Christmas and New Year's Sailings, What Are They Like?

[Ugly Betty Fan]

In a casual conversation last night, we talked about cruising during the holidays. I realize that cruising during the holidays is probably the most expensive time of year to cruise, that flights are higher in costs, and that there are lots of families on-board with lots of children.

 

What I'd like to know is what are the positive aspects of cruising during the holidays? Certainly there has to be good things about it since I've been reading that holidays cruises are usually sell-outs well before final payment and many people seem to make it a family tradition.

 

So, tell me about it - we're thinking very specifically of Grand Princess on December 19, 2008.

 

Thank you!

[sonomaphil]

The cruises are not really different...it's just a time of year when people are off so prices are higher. No different than the summer when families can take vacations together. Me...well...if one week before a holiday is $699 for a balcony and the next week is $1,199 just because it's a holiday....easy choice.

[Toto2Kansas]

There are celebrations and decorations onboard during the holidays. But if you are looking for just the decorations, go anytime before Christmas shortly after Thanksgiving and you will still be able to see them.

 

I know you are looking for postives about cruising during the holidays but I have to tell you, unless you enjoy cruising with the MAXIMUM of unsupervised children onboard a ship, this is not the best time to cruise.

Friends decided to try this a couple of years ago and they said it was a nitemare from start to finish. Kids running everywhere all times of the day and night.

[JoefromBergenNJ]

I've done three holiday cruises to date and enjoyed each and every one of them! The ships are decorated with garland and Christmas trees but, I will note that some lines decorate more than others. Carnival is particularly lacking in this area. Celebrity is middle of the road. Princess has been tops - so far.

 

Our personal reasons for cruising during the holidays:

 

- Instead of buying each other presents we'll either hate and never use or return them the next day, we'd rather "invest" in quality time with each other and our children

 

- In my opinion there is nothing better than opening up your cabin door on Christmas morning to be welcomed by balmy, warm weather. I live in the Northeast so the mid-winter escape is very welcome, I'm not a fan of cold weather.

 

- It's extra special for my wife since it means a week to two weeks of no cooking, cleaning, or other holiday preparations

 

Nobody misses being home. Our relatives are always invited and at least half have cruised with us the times we have taken holiday cruises.

 

Additionally, most of the lines have religous services - the only one I was annoyed with was Carnival. They didn't even offer a non-denominational service for Christmas. That was very disappointing and a reason I won't sail Carnival again during the holidays.

 

If we need to fly to our port of origin for the cruise, we fly at least one day in advance, again being from the northeast, we always have to factor in winter weather.

 

In short, we love it and are planning on cruising both this year (2007) on Queen Mary 2 out of Brooklyn and we're just beginning to look at 2008 which might actually turn out to be a wedding cruise for our daughter.

 

If you go, I doubt you'll regret the higher prices or the full capacity ships.

We haven't yet!

 

Good luck with your decision.

[cruisequeen10]

In 1998 I sailed to the caribbean over Christmas. Do you think they would have Christmas activities on board. Nope. Well they had some Christmas carols in the afternoon on the 25th, Santa did show up for the kids (after he settled a fight up by the pool - he doubled as the security guard), hardly any decorations around the ship, dinner on the 25th was terrible (I prefer my own turkey and trimmings) and a whole lot of confusion whether we would be docking in St. Martin on Christmas Day or remain at sea. If we docked in St. Martin, they couldn't confirm if any of the shops would be open. Well they said yes, but when we docked, nope not one shop was open. There were 4 ships in port that day and we ran into a few passengers from the different ships and we all shared info on what ship was doing what. Well, Holland America won. They had decorations and a whole lot of Christmas activities going on etc. I am going on the Christmas/New Year's Golden Princess on December 24, 2008 and I hope there is more to offer than what was on the ship before.

[WestchesterCruiseFan]

In a casual conversation last night, we talked about cruising during the holidays. I realize that cruising during the holidays is probably the most expensive time of year to cruise, that flights are higher in costs, and that there are lots of families on-board with lots of children.

