With more than 800 tickets sold as of Wednesday, April 3, this coming Saturday’s “Titanic”-themed prom will be held at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific — the same venue as in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Locations are kind of done two or three years in advance, and they rotate with the company that we use,” Associated Student Body [ASB] adviser David Fenstermaker said about how upperclassmen are returning to Long Beach. “So the aquarium was always on the books for 2024, and it’s been a couple of years.”
Once students enter the aquarium starting as early as 7 p.m., they can check in and head to a booth with Chromebooks to vote for prom king and queen from a list of five princes and five princesses who were announced on Thursday, March 28, the adviser said.
Prom goers will be welcomed with a red carpet that leads to the main part of the aquarium, and the outside area will have animal interaction and seating spaces, which closes at 9 p.m., the ASB adviser said.
The prom theme, “Twilight on the Titanic,” was released in a teaser video on Friday, March 15, during the spring sports and elections assembly in the gym.
“We had originally planned to go with Atlantis for our theme, but we just thought Titanic fit this year’s concept better,” said ASB class president junior Sean Lee, who is in charge of prom. “We chose this theme because we thought the romantic element matched our location.”
Senior Atarah Amirthiah said she likes the location for prom but has different thoughts regarding the theme.
“I remember how I wanted it to be the aquarium since my sophomore year,” Amirthiah said. “Personally, I’m not too sure how I feel about the theme as I feel like we shouldn’t really romanticize a real-life tragedy, but I understand what they were trying to go for.”
Although aquarium exhibits inside and outside of the venue will close at 9 p.m., the traditional dance is scheduled to end at 11 p.m., Fenstermaker said.
The main area, with the DJ and a dance floor in front of the fish tanks, will remain open to students.
The venue will include access to a shark petting exhibit, which closes at 9 p.m., two photo booths, one Polaroid station and a variety of snacks and drinks, such as cookies, brownies and soda, Lee said. The exhibit will include a variety of different types of sharks, and students will be allowed to take pictures of them petting the sharks.
Senior Andy Aguirre is among the 800 who have already bought his tickets for this event.
“I really like the location of prom this year compared to last year,” Aguirre said. “I think it’s a huge improvement.”
The senior said he didn’t attend last year’s prom because the location, Green River Golf Club, felt underwhelming, but he likes this year’s location because a formal dance at an aquarium feels like a once-in-a-lifetime thing to experience.
Before students can buy tickets, they must submit a prom contract signed by them and a parent. (The deadline to return the form to Room 6 by 4 p.m. was on Tuesday, April 2.)
Tickets can be purchased until Friday, April 5, by 5 p.m. on the SH webstore, Fenstermaker said.
Ticket sales started on Friday, March 15, at $100 per ticket with an ASB Gold Card and $105 without. Prices increased this week to $130 with a Gold Card and $135 without.
“Even though we broke even from sales now, we still want to encourage more people to go to prom,” Lee said. “We’re mainly promoting it through our social media accounts like Instagram and TikTok.”
