The Cunard Story Opens on Queen Mary

The Cunard Story Opens on Queen Mary

By Erin

The Queen Mary’s new exhibit, The Cunard Story, is officially open! There was a special presentation with Cunard, City Officials, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Cunard’s first woman Captain, Inger Thorhauge. If you love history, The Queen Mary, Cunard or Long Beach, you will want to check this exhibit out.

In partnership with luxury cruise line, Cunard, the iconic RMS Queen Mary has unveiled her new, permanent exhibition, ‘The Cunard Story,’ on July 5th in Long Beach, CA. The exhibition showcases Cunard’s remarkable 179-year history, its relationship with The Queen Mary, its founder’s vision, the ships it inspired and continues to bring forward, and their influence on immigration, global maritime policies and technological innovation. ‘The Cunard Story’ showcases the company’s legacy through artifacts, photographs and film, and will also feature an ‘immigration salon’ that allows visitors to digitally explore ancestry databases. Through the offerings, visitors can experience ancestor arrival dates and specific ships that carried them, allowing for a deeply personal experience.

The Queen Mary alone transported thousands of passengers during her Cunard service; and approximately one in five immigrants sailed to the U.S. on a Cunard ship at the height of the immigration period during the latter part of the 19th century and early 10th century.

The list of companies having enjoyed a century of success is short. Cunard, the revered maritime icon began its voyage to success 179 years ago in Halifax, Canada. For nearly two hundred years the company has forged a reputation for sea-going leadership, competence, vision and service to the world-at-large. Cunard ships have been legends in their own time; the best in their class – holding records of achievement for speed, comfort, engineering breakthroughs and more. Lusitania was a Cunarder. Perhaps the line’s most recognized  ship was the original RMS Queen Mary. Indeed, the Queen Mary still reigns supreme; she is the only ship of her class and prominence to have survived eight decades on the public stage. Like the company responsible for her advanced technologies, uncompromising grace and head-turning style, the Queen Mary epitomizes Cunard’s legacy of excellence.  

“This partnership between Cunard and the Queen Mary has allowed two icons of maritime pioneering to curate an immersive experience that illustrates their remarkable history, offering guests a deeper understanding of the impactful setting and creation of the Queen Mary within the Cunard legacy” said Chris Wilmoth, Director of Marketing, The Queen Mary.

Such are the histories of Cunard and Queen Mary – together they influenced culture, economies, strategic alliances, gave hope and security to the oppressed and set the ultimate standards for elegance, romance and the allure of ocean voyaging at its zenith. Their partnership is thoughtfully presented as the Queen Mary dedicates the ‘Cunard Story’ – the dramatic story of a great company and its remarkable ships.

“The exhibit beautifully presents Cunard in its historical sense and does equal justice to our modern luxury fleet and today’s Cunard experience. We are proud of our legacy, and thrilled to have partnered with The Queen Mary to bring this exhibition to life,” Leibowitz stated.

Soon celebrating her 85th Jubilee Year the Queen Mary represents all that Cunard stands for. Retired from service in the 1960s, the ship remains known world-wide and attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year.                 

About the Queen Mary

Located in the Port of Long Beach, the Queen Mary, an Urban Commons property, features a rich maritime history, authentic Art Deco décor, and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and Long Beach city skyline. At the time of her maiden voyage in May of 1936, she was considered the grandest ocean liner ever built. The Queen Mary’s signature restaurants include Sir Winston’s, Chelsea Chowder House, Promenade Café, Observation Bar, as well as, a weekly award-winning Royal Sunday Brunch served in the ship’s Grand Salon. History buffs enjoy the ship’s museum with various daily tours, and currently the ship is featuring their newest exhibition, Their Finest Hours: Winston Churchill and the Queen Mary. The Queen Mary features 35,000 square feet of event space in 13 remarkable Art Deco salons as well as a tri-level, 45,000-square- foot Exhibit Hall. The Queen Mary boasts 347 staterooms including nine suites. For more information or for reservations, visit www.queenmary.com or call (800) 437-2934. The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queens Highway in Long Beach.

About Cunard

Cunard is the operator of luxury cruise ships Queen Mary 2 ® , Queen Victoria ® and Queen Elizabeth ® . Renowned for impeccable White Star Service, gourmet dining and world-class entertainment, all three Queens offer luxury accommodations in Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess Grill Suite and Queens Grill Suite staterooms. Cunard is the only line to offer regularly scheduled Transatlantic service between New York and London, and it continues to celebrate the freedom of travel on exciting World Voyage and Grand Voyage itineraries that visit Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Coming Soon: Cavalia’s Odysseo Orange County | @Cavalia #OdysseoOC #WhiteBigTop

Coming Soon: Cavalia’s Odysseo Orange County!

By Erin

In just over a week now, Cavalia’s Odysseo, a most spectacular equestrian show is coming to Orange County, California February 3rd through February 14, 2016 and tickets are now available! I had the pleasure and joy of seeing Cavalia’s Odysseo a couple years ago when the show was performing in Burbank. The show is without question, the most spectacular display of equestrian riders in the world that you will ever see! Most of these talented riders are actually from all around the world.  You can see my Rendez-Vous experience here!

