LONG BEACH >> In what’s being billed as a “royal rendezvous,” the Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth will dock in the harbor Thursday morning alongside the Queen Mary.

It’s the first time the ship has stopped in Long Beach, having previously paid a call to the Port of Los Angeles in March 2013 as part of a worldwide voyage.

Those wanting to see 965-foot-long ship will have to wake up early — the Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to tie up around 6:30 a.m.

Queen Mary Commodore Everette Hoard said he’ll meet the ship when it takes on a pilot at the Queens Gate breakwater entrance in the 5 o’clock hour.

He described the Queen Elizabeth’s arrival in the city as the culmination of lifelong dreams and aspirations, especially considering the grand ship “scarcely looked over here” the last time it was in Southern California.

“For them to tie their ship up here is a phenomenal thing,” Hoard said. “I’m truly beside myself. It’s another sign of the remarkable renaissance the Queen Mary is experiencing.”

The Queen Elizabeth’s arrival coincides with the unveiling of a new ship model gallery at the Queen Mary.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, which opens to the public at 12:30 p.m., is a 21-foot-long builder’s model of the Queen Mary constructed in the 1930s. Other models will show the history of trans-Atlantic ocean liner travel, from the paddle-wheel Britannia through more famous ships, such as the Titanic, Lusitania, Normandie and Queen Elizabeth 2.

The day’s festivities cap off with a bagpipe salute from the Queen Mary as the Queen Elizabeth departs. A fireworks display will follow.

Admission to the Queen Mary is free from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, and Hoard is prepared for a big day.

“For anyone with any sort of love of the sea and seafaring, or just to witness two of the largest, most beautiful, most historic ships on the planet, it’s a must-see thing,” he said.

Contact Eric Bradley at 562-499-1254.