 

What I'd like to know is what are the positive aspects of cruising during the holidays? Certainly there has to be good things about it since I've been reading that holidays cruises are usually sell-outs well before final payment and many people seem to make it a family tradition.

 

So, tell me about it - we're thinking very specifically of Grand Princess on December 19, 2008.

 

Thank you!

 

Yes, there are more children than usual. Yes, the prices are much higher than almost any other time of year. Yes, flying to your port of origin can be both costly and annoying.

 

I've experienced unruly children and lots of them during non-holiday sailings. I've experienced rude airport personnel regardless of where I am flying or what time of year it is...

 

I even experienced lost luggage during a holiday cruise.

 

And, still I go - just about every other year. I find it enjoyable.

 

There is a visit from Santa, religious or at least a non-demoninational service led by the Captain, and to make the day special we'll have our dinner at the specialty restaurant. To us, it's money well spent. Others will disagree...

 

Hope this helps a bit...

[bride and groom]

Funny that you should post this question today. We're just now looking at our 2008 holiday schedules and looking for holiday cruises. While we have Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas booked and deposited at the moment, we're looking at alternatives because we're not totally thrilled with the itinerary that it's offering. The most positive thing about is that we wouldn't have to fly.

 

That being said, I'd like to encourage you to do lots of research before booking a holiday cruise - and I don't mean that in a negative way. What you should do is visit sites like:

 

http://www.webshots.com (Webshots) and in the search box put the words "holiday cruise" or "Christmas Cruise" or "New Year's eve cruise" to find photos of what ships really look like during the holidays.

 

Also read as many holiday time reviews here on Cruise Critic as you can find.

 

Another source you might want to check out is http://www.cruisedailies.com (Cruise Dailies) - I'm not sure if there are any holiday sailings posted but at least you can see the activities from the daily newsletter for the various cruise lines and you can see which one fits your tastes and likes best.

 

After reading LOTS of negative posts (keep in mind these are posts not actual reviews) we took our first holiday cruise expecting the worst. It turned out to be one of our best ever! We booked Grand Princess and we were hooked.

 

I say go for it! If you hate it then you never have to cruise during the holidays again. However, if you're like us, you'll be eager to book your next holiday cruise as soon as you return from your first.

 

Best of luck and happy cruising!

[ggprincess2004]

IMHO, there really is not anything substantially on a holiday cruise v. a regular cruise. We enjoy the decorations. Other than that, nothing special.

We went over New Year's this year so we could take our 19 year old during semester break. There were lots of college aged people on board, and lots of younger kids too. Fact, not statement of preference here.

For what we paid on that cruise, we could have taken several others at a different time of year. So we will take others at a different time of year, since our vacation schedule is pretty flexible.

We will do the traditional holiday things with our family at home in coming years - cruising over the holidays was a nice experience, but we don't need to repeat it.

We do like going onboard between Thanksgiving and Xmas, the decorations are lovely, and the prices are usually pretty low in comparison to most of the rest of the year.

Whatever you decide to do, Bon Voyage!

[A Hoya Oh Boya]

Here's some photos I found using the link above:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1247905345059939215WRIsEz

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2103696740078643678vYkvxn

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1232656518055171848nHpFNF

 

Looks pretty festive to me!

[sonomaphil]

Cost is such a big factor. Look at some Caribbean cruises this year price wise (all prices from princess.com) for a balcony room:

 

First week of December: $749

Second week of December: $749

Third Week Christmas: $1,299

Fourth week New Years: $1,299

 

$1,100 dollars cheaper! That's almost another cruise! Tack on how much more the flights will be and the mad holiday travel season...yuck. That's why we are going the first week in December!

[MaineEducator]

I'm a fan of holiday cruises but, be forewarned that not everyone will be in the holiday spirit, often the crew is down in the dumps because they are away from their loved ones and working, your fellow cruisers may not share your holiday (and some make it a point to make it known), and, as others have pointed out, it can cost much more to cruise during the holidays.

 

Personally I go for the escape away from the cold weather and, most of my family has passed and, there isn't much keeping me home.

