Christmas Cruise

[wspatton]

Okay, experienced cruisers, we need your advice!

We are looking into cruising in Dec 04 in the weeks around Christmas. We have only cruised once (two weeks ago, on Princess, and we are now hooked!) We are not tied to Princess at this point, even though we had a fabulous time, and are looking at cruises based on itinerary and price and date. There are some okay deals out there now, and I was wondering:

1. Do cruises book up quick because it is Christmas - in other words, do we need to be deciding pretty quick?

2. Are there any last minute deals around Christmas? Will prices get any better?

3. Found a couple on Norwegian and Royal Caribbean - if we were happy on Princess, will these other lines work for us?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks for your help - this board helped us tremendously getting ready for our trip on the Golden!

Mary

[B]<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Bill & Mary</FONT></FONT>[/B]
[B]<FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Golden Princess: May 9, 2004</FONT></FONT>[/B]

[B]<FONT SIZE="3"><span style="border:blue double 5px;"><span style="background-color:#000066;"><FONT COLOR="#33CCFF">~~~ Bummed Out!!! It's Over [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] ~~~</span></span></FONT></FONT>[/B]</p>

[Nitemare]

Christmas and New Year's week are usually the two most expensive cruise (and vacation in general) weeks.

If you see a decent price now, GRAB IT.

[Roz]

Bill and Mary,

Do you absolutely have to sail at Christmas, or would any time in Dec. be OK? The reason I'm asking is that the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be real bargains.

In 2002 I did a 5-day on Carnival that left Dec. 7 and was dirt cheap. This year I'm on a 7-day HAL cruise, departing Dec. 11. Got a great fare, even with having to pay a single supplement.

Another advantage is that there are few children, due to them still being in school. Holiday weeks are loaded with kids.

Some holiday cruises are already sold out, so I doubt you'll find any last minute deals.

Roz

[wspatton]

Unfortunately, we can't take advantage of that. Our daughter graduates from college 12/18 and our son is still in college. It looks like early January is a good time too, but our son would have to be back at school. Relatively decent fares week beginning 12/19 - just cutting it close for our daughter and graduation parties! Oh well - this may not work out!

Mary

[B]<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Bill & Mary</FONT></FONT>[/B]
[B]<FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Golden Princess: May 9, 2004</FONT></FONT>[/B]

[B]<FONT SIZE="3"><span style="border:blue double 5px;"><span style="background-color:#000066;"><FONT COLOR="#33CCFF">~~~ Bummed Out!!! It's Over [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] ~~~</span></span></FONT></FONT>[/B]</p>

[Scarlett Fever]

I would love nothing more than to spend Christmas on a cruise ...alas, my husband is a driver for UPS and this is their busiest time of year [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] maybe someday ..

[calliecat]

We're on the Grand at Christmas this year. We were told that if we went earlier in December we wouldn't have to pay so much since Christmas is a peak time but since we've got a 12 year old and don't want to pull him out of classes any more than necessary, we're paying more.
As far as the children go, I'm glad to see the post about more children on board because I was concerned about this.
We just booked last week. Probably could have gotten the cruise a little cheaper if we had booked via the internet but oh-well.... live and learn.
This is our 3rd cruise with Princess and our first to the Panama Canal.
Good luck

[AZPam]

We have booked a Christmas Cruise on the Diamond Princess. This will be our 6th cruise, but first for a holiday. Yes, it will be much more expensive than other times of the year, but we are making this our "gift" to the family. If you are concerned about the amount of children on the ship, you need to stick with Princess as they limit the numbers allowed.

The one thing that I am concerned about is being in port on Christmas Day. Will everything be closed? How will that work with excursions?

[spongerob]

Bill, you might want to check pricing on the 12/28 Grand Princess out of Galveston. I had to cancel an October booking on Tahitian Princess and chose this cruise as a replacement. It's an 11-day trip to the western Caribbean and Central America including a stop in Panama. Prices are somewhat high, but have come down from when I first looked at that cruise some time ago.

Completed:
Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess

[geoherb]

I started looking at December cruises last month. We went on a cruise over Christmas five years ago. I wouldn't go again that week because of all the children.

The week before Christmas is our favorite time, but it doesn't fit into our schedule this year since Christmas is on a Saturday. So far, the best thing I've found is HAL's Zuiderdam, which does a 5-night cruise leaving on Dec. 18 and returning Dec. 23.

On our Christmas cruise, the ship skipped the port it normally went to and we got an extra day at sea. That was great for us. I've noticed in itineraries, though, that some ships are in port on Christmas day. I don't know if anything is open then, but it seems like tourism folks would want to make as much money as possible.

[tidelover]

geoherb,
Celebrity has a Western Carb. leaves out the 18th & returns on the 24th. We are calling this our Christmas Cruise.

Celebrity Cruise Lines
Century Dec 18th 2004
Which is also my Birthday.

[imsulin]

Christmas this year is on a Saturday (as is New Year's), so if you do a Sat. - Sat. cruise, you'll either be leaving on Christmas Day, or returning on Christmas Day.