Christmas Cruising (2014) - what's it like?

[scamper]

Just remember that if you are in a "Christian" port on the holiday, many (Perhaps most) of the stores will be closed on both Christmas eve and Christmas day. (Picture Old San Juan and Montevideo as deserted.)

 

 

This is what makes no sense to me. In the past, Christmas and New Year's day's itineraries had ships at sea. Now they are often in port. If everything is closed, why are they in port?

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

We're doing the 25 day cruise beginning on 12/19, but it could also be booked as 14 day Christmas and New Years cruise, then stay on for the 11 day cruise beginning 1/2.

 

I bought a 2 foot tree at Walmart several years ago that folds up and goes into a sleeve just a little larger than a paper towel tube. Then I bought very light weight plastic red and silver colored decorations at the Dollar Store. I usually take a 50 bulb string of lights. All that, plus some Christmas window clings for the mirrors and the doors and some red bows really weigh very little and once up look very, very pretty.

 

Now that sounds like a wonderful, celebration-filled cruise.

 

And I could probably manage that level of decoration. Great advice, thank you very much!

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Just past final payment so now it's all REAL! I went back through all the Christmas cruise threads from last year and one question I couldn't get answered was...

 

Is the Tree Lighting time called out in the daily Explorer? I would assume so, but that's one event we don't want to miss. We depart on the 12th, will the tree have already been lit, or does HAL do that closer to Christmas?

[PathfinderEss]

Just my thought, the ship will be decorated or close to it when you board being the second part of your collectors will be Christmas week.

Edited September 12, 2014 by PathfinderEss

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Just my thought, the ship will be decorated or close to it when you board being the second part of your colectors will be Christmas week.

 

I agree, the tree may already be up and lit. Not the biggest deal. I'm in charge of putting around 3000 lights on our tree every year so I just wanted to watch that magic moment if I could - NOT covered in fir sap after 10 hours of work!:D

[lazey1]

Looks like if we extend our 12/13 Westerdam cruise we'll be at sea on Christmas Day, so that won't put San Juan at risk. Plus, we'd rather see St. Maarten than St. Thomas (been to both but seen less of the former). All that is probably Cozumel-sentimental-value trade-off worthy.

 

 

Sent by magic. Or mobile. Same thing.

 

During our last cruise we got to see the ship being decorated for Christmas. Hopefully on your 12/13 cruise you will be able to see this. It was rather magical to see the hotel manager decorating the 3 levels of stairs in the atrium, other staff were decorating the main show room, putting out all the poinsettas and the garlands etc. all over the ship. Also be sure to check the lowest level of the atrium for the gingerbread village.

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

During our last cruise we got to see the ship being decorated for Christmas. Hopefully on your 12/13 cruise you will be able to see this. It was rather magical to see the hotel manager decorating the 3 levels of stairs in the atrium, other staff were decorating the main show room, putting out all the poinsettas and the garlands etc. all over the ship. Also be sure to check the lowest level of the atrium for the gingerbread village.

 

I hope so too! Just last night I was telling DH that right now is when I start to get a little stressed as I plan the Christmas decorating schedule - feels weird and wonderful to leave that behind for a change. I can't wait to see the ship decorated - and we'll definitely check out the gingerbread village.

[wander]

I loved the Pre-Christmas cruise I did a number of years ago. On a b2b, first part ended in Ft Lauderdale coming from Europe. The folks I was traveling with all got off there, I continued on. It was early in December. As the folks disembarked in the morning a mass number of folks in the same colored polo shirts got on (well over 50, maybe as many as 100), along with many, many boxes of decorations. It was fascinating to wander around the ship in the morning and watch the extreme hustle and bustle of the workers decorating the ship. By the time the new folks embarked around 1PM, the ship had gone from ordinary HAL decor to a Christmas wonderland! It looked magical. If I had not watched it myself, it would be hard to believe the transformation in only a few hours. Loved it. (In those days, folks in transit did not have to disembark in Florida.) My part of the cruise ended about a week before Christmas.

 

However, a more recent year I did go on a cruise that included Christmas and New Year. One of my favorite memory of that cruise was Christmas morning when Santa was onboard and passed out small gifts to all the children. He sat on the stage in the Theater with his elves and the kids came onstage one at a time to get a gift. The kids went by age group as apparently did the gifts as the size, shape and wrapping paper used was different for each age group.

 

Besides watching the glee of most of the younger children going to sit on Santa's lap for a famous ship photograph it was fun to see the varied reactions of both the kids and the parents. I could only imagine the number of Christmas Cards the next year with copies of the ship pictures.

