Period Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

[Tiggipaws]

Good afternoon

 

I have recently read that ships between Thanksgiving and Christmas are less crowded in the Caribbean.  Is this generally correct?

 

Thank you

[Jeter02]

Well any holiday cruise including Thanksgiving and Christmas and New years are going to be fully packed as kids are off from school. But is it less crowded in between on those off weeks I would say they're still rather full.

[voljeep]

this past Thanksgiving on the CB was 100%+ capacity  -  service everywhere , except Vines, was extremely slow

[Jeter02]

This is when we say cruising is back indeed! But as any vacation goes vacation is whatever you make it to be. So whether it's busy or crowded I always look the other way as I'm just grateful to be there and enjoying a restful fun and amazing vacation.

[MJC]

In our experience early November and early January are good times for travel.

[2011mom]

I can't speak specifically to cruising at that time, but I always travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas - not including the holiday weekends themselves - and it's fantastic because it's very much less crowded and usually less expensive as well. I think people get time off at the holidays and would prefer to do their vacations then, but the time between them is very quiet.

[DCThunder]

I think it depends on the itinerary.  You mentioned the Caribbean specifically, and I'd guess those ships are well booked no matter what.  But I'm doing a Med/TA from Rome to FLL leaving Thanksgiving and arriving in Florida on 12/21 and there seem to be a lot of cabins available.

[J13C85]

We can speak to this.  The time after US Thanksgiving and before the US Christmas Break/end of semester (universities) tend to have far fewer school age children/teens than other times.  Most parents do not pull their children from schools during this period. This may not necessarily change the number of guests on your cruise, but it definitely changes the demographic. On our post TG Sky cruise last year, over 4K guests but not many children.  We are doing a B2B XMas/NY cruise this year (same ship) and expect a much different crowd.

[kelib]

I have always had luck the week after Thanksgiving. Too soon after Turkey day and too soon for Christmas (I would usually see them decorating the ship as we were departing) The only issue is flights and hotels, but shocking as it is have had good luck flying on Black Friday, avoid Sunday like the plague.

Mind you these were all pre- pandemic but I did it on ships and other Caribbean vacations. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by kelib

[sirclean]

When I was a Disney Annual Passholder, I would try to go there after Thanksgiving and it was a good time of year. BUT only when Thanksgiving was Early in November (as the third Thursday in November can be closer to mid month all the way to the last few days of the month.)  When it is early in the month, the week after (to the first few days of December were great, low attendance days.  When it was late, and the next week was already December, there was a short window before classes were out, and the parties and family gatherings were already gearing up.

For what it is worth, as I have changed the discussion to Orlando, I can tell you that airline prices hotel rates, and crowds picked up A Lot after 12/15 for sure!

 

Relating that back to cruising, I cruised last year over Thanksgiving week on The Discovery. It was over 100% capacity (with many rooms holding more than 'double occupancy').  In MY day, we were lucky to be out of school on Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. It seems that these days schools are out the whole week in a lot of places. 

 

I suspect, that like Disney, the week after Thanksgiving through about 12/15 (more or less) are less busy, certainly than Thanksgiving week or the end of December. 

 

As someone else noted, though, IF your cruise departs the weekend after Thanksgiving, then even if the Ship is less crowded, the Flights Wont BE!!  If you plant to stay at a hotel, it is likely going to be expensive too! 

 

The lesson is that the best week in the end of the year will be the weekend before 12/15.

 

Here is a link to the 'dads guide to WDW' and the Crowd Calendar.  I suspect that the dates for Disney will be very similar to those for cruising.

 

https://dadsguidetowdw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-WDW-Crowd-Calendars-scaled.jpg

 

I hope that this helps!

[Tiggipaws]

Good morning

 

Thank you for all the replies.  I am booked on the Sky Princess 2nd December for 14 days due to work commitments. I have cruised with Holland America over Christmas and the ship didn't seem crowded although the ship was full. I'll wait and see I'm sure I will have a good time anyway.

[MissP22]

18 hours ago, Tiggipaws said:

Good afternoon

 

I have recently read that ships between Thanksgiving and Christmas are less crowded in the Caribbean.  Is this generally correct?

 

Thank you

Just slightly a little less crowded, but all the ships seem crowded these days no matter what date you chose. 

[Expat Cruise]

The lowest prices on cruises can be found in early December. The second week seems to be the sweet spot for great deals. But deals can be found up to cruises ending just before Christmas. Almost no children, on these cruises, can be a great time to take a cruise.