Christmas

[cruzinsusie]

So what's a cruise at Christmas time like? Considering one.

[spookwife]

Hated it and will never do one again. Way too many large family groups running everywhere and camping out in public areas all day. Food was no better. Ship was gorgeously decorated and they did have some activities like caroling. Kids get a visit from HoHo Claus and a very cheap token gift.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

I would do it IF I had no family to consider...otherwise, it's too much hassle being away during holidays.

[gzmtlock]

We did a DCL cruise over Christmas in 2009. Loved it. Just me, DH and our (then) grade school aged DS and DD. Some unique circumstances led to it - injuries for both DH (motorcycle accident) and DS (sports injury) had me as the primary, um, everything for pretty much the entire fall season. I let DH know that I was going to need a significant break around Christmas, and that became our first family cruise. Cruised many times since then, but not during the hols.

 

Since then, we've stayed home for Christmas. But this year, we're jumbling it up again. DS and DD are now in college; DH and I moved this year for jobs. So our home is no longer their home (in the sense of home town); they don't have friends here, etc. So we're bugging out again. RCCL Dec 18-23, then WDW/Universal Dec 23-28. We are all REALLY looking forward to it.

 

Will extended family miss us? Yes, and we will miss them, too. Some. But it's so crazy during that time of year, we'd rather spend quality time with the extended family at other times of year, and quality time with "just us" away from the craziness. It's not for everyone, but it works for us.

[Underwatr]

Hated it and will never do one again. Way too many large family groups running everywhere and camping out in public areas all day. Food was no better. Ship was gorgeously decorated and they did have some activities like caroling. Kids get a visit from HoHo Claus and a very cheap token gift.

I guess it depends on the line.

 

We're getting ready for our fifth consecutive Christmas on the Queen Mary 2. None of your complaints apply to Christmas on QM2. Everyone gets a nice gift in their stateroom at Christmas Eve, decorations and meals are festive, and the food is better (you pay a premium to cruise at Christmas, so they can afford to do better at mealtime). Family groups are the exception rather than the rule (and kids are well-supervised and generally well-behaved).

 

I'd hesitate to cruise on a more mass-market line during most holiday/vacation periods though, so I can understand some of your issues.

[kitty9]

Unless you're cruising with family and kids, I'd never do it on mass market lines like RCI, Carnival, NCL and all the others. Just too many kids.

[maldenmusic]

Guess we'll find out because we are cruising over Christmas on the Carnival Dream.

[GUT2407]

So what's a cruise at Christmas time like? Considering one.

 

It will vary by line.

 

The ship will be decorated, the demographics "MAY" change.

 

Lunch will be "special"

 

old Santy Clause may show up.

[JimAOk1945]

We love it. We have cruised over Christmas week on Carnival, Princess, and Royal Caribbean with two more Christmas cruises booked.

 

Which cruise line and ship are you thinking about?

[brunello22]

We sailed over Christmas 2012 onboard Celebrity (I cannot remember if it was Eclipse or Equinox). The ship is beautifully decorated and I think it is a wonderful cruise for families. However for us, a 40s couple with no kids, it just was not an enjoyable experience (echo-ing spookwife's comment above).

Edited September 23, 2016 by brunello22

[Floridiana]

We did it once on Oceania's Riviera, a beautiful ship of the luxury lite variety. Nicely decorated, fine food like they are known for, some families but mostly couples like usual.

[tip]

Judging from some of the comments on this thread, maybe a cruise line ought to consider offering a cruise for curmudgeons over the holidays!:rolleyes:

[alexspepa]

WE did a 4 night Christmas cruise on Caribbean Princess a couple of years ago and loved loved loved it.

 

My wife and I and our two grown kids and I wish I could do it every year...no stress over the holidays about who and when to visit everyone and we paid for the cruise by not buying all kinds of decorations and not having to host large dinners.

 

Regarding kids on the cruise - I was told there were almost 1000 children on board but they must have been afraid Santa was watching because they were the best behaved kids I have ever seen.

 

I am not a religious person at all but the caroling on Christmas Eve was especially nice and everyone seemed to be in an especially good mood and exceedingly polite to each other.

[spookwife]

Judging from some of the comments on this thread, maybe a cruise line ought to consider offering a cruise for curmudgeons over the holidays!:rolleyes:

 

well excuse us for wanting public areas to be accessible to EVERYONE and not have to dodge 4 generations who insist on taking over large swaths of the ship to have their family reunion.

 

maybe some of us just want a quiet low key low stress holiday and not be subjected to everyone's Drunk Uncle, Overly affectionate Grandma or the Mob of Cousins.

 

I will stand by my assertion that the price increase does NOT compensate for a more crowded ship with minimal changes in menu or activities. toss in the fact that any port on the 25th is a complete and total waste since 90% of the venues will be closed, and I will not willingly go on another cruise that week when I can go the week before for MUCH less and get the same decorations.

[tip]

well excuse us for wanting public areas to be accessible to EVERYONE and not have to dodge 4 generations who insist on taking over large swaths of the ship to have their family reunion.

