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What is the best holiday to spend on a Royal Caribbean cruise?


Matt

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Of all the holidays, which one do you think is the best one to celebrate on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

 

Christmas? New Years? July 4th? Arbor Day?

New Years as the captain is the designated driver and it's a very festive atmosphere. I don't see Christmas as equivalent to one at home where you're spending time with family and friends.

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Tough one, first thought would be new years. Mainly because it's a party holiday and I think it would be a great time.

Halloween sounds like fun too, the dressing up would be cool and seeing the MDR full of people in costume would be hilarious.

I don't think I'd like empty holidays (if I can call them that) just because the ship would be full of people taking advantage of being out of school.

Family/turkey holidays would be a no for me, id feel like im missing out.

Valentines day would be fun, maybe with a central park balcony.

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We do Thanksgiving onboard every couple of years.  The cruise prices aren't horribly inflated like they are at New Years and Christmas (but the airfare back from San Juan is still breathtaking; just picked up 4 tickets yesterday for Thanksgiving this year that I may need a second mortgage to pay for).  They also start doing some of the Christmas decorations on Friday so seeing them in the Centrum/Promenade when we leave the ship is a nice way to start the holiday season.

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GROUNDHOG Day! Early February is a great time to escape Ohio, and if I were lucky I would have a bill murry-esque experience and get stuck repeating the day endlessly!

 

We have done New years and honestly, I would not choose to do it again. High prices & endless Christmas music. We are doing Halloween this year... I let you know.

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I definitely can see the high prices. It's probably why I have never done a NYE cruise.

This is part of the reason we chose Allure next year. It leaves on January 2nd for a six day cruise and was one of the few "big" ships that's wasn't sailing over NYE as we could only go that week because of my son's school schedule. It ended up being a lot less expensive as a result.

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  • 1 month later...

Only done Thanksgiving (6 or 7 in a row now though) and we enjoy it ... you usually get the Christmas decorations up for the end of the week as well so you get to see the ships dressed for the season as well as enjoying the holiday without cooking and cleaning.

 

bcarney, which airlines have airfares out for Thanksgiving already? Waiting on JetBlue/Southwest who both have direct flights to PR to roll their schedule forward.

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Only done Thanksgiving (6 or 7 in a row now though) and we enjoy it ... you usually get the Christmas decorations up for the end of the week as well so you get to see the ships dressed for the season as well as enjoying the holiday without cooking and cleaning.

 

bcarney, which airlines have airfares out for Thanksgiving already? Waiting on JetBlue/Southwest who both have direct flights to PR to roll their schedule forward.

Most airlines don't allow you to book more than 330 days out, but you can get some killer deals if you book way out. We're flying to Europe from LAX for under $700 round trip, but we booked right at the 330 mark. Last year we paid $1100 which was still about $400 below normal.

 

JetBlue and Southwest allow bookings about 4-6 months out, but I find the best fares when booking right when they open up.

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bcarney, which airlines have airfares out for Thanksgiving already? Waiting on JetBlue/Southwest who both have direct flights to PR to roll their schedule forward.

 

I wound up booking on United; the flights were a couple hundred cheaper than our usual choice, Delta.

 

I've never flown JetBlue; we've done Spirit before, but by the time all the luggage fees etc were tacked on the price was comparable to the 'traditional' airlines so we just stuck with Delta.

 

I flew Southwest once.  You couldn't pay me enough to fly on them again.

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I flew Southwest once.  You couldn't pay me enough to fly on them again.

I'm on the other side of that coin... my airline of choice is Southwest. I like their flexible pricing policies, and once I accept that flying coach is essentially being treated like cattle (assigned seat or not), I can deal with Southwest's boarding system. I do pay the extra $25 roundtrip to get an earlier boarding position in order to ensure getting a window or aisle seat.

 

Thanks to them not charging a fee to change flights, I've been able to reduce the cost of future flights by applying credits from earlier flights where the price has dropped. Plus, we've been able to change our minds about which flights we want without a penalty. I like having that flexibility.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you listen to the Company PR and ads any day you spend on RCI is a holiday.

 

But really I do not think you can answer this question because to many other factors, like location. If you ask this question for people cruising in the China / Singapore Market you may hear New Years.... but they would not be talking about Dec 31, they would be talking about Chinese New Year which is almost a week long holiday.

 

With some many ships sailing all around the World it really depends upon the cruise and the market.

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  • 1 year later...

Halloween!! I was on Enchantment for Halloween this year and it seemed like everyone on the ship remembered to pack their costume. There was a huge party in the centrum, which turned in to a poolside sail away party from Nassau at midnight. I would definitely recommend it! 

