Have you ever been on a holiday cruise?

[PumpkinPatches]

Good morning! I am getting SUPER excited for my family's Christmas/New Years cruise on the Silhouette. This was booked in June 2022 so we've been waiting for this for a loooonng time! This is our first time going anywhere for the holidays so I am hoping anyone and everyone with some past holiday cruise experience can share a nugget of advice with me! We will be with our 2 young kids who are 4 and 6 so really hoping to make this Christmas the most magical one yet!

 

- Should I bring a gift for the crew in addition to an extra tip? I was thinking chocolates... but they might melt in my luggage in the Florida sun?

- I would like to decorate the cabin... any dos and donts for cabin decorations? I was thinking battery-operated lights and hanging them on magnetic hooks.

- What is the NYE party like onboard? 

 

Thanks so much!

[lv2cruisgrl]

2 minutes ago, PumpkinPatches said:

Good morning! I am getting SUPER excited for my family's Christmas/New Years cruise on the Silhouette. This was booked in June 2022 so we've been waiting for this for a loooonng time! This is our first time going anywhere for the holidays so I am hoping anyone and everyone with some past holiday cruise experience can share a nugget of advice with me! We will be with our 2 young kids who are 4 and 6 so really hoping to make this Christmas the most magical one yet!

 

- Should I bring a gift for the crew in addition to an extra tip? I was thinking chocolates... but they might melt in my luggage in the Florida sun?

- I would like to decorate the cabin... any dos and donts for cabin decorations? I was thinking battery-operated lights and hanging them on magnetic hooks.

- What is the NYE party like onboard? 

 

Thanks so much!

You will have a great time. Years ago we did a Christmas cruise (adults) and loved it. The crew loves the $$, I would forgo any gifts. No chocolate for sure. 

[peterde]

We did a New Years cruise with our kids on Royal Caribbean years ago and it was the best cruise we ever took. There were parties all over the ship and everyone had a great time. We are booked again this year for New Years on Celebrity, I hope it lives up to our past experiences. 
If you want to gift the crew, cash is the preferred option by far. Cabin decorations are always fun, but the lights might attract too much attention from mischievous individuals.  

Edited October 25, 2023 by peterde

[PumpkinPatches]

15 minutes ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

You will have a great time. Years ago we did a Christmas cruise (adults) and loved it. The crew loves the $$, I would forgo any gifts. No chocolate for sure. 

Just curious, what did Christmas Day feel like? Did it feel like Christmas?

 

Personally I am really excited to spend Christmas Day in the middle of the ocean, & swimming in the pool. Some negative nellies I talk to are like "oh it won't feel like Christmas" and I'm wondering if there's any truth to that?

[lv2cruisgrl]

2 minutes ago, PumpkinPatches said:

Just curious, what did Christmas Day feel like? Did it feel like Christmas?

 

Personally I am really excited to spend Christmas Day in the middle of the ocean, & swimming in the pool. Some negative nellies I talk to are like "oh it won't feel like Christmas" and I'm wondering if there's any truth to that?

Yes it felt like Christmas. The ship was all decorated, we had a  sing along w Christmas songs with the band, Santa was in the theater and handed out small gifts to the kids. I would do it again!  It was fun. Ignore the negative peeps. You will enjoy it.

[lv2cruisgrl]

This was 2019 on Infinity at Christmas.

Edited October 25, 2023 by lv2cruisgrl

[PumpkinPatches]

11 minutes ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

This was 2019 on Infinity at Christmas.

 

16 minutes ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

Yes it felt like Christmas. The ship was all decorated, we had a  sing along w Christmas songs with the band, Santa was in the theater and handed out small gifts to the kids. I would do it again!  It was fun. Ignore the negative peeps. You will enjoy it.

Gorgeous photos!! If anything, one might find this to be the most Christmasy Christmas ever 🙂

[NMTraveller]

We have done several.  Going this year.  They are very well decorated and festive.  Enjoy.

[hcat]

decor and activities will be great

perfect for families...lots of kiddos!

[kk20]

We did a Christmas/NYE cruise last year on the Millennium. It was epic! Celebrity knows how to bring in the new year!

 

I would just bring cash for your room attendant. 
 

Yes, it still feels like Christmas….it’s just different being on a ship

[DingoMom]

And Santa will be on board on Christmas!

[PumpkinPatches]

3 hours ago, kk20 said:

 

IMG_0168.mov 49.93 MB · 0 downloads

We did a Christmas/NYE cruise last year on the Millennium. It was epic! Celebrity knows how to bring in the new year!

 

I would just bring cash for your room attendant. 
 

