Christmas Cruise Questions

[karatemom2]

My family will be traveling on our first ever Christmas cruise this year and I was hoping some of you who have cruised at the holidays before could answer some questions for me.

 

1) How did you decorate your stateroom? Did Princess provide any decorations or could you order anything special through them?

 

2) I would like to be prepared with some small gifts for staff like our cabin steward, waiters and kid's club counselors. Any suggestions as to what I could give them?

 

3) Do people dress more formally than usual on the formal nights since it is a holiday cruise? My DH usually wears a black suit and I usually wear a nice dress, however, I am thinking of having DH wear a tux this time and getting something even a bit more formal for myself if the dress is more black tie on this type of cruise.

 

4) I know the ship will be decorated, but what types of special holiday activities or other special holiday touches have you enjoyed on your Christmas cruise?

 

I would greatly appreciate some advice from you experienced holiday cruisers!

[Toto2Kansas]

To answer question #1, NO, the ship does nor provide decorations for your stateroom. What we did last year was to take a small fold up Christmas tree and a few decorations for our suite. It worked perfectly and we just left them behind when we disembarked.

 

For question #2, I purchased small little felt Christmas stockings for the staff and then slipped $$$ into them to hand out. They appreciate $$$ over anything you could purchase for them.

[karatemom2]

Thanks Toto. The little stockings are a great idea!

[CruisenOne]

My family will be traveling on our first ever Christmas cruise this year and I was hoping some of you who have cruised at the holidays before could answer some questions for me.

 

1) How did you decorate your stateroom? Did Princess provide any decorations or could you order anything special through them?

A few years ago, we bought a decorated tree (18 inches high) for our

cabin. Princess doesn't supply anything.

 

2) I would like to be prepared with some small gifts for staff like our cabin steward, waiters and kid's club counselors. Any suggestions as to what I could give them?

We give the Room Steward, Waiter, and Asst. Waiter cards with money in them (On top of our usual tipping).

 

3) Do people dress more formally than usual on the formal nights since it is a holiday cruise? My DH usually wears a black suit and I usually wear a nice dress, however, I am thinking of having DH wear a tux this time and getting something even a bit more formal for myself if the dress is more black tie on this type of cruise.

Dress appears to be the same as any other Formal Night.

 

4) I know the ship will be decorated, but what types of special holiday activities or other special holiday touches have you enjoyed on your Christmas cruise?

Santa Claus for the wee ones.:)

 

I would greatly appreciate some advice from you experienced holiday cruisers!

 

We feel that it is a great time of year to cruise:)

[Cruisin' Chick]

There was a pine cone decoration on each cabin's inbox (that stay up until after Xmas) and the ship itself was decorated. Many people decorated their cabin doors with wreaths, kids' drawings and such (don't put on anything really valuable or of sentimental value to you). We brought some tiny ornaments that we placed here and there and a foam sticker menorah (so we can place a new "candle" each day) as well as a "Hanukkah Dog."

 

There were plenty of holiday oriented arts and crafts for the kids. Our mirror was filled with various ones that we taped on by the end of the cruise. The kids had a holiday party on 12/25 and during that time, the CD made PA announcements tracking a sight in the sky.

[Diane&4girls]

A few years ago, I brought along battery operated Christmas lights for our balcony. We taped them to the outside of our balcony with clear tape. They last for a bout 4 days until 60 knot winds took them away! The Christmas tree survived!

[Fuzzzy]

I always take my own tree, ornaments and lights.

 

Cash is always appreciated..

[wtevrfltsurbt]

We will be on your sailing Karatemom and have prepared little nautical motif bags we found with some goodies for the staff. Each has a small tin of either hot chocolate mix or cappucino mix, a mini bottle or 2 of varied liquors to "sweeten" the hot beverage with, some small Godiva chocolates, a prepaid phone card and a thank you note with some cash.

 

For decorations I have found 2 12 inch prelit (battery operated) xmas trees (1 for each cabin) that will fit on the desk under the TV-they also double as a nightlight if you leave them on. Xmas stockings that I attached a magnet to so we can hang them in the room. The stockings are important as we are basically giving the kids the cruise as their xmas gift, so each day they go to their stocking and find an envelope detailing the special event\tour\activity\massage\whatever we are surprising them with!

 

We are bringing the gowns and tuxes for this trip and Xmas eve and New Years are formal nights.