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Queen Mary Christmas!


The Historic Queen Mary has always been on my bucket list of things to do in SoCal, so when we got invited to the opening ceremonies for the Queen Mary Christmas, I emphatically said yes! I was further convinced when I was told we’d be ice skating ON TOP of the ship. To kick off opening night, there was a parade of celebrities walking the red carpet. We saw celebs from Netflix’s Project Mc squared, Dance Moms, YouTube Influencers, This Is Us, Dancing with the Stars and more. When we saw Sofie Dossi, a 17-year-old contortionist and AGT contestant, my daughter freaked out.

As we entered the ginormous ship, we were greeted by singing carolers and a beautifully decorated lobby with a Christmas tree and a center stage for more carolers. Even better, a wine tasting shop was to our left, and stocking decorating station with photos with Santa was to our right. With a hot chocolate in one hand and my kid in the other, we proceeded to the top of the boat, deck A to be precise, to watch the official lighting of the tree ceremony. Santa and Mrs.Santa were there along with the Captain, who gave a glorious speech and counted us down to the official lighting of the enormous 80’ ft Christmas tree.

Next was our favorite part... ice skating! As we expected, nothing beats ice skating on top of a boat covered in Christmas lights. However, word of advice, if you know what time you’ll want to skate, you’ll NEED to make reservations. (Maybe do that first thing?) There was a line when we arrived promptly at 6, but as soon as they opened, the line flew by quick. Also, there are NO lockers. The rink is small but they limit the number of people skating so you don’t get run over. For the young ones, they even have little penguin helpers.

To finish off the night we sat down in their 4D movie theater to watch the classic Polar Express. This gives both parents and children a time to relax before heading back out for the Queen Mary tour, gingerbread making, and stocking decorating.

VIP tickets include the ice skating, stocking decorating, and gingerbread making. Plan to spend all day here, and there are plenty of food stations along the way. I recommend warming up at the Chelsea Chowder House after a long walk around the boat!

** Some facts about the Queen Mary. The boat first sailed in 1934 and has been out of commission for 40 years. Its approximate length is 1,020 feet long (almost 3 football fields long) and 181 feet high (about the length of 13 elephants). And, supposedly, the ship is haunted….

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