 

A cruise is what you make of it - regardless of the time of year.

 

If you believe that this is something you would enjoy, give it a try! And, don't let others discourage you.

 

Best of luck with your decision.

[CruisenOne]

We have sailed over the Holidays for the last six years.

One coming up in December:) .

We enjoy them !!!!

Ships are decorated. New Years Eve parties are a blast;) .

 

We found out that seven day cruises are loaded with tykes.

Please do not get me wrong. We truly like children.

 

So, all of our Holiday cruises are longer that seven days.

 

A while back I had a decorated Christmas Tree delivered to the ship and now we take it every year. Have a special case for it.

The Cabin Stewards love it !!! They usually have it lit when we return from dinner.

[kkpcruiser]

Our family took a cruise over this past new years..each daughter was allowed to bring a friend..so there were 6 of us in our party. It was a huge expense but since it will likely be the last time due to college schedules and real life scheduling..it was worth every penny. We did a RRCL serenade of the seas....out of san juan. New year's Eve had a special dinner, party hats, noisemakers galore, confetti etc all at the dinner table. There was a superb band ( not the normal deck band) on deck at 11 throuugh the wee hours and free flowing champagnefrom 11- until after 1AM. This cruise left St Thomas new years eve....positioned it self between St Thomas & st John's...and we saw fireworks at midnight from both islands off either side of the ship!!!:) There was a special ritual on RCCL involving ice sculptures which everyone loved..but i won't ruin the surpirse. I thought RCCL did a great job of making it Very SPECIAL. The younger set then hit the club and i guess that went on until quite late.

 

New Year's day is a day at SEA! My DH and i were shocked when we got up tp the sun deck at 10AM, thinking we could leisurely enjoy breakfast etc...and 99% of the lounge chairs were occupied.:eek: .yes a normal sea day but we thought everyonewould sleep in!!!

 

Sorry this is about Royal but i just booked our first Princess cruise and saw this post.

 

YES it's expensive but that is a great memory to carry forward and i would do it again in a flash:D ! BTW the Serenade itinerary of st lucia, barbados, antigua, st maarten, st thomas is just FABULOUS! This was our favorite crusie to date!

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were on the 12/22/05 Hawaiian cruise for Christmas/Hanukkah/New Years. My hubby had wanted to try a holiday cruise but our first attempt to book one was sold out. This one we booked 13 months ahead of time. Yes, there were 250 kids (including our 8-yr-old) but only one group --all from the same extended family with too much money and not a lot of consideration or sense -- were misbehaving. The rest of the kids were very well behaved, probably because they were either actively participating in the fun zone or because they were supervised by their parents.

 

The ship was decorated (even the inboxes had a decoration until after Christmas), there was plenty of Christmas music, there were a reverend, priest and rabbi onboard to conduct services (we went to the service for lighting the first candle, and many families did bring their menorahs to the Universe Lounge for the occasion). Formal nights were held on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve with special menus, with crackers and other party stuff at the place settings. On NYE, there were many different parties, featuring different types of live music, and two balloon drops (and a mini one by the pools for the kids, even though our girl didn't think much of that).

 

Anyway, here's a link to my report:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=285469

[spocruiser]

We did our first holiday cruise last December and will do another this coming December if all works out. Many of the reasons have been stated, warm weather, quality family time, etc. Our kids are a couple years beyond the Santa years, so this was a nice transition to something special (we did bring stockings which we filled with small thinsg for the kids), hopefully a family tradition.

 

One tip, check the itinerary and see when the holidays fall in relation to port days. I did feel Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day last year left us with fewer options in port as much was closed down. This year, however, I am pleased that these are both sea days for us and we also only have one Sunday in port over 10 days.

 

As for the number of kids, well, my wife is a teacher, so we cruise on school holidays as we have no other option. No major problem with kids, at least no more than the number of rude passengers you will get with any very large group of people.

 

The holidays added a very nice element to the cruise.

 

Good luck to you.

[Ugly Betty Fan]

Thanks for all your replies - we are giving a holiday cruise serious thought! Probably not this year but, 2008 looks very promising, especially after reading the positive things about cruising during the holidays!