If you’ve driven in Irvine along the 405 Freeway, you might have seen the large white tent that has gone up! This is for the Odysseo show. You can watch the time lapse for the tent raising above. It’s pretty neat to see how the tent goes up!  Odysseo is unlike any show you will ever see.

What exactly is Odysseo ?

A live equestrian performance that tells tales from around the globe. Beginning in a misty, enchanted forest where horses graze and frolic under a sky of rolling clouds and a setting sun, Odysseo takes the audience on a fantastical journey to some of nature’s greatest wonders, from the Mongolian steppes to Monument Valley, from the African savannah to Nordic glaciers, from the Sahara to Easter Island, and even to a lunar landscape, illuminated by shooting stars and brilliant nebulas.

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*Photo: Cavalia’s Odysseo*

 Producers for Odysseo, by the internationally acclaimed entertainment company Cavalia, are thrilled to announce Irvine as the host city for the Orange County debut of the largest touring production on earth. Odysseo will be presented under the White Big Top at the junction of the I-405 & the SR-133 with performances beginning Wednesday, February 3, 2016 under the White Big Top in Irvine.

Odysseo is a $30 million extravaganza! Expanding the definition of performance into an epic and soulful experience that is astonishing audiences and wowing critics across North America. Double the size of Cavalia’s eponymous creation which enjoyed a very successful run in Irvine back in 2007, Odysseo is a show unlike any other featuring 65 horses and 48 riders, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and musicians in a soulful and touching journey around the globe, celebrating the bond between the two species.

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*Photo: Cavalia’s Odysseo*

The horses are the stars of the show. They are the heart and soul of every Odysseo performance.  These magnificent animals play in complicity and with freedom, in a symbiotic and respectful relationship with their human co-stars, charming and fascinating everyone who has the chance to witness this moving artistic and emotive partnership. One of my favorite numbers is the liberty number, when purebred Arabian horses are directed only by the soft murmurs of their trainer, and the fabulous caravan act that comprises people and horses too numerous to count, will leave every spectator captivated and touched by the splendour created in front of their eyes.

Acrobats present an amazing mix of force and sensitivity, interacting with the spellbound audience, while the live musicians and vocalist perform in the most enthralling way to immerse spectators of all ages in a beautiful sensorial experience they will remember forever. Whether it is the dexterity of the African acrobats, the enchanting sound of the Kora, or the majestic life-size merry-go-around, the cast and set of Odysseo are inspired and inspiring, delivering crowd-pleasing wonders and stunts.

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*Photo: Cavalia’s Odysseo*

The theatrical effects are mindboggling! A state-of-the-art video screen three times the size of the world’s largest cinema screens, a three-story mountain for dazzling perspectives, and a real lake made of 40,000 gallons of recycled water which magically appears for a splashing finale. The layers of mesmerizing decor make the audience part of the action while the gigantic stage takes everyone’s breath away. Odysseo’s technological and scenographical effects create places no one has ever seen before; places where one can feel the deep connection between horse and man.

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*Photo: Cavalia’s Odysseo*

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LEGOLAND! Holiday Snow Days & Winter Nights are Here Through January 3rd! #LegolandCA

LEGOLAND! Holiday Snow Days & Winter Nights

By Penny from On the Go OC!

*We received media tickets to attend the Holiday Snow Days at Legoland*

It was a Snow Day kind of day today! We packed up some jackets and headed south to Legoland in Carlsbad.

We were able to cover Holiday Snow Days for Erin and experience all the fun that LEGOLAND CA is bringing to winter on sunny SoCal!

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What I love the most about Legoland is that my whole family can enjoy everything from food to rides.

The Holidays bring out all the festivities. Our top 5 faves per my 8 year old:

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* Snow Play* – The kids loved to play in the snow with their friends. There was plenty of room to celebrate the winter fun with Snow Man building, and he was a huge one! Throwing snow balls at a festive wall was also a lot of fun. They were able to sled as much as they wanted to. There was plenty of room to play for the kids and adults and there was also a snow ball launching area to aim at targets. So much fun for everyone to play with snow in the warm sun!

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* HeartLake City*– Always a favorite to visit. The Holiday show was just amazing. The kids sang along and danced while the Lego Friends came together in a special Winter treat of song and dance and of course friendship!

* Christmas Tree Lighting and Music* – Jenna Elfman did a wonderful job and the live music was magical. The lighting was beautiful and was accompanied with fireworks and snowfall! Everyone really loved the surprises that made the tree lighting so perfect.

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* Fireworks* – This was a pleasant surprise for everyone! The winter night sky was lit up with fireworks to celebrate the Tree lighting ceremony! It was the perfect end to the night!

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* Santa and Lego Santa* – Did you know that Lego Santa is on the grounds!? He is so cute and just adorable. Make sure you catch him and get a hug!

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