Very Merrytime Cruise over Christmas Eve & Christmas Day - Looking for Info :)

I have been having a difficult time finding any specifics about our Dream cruise over Christmas Day this year. After reading the general Merrytime Cruise info, I'm still wondering if there is anything special about being aboard on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

What are the holiday dinners like? Do we dress up for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner? Are there any special events Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Are any normally scheduled shows or events canceled for the holiday? Are there holiday church services? Aside from the obvious like gifts and stockings, what things will I want to bring that I may not have thought of?

There are 3 in our little family party - a senior, an adult, and a 9 yr old - so info for any age group is helpful. If anyone has done a Disney Cruise over Christmas, I would love to hear your thoughts and advice. Thanks!

On Christmas Eve, Mrs. Claus reads "The Night Before Christmas" in the atrium. THere will be a tree lighting ceremony on the first night of the cruise. There will be a traditional Christmas Dinner on the 25th with turkey (but other choices as well.) Each kid will get a gift from DCL. There will be caroling. DCL attempts to book an appropriate officiant for religious services, but is not always successful. If one is on board and volunteers to do services with appropriate documentation, that is accepted. Normally they secure a rabbi and a priest for cruises at the appropriate dates and offer space for a Protestant "make your own" service. Dress is up to you. You might think about telling Santa to deliver the presents to your home and have them waiting rather than dragging them on the cruise. There will be tons of kids, as on all "school's out" cruises.

Try this link for the Disneycruiselineblog. Open up the menus and daily Navigators. My family will be on the fantasy for Christmas. We plan on wearing special PJs to dinner. Also, all of the regular shows will be playing. There will just be extra Christmas magic each day and throughout the ship.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2017/01/personal-navigators-4-night-bahamian-merrytime-cruise-port-canaveral-december-22-2016/

I have been having a difficult time finding any specifics about our Dream cruise over Christmas Day this year. After reading the general Merrytime Cruise info, I'm still wondering if there is anything special about being aboard on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

 

What are the holiday dinners like? Do we dress up for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner? Are there any special events Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Are any normally scheduled shows or events canceled for the holiday? Are there holiday church services? Aside from the obvious like gifts and stockings, what things will I want to bring that I may not have thought of?

 

There are 3 in our little family party - a senior, an adult, and a 9 yr old - so info for any age group is helpful. If anyone has done a Disney Cruise over Christmas, I would love to hear your thoughts and advice. Thanks!

Hi there!

Check out Cruise Critic's roundup on Very Merrytime Cruises with Disney Cruise Line

"If you're one of the lucky kids (or adults) on Santa's Nice List and you're booked over Christmas Eve, you might find special towel animals and a plate of cookies in your cabin, as kids and crew go caroling throughout the ship."

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

Thanks Brittany, cruisefamilyforever, and moki'smommy! Those are all good resources and info :) Looking forward to experiencing all those little magic moments on our cruise. :ship:

So I've got some cool pajamas now on the list - what other special extras should I pack?

Try this link for the Disneycruiselineblog. Open up the menus and daily Navigators. My family will be on the fantasy for Christmas. We plan on wearing special PJs to dinner. Also, all of the regular shows will be playing. There will just be extra Christmas magic each day and throughout the ship.

 

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2017/01/personal-navigators-4-night-bahamian-merrytime-cruise-port-canaveral-december-22-2016/

These Navigators are awesome! Thanks for the link!

OK, personal opinion here. Some people spend significant time and money on gifts for their servers and stateroom host. I would avoid this. First, they live in TINY cabins with no room for "stuff." If a gift is edible, it would need to fit with their religious beliefs/restrictions and any allergy issues. Many of the people who serve you do not celebrate Christmas. I'd plan on a little (or a lot) of extra tip with a note about making your Christmas cruise special.

An exception to this--departments that are not tipped. A couple bags of individually wrapped candies or other treats are lovely to send to departments that are often not remembered like the theatre tech crew, the engine room workers, or the guest services staff. You can drop these at GS and they will be delivered per your note or card attached. Same for the childcare workers (YAC), but they are not a "neglected" group!

