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The ambiance of your holiday party is the pace and level of formality that you would desire. Some things to keep in mind are that a formal ambiance may visually be more appealing but may not be as much fun for your guests. Typically the more formal the event the greater the budget as well. Semi formal to casual attire seems to create the greatest success whether your party is by ship or shore. Your guests will want to be able to move freely especially if viewing the parade by boat, as boats will pass by on one side and homes in full décor pass on the other. Different vantage points throughout the boat keep everyone mingling and the tempo high. If you really want to have a sit down dinner format consider having it before the parade and then viewing the parade afterwards by ship or by shore. Having the sit down dinner during the parade is a lot going on at once and may be too much for your guests.

Determining the length of your holiday –party can be a tricky thing. Without having clear transitions anything more than 1.5 hours can leave guests watching the clock. With clear transitions such as going from dinner to viewing the boat parade a clear break in activities creates freshness to the next activity. Based on over 800 holiday parties 1.5 hours is a good amount of time and leaves them wanting more as opposed to wanting off.

Having kids included can be a great option. Be aware that this is going to change the dynamic of your company party. Kids will keep things a little unpredictable which can be fine unless you are going for a set theme. Definitely opt for the early Newport Beach Boat Parade cruise as the later trips will be pushing the limits for the younger guests. If many of your guests have families inviting them can be a great move and a fun way for your guests to get to know one and another and feel really connected. Whatever your decision is regarding kids make the decision consciously and you are on your way to a great event.

How to view the Newport Beach Boat Parade? The choices are by shore, from a dinning establishment, from a ship in the actual parade, or from public access points located along the parade route. There are really only 2 choices here as viewing the parade by one of the public vantage points is hard enough to do in small groups, and impossible with most party sizes. Dining establishments usually have banquet facilities or areas that can handle large groups “but” do not have direct views of the harbor and the parade. Also since the dining establishments are stationary there is no way to view all of the homes and landscapes that are decorated. Being in the boat parade viewing all of the boats competing, homes in full decor, and all of the other happenings makes this by far the best option.

For those of you with unlimited budgets just skip this paragraph. For the rest of us keeping things within budget can be challenging especially when not wanting to appear that you had cut corners. It is surprising that you can rent a ship that is in the parade for a fraction of the cost of renting out a portion of most restaurants. Instead of a sit down dinner with limited choices that never seem to please everyone opt for Hors d'oeuvre. Have a wide variety and you will be sure to have something for everyone at a fraction of the cost of the full sit down dinner. With all that you have saved you can have an open bar and walk away being under budget and guests raving about the event.

Other costs that you may want to consider is providing transportation which eliminates the one challenge to the Newport Beach Boat Parade, parking! Gratuity for your ship’s staff (mention up front that this is a consideration and they will go the extra to make sure things go as planned). That is about it. There are no taxes, fees, or other hidden costs when renting a ship.

Having other activities like a gift exchange going on while viewing the parade can work if kept short and flexible. That way if something amazing takes the stage you can stop and enjoy it without having to try to steal the spot light back. Talk with your ship’s captain prior to departing and let him/her know that you would like to have some activities going on during the cruise. The captain will provide you with options and will structure the cruise to flow with your activities. More than 20 minutes is not recommended unless your activities do not require everyone’s attention. If you want to have a recap or speech to your guests the 10-15 minutes at dock before getting under way in the parade is the perfect time. Even an average speech will be well received with the anticipation of the parade.

Providing transportation is a great move if the budget allows it. If it doesn’t it is highly recommend that you choose either a weekday during the parade or the early trip Sunday of the parade. If your parade event is Friday or Saturday night pre pay parking or provide transportation. Leaving parking up to your guests for either of those nights can lead to some stressed out and frustrated guests that remember the parking challenges more than your company party. If after reading this you still want to tempt fate then have your guests arrive extra earlier (1 -1 ½ hours before departure). The later trips for Friday and Saturday night are especially challenging. Check out our Newport Beach Boat Parade Parking page for prepaying, outside transportation services, and some secret parking tricks. Please don’t leave parking to chance this is the major hurdle to a successful holiday party.

There was earlier mention of the sit down dinner versus Hors d'oeuvre option. Hors d'oeuvres are really the way to go. Hors d'oeuvres will please all of your guests, keep costs down, and keep the ambiance /energy high. If you are worried that your guests will end up starving at some point during your party then just order enough. The cost of the Hors d'oeuvre will make a great selection of filling choices very attractive. If you feel compelled to a sit down dinner have early departure and have your dinner before the parade begins. Renting the ship for the extra time will be a 1/10th that of a banquette room and you have the best seat in the house for the parade.

To have or not have alcohol? There is no right or wrong answer. Your company or personal preferences will probably be the deciding factor. Very rarely is alcohol consumed to extremes. I have frequented other traditional company parties that have strained with intoxicated guests. Maybe it‘s all of the parade happenings, I am not exactly sure, but historically it’s not an issue. A great and fairly cheap gesture is an open bar. This makes guests feel much appreciated and creates a pampering effect that usually outweighs the cost. Almost every conceivable combination for pre paying, post paying, fixed number of drinks, types of drinks, etc can be created. Let the person taking your boat parade ship reservation know what the desired outcome is. Also let them know if you have any concerns. They almost always have a great solution.

This one was saved for last but may be the most important. Having a clear idea of what constitutes a successful holiday party goes a long way towards creating the outcome. Sharing your expectations with your reservation representative is important while setting up your boat parade cruise. It helps in providing a clear concept of the desired outcome. This also enables the representative to provide feedback and move towards reaching that outcome. Many times thinking about a successful event will highlight potential barriers and unforeseen complications. Try to narrow things down when defining your party’s success to the most important measures. This will help eliminate potential issues. Even if the information is as simple as wanting to have guests laugh and have fun together. By having defined this simple outcome of what success means to you, the reservation representative is given insights into seating, food and beverages, music selection, length of trip, selection of ship, and a number of different variables. The clearer the definition of what a successful party is the more likely it will meet this goal. And for those of us who don’t want to over think things you can rely on the reservation representative. They will either handle or advise you on much, if not all of the above.