Any holiday cruises without the crowds?

[igraf]

Anybody know of a "holiday" cruise that is not impacted (more than 2 per stateroom) and for the most part just adult passengers? Maximum length would be 14 days, preferably 10 days.

 

Perhaps the 14-day Amsterdam Caribbean cruise?

 

I know that things get a lot better after New Year's Day.

 

igraf

Edited October 22, 2014 by igraf

[sail7seas]

Perhaps Silverseas and probably Seabourn.

 

[RAYSAN11]

and probably Windstar cruises

[SilvertoGold]

Over 14 days, but the the Antarctic cruise wins!

We did this and there were a total of 5 children on the ship. Mostly extremely well-behaved adults and I don't think the ship was even full.

 

Otherwise, not on HAL.

[Infi]

I would still expect kids on the 14 day Amsterdam; it's still to the Caribbean, after all, and beaches will always draw families. We had about 50-60 kids on a 15 day Panama Canal on the Amsterdam last Christmas. They were all incredibly well behaved and quiet so it wasn't an issue.

 

OP, I understand your concern - we did 7 days on Princess over Christmas one year and all I can say is never again! We now search for the longest and most exotic cruises possible over the holiday time to guarantee that situation won't happen again.

[Mmtrip]

FYI on the 14-day, Dec 8 - 22, 2014 Panama Canal Crossing (SAN to FLL) only 13 kids total on-board including my 2 well-behaved teens (they better be-LOL)...

[cruisin'girl]

Seabourn has no activities for children so you would probably would never have more than one or 2, if that.

[chrispb]

By "holiday" cruise, do you mean Christmas? I see this quite a lot on the boards and can't quite get my head round it. Why not say Christmas, Easter, Eid, Hanukka (sp) whatever - puzzles me.

Edited October 22, 2014 by chrispb

[rafinmd]

If you could possibly extend just a bit to 16 days perhaps the Prinsendam.

 

Roy

[serendipity1499]

By "holiday" cruise, do you mean Christmas? I see this quite a lot on the boards and can't quite get my head round it. Why not say Christmas, Easter, Eid, Hanukka (sp) whatever - puzzles me.

 

Because there are at least two & for many three, four or even up to 6 Holidays in December during the same time frame, which might be celebrated by many different faiths & Nationalities in the United States..

 

ie: Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve, & New Years Day.. I believe there is a Jewish Holiday during the Easter Holidays as well..

 

Therefore in the U.S. it is quite common to say to someone, you do not know very well, "Happy Holidays", so as not to insult them.. Many people also send out Happy Holiday cards to their Friends..That is why many of us ask if there is anything going on during the Holidays..

Edited October 22, 2014 by serendipity1499

[chrispb]

Because there are at least two & for many three, four or even up to 6 Holidays in December during the same time frame, which might be celebrated by many different faiths & Nationalities in the United States..

 

ie: Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve, & New Years Day.. I believe there is a Jewish Holiday during the Easter Holidays as well..

 

Therefore in the U.S. it is quite common to say to someone ,you do not know, "Happy Holidays", so as not to insult them.. Many people also send out Happy Holiday cards to their Friends..That is why many of us ask if there is anything going on during the Holidays..

 

We have many different faiths and nationalities here also, but we still wish people happy Christmas regardless of their faith - most seem to welcome it and reciprocate.

[RuthC]

Although children are welcome on Oceania, there are no special accommodations made for them. Plan a longer cruise, and figure with the higher price tag, there will be few (if any) children on an Oceania cruise. Take a look at what they offer.

[maxout]

We have many different faiths and nationalities here also, but we still wish people happy Christmas regardless of their faith - most seem to welcome it and reciprocate.

 

The "Holiday Season" in the U.S. generally runs from Thanksgiving (late November) through New Year's, this encompassess many different Holidays for which "Happy Christmas" might seem an odd greeting. ;)

[take us away]

If it would work out or be of interest for you, there are few if any children on a cruise that gets back just before Christmas. We do these just about every year and love watching the crew decorate the ship! Plus they are usually very reasonably priced as most people do not want to get home on 23 or 24 Dec.

[lazey1]

By "holiday" cruise, do you mean Christmas? I see this quite a lot on the boards and can't quite get my head round it. Why not say Christmas, Easter, Eid, Hanukka (sp) whatever - puzzles me.

 

In the United States for quite a number of years it has been "politically incorrect" to refer by name to any religious holiday. It is forbidden in most public places including schools to say Merry Christmas or Happy Easter or Happy Hanakka (sp).

While working as a dept. manager for a large company over 20 years ago I was told that I could not plan a Christmas or Hanakka (I don't remember how to spell it either) party, it had to be a Holiday party with only non-denominal decorations. I felt it was a pity as the office was evenly split between Christians and Jews, (no Muslim, Hindu, or Athiest). I wanted to decorate for both and celebrate both in part to learn the different methods of celebration.

[igraf]

Thank you and others for the relevant information. I pretty much ruled out all 7-day Caribbean cruises.

 

For the other irrelevant posters, please don't turn this into a thread about holiday political correctness!!! "Holiday cruise" is a specific term used by Holland America for late December cruises and we can just leave it at that.

