X-mas on a ship - how is it?

[cuppy]

What is like to be on a ship on Christmas day?

 

Do cruise lines do anything special that day?

[Texed]

Duplicate.

[Texed]

What's going on? :)

[Texed]

Christmas is great. They decorate the ship, sing carols, give gifts to the kids, and to nice "ladies", as in, the wife. :) Santa Claus even showed up.

[Texed]

Duplicate of a duplicate.

[Texed]

Again?

[Texed]

Good grief!

[stowaway2k]

What is like to be on a ship on Christmas day?

 

Do cruise lines do anything special that day?

 

I've only been on a cruise at Christmas once, and it wasn't Celebrity.

It was in the Caribbean, and it was a sea day. The weather and sea conditions could not possibly have been better.

The ship was tastefully and beautifully decorated. There was a Catholic mass, and a non-denominational service lead by the Captain, as per tradition.

There was a special Santa appearance for the kids.

All passengers recieved a very nice gift with a card signed by the Captain.

As the sun got low in the sky, we were approaching St. Lucia. We were not due to call there, but the island was gorgeous in the early evening sun, so the ship lingered a couple miles off shore while the sun set, and the moon rose. A beautiful sight made more special as it was Christmas evening. A very thoughtful thing for the Captain to do for us.

Christmas dinner was very festive and elegant at the same time.

It was one the best Christmases, if not the best, I've had.

I'm looking forward to another Christmas at sea.

[cruznon]

Stowaway,

Thank you for sharing your experiences. This will be our first Christmas cruise this year on the Galaxy. :)

[cavkc]

You will have the most wonderful Christmas ever. We were on Infinity last Christmas and NY with Christmas Day itself being a sea day.

 

We were in Acapulco on Christmas Eve, which was magical in itself as we watched the cliff divers in the evening. We left there at about midnight to cruise towards the Panama Canal.

 

Christmas Day was fabulous, possibly only just surpassed by NY eve. The ship was very tastefully decorated and 'Santa' visited the ship by special arrangement :D . The evening was obviously a formal night and was very special, we have the most wonderful memories and would not hesitate to choose a Christmas cruise again.

 

Have fun

[Arubalisa]

As others have said, Christmas on a cruise ship is every bit as nice as you could ever imagine it. Christmas music, decorations, festive mood all in a tropical locale.

 

HAL had a reception for Santa on Christmas morning complete with Eggnog for the adults. Each child was able to sit on Santa's lap, receive a gift and be photographed (of course to purchase later) by the ship's photograper.

 

The afternoon was spent lounging poolside with Christmas music and frosty drinks. Dinner that evening offered something for everyone including among other things, "Nutcracker Salad", "Mom's Slow Roasted Christmas Turkey" and "Plum Pudding".

We loved it so much we are doing it all over again this year :D ...

[blueboro]

We were on the Summit this past Christmas for a 10-day Caribbean cruise. We also were on the Brilliance of the Seas for an 11-day Christmas/New Year cruise in December 2002. Both were great.

 

Brilliance seemed to have many more decorations (trees, wreaths, greenery, etc) than Summit. Both had Santa arrive Christmas morning and give gifts to all children (they were wrapped on Brillance...not on Summit). Each cabin received a rolling RCCL picnic basket/cooler as a gift on the Brillance and a small leather type bag from Summit. The one BIG difference was that they actually had a female Santa on the Summit. That left a little to be desired.

 

On Christmas Eve, both ships had passengers gather around the atrium with the crew and sing caroles. On Brilliance, many of the senior officers, including the Captain, participated while on Summit just the entertainment staff. They handed out words for the songs and it lasted about 30-40 minutes. Both ships also had excellent Christmas shows in the main showroom.

 

 

On both ships we brought a 3" Christmas tree, still in the box it was purchased in, onboard and set it up with lights and decorations. Some people had wreaths on their cabin door that they brought. It really adds a nice touch.

 

The one thing we really enjoyed was that we were on the Brillance for both Christmas AND New Year. New Years Eve was great with free champagne, noise makers, hats and a real festive atmosphere.

 

 

We hope we can have another Christmas cruise in the next couple of years. Hope this helps.

[cuppy]

Thank you all for the feedback. I am so excited to be away for Christmas.

 

I'm hoping hubby will want to go away every Christmas :D