PICTURE A CLASSIC CAROLING PARTY... and you're bound to see a row of houses or apartment doors, the kind of doors that merrily rock a wreath or some holly or some lights or some over-the-top combination of all three. You'll probably summon the images of a few front yards next, and fences, and sidewalks, and perhaps a few mailboxes, too. What you're likely not conjuring with your mind's eye is a harbor seal, or a gull, or a buoy, or a harbor, or that surf-y scent that dominates when you're on a boat ("salty sunshine" is a fine way to describe this particular aroma). If those critters and visual elements did spring to mind at the mention of caroling, you've likely been on a caroling cruise, a seasonal to-do that isn't exclusive to California but is very much one of those special Christmassy California things. Finding your vessel, though, in which to fa, la, la? There are a few companies offering such on-the-waves whimsy over the next few weeks, including...
ISLAND PACKERS CRUISES: If you've been to the Channel Islands National Park, or gone whale watching 'round Ventura, you likely know Island Packers well. And while the company's Holiday Caroling Cruises don't head out to the national park, the boat does spend an hour heading "through the Ventura Harbor and Ventura Keys," all to "(v)iew the decorated homes and boats." Sixty minutes will give you and your pals and everyone on board plenty of time to get a few "Jingle Bells"-esque tunes in along the way, too. An adult ticket? It's $16, a senior ticket is $13 and a child's admission is ten bucks. If you require more watery whimsy woven through your seasonal warbling, finding a caroling cruise, one that keeps close to the shore and harbor in order to enjoy the lights on land, is the wave-tastic way to go.