 

The closest one that I found was the Princess 11-day partial Panama Canal cruise departing on December 18th. It caught my eye as the prices were set at normal levels or even discounted from normal. I called Princess the other day and they told me that it is was currently less than half sold at and they counted 101 passengers under 21 years old. Not too bad for a cruise that includes Christmas Day, but still that is over 200 youngsters when the ship fills up. Apparently it is New Year's Day more so than Christmas Day that drives up the holiday prices.

 

HAL also offers longer Maasdam and Prinsendam holiday cruises in the Caribbean in addition the 14-day Amsterdam cruise. Did anyone actually go on any of these last year?

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

I would still expect kids on the 14 day Amsterdam; it's still to the Caribbean, after all, and beaches will always draw families. We had about 50-60 kids on a 15 day Panama Canal on the Amsterdam last Christmas. They were all incredibly well behaved and quiet so it wasn't an issue.

 

OP, I understand your concern - we did 7 days on Princess over Christmas one year and all I can say is never again! We now search for the longest and most exotic cruises possible over the holiday time to guarantee that situation won't happen again.

Edited October 22, 2014 by igraf

[sail7seas]

If it would work out or be of interest for you, there are few if any children on a cruise that gets back just before Christmas. We do these just about every year and love watching the crew decorate the ship! Plus they are usually very reasonably priced as most people do not want to get home on 23 or 24 Dec.

 

We liked to sail over the holidays but I would never plan to fly two or three days before Christmas or two/three days after. The airports are a zoo.

When we used to sail over Thanksgiving, we always chose cruise or b-to-b when we could leave home 4 or more days prior and come home 4 days or more after.

 

[Typhoon1]

Crowds are everywhere. Airports, airplanes, you name it.

 

The ship is just part of your trip. You still have airports to deal with. Maybe even a hotel.

[1of4]

We did an early December cruise on Princess and the kids on board were OUT OF CONTROL and the parents nor staff did anything to bring them under control. They ran on the backs of sofas, waited at elevators on formal night with super soaker water guns, running down the stairs and knocking older people off their feet (DH caught one woman).

 

Never again and we have children. It is HAL for us.

[POA1]

The longer cruises are your best bet, especially those that extend far beyond school breaks.

[ellieanne]

I took a 15-Day Circle Hawaii cruise over Christmas and New Year's in 2006. It's been a while, so I do not know if there has been any change in the passenger make-up, but there were very few children/teen-agers on that cruise. I can't remember exactly, but there were certainly not too many, or I would have noticed.

[casamariposa]

Thank you and others for the relevant information. I pretty much ruled out all 7-day Caribbean cruises.

 

For the other irrelevant posters, please don't turn this into a thread about holiday political correctness!!! "Holiday cruise" is a specific term used by Holland America for late December cruises and we can just leave it at that.

 

The closest one that I found was the Princess 11-day partial Panama Canal cruise departing on December 18th. It caught my eye as the prices were set at normal levels or even discounted from normal. I called Princess the other day and they told me that it is was currently less than half sold at and they counted 101 passengers under 21 years old. Not too bad for a cruise that includes Christmas Day, but still that is over 200 youngsters when the ship fills up. Apparently it is New Year's Day more so than Christmas Day that drives up the holiday prices.

 

HAL also offers longer Maasdam and Prinsendam holiday cruises in the Caribbean in addition the 14-day Amsterdam cruise. Did anyone actually go on any of these last year?

 

igraf

 

I was on the Prinsendam's most recent 14-day Holiday Cruise. I believe there were about 25 children on board, and the majority of them were very well-behaved teen agers. The counselors on board had the little ones in the Stuvesant Room on Dolphin deck and kept them busy. The only "noise" from the little ones was when they were in the swimming pool with their parents. I peeked down at the sea view pool lower down from the Lido Deck pool, and didn't see any children there. It was a lovely cruise, and I would do it again.

[Folk Singer]

and probably Windstar cruises

 

windstar are excellent for that.

[newcruise55]

If it would work out or be of interest for you, there are few if any children on a cruise that gets back just before Christmas. We do these just about every year and love watching the crew decorate the ship! Plus they are usually very reasonably priced as most people do not want to get home on 23 or 24 Dec.

 

In the United States for quite a number of years it has been "politically incorrect" to refer by name to any religious holiday. It is forbidden in most public places including schools to say Merry Christmas or Happy Easter or Happy Hanakka (sp).

While working as a dept. manager for a large company over 20 years ago I was told that I could not plan a Christmas or Hanakka (I don't remember how to spell it either) party, it had to be a Holiday party with only non-denominal decorations. I felt it was a pity as the office was evenly split between Christians and Jews, (no Muslim, Hindu, or Athiest). I wanted to decorate for both and celebrate both in part to learn the different methods of celebration.

 

For any of you who care it is most commonly spelled Chanukah, Hanukkah, or Hanukah. It is not an english word and so therefore no actual set english spelling. In english it is Festival of Lights or less commonly called Feast of Dedication and yes people who do no celebrate Christmas would rather some one say Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings This does not take away the importance of anyones holiday or religious choices.

[Straitaway]

We are taking the Hurtigruten In Norway to go up the coast, past the Artic circle, and hopefully see the Norhtern Lights this year. I'll bet there won't be many children on board.;)