Christmas Cruise - what to expect?

Hey Folks!

Time to resurrect my account and post on this board. Its time to look at a new cruise.

For one reason or another, we are thinking about doing a Cruise over the Christmas period for the 4 of us (my wife, two teen daughters and myself). At the moment we are looking at either the 9 or 10 day Carnival cruises leaving 17th and 19th of December respectively.

Is there anyone on here that have done Christmas cruises? From a people point of view, what are they like? Is it just like any other period, with a Christmas Cracker thrown in? Is it mainly big family groups sticking together, or is there much mingling (especially for the kids).

Looking forward to any opinions.

Cheers

ShootsWithFilm

We were on the ovation around New Zealand last Christmas.

To be honest it wasn’t much different than out off the peak period.

The captain had a light the Christmas tree party,the specialty restaurants had Christmas meals for about $100 each,which we didn’t go to.

That’s about it ,the food was always good.

There was over 1500 kids onboard but I didn’t notice the difference.

Only because of my daughters school we had to go in that peak time where you pay extra.

This year we are doing a grand suite for less than a standard balcony because it’s not in the school holidays.

One holiday period where we really had a ball was Australia Day cruise.the crew really got involved.

I suppose the crew missed their families???

We've done Christmas cruises on both Princess and Celebrity. Both cruises had more families onboard than we normally see in off-peak cruises but apart from that it was fairly normal. Both ships were decorated beautifully for Christmas, and Christmas Eve was the night that had the most Christmas festivities with carol singing in the atrium. Although we weren't cruising with children I do recall reading about special events for kids - a visit from Santa, gingerbread house decorating, and on Celebrity the kids came on stage and sang a couple of songs during the show.

Although we haven't done a Christmas cruise on Carnival, we did do one cruise on Legend a couple of years ago and Carnival seem to have plenty of activities for kids so I imagine they would do Christmas well.

OK, thanks for your input guys! We are obviously seeking out specifically a Christmas cruise, so that kind a feedback is key.

Cheers

Have been on four Christmas Cruises and about to do our fifth!

Love that there is a lot of family groups so a diverse crowd. Only been on Princess and Celebrity. Plenty of decorations, carols on Christmas Eve in the atrium, Santa arrives on Christmas Day, Gingerbread house competitions. The kids will love it.

ShootsWithFilm

We were on the ovation around New Zealand last Christmas.

To be honest it wasn’t much different than out off the peak period.

The captain had a light the Christmas tree party,the specialty restaurants had Christmas meals for about $100 each,which we didn’t go to.

That’s about it ,the food was always good.

There was over 1500 kids onboard but I didn’t notice the difference.

Only because of my daughters school we had to go in that peak time where you pay extra.

This year we are doing a grand suite for less than a standard balcony because it’s not in the school holidays.

One holiday period where we really had a ball was Australia Day cruise.the crew really got involved.

I suppose the crew missed their families???

Come to think of it there was a ginger bread house.

In the promenade there was a display buy the crew.

A Christmas tree made from old light bulbs.

A whole presentation made from scraps and left overs.

It was quite impressive,made by the crew

I've done a few Christmas cruises with my family, all on Royal Carib.

I must say, that they did put in a great effort. Great decorations on the ship, Christmas meals, Santa came and gave all the kids presents etc.

I have done 2 cruises that were NOT over the Christmas period, one on Royal and one on Carnival, and I can honestly say I noticed a huge difference in the whole vibe. While the other cruises were equally as good, the whole Christmas vibe was amazing. Lots of the crew (particularly the entertainment team and waiters) as well as many of our fellow cruisers dress in Christmas themes clothes, or wear Christmas hats etc.

This December will be our fourth Xmas Cruise. To date we’ve only cruised with Celebrity. We don’t celebrate Christmas but are happy to see those family groups delighting in their family celebrations. In our experience people can celebrate as much or as little as they please without feeling out of step with the crowd.

Well, we are booked! We are on the Carinval Legend cruise, departing Sydney on the 17th of December. The clincher was the Past Guest promo sent out by Carnival today.

When do schools in Australia start their Christmas/summer holidays? We leave Sydney on Ruby Princess December 13, 2019.

Thanks.

When do schools in Australia start their Christmas/summer holidays? We leave Sydney on Ruby Princess December 13, 2019.

Thanks.

Public schools finish 20 December, private schools will finish a few weeks earlier.

Pjwaz- it depends on the state. South Australia will start their school holidays on the 14th of December in 2019.

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Pjwaz- it depends on the state. South Australia will start their school holidays on the 14th of December in 2019.

 

 

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True I should have specified NSW sorry.

Pjwaz- it depends on the state. South Australia will start their school holidays on the 14th of December in 2019.

 

 

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Victoria will start their Christmas holidays on Dec 21st but older secondary students will start theirs late November or early December.

Leigh