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Cruising over Holidays


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For those who have cruised over the holidays... I am considering a cruise over Christmas this year for myself and my (then) 14 year old daughter, since the dynamics of our family have changed drastically over the last year and I don’t love the thought of spending Christmas at home with not much to do... I’m trying to gauge what Caribbean cruises are like over Christmas in terms of the types of people on the ship. Are there many kids? Or is it more of an older/adult crowd? Do cruise lines do anything special for Christmas? Do the ports have any holiday experiences? Or is it just another day to everyone? I’m looking at  an itinerary on Rhapsody with stops in grand cayman and Cozumel. Any insight anyone can provide on the holiday experience on board a cruise ship would be so appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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Christmas is a great time to cruise.  Everyone is in a great mood, the ship is decorated and it's just fun.

There are kids but not as bad as spring or summer break.  

It's common to find people who have made this a tradition.  They sail the same ship or itinerary year after year and meet up with other families that have done the same.  The kids all know each other and do their thing while the parents can do their thing.  

With my kids are all grown up and out of state so I did a Christmas cruise in 2017.  No regrets and I'd do one again for the right price.  Unfortunately Holiday cruises go for a premium because they are popular and in demand.  

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15 minutes ago, samiaam25 said:

 

For those who have cruised over the holidays... I am considering a cruise over Christmas this year for myself and my (then) 14 year old daughter, since the dynamics of our family have changed drastically over the last year and I don’t love the thought of spending Christmas at home with not much to do... I’m trying to gauge what Caribbean cruises are like over Christmas in terms of the types of people on the ship. Are there many kids? Or is it more of an older/adult crowd? Do cruise lines do anything special for Christmas? Do the ports have any holiday experiences? Or is it just another day to everyone? I’m looking at  an itinerary on Rhapsody with stops in grand cayman and Cozumel. Any insight anyone can provide on the holiday experience on board a cruise ship would be so appreciated! Thanks in advance!

It all comes down to how well you deal with crowds as it can be crazy over the holidays. I've cruise over the holidays for decades and can tell you the kids have lots of fun as well as adults. The mega ships will have more activities that will keeos the kids busy and give the adults some well overdue relaxtion. I'm on a B2B on Vision of the Seas this year for Christmas and New Year's and once again, I cant wait. All the holiday decorations and festivities will be awesome!!

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Our Christmas cruise is also my wife's birthday (23rd) so we will be celebrating that then Christmas. It is still a long way off and I'm afraid I am over-planning it....but I can't help it.

What is strange, we will be touring Roatan on Christmas Day....that will be different for sure!

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2 minutes ago, rtread said:

Our Christmas cruise is also my wife's birthday (23rd) so we will be celebrating that then Christmas. It is still a long way off and I'm afraid I am over-planning it....but I can't help it.

What is strange, we will be touring Roatan on Christmas Day....that will be different for sure!

I can relate to overplanning, I’ve already booked and planning our spring break 2020 cruise that’s a year lol ??‍♀️?

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Just now, samiaam25 said:

I can relate to overplanning, I’ve already booked and planning our spring break 2020 cruise that’s a year lol ??‍♀️?

One thing for sure.....you can find out anything you need to know about your upcoming cruises right here. These folks are incredibly helpful. I have been on a very steep learning curve the last two months and I got it all right here.

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 Like @twangster our kids are grown and out of state and sometimes have their own plans! Whaaat?  So one year we took a Southern Caribbean cruise over Christmas and I feel guilty saying it was wonderful-no last minute shopping, no cooking, no stress! The ship was decorated for Christmas overnight and the meals were really first class and there were carols in the Centrum and  Santa came down the glass elevator and gave a gift to every single child on board. I would do it again except our children won't let us get away with it again.

 

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We did Majesty last year over Christmas, the cruise itself was a bit pricey for the size of room that we ended up with but we all agree that we would gladly do it again.  The ship was almost at capacity but it did not seem like it whatsoever (outside of the Windjammer when we first got onboard as well as for our last breakfast onboard).  There were kids but no more than when we cruise during sprig break, we have a set of twins and there was plenty for them to do to keep them busy.  The ship itself was completely decked out, and they did celebrate Christmas in a big way, there was singing, shows, Christmas movies, a special Christmas menu that was far bigger than normal and if you did not find something that you liked then you had no business being on the ship!  Did not realize it but Christmas day I guess it was custom to wear your Christmas PJ's to breakfast, as there were quite a few people that were dressed up in them onboard during breakfast and lunch.  The Christmas spirit was definitely alive on that ship and we had an amazing  time,  what made it even better was that there was no clean up, and it was by far one of the best that I have had in awhile.  We did not notice anything special in the ports as the only two that we did was Nassau and CocoCay and there was nothing special that was done in either of the two.  If you are on the fence about booking a holiday cruise then please hop off of the fence and book it!!  I can tell you that if I could get most of my family to sail with us at Christmas I can assure you that I would not do another one on land for  quite a few years.  (YES it was that amazing, even having four people in a 120 sq. ft. room) 

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Thanks for the good info! The Christmas cruise is definitely pricey but I don't mind....it's been 25 years since our last cruise (wow!)  and it's also my wife's birthday so I can justify the expense. Also, thanks for the tip on the PJs!   I'm gonna have to go buy some......:14_relaxed:

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