Yes, it still feels like Christmas….it’s just different being on a ship

That looks SO awesome!!  I can't wait! Believe it or not this year will be my first year going to a NYE party where I'll get to dress up! I am so excited for this year!! Got my gold sequin dress all ready to ring in 2024!

[mrgabriel]

We've been on three or four Christmas cruises and have another one booked this year.

 

There are always a lot of kids onboard and Celebrity does an excellent job of keeping children entertained and active. 

 

The ship is nicely decorated. There are different trees around, including possibly in the Library and the card room. Sometimes we have seen families exchanging gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

 

For decorations, I bring a small (12") tree from the dollar store with battery operated lights. 

 

There are parties on NYE, usually on the pool deck but also elsewhere. Lots of festivities. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Editing to add: Our first Christmas cruise was a bit surprising for me ... I remember sitting in the Lawn Club Grill on Christmas Eve having a relaxed dinner and suddenly realising that I didn't need to do ANYTHING. No cleaning, no cooking, no wrapping, no driving anywhere the next day. It's a pretty nice way to spend the holidays. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by mrgabriel

[kk20]

2 hours ago, PumpkinPatches said:

That looks SO awesome!!  I can't wait! Believe it or not this year will be my first year going to a NYE party where I'll get to dress up! I am so excited for this year!! Got my gold sequin dress all ready to ring in 2024!

You will have a blast! 
 

and good choice on the gold sequin dress!! I’m not a dress girl, but I wore my gold sequin pants on nye 💃🏼

[PumpkinPatches]

15 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

We've been on three or four Christmas cruises and have another one booked this year.

 

There are always a lot of kids onboard and Celebrity does an excellent job of keeping children entertained and active. 

 

The ship is nicely decorated. There are different trees around, including possibly in the Library and the card room. Sometimes we have seen families exchanging gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

 

For decorations, I bring a small (12") tree from the dollar store with battery operated lights. 

 

There are parties on NYE, usually on the pool deck but also elsewhere. Lots of festivities. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Editing to add: Our first Christmas cruise was a bit surprising for me ... I remember sitting in the Lawn Club Grill on Christmas Eve having a relaxed dinner and suddenly realising that I didn't need to do ANYTHING. No cleaning, no cooking, no wrapping, no driving anywhere the next day. It's a pretty nice way to spend the holidays. 

 

That must have been a good feeling.  Christmas is A LOT of work!!

As a Mom, Christmastime is really just a never-ending to-do list and it's hard to find a moment in between all the running around and preparations to really enjoy myself. I feel like this is the first year in a long time that I don't feel a bit of dread for the upcoming holiday season and I'm feeling nothing but pure excitement which makes me feel kind of like a kid again. I love it!

[Notagoose]

We're doing our first Christmas/NYE cruise on the Beyond this year, and like an insane person, I bought a pop up tree on Amazon that I'm planning on setting up in a corner of the room somewhere.😬 I also bought magnetic hooks and was planning on bringing socks to hang, one for us and one for the room attendant, and fill theirs with weird Canadian snacks and cash - but maybe that's a bad idea? I just feel bad they're all spending the holidays working, and thought it might be fun for them! I suppose I could just fill theirs with small bills instead of snacks..lol

 

I'm hoping it won't feel too "weird" being away for Christmas, but we're childless and our last living parent passed away during the pandemic, so the last few Christmases have felt pretty weird anyway. Looking forward to a new experience!

[Mangrove Snapper]

I've lived through a lot of Thanksgivings and the majority were pretty mundane.  But I'll never forget being 19 years old and spending Thanksgiving afternoon on a beach in Barbados with my best friend from college.  Later on when the ship set sail, they served Thanksgiving dinner.  So much fun!

[mahdnc]

On 10/25/2023 at 8:21 AM, PumpkinPatches said:

Good morning! I am getting SUPER excited for my family's Christmas/New Years cruise on the Silhouette. This was booked in June 2022 so we've been waiting for this for a loooonng time! This is our first time going anywhere for the holidays so I am hoping anyone and everyone with some past holiday cruise experience can share a nugget of advice with me! We will be with our 2 young kids who are 4 and 6 so really hoping to make this Christmas the most magical one yet!

 

- Should I bring a gift for the crew in addition to an extra tip? I was thinking chocolates... but they might melt in my luggage in the Florida sun?

- I would like to decorate the cabin... any dos and donts for cabin decorations? I was thinking battery-operated lights and hanging them on magnetic hooks.

- What is the NYE party like onboard? 

 

Thanks so much!

 

We have taken our family of 4 on two Christmas/NYE cruises so far (the last one on Solstice in 2019).  Our two adult kids will not be able to make our third this coming December (Solstice again). 

 

Here is a thread similar to yours from earlier this year (link).  In it I posted my comments along with photos and links to the Celebrity Today that was issued for the two holidays which you may be interested in.

