Christmas onboard?

[eap1986]

We are sailing on the Victory Dec. 19-26 and I can't seem to find any info on what it will be like on the ship Christmas day :confused: Will there be festive music/decorations? Will the shows be Christmas themed?

 

Also, for those of you who have cruised over the holidays, did you exchange gifts onboard? I think the hubby and I will each do a small gift to one another just so it feels like Christmas! Probably shouldn't wrap them though, huh? Just in case security wants to take a peek.

 

Thanks for your comments!

[amyfromjersey]

We were onboard the ship last Christmas. On Christmas day, they had an afternoon show with the kids on board participating and the cruise director. Other than that, the day was pretty much like any other day on board. Dinner wasn't even a different menu. They very much follow the same routine and schedule as every other week.

 

We made an effort to dress up nice for dinner and make our own memories for Christmas. I fixed a stocking for the kids and that is how we did the whole present thing.(My kids are older, so they were not expecting Santa)

 

It was a nice cruise though. It was nice to be away from all the hustle, bustle and confusion that goes along with Christmas at home.

[CapeCodCruiser]

Last year we were on the Freedom for Christmas. The ship was beautifully decorated - great photo ops. Christmas Day dinner in the MDR was a "turkey" dinner - more like turkey from a deli and not very good. Found out later they were carving whole turkeys on the Lido buffet! It really was a fantastic way to enjoy the holiday!

[Bonneville02]

I have never traveled on Christmas Day, but I have done New Year's on Carnival. They decorate the public areas, and they play holiday music through New Year's Day. After the 1st, the decorations go away, usually late at night.

[firefly333]

Instead of elevator noise, they play Christmas carols in the elevators and hallways.

 

I counted 6 or 8 christmas trees on my ship. I was trying to go around and take pictures. None of them was huge. They had garlands around the open areas near the elevator atrium areas.

[igo2travel]

I've read that the ship will be decorated. I will be taking stockings and will be filling them with trinkets bought at each port. This cruise is really my kids' (21 & 18) Christmas present. St. Martin will be a white sand (instead of snow) beach day. Ho, Ho, Ho.

[doxie2cruise]

We were on the Destiney Christmas 2003, there were trees decorated on the ship. I am the one that packs so I had slipped DH gift in luggage wrapped in bag gift wrap. DH on Christmas Day (It was a Sea Day) went to the Carnival shop and bought me a beautiful Taznite and opal ring for my gift. When we got home we then celabrated Christmas with all our kids,grandkids and family. They had a special dinner and they gave you kind of like paper place mat and menu to take with you. Doxie

[rbabiak]

I think cruising around Christmas and/or New Year's would be awesome but not sure the young kiddies would like it. LOL. They like their gifts under the tree from Santa. Maybe one year though we will get to do this.

[GayleR]

We are sailing on the Victory Dec. 19-26 and I can't seem to find any info on what it will be like on the ship Christmas day :confused: Will there be festive music/decorations? Will the shows be Christmas themed?

 

Also, for those of you who have cruised over the holidays, did you exchange gifts onboard? I think the hubby and I will each do a small gift to one another just so it feels like Christmas! Probably shouldn't wrap them though, huh? Just in case security wants to take a peek.

 

Thanks for your comments!

 

We spent Christmas on the Triumph last year. While we enjoyed the cruise, it just didn't seem like Christmas. The ship was decorated and they did play Christmas music and we did see Santa walking around. I got a great shot of one of my sons with Santa, who had picked him up. It's one of my favorite pictures from that cruise.

[pjnash]

We sailed carnival on christmas 2 years ago. many guests including us wore christmas hats and shirts. They also had free champange

[pjnash]

We are also going on sensation 12/23/2010..WOOHOO. 21 cruise on carnival

[reeree313]

We sailed on the Destiny last Christmas. The ship was decorated nicely and they played Christmas Carols in the Lido restaurant even DAYS after Christmas. I didn't notice that the ship activities were really Christmas related though...seemed like just another day to them. We did bring gifts onboard and they WERE wrapped. Security either didn['t mind or didn'[t notice. Have a great Christmas Cruise! We'll be leaving the day AFTER Christmas this year :)

[MsBrownize]

While we enjoyed the cruise, it just didn't seem like Christmas. The ship was decorated and they did play Christmas music and we did see Santa walking around.