 

I am so glad you said this Kayla, we'll be on Grandeur for Halloween 2018 - The cruise itself sold us (7-nighter to Bermuda), but when it occurred to us that we'd be on for Halloween, that added that little something special that we didn't have to pay extra for.

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I wound up booking on United; the flights were a couple hundred cheaper than our usual choice, Delta.

 

I've never flown JetBlue; we've done Spirit before, but by the time all the luggage fees etc were tacked on the price was comparable to the 'traditional' airlines so we just stuck with Delta.

 

I flew Southwest once.  You couldn't pay me enough to fly on them again.

I have to ask. What don't you like about flying Southwest?

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Personally, I LOVE Southwest .... The fact that Baltimore is a hub makes it so easy to get a non-stop flight to almost anywhere.

We do too. And we use them all the time. Just when I am planning a trip down to MCO for our cruise in a few days, I start to get paranoid about them losing my luggage. They never have, but I read they do lose luggage a lot. And I really want all my things for my cruise!! :-D

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We did a Christmas, New Years Cruise on the Serenade in 2015 which was very memorable for our family.  We were really impressed one night the crew gathered in the centrum, handed out Christmas sing along books and it attracted a really good amount of people.  They also had fake snow falling from the top.  Then on New Years Eve they had many different venues around the ship with different themes and music .  We went to the Centrum for a balloon drop.  We even went to midnight Mass on Christmas Morning.

 

Check out our Christmas tree!  My son had the idea of using old sea pass cards for ornaments.  

 

 

We are on our 6th Annual Thanksgiving cruise.  We are hooked.   The chef's really have the traditional turkey day spread perfected.  Plus, when you are on the inaugural sailing of new ships(Harmony last year, Symphony 2018) it makes it that more special.  

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We do too. And we use them all the time. Just when I am planning a trip down to MCO for our cruise in a few days, I start to get paranoid about them losing my luggage. They never have, but I read they do lose luggage a lot. And I really want all my things for my cruise!! :-D

I have never had a luggage problem with Southwest (don't bring up American, tho!). What you and your hubby can do is each pack half a suitcase with a complete complement (shoes, underwear, shorts, tops, etc.) then switch suitcases and pack the remainder of what you are taking on the cruise in the other suitcase. If one gets lost, you still have a reasonable wardrobe of clothing to wear!

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I have only done the week between Christmas and New Years and wasn't impressed, too expensive. You can get the same cruise two weeks later for a lot less.

 

Have never flown JetBlue, will have to see if they fly out of DFW. I just booked my first two flights on Southwest, from DFW to Vegas and DFW to Houston. I knew you could change flights without penalty but for some reason never thought about price drops. My favorite air line is Virgin America. Love them!

 

Candie

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I have to ask. What don't you like about flying Southwest?

 

Stupid policy of not issuing seats, which causes everyone to hover around the gate vying for a place in line.

 

Flight down to Florida from Michigan was delayed 18 hours due to them overbooking multiple flights, leaving my family stranded in Chicago (and not even at O'Hare, at the crappy City airport).  Refused to even provide compensation for meals.

 

Return flight a week later delayed on the tarmac due to a mechanical issue.  2 hours later we were told to disembark and go to a certain gate.  No one from SW was there.  Mass confusion.   Eventually herded onto a plane and flown to another airport.  From there we board another plane to Detroit...which ALSO has mechanical problems!  Originally supposed to land in Detroit at 3pm, wound up finally arriving a few minutes before midnight.

 

No way in hell those people will every get a dime of my money, ever.  Period.  I'll drive before I subject myself to them again.

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Will be on Anthem from NYC to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving. Third year in a row. I cant say that they do much for the holiday actually but find it a nice time of year to go.

Comments on Southwest: Used to LOVE it for the convenience to a regional airport near me. The no seat assignment arrangement they have has made it undesirable for us and its like travelling on a cattle train now. The seats are so small as well and they have cut routes from the North East to Florida down so flights fill fast. We travel on jet Blue a lot now because for some extra $ you can get the seats with the extended leg room. I don't consider myself tall at all at 5'11'' but the extra leg room is a nice treat.

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My best holiday cruise was on the Radiance of the seas during the 4th of July.  

RBRSKI.  First - Alaskan scenery - majestic.  Seward embraces Independence Day - very festive.  The amazing Mount Marathon Race was fun to watch.  The Alaska SeaLife Center was worth it. The combination of everything made a fantastic holiday adventure.

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On 4/16/2017 at 9:00 AM, RBRSKI said:

Do they do anything special for the 4th?

RC does something for most holidays.  I'm cruising over July 4th this year for the first time and excited to see what options there are.

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