This in response to your question about special stuff to bring.

OK' date=' personal opinion here. Some people spend significant time and money on gifts for their servers and stateroom host. I would avoid this. First, they live in TINY cabins with no room for "stuff." If a gift is edible, it would need to fit with their religious beliefs/restrictions and any allergy issues. Many of the people who serve you do not celebrate Christmas. I'd plan on a little (or a lot) of extra tip with a note about making your Christmas cruise special.

 

An exception to this--departments that are not tipped. A couple bags of individually wrapped candies or other treats are lovely to send to departments that are often not remembered like the theatre tech crew, the engine room workers, or the guest services staff. You can drop these at GS and they will be delivered per your note or card attached. Same for the childcare workers (YAC), but they are not a "neglected" group!

 

This in response to your question about special stuff to bring.[/quote']

 

Thanks, this is great advice and I hadn't even thought about it at all! I will definitely give some thought into bringing appropriate trinkets/treats for the untipped staff.

On Christmas Eve' date=' Mrs. Claus reads "The Night Before Christmas" in the atrium. THere will be a tree lighting ceremony on the first night of the cruise. There will be a traditional Christmas Dinner on the 25th with turkey (but other choices as well.) Each kid will get a gift from DCL. There will be caroling. DCL attempts to book an appropriate officiant for religious services, but is not always successful. If one is on board and volunteers to do services with appropriate documentation, that is accepted. Normally they secure a rabbi and a priest for cruises at the appropriate dates and offer space for a Protestant "make your own" service. Dress is up to you. You might think about telling Santa to deliver the presents to your home and have them waiting rather than dragging them on the cruise. There will be tons of kids, as on all "school's out" cruises.[/quote']

 

We were on the Wonder a couple of years ago for Christmas. We had Santa Goofy Christmas morning in the main atrium. they had snow falling in there, the kids thought it was quite amazing. One of the days on the cruise had gingerbread house making (and eating). there were a few other special Christmas on board activities. I had the turkey dinner for Christmas, it was pretty good, the rest of the family had other choices from the menu.

I will say being I live in Canada and often have snow for Christmas (or at least it is cold) we were in Mexico and so it was a very different experience but Disney did a good job at trying to make things Christmas like.

The $67 Christmas room decoration package is worth buying before the cruise. It just adds some extra magic for what I think is a reasonable price. You could also add a third stocking for $12.95 to cover your whole group.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/gifts-and-amenities/

There are other activities (like the gingerbread house making) that are available during the entire holiday season. I was trying to focus on those that apply just to the cruise that includes Christmas Eve/Day. You can find a partial list of the seasonal activities at the DCL web site--the ships, terminal, and Castaway will be decorated. There is a tree lighting ceremony on the first night. There is a huge gingerbread house in the atrium. Characters are in holiday costumes. Get tickets to the gingerbread house making ASAP as they do run out. You aren't allowed to take your house home (fresh food). Lots of activities have a holiday spin.

There are other activities (like the gingerbread house making) that are available during the entire holiday season. I was trying to focus on those that apply just to the cruise that includes Christmas Eve/Day. You can find a partial list of the seasonal activities at the DCL web site--the ships' date=' terminal, and Castaway will be decorated. There is a tree lighting ceremony on the first night. There is a huge gingerbread house in the atrium. Characters are in holiday costumes. Get tickets to the gingerbread house making ASAP as they do run out. You aren't allowed to take your house home (fresh food). Lots of activities have a holiday spin.[/quote']

 

Thank you, yes I've read through the overall holiday info. I also saw another thread about the Merrytime cruises in general with lots of good tips. I was looking for more information specific to Christmas Eve & Day which doesn't seem to be discussed much.

Please keep adding any advice you can think of, the holidays are coming fast!! Thanks all! :D

The $67 Christmas room decoration package is worth buying before the cruise. It just adds some extra magic for what I think is a reasonable price. You could also add a third stocking for $12.95 to cover your whole group.

 

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/gifts-and-amenities/

Thanks for this info, I hadn't read about the decor packages. Sounds like a must! And I won't have to pack stockings, yay!