Celebrating Christmas Onboard

[cruisequeen4ever]

This will be our first Christmas cruise, and I am beyond excited!! [emoji16] Tell me all that I can anticipate!

 

Do you prefer to bring gifts onboard or save them for home? Stockings?

 

Any creative ideas for little gifts DH and I could give each other without taking up much space in the suitcase?

 

Stateroom and door decoration ideas?

 

What's Christmas Day like onboard?

 

What type of Christmas activities are offered?

 

Any other tidbits that would be good to know?

[GUT2407]

This will be our first Christmas cruise, and I am beyond excited!! [emoji16] Tell me all that I can anticipate!

 

Do you prefer to bring gifts onboard or save them for home? Stockings?

 

Any creative ideas for little gifts DH and I could give each other without taking up much space in the suitcase?

 

Stateroom and door decoration ideas?

 

What's Christmas Day like onboard?

 

What type of Christmas activities are offered?

 

Any other tidbits that would be good to know?

 

 

Is it just you and hubby or kids too.

[ar1950]

This will be our first Christmas cruise, and I am beyond excited!! [emoji16] Tell me all that I can anticipate!

 

Do you prefer to bring gifts onboard or save them for home? Stockings?

 

Any creative ideas for little gifts DH and I could give each other without taking up much space in the suitcase?

 

Stateroom and door decoration ideas?

 

What's Christmas Day like onboard?

 

What type of Christmas activities are offered?

 

Any other tidbits that would be good to know?

 

I can tell you that on our "pre-Christmas" cruise on the Regal last year we saw a lot of Christmas items. Things like caroling, decorations, and there was even fake snow blowing into the piazza before we left.

 

Presents, up to you, decorations, make sure that they don't mar the walls or the door (think magnetic if you want to decorate). Activities, a ton of stuff including a Santa for the kids on Christmas day.

 

Have a great Christmas cruise! :cool:

[satxdiver]

Decorate your cabin and door also. Use as much decoration as you feel is necessary but watch using lights. Remember the walls are metal so magnets work great. There will be a large tree in the piaza and decorations throughout the ship as well as special holiday events including caroling. The MDR dinner will be holiday oriented but have choices for those that don't want a "traditional" dinner. It will be a festive time throughout the ship. Warning though there will be a lot of children aboard and the ship will be full with families. Have a great holiday!

[caribill]

 

 

 

 

 

[joybook]

A lot will depend on just what you are looking for in relation to celebrating Christmas. Yes there is sure to be plenty of lovely decorations and the staff will be decked out in Santa Claus hats etc and there will be a festive feel about everything. If however, you are looking to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas and the real reason for celebrating Christmas it varies from ship to ship.

 

A couple of years ago we had a Christmas cruise on the Sea Princess and you could not have asked for more in the manner Christmas was celebrated - even the real meaning of Christmas. Last Christmas however, we were on the Golden Princess and I will say nothing more than it left a lot to be desired. Among other things, the CD Sammi Baker doing the Christmas morning church service in reindeer ears did nothing for me.:)

[CruisinFinsUp]

One year we went on Christmas and it was wonderful.

I packed a 18" mini predecorated tree from a craft store.

I also packed a couple strings of battery operated mini lights that I hung in the cabin.

The best part was not having to cook dinner and clean up after! :D

 

Gfts for one another could be onboard activities such as a couples spa treatment if you like that sort of thing, or dinner in a specialty restaurant with an extra special bottle of wine, or a day in the Sanctuary.

[geoherb]

We've taken seven Christmas cruises, including four on Princess. Expect a special menu in the dining room for the holiday. (On one cruise, though, they served it on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Our last three cruises were holiday (Christmas/New Years) Hawaiian RTs out of LA. The ships were decorated, the kids got presents from "santa" and did holiday oriented crafts in the kids program. Lots of holiday music until 12/26.

 

For the first of those, our girl was 8 so I did pack a few small gifts for her. I had small tiny tree ornaments that I placed here and there as well as put up a foam sticky menorah (Hanukkah was during the first of those cruises).

 

For me, it's a great chance to be away from the stress and the traffic and chaos.

[Sailingagain0123]

We did a Christmas cruise with our whole family. I bought little trees, lights and mini decorations for each cabin. We met in my parents cabin (which was of course the largest) and had a trim a tree party. Then everyone had a tree for their own cabins. I brought ours home and each year I put one in each of the kids rooms.

[cruisequeen4ever]

GUT2407, It's just DH and me. Oh I love the pics of the pursers in Santa hats and the gingerbread village! This is gonna be so fun! Oh my goodness; does everyone get a Princess stocking, or did you make that, caribill?? I love it! Joybook, we would like both. It would be special to attend a Christmas service at sea. Thank you you for the ideas!

[Sam.Seattle]

Memories from Christmas cruise....

 

* Stockings stuffed with Christmas gifts brought from home.

* Hot Chocolate and Cookies Chrismas eve on the balcony.

* Beauitful decorations

* Decorating Gingerbread houses.

* Christmas Eve caroling by the crew

* Traditonal yummy trukey dinner.

* No rushing... No cooking... No work.... just enjoying a white sandy Christmas.

[soccergang]

Does anyone know if they will have a Christmas Eve or Day service? We were on the Oasis of the Seas at Easter, and there was a priest doing a Mass everyday. That was nice, but if you aren't Catholic, it was disappointing that they didn't have anything else. Last year on the Ruby to Norway, the Captain actually had a regular Sunday service in the Princess Theatre, but it was more non-denominational and many were in attendance.

