New Year's Eve on the Queen Mary

First, some history.

Growing up we watched Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. In college, it was usually spent with friends and later, as family life took over, movie marathons and shindigs to get us to midnight. New Year's Eve for me the last few years has been hit or (mostly) miss. Not to mention all the sickness I have kept at bay for the year inevitably catches up to me the week between Christmas and New Year's.

• NYE 2010 it was a kidney infection, no drinking for me.
• NYE 2011 I had the flu, or at least flu-like symptoms, so we stayed home. 
• NYE 2012 I  went to Knott's Berry Farm with my mom. IP was with her dad and the SO was back East.
• Last year we practically froze at Boston's First Night and went home early where we could eat Chinese food in warmth and comfort (apparently that's a New England thing).

The point is, I'm not a big party person when it comes to NYE. On the other hand, my S.O. is a huge party person. He's finally accepted that the last thing I want to do on NYE is go to a rave, but he wanted something fun with a lot of people -- it was my job to find to find the compromise. The party on the Queen Mary was so worth it, for both of us (BTW, it's a 21+ event). We didn't spend the night freezing, there was a great dinner, alcohol, good entertainment, some dancing, and places to sit down!

We opted for VIP tickets and tried to get a large group together for a table, that would have been even better, but in the end, I was happy just to sit next to a pole in the Egyptian area and watch the dancers. I was warm and the bar was nearby. On top of that, we had an unobstructed view when it came time for the fireworks.

And if the above G+ Story doesn't work for you, here's the full album: