The Gondola Getaway Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Special Promotion

(LONG BEACH, CA – August 9, 2022) In celebration of its 40th anniversary, The Gondola Getaway, a true Long Beach icon, is offering customers $40 off all cruises from August 22-26, 2022.

Customers can access the discount by using the promo code 1982; the year that founder Michael O’Toole started the company as a business school project while attending USC.

Having created something so ingrained in the fabric of the Long Beach community that his gondolas are now second only to the Queen Mary as the city’s most recognizable water attraction, O’Toole admits he couldn’t have foreseen that his concept would result in nearly 400,000 rides, serve around 2 million people, and employ about 1,000 gondoliers over the decades – not to mention the well over 5,000 proposals and 500 weddings that have taken place as his gondoliers rowed happy couples through the canals of Naples Island.

O’Toole has always made a commitment to authenticity. In 1983, he made the first of what would be more than 50 trips to Venice as a way to immerse himself in the culture and the craft of the gondola. Gondola Getaway’s gondoliers are trained strictly in the Venetian style. What’s more, every year the business sends a team of gondoliers to participate in the Vogalonga, one of Venice’s most prestigious rowing competitions. O’Toole has the only license outside of Venice to teach Venetian style rowing.

Because of its authenticity, as well as the charm of the Naples neighborhood they navigate daily, The Gondola Getaway is one of the city’s most sought after romantic activities. So many people have utilized their gondola ride as a location for a marriage proposal, that Gondola Getaway has several engagement packages featuring the company’s most popular experience, “Message in a Bottle,” which allows a customer to send a message printed on parchment paper and inserted into a bottle, sprinkled with a layer of seashells. A gondolier will then discreetly glide up to the bottle, feigning surprise, and a guest will be asked to pluck the bottle out of the water and read the message within.

The gondolas are inextricably tied to the Naples neighborhood. In fact, though the company usually sends out 200 boats in a typical week. During the month of December, when the exclusive Naples neighborhood and its multi-million dollar homes are lit up for the holidays, that number jumps to 300.

O’Toole says it was when he noticed local real estate sales literature referring to one of the perks of living on Naples Island as being serenaded by passing gondoliers that he realized “we were truly part of the fabric of the neighborhood.” He was so keenly aware of that during the recent pandemic that, though he wasn’t allowed to take on any passengers, he would send out his gondoliers each evening to sing to the neighborhood. Neighbors credited it with bringing them of some sense of normalcy during that extraordinary time.

“It’s been a really nice resource,” said O’Toole, who notes that things have quickly gotten back to normal since the restrictions of the pandemic. Well, normal except for the fact that business is even better in this, his school project’s 40th year.

“A lot of entertainment had to close during the pandemic,” he said. “But we were able to get right back to things because by the very nature of the gondola, the gondolier has always been six-feet away from the customers. We didn’t have to change a thing. I think our availability reminded a lot of people of what we’re about, what we offer and I think that has increased our business.”

The Gondola Getaway is located at 5437 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA, 90803. Phone: 562-433-9595.

####

About The Gondola Getaway:
Established in 1982 in Naples Islands, Long Beach, The Gondola Getaway is the oldest and largest fleet of Gondolas in America. One of the things that make The Gondola Getaway so special is the enchanting canals of Naples Islands and its well-trained Gondoliers. The meandering canals, five bridges, calm bays and million dollar homes make for a memorable romantic adventure.