Christmas Cruising

[Junicruiser]

I am booked on the Caribbean Princess for a Dec. 23rd-New Year's Eve cruise. I hope this isn't a terrible time to go. We have never taken a holiday cruise before, but it will be our 25th anniversary and we wanted to celebrate! We're taking our grown children with us in a separate cabin. What problems might there be this time of year? My hubby isn't very fond of traveling, but usually likes cruises the best. Is the weather OK? Is it awfully crowded? Now that I have booked this cruise and talked him into it, I am worried that it will be a bad time to travel and I'll never get him to go again! :o

Any experiences you cruisers have had at that time of year would be very helpful.

 

Celebrity--Bermuda 2000

Princess--Alaska

Celebrity--Mediterranean 2005

[Cruzman]

The ship will be decked out with all the Christmas finery and Santa will be around too. Special menus in the dining room and everyone will likely be in the spirit of the season. There will likely be a lot of children onboard, but expect them to be unusally well behaved. As for the weather, expect mid 80's for highs, around 70 for a low, water temp close to 80 in the Caribbean.

[cusyl]

We spent Christmas week on the Caribbean Princes last year. It was very festive and a great way to celebrate the holiday. No decorating at home, no baking or cooking or dirty dishes.

The ship will be all decorated, Santa will come down the glass elevator to bring gifts for the kids. Christmas carols will be sung and Christmas cookies will be decorated in the atrium.

We brought Christmas stockings and a small fold up tree for our cabin. It was a lot of fun.

[Junicruiser]

Thank you so much! Now I am getting excited about the cruise again.

It sounds awesome!:D I knew my fellow cruisers could tell me what I needed to know.

[Jim Gallup]

Junicruiser,

 

Now a bit of the negative side of Christmas cruising.

If you are flying, this is the busiest and most expensive time of year. More suitcases are lost during Christmas Flights than any other time. More flights are cancelled during Christmas than at any other time.

If you have any flight challenges during Christmas, you will be surprised to find that the people at the airlines who normally solve those problems are on holiday, just like you.

Cruise tickets are the most expensive of the year at Christmas. Cruise ships are the busiest of the year at Christmas. There are never any empty cabins on a Christmas Cruise, so you can forget any upgrades. But that's OK. The bad news is if your cabin has any technical problems, there are no other cabins to give you. If you have any other cruise-related problems, you will be surprised to find that the problem solvers at the Cruise Line Company are on Christmas vacation - just like you

If you like children, Christmas is a great time to cruise. You can expect between 400-600 children on your cruise. Some are very well behaved; others are not. Expect to witness many elevator races, and expect to find many food remnants spread on carpets at all hours. There will be excited groups of children screaming and running up and down some corridors at all hours of the day - and night.

 

If you are cruising in the Caribbean or Central America, you should know that many of these countries are devoutly Catholic. Christmas is a very special time for them. Shops, Musuems, and Tours may be closed / cancelled on any number of days.

 

When you finish your cruise, you may be surprised to find that nearly everyone elsse on planet earth is flying home the same day you are. Airports will be completely maxxed out, with long lines and delays. You many need another holiday to get your blood pressure down after you get home.

[Mocorobabe]

Have never experienced any of the problems Jim Gallup mentioned. We do not fly as we live in Florida, so I know nothing about that.

 

Royal Caribbean does not go into port on either Christmas or New Years so that is not a problem. They also have a wonderful program for the children. During out 5 previous Christmas cruises we have never had a problem with the children. Santa is always there with gifts for the kids.

 

Going again this year and looking forward to the cruise which covers both Holidays. Yes it is more expensive, but I think that that is to be expected. Always enjoy the beautiful decorations!!!!

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Mocorobabe

[Jim Gallup]

Mocorobabe, Glad to hear that your Christmas cruise experience was a good one. Of the 750,000 people who will cruise this Christmas season, many will have the same wonderful experience.

But the odds are less in your favor when you cruise at Christmas. So long as one gets on a Christmas Cruise fully aware of the real situation, there is rarely a problem.

However, since only about 1% or 2% of cruisers read these cruise websites, the vast majority go blindly on a Christmas cruise, with expectations that are sometimes wildly different from reality.

I have worked 27 Christmas Cruises in the past 28 years. One was wonderful; three were pretty good; the remaining 23 ranged from terrible to disastrous. Most had poor weather; all had many guests missing the sailing due to delayed or cancelled flights; all had lost luggage that was never found; all had many complaints about too many children, too many Christmas Decorations (non-Christians), not enough Christmas Decorations (Christians), shops, museums, and tours closed due to the holidays, many passengers upset that they were not at home with friends and family, many passengers complaining that the cruise line should have warned them that there would be so many children sailing on a Christmas Cruise. On every Christmas Cruise we had many complaints from passengers who could not understand why a Christmas Dinner Menu, designed by an Austrian Corporate Chef, prepared by a French Chef and his Filipino Galley Brigade, and served by Eastern Europeans and Jamaicans, didn't taste exactly like the "regular" Christmas dinner prepared by Aunt Mary in Ohio last year. And Heaven help the crewmember who mistakenly says the politically incorrect "Merry Christmas" to an American passenger. We never hear the end of it.

 

So long as someone does his homework before taking a Christmas Cruise, prepares for the stress of travelling at Christmas time, and fully understands the possible pitfalls and the outcomes, a Christmas Cruise can be a wonderful thing.

 

Maybe your Royal Caribbean Cruise didn't stop at any ports for Christmas, but many RCI and other cruises do stop in ports on Christmas day. And when they do, most everything is closed. In many countries, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) is also a holiday. Many Christmas Cruise Passengers never consider these possibilities, and are usually disappointed.

[Milwaukee Girl]

 

Royal Caribbean does not go into port on either Christmas or New Years so that is not a problem. They also have a wonderful program for the children. During out 5 previous Christmas cruises we have never had a problem with the children. Santa is always there with gifts for the kids.

 

Going again this year and looking forward to the cruise which covers both Holidays. Yes it is more expensive, but I think that that is to be expected. Always enjoy the beautiful decorations!!!!

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Mocorobabe

 

 

Thank you for your thoughts on RCCL! We are taking our first Christmas cruise (6th or 7th cruise overall) this December and I was wondering what arrangements they would make for the kids. I am so-o-o-o looking forward to this. And now it sounds like my 11-year-old son will enjoy it, too.

 

Thanks!

 

Milwaukee Girl

[snuffy555]

Hello,

 

I will be on a RCCL cruise over christmas week. I actually don't celebrate Christmas and was wondering if I will be complete bombarded with Christmas stuff. I do not mind being around the decorations and what not, but I just want to make sure that there are other options not involving the holiday.

 

Thanks!

[cusyl]

You won't be bombarded at all. They also had a Menorah lighting each evening. You will enjoy it, have a good cruise. :D

[mpbcruiser]

We will be sailing on Royal Caribbean on New Years Day and in port on that day as well. I am concerned as to what activities will be available on Roatan Island that day

 

 

Have never experienced any of the problems Jim Gallup mentioned. We do not fly as we live in Florida, so I know nothing about that.

 

Royal Caribbean does not go into port on either Christmas or New Years so that is not a problem. They also have a wonderful program for the children. During out 5 previous Christmas cruises we have never had a problem with the children. Santa is always there with gifts for the kids.

 

Going again this year and looking forward to the cruise which covers both Holidays. Yes it is more expensive, but I think that that is to be expected. Always enjoy the beautiful decorations!!!!

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Mocorobabe

[Junicruiser]

I have enjoyed the comments from fellow cruisers. I am now both excited and nervous. I sure hope I don't have all the problems the one poster mentioned. He made me very nervous since he brought up all the problems I had already thought of and he seemed knowledgeable.

Yikes! Has anyone else had the trouble he mentioned? My husband will be a nervous wreck if that stuff happens and I'll never get him out of the state again!:eek:

[lsk]

Don't worry about the naysayers. We're going on our fourth Christmas cruise in December in 8 years. The decorations are beautiful, elegant and understated. On one trip we had fewer choices for Christmas day on an island. So go to the beach! One trip we were in St. Thomas on Christmas day, and they opened the shops for 4 hours so everyone could get their jewelry fix. Turkey is turkey. I eat it, enjoy it and am thrilled that I didn't have to make it or clean it up. There are a lot of children. The ONLY time they are intrusive is when they take up all the hot tubs. I just wait until they are all in bed! The excitement of Christmas is for the children. I certainly want to be around some during that time. If you don't want to be away from your friends and family during Christmas, why would you book a cruise. I never saw any long faces because they were missing Aunt Fran. You will have a fabulous time. Just bring a few loved ones and a great attitude.

[Ontario Cruiser]

We took our family on a cruise over Xmas in 1992. My son met his future wife she was sitting with her parents at the table next to us. We both lived in Toronto. My daughter got pregnant she had not been successful before. Relaxing holiday does it everytime and my other son celebrated his 30th birthday on the ship. We did stockings only and brought big Christmas decorations to post up on our cabin doors also Christmas crackers. New Year's was also included on this wonderful holiday. We have been many times over New Years as way back when if you went for two weeks leaving just before New Years you got the best deal. Times have change

Fantastic time to go away with family.

 

Sherrill

Summit Nov 25th:)