 

Didn't seem like Christmas to us either. My DS and I took a Christmas cruise on Miracle back in 2007. Did notice decorations and there was opportunity for my DS to see Santa, but this was the year or so after he stopped "believing" and didn't want the encounter.. I brought a few small gifts for DS that I gave him on Christmas morning.

 

Overall, we had a Blast!! Would probably travel over Christmas again, but not until I can afford it.. it does tend to be EXPENSIVE that time of year..

 

Enjoy!!

[eap1986]

Wow thanks for all the replies! I'm glad to know there will be some decorations and I love festive music! The stockings are a great idea :D

[pe4all]

Plenty of people walk around with Santa hats, reindeer antlers, etc. Very festive, lots of holiday music, visit from Santa on Xmas eve, free champagne, ship nicely decorated. Some people brought mini Christmas trees for their dining room table, and wore Christmas light necklaces, etc. We saw many people bringing bags of gifts from one cabin to another. Anything goes during a holiday cruise!

[doxie2cruise]

Eap1986, Your sailing with us on the Victory at Christmas I think we will be decorating our cabin door for Christmas. How about you? Doxie:cool:

[GayleR]

I forgot to mention that we didn't do gifts, but I did do giant stockings for the kids (3 feet in length). They were stuffed with candy, shirts, scratch off lottery tickets, etc.

[BusyBlond]

we are also sailing at christmas this year. it will be my step-daughter's first cruise and is her christmas gift from her Dad and I. I don't really want to hassle with taking gifts along, so we are doing them at home before we go. I am going to take DD stocking for "santa" to fill. Her gift from santa is a dolphin swim on christmas day. I bought a stuffed dolphin that I'm going to attach a letter from santa about her gift and put that in her stocking. I'm really excited about the whole thing.

[FlaParrotHead]

We cruised The Miracle over Christmas 2004. Tubing in Belize on Christmas Eve day was a blast. We actually took lights and decorated both our cabin and our balcony. No one said anything except that the lights could not hang over the railing. While I do not think they allow it, there were no issues either. We took one gift each for our DSs to open Christmas morning. The only issue we had was an "unnamed storm" that was hitting Tampa when we returned to port. The nightstand in our DSs cabin flipped and they actually kept the ship just outside Tampa Bay until light the arrival morning and needed tugs to get it into the channel. Unrelated to the question but certainly added excitement to the cruise. B&B

 

There are a couple pics of the lights (daytime, sorry) on our cruises page at: http://www.fl4some.com, just look for the xmas04 album.

[eap1986]

doxie2cruise, that's a great idea! I think I will do the same!

[ABcruisers]

We sailed on the Splendour last Christmas and loved it. We don't have kids but our friends did so we brought a cheap mini tree with a few decorations and all trimmed the tree together. We also all exchanged gifts from the dollar store. We had goofy antlers and snowflake headbands. The ship was beautiful they had several Christmas trees and garland throughtout the comon area. They had a Christmas Eve carole sing along in the atrium and a traditional turkey dinner in the MDR. We would definitely do it again!!! Have a great time!

[pjtulsa]

We were on the Spirit last year for Christmas...

I LOVED IT!

Didn't have to cook, Didn't have to Decorate and we had a few small gifts before we left home.

 

I did decorate our door & hung cheap glittery Christmas balls from the overhang above the mirror...

 

The best thing was I brought Mini Stockings and a glitter glue pin, I made one for each of us then one for the cabin steward & our waiters... The cabin steward started giggling when he saw his and came back 3 times to look at it, he was like a little boy when he saw it.. The waiters couldnt believe they had their names on them, they kept asking me how I did it.. They were even happier when they saw there was cash inside...:D

 

If I ever go on another I may take large stockings for them with basic stuff like Black socks, shaving cream, razors, tooth brush & paste etc in addition to the cash... they only reason I thought of it was one of the waiters told us he had to leave the ship in San Diego to go shopping for those items.

 

Decorations were nicely done but not over the top... There were also a sing-a-long of Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve. I am in agreement that the Turkey Dinner was not as good as at home but hey I didnt have to cook it..

 

Hope you have a great cruise and make many wonderful Christmas Memories.:)