the small Art Deco desk and asked what it was for. I told her people once used it to write letters.

“Write letters?” she repeated with disbelief. “No e-mail?”

Although I could have spent an hour absorbing the details of the room, we needed to hustle to honor our 6 p.m. reservation at the ship’s premier restaurant, Sir Winston’s. To my delight, “California casual” was nowhere on the menu; this throwback to the ‘30s demanded we dress accordingly. (Jackets for men, dress-up for women.)

Armed with a coloring book and a fresh pack of crayons for Sophie, we were promptly seated at a window table overlooking the harbor and city lights. Yes, elegant, and yes, great views. But we joked how crayons might have kept the drunk across the room a little quieter too.

His disturbance notwithstanding, we enjoyed superlative service, and our meals of baked halibut and steak were prepared to our requests. The restaurant graciously accommodated Sophie with a bowl of buttered pasta and steamed asparagus.

I was especially impressed that the restaurant had taken note of my birthday, mentioned when I made the reservation, and delivered to our table a complimentary slice of cake with a candle (although I could have found happiness simply in the after-dinner chocolates that also were served). In keeping with the ambience, a bride posed for pictures on the deck below our table and the couple seated behind us got engaged.

Waltzing on wood

The meal blew our budget and my Weight Watchers points for the week, but we left happy and eager to soak up the ship at night. We strolled the length of the vessel, poking our heads in the various banquet rooms and halls. We waltzed on the old wooden deck. And Sophie played on the wide steps leading to the promenade deck, where royalty -- Hollywood and British -- once descended in their finery. David Niven, Bob Hope, Spencer Tracy, Buster Keaton and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor all made the five-day crossing between New York and Southampton, England, on this fabled “city at sea.” Winston Churchill crossed the Atlantic three times on board.

We weren’t sure how the evening slipped away so fast, but it did, and we retired to our cabin around 9:30 p.m., hoping to not miss Sophie’s bedtime by much. We wondered how the combination of paper-thin walls (probably irrelevant in the days of noisy ship engines) and a lively party nearby would affect our sleep. It didn’t. We managed to doze off, no doubt long before the last teenager kissed under our porthole window.

The morning sun woke us to a beautiful day and a still-slumbering ship. Full from overeating the night before, we passed on the $32 champagne brunch and instead chose the $9.95 buffet in the ship’s Promenade Cafe. Unimaginative food, but quick.

The guided tours didn’t start until 11 a.m., so we followed the self-led version. The isolation ward housing infectious crew and passengers -- and the occasional stowaway -- seemed especially grim, as did the mortuary. But the dentist’s office and gym, both with antiquated equipment, were a hoot; we couldn’t decide which would have been more painful to visit as a passenger.

Sophie only wanted to get inside the playroom, reserved for the children of first-class passengers. It had wooden toys and not a Barbie in sight. I imagined myself in the “ladies’ drawing room,” sipping tea from a china cup, perhaps writing in my journal. Vic immersed himself in the radio and communications room, where telegraphs came through and where today a ham radio operators club holds forth.

Navigating Naples

Keeping with our weekend at sea, we had chosen to play ship captain on Long Beach’s Naples canals the day before boarding the Queen Mary. Undeterred by an overcast sky and blustery cold weather, we rented an electric boat. Because we had invited friends to join us -- bringing our party to five -- we went to Bay Boat Rentals at the Long Beach Marina and selected an 18-footer ($65 an hour), equipped with a stereo, CD player and cooler. (We lacked a strong swimmer among us, so we chose the boat that came with the strongest assurances that it was simple to operate.)

“Just don’t go out in the ocean,” was our only instruction from the staff.

“What if we get lost?” I asked.

“Call us on your cellphone.”

This is, after all, L.A.

Without question, our adventure would have been spectacular on a sunny day. We would have packed the cooler, doused ourselves in sunscreen or perhaps timed the trip to catch sunset. Instead, we found we could stay warm by zipping closed the plastic boat windows, though it muted the sea-wind-in-your-face experience.

Our group may have lacked sea legs, but we were strong on imagination.

“Who lives in all those houses?” asked Janine, our teenage guest, undoubtedly hoping for a celebrity sighting near the shoreline mansions. The wannabe Realtor in me chimed in: “What do you think they go for? Two mil?” It was an eclectic collection -- a Mediterranean villa next to an expanded Cape Cod, an English Victorian sitting elegantly next to a nautical beach house. Each had a boat docked in front.

Sophie found amusement not in the local real estate but with the floating seabirds that stared us down as we putt-putted toward them at 5 mph. We steered clear of anything that might be an obstacle in our path, including the narrower canals that required a tighter turn.

The hour passed quickly, and though we agreed that having the canals to ourselves was a benefit for our timid group, we preferred to return on a day when the sun was out.

After the boat ride and our stay on the Queen Mary, we realized that the real beauty of going away without really leaving home is that you can return when you need to. And we needed to, before the gods of the 405 got cranky on a late Sunday afternoon.

Ann Brenoff is an assistant Commentary page editor.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Budget for three

Expenses for this trip:

Lodging

Hotel Queen Mary, one night

with tax $211.68

Dinner

Sir Winston’s $168.03

Breakfast

Promenade Cafe $26.54

Boat rental

One hour $65.00

Gas $10.00

Final tab $481.25

CONTACT:

Hotel Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA 90802; (562) 435-3511, www.queenmary.com.

Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1 World Trade Center, Third Floor, Long Beach, CA 90831; (800) 452-7829 or (562) 436-3645, www.visitlongbeach.com.