Spooky Date Idea: The Grey Ghost Project
The Grey Ghost Project is a paranormal investigation tour and experience aboard the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. This is known to be one of the most haunted ships in the world, with decades of history, tragedy, and ghostly sightings. We were invited to come aboard for one of our most unique date experiences yet, here’s what happened…
With your tour ticket, you can explore the Queen Mary before or after your scheduled tour. Our tour started at 9 PM, and we boarded a bit early to walk around, which I highly recommend, especially if you aren’t a regular visitor to the ship. The Queen Mary was both a luxury cruise liner and a warship at different times through it’s history, so you can imagine the stories these walls could tell—and perhaps the spirits they might hold onto. Numerous paranormal encounters have been reported aboard, making the ship a popular destination for dark tourists.
Our tour began promptly at 9 PM, led by our ghost host, Becca. She introduced the group to the various tools and devices we’d be using, ensuring everyone was on the same page. Volunteers from the group were given tools, allowing them to actively participate in the investigation rather than just observe. Once the ground rules were laid out, we ventured into parts of the ship usually off-limits to the public. One of the highlights for me was gaining access to the pool room, which is said to be one of the most haunted places on the ship. I've always wanted a closer look at its incredible art deco architecture. The pool room is reportedly home to the spirit of a young girl, so we used a teddy bear equipped with energy readers, EMF detectors, and other devices that could light up in response to our questions. I appreciated that we were encouraged to put our phones on airplane mode (due to potential interference with the tools being used), which allowed us to be fully present in the moment.
We then explored three more areas of the ship, where guests could try the Estes Method, a paranormal investigation technique. In this method, one person is blindfolded and wears sturdy headphones to listen closely to a spirit box, while others in the group ask questions. The idea is that the person using the Estes Method won’t be influenced by the questions being asked and will provide honest responses based on what they hear on the frequency. Danny and I both felt that some of the responses were intelligent, and we experienced temperature changes that were more than just typical chills. We never heard any eery voices or saw any outright apparitions (but can you IMAGINE?). One of the devices frequently lit up, seemingly in response to our questions, with the most activity occurring in the séance room (formerly one of the ship’s dining halls). It felt like one spirit wanted us to return to the pool room, but unfortunately, the investigation followed a strict timeline, so we couldn’t explore freely. We didn’t investigate inside room B340 but we popped in to take a look around and any photos we wanted to take, which is special since I believe they are about to open this room to public booking again, and likely won’t be as accessible for tours.
In the final room of the investigation, Danny and I volunteered to try the Estes Method. We sat side by side, far enough apart to avoid interfering with each other. For about 10 minutes, I mostly heard radio static, with a few words coming through like “are you…here” and “make me.” I found these interesting but didn’t place much importance on them, focusing instead on just listening and calling out what I heard. When Becca tapped us out of our session, Danny turned to me with wide eyes, as if to ask, “Did that just happen to you, too?” His experience was quite different from mine; he thought I was talking the entire time and even pressed his headphones closer to his head to drown out what he believed was my voice. He was surprised to learn that I had only spoken about 10 words and that the female voice he heard wasn’t mine. He was also disturbed by repeatedly hearing “do it, do it, do it.” Becca confirmed that this recurring spirit is known to be somewhat manipulative, often trying to influence guests. The phrase “do it” has been recorded before on the spirit box aboard the Queen Mary as part of the Grey Ghost Project. Danny and I filmed our session since we were there as media, and when we reviewed the footage at home, Danny was further shaken when he realized that I truly wasn’t the female voice he heard in his right headphone.
Overall, we found this to be a wonderful experience, especially for the price. It was a memorable and unique date night, but it would be just as great with friends or even as a solo adventure. We appreciated that it’s a repeatable experience, as each visit would bring different people, questions, and paranormal occurrences. We highly recommend this tour if you’re looking for something spooky in the off-season or if you want a unique historical tour with the potential for haunting included.
