Holiday Cruises

[Wiredusk]

Hello! I was just wondering if anyone has done a "holiday cruise"? My husband and I typically go on cruises in the off season for the simple fact that we enjoy our cruises with as few children on board as possible and the lower prices. But we were considering doing a holiday cruise next year. The cruise leaves December 22 and returns January 3. I was just curious as to whether anyone has done one, their opinions and if there are a lot of kids because they are out of school. Do they do anything special for Christmas and New Years? Thank you in advance! :D

[BlueRiband]

You answered your own question regarding children: With schools on vacation there will be plenty on board.

 

If you want low prices this isn't the time for you as they are very popular and priced accordingly. We had a recent thread where somebody want to "go after" a cruise line for "greedy" (their words) Christmas holiday pricing.

[tetleytea]

We did Thanksgiving on Norwegian, and it was expensive, and not too many kids on board.

 

IMHO holiday cruises are a strongly personal decision, and depends on your family situation. If you are considering a holiday cruise, it's probably because you have money but not a lot of time off. Time on cruise means time not with family--unless you somehow manage to get the whole family on board.

[JimAOk1945]

We enjoy the overall holiday atmosphere on the ships. We have enjoyed cruising over Christmas week several times and have another Christmas cruise booked this year. Sometimes kids running wild can be a problem, but on most of our cruises, they have been well behaved.

 

We enjoy the ice skating performances given on Royal Caribbean ships. I'll insert a link below to a slide show my wife put together with pictures she took on a Christmas cruise.

 

Mariner of the Seas Christmas Ice Skating Show

 

The past Christmas cruises we took are in my signature below. You can click on any of the GREEN titles to view them.

 

It would be very helpful if you would say which cruise line/ship you are considering.

[Wiredusk]

Thanks!

The cruise line we are looking at is Royal Caribbean and leaving out of Baltimore, MD JimAOk1945. Thanks for slideshow, great pictures! We have gone on our cruises in October and November and the kids that were there were great but there also weren't very many. We are leaving on another cruise on August 23 and this will be our first peak season (it was a gift) so this will be our first real experience with lots of kids. Although they do start school that week, so we will see. It's not that we dislike kids at all. But we are young and have lots of kids in our families and just prefer kid free vacations until we have children of our own.

The main reason we are looking into this holiday cruise is because I won't accrue my 3rd week of vacation until the following year (in which we would be coming home from the cruise) so taking the cruise that overlaps with holidays would give me the ability to use fewer vacation days with those paid holidays mixed in. We prefer the longer cruises and although this one is a little pricey, because of my vacation/holiday situation, it would still be most beneficial to go at that time. We also see our family very very often, even the extended, so although we would miss them at Christmas, we would make up for it in no time.

[Jane2357]

If you tend to cruise when there are fewer children - then in my opinion DON'T DO IT!!! We did it once and we will never, ever do it again. Ship was over run with crying babies, crying toddlers in strollers and unruly tweens running the hallways and riding the elevators. Large families saving loungers, saving ROWs of seats in theater. Nope - been there done it.

[cruisead]

We did ONE holiday cruise on Royal Caribbean and won't do it again. There were over 950 kids on board, and it was just an entirely different experience---not in a good way. And, BTW, we have four kids, so we're not kid haters.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Our last three cruises have been during the holidays (the Hawaiian RT on Princess) basically because we like this itinerary but have a school aged kid so it's the only time we could go.

 

The kids' program has plenty of activities, including holiday oriented arts and crafts. There's plenty of holiday oriented movies on the poolside MUTS screen and on the in-cabin TV. The ship is decorated to the hilt and there's a holiday formal dinner (either on Christmas eve or on Christmas). For me, there's an added benefit -- I don't have to deal with holiday crowds at the mall.