It’s no secret that Naples Island is one of the best places in the city to see holiday lights. There’s the iconic Trees in the Bay. Then, there’s the neighborhood, where row after row of homes are festooned with luminous lights and decoration.

For a unique and intimate view of the gleaming spectacle there is the Holiday Cruise of Lights experience by The Gondola Getaway, now offering tours of the lit-up waterways a la Gondola-style.

“Everybody is going kind of hog wild about decorating right now because it’s been such a rough year,” Michael O’Toole, Gondola Getaway’s founder said. “It’s just like a little winter wonderland.”

The 55-minute experience, O’Toole said, is safe and socially distant-friendly, following a strict set of protocols the company enacted shortly after pandemic shutdowns in spring. Curious what this looks like? Let us break it down for you.

Booking and payment is done over the phone to minimize contact. Arriving guests are greeted outside at the docks where a masked gondolier leads the party, which must also be masked, down to the Venetian boat. The party must, of course, be from the same household and arrive together. There are hand washing stations on-site and both the gondolier and participants are required to wash their hands before and after the cruise.

The very nature of the traditional gondola rides, which dates back over millennia, O’Toole said, has always been uniquely suited for social distancing. The serenading gondolier, positioned at the back of the craft, stands well over six-feet from the guests seated in the long, sinewy boats.

There is plenty of space for passengers, too. The smaller of their authentic Venetian gondolas are 30-feet long by five-feet wide—plenty of wiggle room— reserved for parties of six or less. The larger of the fleet, which O’Toole noted rarely get reserved these days, are 35-feet long and seven-feet wide and while usually able to hold 22 passengers comfortably, these days, 14 are the most allowed onboard as permitted by Coast Guard.

“The big thing to keep in mind is it’s all open air,” O’Toole said. “It’s all opened up, there are no walls, and we take them out into the middle of the bay.”

And if you’re wondering, oh yes, the gondoliers will serenade with their usual selection of traditional Italian opera songs but also with some Christmas tunes thrown into the mix.

Pricing for a minimum of two guests and a maximum of four costs $160. For parties of five or more, the price increases by $30 a person. Groups as large as 14, the max capacity of passengers, costs $495.

The Gondola Getaway is located at 5437 E. Ocean Blvd. across from the Naples Islands and adjacent to Belmont Shore’s 2nd Street. For more information and to book a reservation, click here.