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By NOLA L. SARKISIAN

Staff Reporter

In the last two years, Queen Mary Chief Executive Joseph F. Prevratil and his 750 employees have enjoyed smoother sailing aboard the 64-year-old Long Beach attraction. Last year, the company posted a $5.5 million profit on $36 million in revenues, a striking reversal from several years of losses.

After working as a marketer for Honeywell, then an accountant for Capitol Records, Prevratil got his law degree but then opted not to become a lawyer, instead going into the attraction business in 1969. He managed the Japanese Village in Buena Park and the Hollywood Wax Museum in Florida and California. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Prevratil struck out on his own in 1975 as founder of attraction operator Entertainment Environments Inc. in Fullerton, which he later sold.

His history with the Queen Mary began in 1982 as vice president of operations and later as president. When Walt Disney Co. took over the ship’s operating lease in 1988, he subsequently left to head the Port of Long Beach, and later to oversee the $100 million expansion of the Long Beach Convention Center. By 1992, Disney had opted to end its lease, and the city put the operating contract out for bid. After winning the contract, he formed Queen’s Seaport Development Inc. as the ship’s operator.

Now, he is embarking on a 45-acre entertainment venue that Queen’s Seaport is developing on city-owned land surrounding the Queen Mary.

Question: At one time, many felt the Queen Mary lacked the pizzazz to pull people back for return visits. Is that changing?

Answer: Yes. The Spruce Goose was the big addition in the ’80s and there wasn’t any change until after I returned from ’93 to ’97. I think up until then, the key objective was to make it viable and get the cash flow in line. Then we started adding money to the Queen Mary.

Now, we’ve embarked on an $11 million refurbishment of our 365-room hotel, which will keep the rooms looking like they did in 1936 but will give them modern amenities like temperature controls. Rooms will be restored, the wood and marble will be refurbished, ceilings will be redone to accommodate the new ducts, furniture will be reupholstered and the bathrooms have to be redone.

By November, we’ll have the $2.5 million Ghosts and Legends attraction, which will be a highly interactive walking tour. Visitors can step into a theater and watch a seven-minute motion picture that will talk about the ghosts and legends of the ship. Then, visitors will walk through key areas where ghosts have been reportedly spotted. Plus there will be lots of special effects along the tour.

Q: What’s the attraction of staying in a small berth converted to a hotel room?

A: It’s a great misconception that the rooms are small. The rooms are much larger than any modern cruising vessels. Certainly, they’re not as large as all-suites Marriott. But the attraction is that it’s still a famous Art Deco cruiser of its time that’s in existence. It’s really true and authentic, and many people like to stay in authentic places. And it’s a great party ship on weekends.

Q: What’s your target customer?

A: We basically target families who want to have an outing and do something different than a ride park. We cater to the historic audience, specialized groups who like Art Deco and historical travel. We also cater to retired individuals who remember the Queen Mary in its heyday, as well as military personnel who remember the ship as a great troop carrier during World War II.

Q: In the past year, the amusement park business saw a drop in attendance. The competition is cutthroat, so how does the Queen Mary stay ahead of the game?

A: We don’t compete with the big players. We’re not a show park like Universal, we’re not a ride park like Knotts and we don’t have lots of characters like Disneyland. We’re a very specialized product. Our core business is our attraction and our hotel. Then we supplement those with key events throughout the year like the Scottish Heritage Festival in February and our Halloween event that attracted 50,000 people last year. Just last year, we introduced the Submarine Scorpion a 300-foot-long Russian submarine, and the year before we had phenomenal success with the Titanic exhibit.

Q: Speaking of attractions, how is your hotel gearing up for the millennium New Year’s Eve?

A: I’m sure we’ll sell out. We’re way ahead of expectations. So far, we’ve sold 25 percent of the 300 hotel rooms and requests keep coming in for our package. This year it’s a $2,500 all-inclusive offer. A couple can stay on board the Queen Mary for two nights, attend the gala dinner party, enjoy all the food and beverages. We feel that it’s a reasonable rate. By New York standards, we’re under-priced. And we have quite a venue.

Q: How do you juggle your schedule?

A: During the day I preside over meetings with my staff and work with outside suppliers on projects. I have an executive staff of eight people who I meet with weekly and who oversee departments from food and beverage to marketing. I periodically get involved in terms of menu selection, but day-by-day operations are left to these individuals. Then, I’m overseeing plans for future attractions, financing, relationships with the city, pretty much like any other chief executive.

I also have the opportunity to travel a few times per year and visit with royalty. Last year, I went to Russia to conclude the contract with the Russian Ethnographic Museum. This summer we will have a 430-piece artifact exhibit containing gifts to the czars from 1880 to 1910. I also frequently visit London and meet with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent the cousin to the current queen and grandson of Queen Mary. He’s also the nephew of the last czar of Russia. He doesn’t have any direct or indirect activity in operations. It just makes good sense to have a good relationship with him.

Q: What’s it like living on the Queen Mary?

A: I live in the Windsor Suite, which has three rooms. It’s very comfortable. This way I don’t have to drive one hour each way to my home in Fullerton. I don’t like to drive a lot and waste time. It makes my job easier and it’s a good opportunity to see how we operate 24 hours a day. I pay rent, of course. Most of the time I eat at lunch and dinner engagements. I do have a teapot. I know I drive my employees crazy, but I do get away on weekends. My wife doesn’t have a problem with it.

Q: Since you live where you work, how do you relax?

A: I have a favorite spot on the Queen Mary. Around sunset, I like to sit on the bridge at the start of the ship and look at the Long Beach skyline and witness the changes of the past 17 years.

Q: Why did you abandon the courtroom?

A: For four years, I went to law school at night. I was working and married and had a child. I was young then. I can’t even imagine how I did that. It just boggles my mind. But I kept progressing through Honeywell as a regional marketing administrator and then at Capitol Records as a director of finance for the international division. I was making more money at the time then I would have if I were a junior attorney at a law firm. With the proliferation of lawyers over the years, I’m glad I didn’t get into it.

Q: How did you get involved with the Queen Mary?

A: In 1981, I sold my company. It was time and I had a chance to make money. It was the first time in my life when suddenly I had no debt. I had no plans to work for a long time. But then I befriended Jack Wrather, a rather persuasive man, who convinced me to come work for him. His company, Wrather Port Properties Ltd., had obtained the lease for the Queen Mary and wanted my advice. I told him to get rid of the leases the Queen Mary had. Part of the reason why the Queen Mary was doing poorly was that they leased out their food and beverage operation, which cut into their profits. So he obtained the property and I signed on and eventually became president. We also opened the Spruce Goose to the public in 1983, which was a very successful operation.

Q: Was it a disappointment to leave?

A: When Jack died, his widow decided to sell the operation to Walt Disney Co. Disney wanted to me to take a look at a position in Orlando, and I didn’t want to go. So, I tried out some new things.

Q: Why did you come back?

A: I decided I wasn’t cut out for government service. All my life has been in private enterprise. I’m really an entrepreneur and not a bureaucrat. When Disney abandoned the premises following a failed attempt to build the Disney Sea Project, the City Council decided not to sell (the Queen Mary) and was looking for an operator, and a number of people asked me to come back. I had some hesitation because quite frankly, ’92 to ’94 were difficult economic years in Southern California. With the recession, real estate and aerospace, people had no discretionary income.

I had grave concerns but decided to set it up as a not-for-profit to help restore the ship. That way we were sheltered from income taxes. In 1993 we lost $4.2 million. I knew we would lose money, but I didn’t think it would be $4.2 million. Then, the course started changing, the economy improved and Long Beach was on people’s radar. In 1994 we lost half a million. By 1995, we made $200,000. By 1996 we made $700,000. In 1997, we made $1 million for our bottom line and last year, we brought in $36 million in revenues and $5.5 million in profits.

Joseph F. Prevratil

Title: President and chief executive

Company: Queen’s Seaport Development Inc.

Born: Chicago, 1938

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English and religion, Loyola University (now Loyola Marymount); J.D., Southwestern University School of Law

Career Turning Point: The decision to form his own company in 1975

Hobbies: Reading books on mysticism, heading the Archstone Foundation in Long Beach, which grants money to researching elderly issues such as care and housing

Most Admired Person: Winston Churchill “He was a great leader who knew how to deal with adversity. His quote ‘Never, never, never, never, never give up’ was my mantra when we lost $4.2 million.”

Personal: Married, four children, four grandchildren

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