Free admission to Queen Mary for ship-to-ship greeting with Queen Victoria

Queen Mary, meet Queen Victoria. That’s pretty much how the introduction would go if these two Cunard ships -- one docked in Long Beach, one on its way to the Panama Canal -- could speak. Instead, the ships will exchange a whistle salute amid fireworks when they “meet” Thursday in Long Beach Harbor.

Admission to the Queen Mary, usually $24.95 plus tax for adults, will be free to mark what Cunard calls a “royal rendezvous.” Queen Victoria is expected to sail into Long Beach Harbor between 5:30 and 6:15 p.m. and rendezvous with its sister ship between 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. The ship opens to visitors for free at 10 a.m.; guided tours and dining, however, are not free.

The best place to see the action is aboard the Queen Mary’s Promenade deck in the back of the ship, Cunard said in a news release. The Queen Victoria also will stop in the Port of Los Angeles earlier Thursday, marking the fourth call the ship has made at that port this year. The visits celebrate the ship’s debut sailings to Hawaii, Mexico and through the Panama Canal.

The Queen Mary, now a hotel and tourist attraction, is poised to mark the 75th year since it set sail from Southampton, England, to New York on May 27, 1936. In 2006, the ship was part of another royal Cunard encounter: a rendezvous with the Queen Mary 2.

Contact: Queen Mary, (877) 342-0738