Holiday (Christmas) Cruise Questions

[bmsmith521]

Hi! My family is thinking about heading out on a Christmas cruise this year (2010). There will be anywhere from 11 to 13 of us. I would love any tips and hints you can give me about cruising during the holidays. Here are some questions we have:

 

1. Do you have any ships or destinations you recommend for this time of year? (We do prefer Caribbean destinations - 5 of us are certified divers)

2. Is it best to be traveling the week during Christmas, or is it best to leave the day of or after Christmas?

3. Do they decorate the ship and 'celebrate' Christmas? Can you decorate?

4. Is there a religious service available?

5. Do the holiday cruises fill up early; should we book now to ensure we are able to be close to one another?

 

Again, I would appreciate ANY input you have on this subject. We are experienced cruisers, just never during Christmas. TIA!!!:D

[paul929207]

2. When is up to you. There is no bad time to cruise.

3. Yes, they decrate the ship. We have been on Princess cruises over Thanksgiving and they were already decorating.

4. Yes, there will be religious services. Most Christmas/Hanakah cruises have a priest and a rabbi on board.

5. Yes, they usually sell out. The earlier you book the better chance to get cabins together.

[kitty9]

Any destination you pick will be just fine. It seems that the Western Caribbean has more chances for diving.

 

When you leave is totally up to you---there's no right or wrong. But you need to make your flight reservations early enough to insure you get a flight.

 

The ships are all decorated. You can decorate your cabins, but with the limits on luggage and weight, and the fact that there is usually only one outlet in a cabin, bringing things that require you to plug it in isn't a good idea, plus I don't believe cruise lines allow holiday lights in a cabin.

 

Yes, ships do have religious services on board.

 

Holiday cruises are very, very full with lots of kids, and they are usually cost quite a bit more than cruises at other times of the year. Depending on the cruise line, the type of cabin you choose and the popularity of the ship/itinerary, you could find prices at least 25% higher than normal.

[bmsmith521]

Thanks y'all!

 

Darcie, thanks for the heads up about all the kids. I never even thought of that. Most of our cruises have been during times when kids are in school and we haven't had to deal with that. Do they keep them pretty occupied, or are they running rampant?

 

I am planning on taking very light decorations. They will all be created from paper and will lay flat in the suitcases, so nothing that I should have to plug in, but it is good to know that you can't use Christmas lights in the cabin.

 

I think we are leaning toward the Carnival Dream that leaves on Christmas day. Do you think there will still be services and/or decorations up?

[geoherb]

We have taken several Christmas cruises. The number of children has not bothered us much. Most of our holiday cruises were on older ships and we chose 10- and 11-day itineraries. Families with children tend to stick to the shorter cruises. Plus there are adults only pools on most ships.

 

The only time this was a problem was on the Sun Princess--when the adults only pool is right beside the main pool. Apparently not all children can read and their parents don't pay much attention to them either.

 

I have a small Christmas tree I've brought with us on cruises. I haven't heard of any cruise lines that prohibit lights in your cabin. But there are limited outlets. We also bring a very large stocking a friend of mine made us for our first Christmas cruise. It has our names, "Christmas Cruise" and a palm tree with Christmas tree lights embroidered on it.

 

I have also torn the front off of the Christmas cards we received before the cruise and taped them to our cabin door. They're a nice reminder of friends and family back home.

 

There probably won't be services on Christmas Day, but there should be a special meal. And Santa Clause will probably make an appearance and give presents to the kids. The religious services we've seen have all been for Christmas Eve. The ships we've been on have had both Catholic priests and Protestant ministers.

[netingirl]

My husband I did the Azamara Journey last xmas/new years - 14 days through panama canal, Ft Lauderdale to LA. Best xmas gift we could have ever given each other! No stress. We left just before xmas and came back in Jan 3. Santa was onboard and there were decorations. New years deck party was a blast. Going with a big group would also be tonnes of fun. We didn't notice a lot of kids, but the azamara ships are pretty small and I'm guessing don't attract the families with younger kids. We have also been trying to talk our family into going as a group in the future.

[Goldeneye]

I've been on 2 'Christmas Cruises' if you celebrate Christmas then you'll have to get used to the 'politically correct' brigade or instead of being part of the silent majority start standing up and speaking out for tradition!!

 

If you are travelling from the UK where the use of the word Christmas is still the norm, you will really find Christmas on a cruise ship a culture shock.

I don't know when or where 'Christmas' became seen as 'offensive' but everything is 'Happy Holidays' We had 'holiday carols' under the 'holiday tree, and on December 25th we had 'Holiday Dinner' :mad: ( I kid you not)

 

Many of the passengers were very upset at this, when a few of went to reception over the 'Holiday Carols' the staff wanted to pass the buck and said 'it was so not to offend the Jews', as luck would have it a Jewish couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary who I had got to know through 'cruisecritic' and connections were next to me and they said 'said stop trying to blame us for everything, we're not offended and after Hanukkah we enjoy participating in the Christmas atmosphere, this goes for the majority of us although there are a few that don't like it, as with all things why let a minority dictate for the majority'..

 

On the RCCL ship we spoke with the crew many of whom come from Catholic countries they were ORDERED to say 'Happy Holidays' not Christmas, their eyes visibily lit up when we wished them Merry Christmas and they very guardedly responded with the same..

Interestingly on Celebrity Galaxy the ship and entertainment officer were even worse, when I wished the entertainment director 'Happy Christmas' he responded with 'Happy Holidays' The most offensive part was the 'Holiday Dinner' they wouldn't even call it a Christmas dinner..

Due to pressure and number of complaints they finally allowed the crew to say 'Happy Christmas' becuse of the previous 'gag order' I found that in the end all the crew and passengers went 'overboard' (pardon the pun) with this 'freedom' and found they started using it excessively..As if to make a point.. (me included) It was sad that something I took for granted has been made out to be somewhat offensive and taboo!

 

I decided it wasn't worth paying the extra to travel at Christmas and not feel 'Christmassy' choosing to stay at a resort hotel where the 'C' word is not treated like a four letter word.

[Arwenmark]

Have you tried staying at a hotel or resort at Christmas? you will find the same thing applies.

[kitty9]

Thanks y'all!

 

Darcie, thanks for the heads up about all the kids. I never even thought of that. Most of our cruises have been during times when kids are in school and we haven't had to deal with that. Do they keep them pretty occupied, or are they running rampant?

 

I am planning on taking very light decorations. They will all be created from paper and will lay flat in the suitcases, so nothing that I should have to plug in, but it is good to know that you can't use Christmas lights in the cabin.

 

I think we are leaning toward the Carnival Dream that leaves on Christmas day. Do you think there will still be services and/or decorations up?

 

Carnival will have lots and lots of kids on board, and depending on the number and age, some will be occupied with the club, but many, including the older kids and teens will just run around in groups. I'm a former teacher, so I'm not a kid hater, but I tend to avoid cruises during the holidays, especially on cruise lines that cater to families. My TA was on Royal Caribbean during Christmas and he said there were over 700 kids on board, so you can expect similar numbers or even more on Carnival.

 

Not sure about Carnival, but I know Celebrity does have religious services for Christmas. But, if you depart on Christmas day, I doubt you'll find anything like that.