[cruisenfreak]

I loved the Pre-Christmas cruise I did a number of years ago. On a b2b, first part ended in Ft Lauderdale coming from Europe. The folks I was traveling with all got off there, I continued on. It was early in December. As the folks disembarked in the morning a mass number of folks in the same colored polo shirts got on (well over 50, maybe as many as 100), along with many, many boxes of decorations. It was fascinating to wander around the ship in the morning and watch the extreme hustle and bustle of the workers decorating the ship. By the time the new folks embarked around 1PM, the ship had gone from ordinary HAL decor to a Christmas wonderland! It looked magical. If I had not watched it myself, it would be hard to believe the transformation in only a few hours. Loved it. (In those days, folks in transit did not have to disembark in Florida.) My part of the cruise ended about a week before Christmas.

 

However, a more recent year I did go on a cruise that included Christmas and New Year. One of my favorite memory of that cruise was Christmas morning when Santa was onboard and passed out small gifts to all the children. He sat on the stage in the Theater with his elves and the kids came onstage one at a time to get a gift. The kids went by age group as apparently did the gifts as the size, shape and wrapping paper used was different for each age group.

 

Besides watching the glee of most of the younger children going to sit on Santa's lap for a famous ship photograph it was fun to see the varied reactions of both the kids and the parents. I could only imagine the number of Christmas Cards the next year with copies of the ship pictures.

 

I was going to say the same thing...last year on our turn around day in Civitivecchia, a "swarm" of Christmas decorators came on board and transformed the ship to a Christmas wonderland in about 6 hours. On the Maasdam this year I don't know if that will happen early December, on the 12th or on the 19th.

Mary Jane

Edited September 13, 2014 by cruisenfreak

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

I was going to say the same thing...last year on our turn around day in Civitivecchia, a "swarm" of Christmas decorators came on board and transformed the ship to a Christmas wonderland in about 6 hours. On the Maasdam this year I don't know if that will happen early December, on the 12th or on the 19th.

Mary Jane

 

 

For us on the Westerdam, I bet the folks on the sailing on the 6th get to see the transformation. But we'll get to enjoy it for two weeks-good enough!

[dmcfad2]

We are doing our first Christmas/New Year's 30-day cruise R/T San Diego this year to Hawaii and Tahiti. I am really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to having nothing to do over Christmas but enjoy the sun and sea and being waiting on. I am also assuming there won't be too many kids because it starts on December 15. Has anyone done this itinerary over Christmas? I am hoping for a quiet cruise. :)

 

 

Debbie

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

That sounds wonderful! I bet you are right on the few number of children, given the departure date and cruise length. Have a great, hassle-free Christmas!

[RoupMom]

A few years ago we did a 2-week cruise over both holidays to New Zealand and Australia. The ship was decorated beautifully, but not overdone (IMHO) for anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, especially. I really enjoyed each day the elaborate gingerbread houses in the Lido; they were fantastic. And little can compare to the New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney Harbour, complete with champagne on the deck! This itinerary may be different than others, but our particular cruise had a lot of folks like us who had suffered a personal loss of some sort and were trying to get away from the usual holiday traditions of their family. That was true for 5 of the 8 people at our dinner table. There were also a lot of Kiwis and Aussies on that ship, some of whom never got off and were just enjoying the pampering available on the ship. Those factors made the atmosphere a little different than other cruises we've been on, but it was among our best.

[Queen of DaNile]

Thinking about booking the Pinnacle Grill for Christmas Eve but don't want to be in conflict with any special events. Can anyone who's been on board 12/24 give us an idea - regular showtimes, midnight mass, etc? Thanks a bunch!

[antique sailor]

Thinking about booking the Pinnacle Grill for Christmas Eve but don't want to be in conflict with any special events. Can anyone who's been on board 12/24 give us an idea - regular showtimes, midnight mass, etc? Thanks a bunch!

 

AHOY SHIPMATES,

 

YOU may want to book now. It will probably be full at the last minute.

 

Santa usually visits on Christmas AM with presents for the kids etc.

 

ENJOY IT.. YOU paid double for it!!!!

[Crew News]

We are considering either extending our 12/13 Westerdam cruise to add Christmas week, or taking the 12/15 Noordam itinerary (because we love Chen Rio on Cozumel, and the Noordam). We've never cruised over Christmas, so we'd like to know what it's like. We are big Christmas people, from a decoration, festive, love-the-season perspective and I just wondered what it was like onboard. I did search the HAL forums but didn't see a lot of pertinent results.

 

Just thought you might like to see the special menus HAL used for the holidays in 2013 as an example of what to expect:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-Christmas-Eve-Dinner.pdf

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-Christmas-Day-Dinner.pdf

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-New-Years-Eve-Dinner.pdf

[Queen of DaNile]

Thanks Roger!

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Roger, thanks much! I was going to reply to say that we decided to dine in the MDR for Christmas Eve, and do the Pinnacle another time, as we figured it would be a "special" night in the MDR. Looks like that's the case!

 

Also, on our Westerdam cruise, Christmas Eve is the Le Cirque dinner and that offering has inconsistent reviews, so it's something to consider if that's the case for you. (If you haven't booked, I bet ship services could tell you.)