Christmas & New Years

[PumpkinPatches]

Good morning!  My family is looking to book the Silhouette for an 11-night Caribbean cruise over Christmas and New Years next year (2023).

 

We will be cruising with our 2 kids who will be 4 and 6 at that time.

 

Just wondering if anyone can share their experiences of what was unique for their holiday cruises.  I imagine there will be more kids on board, so the kids club should be extra fun for my girls. 

 

We are currently booked for Carnival Magic over Christmas 2023, and we were going to add on the next cruise to do New Years as well.... but then I found this Celebrity sailing (and you can't compare Celebrity and Carnival! Although I'm sure Carnival would be great, it is definitely in a different cruising category than Celebrity)  I really like how the Celebrity cruise is just 1 sailing (not b2b) and covers both holidays.  Plus the 2x 8-night cruises on Carnival might be a bit much.  I think 11 nights is perfect 🙂 

 

Any insight will be much appreciated!!

[canderson]

Lots of kids, so they'll have much more company than usual as you suggest, and ships are typically decorated a fair bit for the occasion, especially MDR and foyer areas. 

We have a number of times taken the cruise just prior to the 'holiday cruises', and the crew always seems sad to see us go - they know that the kids are coming and that adds a bit to their workload!

[DCPIV]

I completely agree with going 11 nights instead of 16.  Shoot, I love cruising, but I was pretty much done by the time we got to day 12 or 13 on a recent 15-nighter.  A recent 12-nighter was just about right.  

 

On the subject of children, I expect they will do well.  We once took 2 and 4 year old children on a 12-night cruise, and they enjoyed it very much.

[PumpkinPatches]

8 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

I completely agree with going 11 nights instead of 16.  Shoot, I love cruising, but I was pretty much done by the time we got to day 12 or 13 on a recent 15-nighter.  A recent 12-nighter was just about right.  

 

On the subject of children, I expect they will do well.  We once took 2 and 4 year old children on a 12-night cruise, and they enjoyed it very much.

 

Thank you!  It wouldn't even just be a 16-nighter, but 2x 8-night sailings so there will be a turnaround day which isn't like a normal day for in-transit.  I much prefer 1 cruise, longer than 1 week.

 

Oh I have no concerns with my kids... lol they LOVE cruising!  We just got off Odyssey of the Seas on Sunday. It was my 4yo's 3rd cruise and my 2yo's 2nd cruise.  They love it!

[PumpkinPatches]

20 minutes ago, canderson said:

Lots of kids, so they'll have much more company than usual as you suggest, and ships are typically decorated a fair bit for the occasion, especially MDR and foyer areas. 

We have a number of times taken the cruise just prior to the 'holiday cruises', and the crew always seems sad to see us go - they know that the kids are coming and that adds a bit to their workload!

My guess would be that they're a little sad to be away from their family over the holidays.  That would be very tough, especially having to see all the families celebrating together onboard.  

I've cruised quite a bit with my kids, and the staff always go way out of their way to interact and have fun with them.  From my experience, it seems like the kids bring many of the crew members a little extra joy.

[cyntil8ing]

We have cruised Carnival (2017), Celebrity (2019) and Royal Caribbean (2021) over Christmas. They all have secular holiday activities -- caroling, Santa visits, cookie decorating, as well as religious services. The holiday decorations and gingerbread villages are awesome! It's a great time to be onboard. My kids are older, late teens, but we've really enjoyed being onboard for the holiday.

 

 

[PumpkinPatches]

7 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said:

We have cruised Carnival (2017), Celebrity (2019) and Royal Caribbean (2021) over Christmas. They all have secular holiday activities -- caroling, Santa visits, cookie decorating, as well as religious services. The holiday decorations and gingerbread villages are awesome! It's a great time to be onboard. My kids are older, late teens, but we've really enjoyed being onboard for the holiday.

 

 

So beautifully decorated and zero work on our part!!!  I love it.

[lv2cruisgrl]

We did Christmas on Equinox with friends before Covid and loved it. Beautiful decorations, fun things that kids were involved with, Santa on Christmas day etc. Go you will love it.

 

 

[mahdnc]

On 6/15/2022 at 8:29 AM, PumpkinPatches said:

Good morning!  My family is looking to book the Silhouette for an 11-night Caribbean cruise over Christmas and New Years next year (2023).

 

We will be cruising with our 2 kids who will be 4 and 6 at that time.

 

Just wondering if anyone can share their experiences of what was unique for their holiday cruises.  I imagine there will be more kids on board, so the kids club should be extra fun for my girls. 

 

We are currently booked for Carnival Magic over Christmas 2023, and we were going to add on the next cruise to do New Years as well.... but then I found this Celebrity sailing (and you can't compare Celebrity and Carnival! Although I'm sure Carnival would be great, it is definitely in a different cruising category than Celebrity)  I really like how the Celebrity cruise is just 1 sailing (not b2b) and covers both holidays.  Plus the 2x 8-night cruises on Carnival might be a bit much.  I think 11 nights is perfect 🙂 

 

Any insight will be much appreciated!!

 

I have taken my family on several Celebrity holiday cruises and we enjoy it immensely.  Here is a holiday brochure that Celebrity published last year: link

 

Also here is the Celebrity Today that was issued for aboard Solstice for:

Christmas Eve 2019

Christmas Day

New Years Eve

New Years Day 2020

 

Solstice, Christmas Day 2019

Edited June 16, 2022 by mahdnc