 

Thanks again to all those who took time to write and share their personal experiences!

[OhioDogLover]

We have done Christmas and New Years cruises. We really did not like the Christmas one. We like a traditional Christmas and were disappointed. (HAL) I don't think we will do that again. However, the New Years cruises, two of them, were absolutely fantastic. (RCI and Celebrity. One was for the Millenium.) I would do another New Years cruise any time. They are a lot more expensive, but wow are they fun.

 

Ohiodoglover

[spongerob]

We cruised once over New Year's. The reason we chose the cruise was that it was a unique itinerary operating from Galveston and therefore within driving distance. It was a fun cruise and bringing in the new year on board was a real treat. There were even some special menus that were a real change from the usual fare.

 

That said - we probably would not consider another holiday cruise unless it was an outstanding itinerary, and even then might be reluctant. The problems with unruly and unsupervised children, and some large extended-family groups on board (who brought most of those children) were above and beyond anything we had experienced anywhere, and went beyond the level of annoyance. There was theft, vandalism, and passenger intimidation throughout the ship - and there weren't even that many minors on board! The crew was aghast, they'd had problems on the previous Christmas cruise and taken steps to prevent the same things happening, only to experience far, far worse.

 

To us, holiday sailings just are not worth the extra cost.

[sacway]

Just the positives here that were not mentioned above --

 

We avoid oversaturation of carols and selling and malls that constitute the commericial holiday season in the US. After about the 300th "White Christmas" I just want to go to bed with the covers over my head till after New Years.

 

We avoid most shopping for holiday gifts. Either we send gift certificates in advance, or thoughtful gifts from overseas on return, or both.

 

We get to share how the holidays are celebrated in other places, other cultures. The songs, decorations, and even dates when things are celebrated vary. Often there is special entertainment available in ports. Once, in Acapulco on Christmas Day, we went to the biggest beaches where all the local families were enjoying the holiday. Fun, fun, fun.

[Times Prince]

Cost is such a big factor. Look at some Caribbean cruises this year price wise (all prices from princess.com) for a balcony room:

 

First week of December: $749

Second week of December: $749

Third Week Christmas: $1,299

Fourth week New Years: $1,299

 

$1,100 dollars cheaper! That's almost another cruise! Tack on how much more the flights will be and the mad holiday travel season...yuck. That's why we are going the first week in December!

We were (I think) on the same New Year's cruise as Spongerob, and didn't have the same negative experience. We enjoyed the Christmas decorations still being up, and the extended cruise (it was an 11 day cruise to realign back from holidays to normal Saturday-Sat cruises). New Year's celebrations were lively but way too loud for us. Otherwise it was a great cruise.

 

That, and the price as mentioned above, is why we've shifted to earlier in December last year. Unfortunately Princess is no longer sailing from Galveston - we want to cruise during that season, but are not thrilled with having to fly to FLL.

[Ugly Betty Fan]

Thanks to all who responded, for those who have given positive experiences, you're making feel better about booking a holiday cruise with my family in 2008. I'm extremely excited about it and my travel agent got back to me today telling me she was able to get us a group rate :D

 

For those who don't hold the same views, I do appreciate your input and, will take your advice and caution into consideration as we "brave" a holiday cruise.

[stephenandrew]

We (family of four) were on the Coral last year over the Christmas Holidays. I didn't really notice a difference in terms of number of kids, supervision problems, etc. compared to other times we have cruised, then again, most of cruises have been during school breaks, e.g. summer, spring break, etc. As others have said, the cost of the cruise during the holidays is one of the most significant differences. I doubt I will take another holiday cruise---just too much money for me.

[makeup face]

I'll be cruising on the Island Princess this New Year's Eve. I'm so looking forward to it. We fly out on Christmas to San Juan so I'm sure all the decorations will still be up on the ship:D :D

[Ugly Betty Fan]

Does anyone have photos of Grand Princess or any Princess ship that can be posted as a link when the ship is decorated for Christmas and New Years?

 

Thanks!