 

I think you and your family will enjoy your holiday cruise plus Silhouette is a nice ship.  

 

Tipping the crew extra is a great holiday idea.

 

While Christmas is a bit understated in terms of how it is celebrated onboard, NYE is one big party spread across several different venues.  Since your ship will be in the warm Caribbean on NYE, the pool deck will be where the action is.

 

If you look at the thread that I posted, you can see we have decorated our cabin for Christmas.  To me, I think the only "don't" is not hang any lights out on the balcony.

 

You are going to definitely want to have your family's photo taken by the ship's photographer on Christmas Eve/Day by the Christmas tree in the Main Foyer.

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

Edited October 27, 2023 by mahdnc

[SusieAV8R]

DH and I spent our first Christmas/NYE on a ship last year.    (We flew to FL 12/25  but we boarded 12/27, 2022 and were on the Summit until 01/09, 2023).  It was a different type of Christmas, but we loved it!! Everyone (paz and crew) are away from family so we all became a surrogate family 🙂.  (In fact, this year, we are boarding Constellation Dec. 22 and getting off Jan. 12).  Cash, not gifts, seemed to be very appreciated, in our opinion.

[Norwaylady]

@mahdnc Sorry for going out for f the topic😝 You are soon leaving for Galapagos???? 
Really looking forward to hear about it🤩🥰

 

We will do our first Christmas/NY cruise next year🥳🥳🥳  Can’t wait to try it🥳

Christmas/NY was a highlight when I grew up. Not for gifts 🎁, but we had always a big family party and decorations etc… 

Then people get older and die🫤 it’s way of life…. But in our situation they have “timed”  their departure from the ground to Christmas/NY for both of me and Mr🫠 So the air has in one way for us went out of the balloon🙄 

 

So next year we are trying something different🥰🥳😎 We are sailing on Milli from Singapore 🇸🇬 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Blessed many times to sail Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah and NYE. Not a yearly occurrence because we do miss the family but when we do sail they are magical and special. You will enjoy!

[ebockelman]

We often do Thanksgiving on X and New Years on Disney (and a few other random holidays here and there). They are some of our favorite cruises. You do end up with more kids on the sailings, but that's usually not a problem. Battery operated lights are not uncommon. Check in the app for all of the festivities. For events like NYE there will often be the "big one" event in a large open area, but much more chill happenings in other places.

[PumpkinPatches]

13 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

DH and I spent our first Christmas/NYE on a ship last year.    (We flew to FL 12/25  but we boarded 12/27, 2022 and were on the Summit until 01/09, 2023).  It was a different type of Christmas, but we loved it!! Everyone (paz and crew) are away from family so we all became a surrogate family 🙂.  (In fact, this year, we are boarding Constellation Dec. 22 and getting off Jan. 12).  Cash, not gifts, seemed to be very appreciated, in our opinion.

I think that would be fun to travel on Christmas day...when I was a travel agent people would ask for the best flight prices during the holidays and 12/25 and 01/01 were always much cheaper! It could be a fun gift for my kids, maybe have their suitcases packed with a bow on it and it's like surprise! we're going on a trip! They would love that. We're trying to teach our kids that memories/life experiences are much more valuable than a mountain of toys.

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

@mahdnc Sorry for going out for f the topic😝 You are soon leaving for Galapagos???? 
Really looking forward to hear about it🤩🥰

 

We will do our first Christmas/NY cruise next year🥳🥳🥳  Can’t wait to try it🥳

Christmas/NY was a highlight when I grew up. Not for gifts 🎁, but we had always a big family party and decorations etc… 

Then people get older and die🫤 it’s way of life…. But in our situation they have “timed”  their departure from the ground to Christmas/NY for both of me and Mr🫠 So the air has in one way for us went out of the balloon🙄 

 

So next year we are trying something different🥰🥳😎 We are sailing on Milli from Singapore 🇸🇬 

yes, we fly out to Quito on Nov 15 and we are very much looking forward to it. The sailing occurs during the Thanksgiving Day holiday (American). 
 

Our upcoming Christmas/NYE cruise is Singapore to Hong Kong.  We are looking forward to it as well. 
 

I think you’ll enjoy your Millennium cruise. 
 

I’m sorry about your family losses. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by mahdnc

[Traveling Fools]

Yes, We did a NYE cruise in 2004 aboard the Mille.  It was a big party with never ending bubbly. DW woke up the next morning a bit hung over,  We went ashore in Cozumel looking for some Menudo, but because it was New Years day, everything was closed.

 

We will be spending this Thanksgiving aboard Azamara's "Onward" on a TA from Lisbon to Miami.