 

maybe some of us just want a quiet low key low stress holiday and not be subjected to everyone's Drunk Uncle, Overly affectionate Grandma or the Mob of Cousins.

 

I will stand by my assertion that the price increase does NOT compensate for a more crowded ship with minimal changes in menu or activities. toss in the fact that any port on the 25th is a complete and total waste since 90% of the venues will be closed, and I will not willingly go on another cruise that week when I can go the week before for MUCH less and get the same decorations.

 

May you take time to enjoy the holiday season!:D

[Cruisin' Chick]

Our last three cruises have been Hawaiian RTs on Princess that included Christmas and New Years. What was nice for my family was that we didn't have to deal with busy malls with hard to find parking, traffic, bad attitudes by those also dealing with those issues. We would have festive meals we didn't have to cook/clean for.

[WupperAV]

I hate kids except with Sweet Baby Rays Barbeque Sauce. Then most are a little fatty. We did Christmas on Princess Diamond with 1400 kids and are planning This Christmas on Crown. It was a lot of fun, they have their own deck and I'd go every year. Christmas day we had great food and lots of things going on with decorations like mad. I hope all you Humbugs stay home because it's for Kids anyway.

[leaveitallbehind]

well excuse us for wanting public areas to be accessible to EVERYONE and not have to dodge 4 generations who insist on taking over large swaths of the ship to have their family reunion.

 

maybe some of us just want a quiet low key low stress holiday and not be subjected to everyone's Drunk Uncle, Overly affectionate Grandma or the Mob of Cousins.

 

I will stand by my assertion that the price increase does NOT compensate for a more crowded ship with minimal changes in menu or activities. toss in the fact that any port on the 25th is a complete and total waste since 90% of the venues will be closed, and I will not willingly go on another cruise that week when I can go the week before for MUCH less and get the same decorations.

 

...so tell us how you really feel. :rolleyes:

[MBMGWM]

We went on Holland America's Maasdam about three years ago. It was a longer cruise (12 nights) where we celebrated Christmas and New Year's. We don't have children (well our little furry girl is our "baby") and there were families onboard, but we commented on how rarely we saw the children. We were shocked at how many we saw on Christmas morning and wondered where they were for the majority of the cruise. We really enjoyed seeing them visit with Santa and receive their gifts.

 

The ship was beautifully decorated and there were special events. The tree lighting with gingerbread cookies and hot cider was lovely! It was just such a nice way to relax. I felt that we missed all of the holiday "madness" and also the cold weather, which was okay with me!

 

I say go for it and see for yourself.

[terri-eddie]

We've never cruised over Christmas, but I've wondered....if you're in port on that day, are there still lots of excursions to book? I would imagine that a lot of places would be closed on Christmas Day. It wouldn't be much fun going ashore if you couldn't do anything!

[muggo11]

We loved cruising over Christmas on Princess around South America. The energy was great, the children adorable. I sang in the Princess choir and we took an amazing hike on Christmas Day. People were just so. . .happy. We brought a tabletop tree and put magnetized ornaments in our cabin door. And we brought and bought presents to exchange with each other. And I brought our stockings and put them on magnetized clips in our cabin. Cheesy, corny happiness at sea.

 

 

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[Goosebear Mum]

Ok, I'm in the UK, not USofA... but we went in our first cruise last year at Christmas, with P&O to Scandinavia. It was fantastic. Apparently there were a few hundred children on board, but we rarely saw any. It was a surprise when Santa arrived on the chimney, to see children around. When we did see children they were very well behaved. There were no groups taking over the ship. It was all very friendly and polite. Entertainment, decorated ship, we decorated our cabin, no cooking or washing dishes, other people to talk to! New places to visit, relaxation from a stressful projects at work, The sea :) I think we may have been lucky, but we never heard anyone else from our cabin...

 

We are 40s/50s with no children. Loved it so much we're going back this Christmas and New Year to the Caribbean from Southampton and back. (Same ship as last year) Hopefully it'll be as good again. It's likely to be different, going to the Caribbean, but is for 24 nights so hopefully it won't be too rowdy or feel full of wedding groups the whole time!

 

Can't wait!

 

I think it's a case of researching the differing 'cultures' of the companies and ships. Adult only? Party ship? Family ship? Quieter ones? They all seem to be different, even within the same company. Even within P&O I wouldn't take a short fly cruise at Christmas to a hot destination, on one on their livelier ships. It wouldn't be 'us'' as it would likely be a bit too 'lively'.

Edited September 24, 2016 by Goosebear Mum

[TravelinGert]

We've been toying with taking a holiday cruise so I was interested to read this thread. All our prior cruises have been during normal school weeks, so we haven't seen very many school aged kids on any of the cruises. I had wondered if they had a lot of activities for them over holidays. Thanks for starting this topic!

[Jiminy1955]

I, and my BFF (without our husbands) :), will be on the Carnival Vista this year December 2-10. My question is do you decorate your cabin for the Christmas season? If you do what do you use and/or how do you decorate yours? I want to do something, nothing elaborate, I just want it to be a little festive.