[skynight]

Does anyone know if they will have a Christmas Eve or Day service?

Only if there is clergy on board as a passenger that wishes to run a service.

quote from the Princess FAQ section

"We respect our guests' religious beliefs and invite them to practice on their own or with their fellow guests. Guests who wish to lead religious services may volunteer by contacting the Guest Services desk or a member of the Cruise Staff. In some cases, our shipboard staff will lead services. However, Princess Cruises does not place clergy on board our vessels."

[lhsail]

We have done Christmas twice. The ship will be beautifully decorated and there will be many special activities. We did have religious services, but if you have one it will be more low key than you are used to. We took a small tree for the cabin and all selected small gifts for each other, easy to transport. Some of that was convenience and some was the fact that a holiday (we did Christmas and New Years both times) is expensive and we explained to our then teenage son that the cruise was part of his Christmas gift. He had such a great time he didn't care. Laying out by the pool on Christmas Day is a real change. One I easily adapted to.

[Tak8]

I've been fortunate to do two Christmas sailings on Princess. I leave the gifts at home. We have enough to bring on board.

What to expect:

Beautiful decorations

Eggnog in the morning

A visit from Santa with a gift for anyone under 18

Snow in the atrium

Music all week or 10 days long

A Traditional Christmas dinner

small stocking on bed after dinner

and the highlight for me

Gingerbread souffle for dessert

[2BeOnaBoat]

Gingerbread souffle for dessert

 

MMmmm that sounds good.

[Happy2cruise]

We are sailing on the Coral for Christmas and are so excited. Sailed many, many times and sailed the Coral 3 times but have never done a Christmas cruise.

Thank you to all who have posted about their experiences on a Christmas cruise.....the excitement grows everyday:):)

[Cruisin' Chick]

GUT2407, It's just DH and me. Oh I love the pics of the pursers in Santa hats and the gingerbread village! This is gonna be so fun! Oh my goodness; does everyone get a Princess stocking, or did you make that, caribill?? I love it! Joybook, we would like both. It would be special to attend a Christmas service at sea. Thank you you for the ideas!

 

There will be a stocking in each cabin that's filled with candy.

[helenb]

No one has mentioned the gingerbread house decorating contest, which for us is one of the highlights of a Christmas cruise. Caroling in the atrium and Santa's visit are also highlights. Children have a Christmas fair where they decorate cookies, play games and win prizes, plus they get a gift from Santa. Anyone can visit Santa for pictures, but the children are obviously allowed to go first.

 

For decorations, we were on a Christmas cruise last year and we brought along a cardboard Christmas tree, which was flat in the suitcase, so it didn't take a lot room (we expanded it and set it up once we got to the cabin). We also brought a bunch of window clings (google window clings and holiday) and they worked well on the mirrors and window. Flat and easy to transport.

 

For gifts, we were able to bring some onboard, because we were driving to the port, but if you want something small, one thing we have done is wrap up papers. We use a small gift bag and put the paper inside, stating what kind of present is awaiting the recipient at home (and include a picture). That way you can give bigger gifts if you wish. Gifts of spa treatments on the ship are also very nice, or something like jewelry to wear on New Year's Eve, etc.

[piper28]

My wife generally does a stocking for our cabin steward. Small, probably just a bit bigger than the one that Princess does, and we'll put a few things in it - generally some candy of some sort, a little cash, and some small toy type item, typically one of the real small $5 or so lego sets. The legos in particular have really gone over well, especially with the stewards that have kids back home (we've had a couple of stewards that have told us they were really looking forward to giving them to their kids).

 

Generally there's a gingerbread house decorating session, and you don't have to be a kid to participate in this. Some people get real serious on that, and bring extra supplies with them (Princess supplies each group doing it with one of those gingerbread house kits that has the house premade and has a variety of decorations you can use).

 

With luggage restrictions these days we've generally not brought the small tree, although I'm thinking we might have more luggage capacity this year, so we'll have to think about that.

[Sam.Seattle]

No one has mentioned the gingerbread house decorating contest, which for us is one of the highlights of a Christmas cruise. Caroling in the atrium and Santa's visit are also highlights. Children have a Christmas fair where they decorate cookies, play games and win prizes, plus they get a gift from Santa. Anyone can visit Santa for pictures, but the children are obviously allowed to go first.

 

For decorations, we were on a Christmas cruise last year and we brought along a cardboard Christmas tree, which was flat in the suitcase, so it didn't take a lot room (we expanded it and set it up once we got to the cabin). We also brought a bunch of window clings (google window clings and holiday) and they worked well on the mirrors and window. Flat and easy to transport.

 

For gifts, we were able to bring some onboard, because we were driving to the port, but if you want something small, one thing we have done is wrap up papers. We use a small gift bag and put the paper inside, stating what kind of present is awaiting the recipient at home (and include a picture). That way you can give bigger gifts if you wish. Gifts of spa treatments on the ship are also very nice, or something like jewelry to wear on New Year's Eve, etc.

Post #12 - Gingerbread Decorating. :-)

[cruisequeen4ever]

HelenB, I was thinking about doing the paper notes indicating presents.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I'm SO excited about the Princess stocking; it's too cute and for sure something I'll keep!! [emoji320]