Christmas Cruising

[Ditchdoc]

We will be on Jewel of the Seas Dec 22 — Dec 31.

We have sailed during the holidays before but never on Christmas day.

We are taking Santa hats, red/green apparel, door decoration, battery powered lights etc. We hope for it to be a festive occasion.

If anyone has any input/feedback on things to take or do for the occasion, I'm all antlers ..... err..... ears.

Afterwards, I'll try to come back here and relay some our thoughts and experiences and perhaps a photo or two.

Thanks in advance ... 17 days and counting down ...

 

[ChessE4]

Our Christmas cruises were enjoyed by our son, who was young enough to receive a gift from Santa.  The couple of spontaneous caroling experiences I remember were a lot of fun.  I must say New Year's Eve was a zoo, and we don't really want to do that again.

[fa-li]

We've enjoyed cruising over Christmas.  One fun thing I noticed was many families came to breakfast in the mdr in matching Christmas jammies on Christmas morning.  It felt very festive.  

I don't know if you have kids - we had a large group with some youngsters and I found fold-flat sand buckets on Amazon that were a big hit as gifts.  (We had a beach day on the 25th) Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful festive cruise!

[mom2mybugs]

10 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

Our Christmas cruises were enjoyed by our son, who was young enough to receive a gift from Santa.  The couple of spontaneous caroling experiences I remember were a lot of fun.  I must say New Year's Eve was a zoo, and we don't really want to do that again.

Uh oh!  What was bad about it? I'm on Harmony on Dec 31 and  I'm already thinking we might ring in the New year away from the promenade.  It's already bad for smaller things like the 70s party!  Jane

[Ditchdoc]

8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Uh oh!  What was bad about it? I'm on Harmony on Dec 31 and  I'm already thinking we might ring in the New year away from the promenade.  It's already bad for smaller things like the 70s party!  Jane

We did New Years on Harmony for 2020. We enjoyed it. New Years was celebrated ship wide. I can not say  what crowds were like at the other venues. Other than the promenade, I think the next biggest party was up on the pool deck, near the big screen TV. Next were some of the larger lounges and on down to most anywhere people could gather.

We went to the promenade, maybe 2 hours early, and found seats at one of the shops right in front of the band. Our backs were pretty well covered and as midnight approached, the crowd grew and got crazy in front of us. We were pretty well protected and were able to get an occasional drink. I felt bad for the wait staff trying to navigate the press of people and deliver midnight favors and champagne. None of this was much of a surprise and we were fortunate to secure a relatively secure spot in the middle of the madness. Crowds broke up pretty quickly after midnight and we were able to bar hop and dance a little before calling it a night.

As we all know, it was late January, early February 2020 when  we first started hearing about COVID. When we got home, both of us suffered somewhat unusual respiratory issues. Not hospital serious and we got over it in a couple of weeks. We still wonder if we were on the leading edge of COVID cases due to that trip, packed with a thousand others on the promenade from who knows where.

Anyway, we had a great time and this Christmas sailing is our first time cruising since then.

My best advise, find you spot somewhere you think you will like, get there early and enjoy.

[octaviocloss]

We are also booked on Harmony for the 31 sailing with my whole family, i honestly can't wait, first time cruising on new years eve!

[ChessE4]

11 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Uh oh!  What was bad about it? I'm on Harmony on Dec 31 and  I'm already thinking we might ring in the New year away from the promenade.  It's already bad for smaller things like the 70s party!  Jane

All of the venues are super-crowded.  Pick a place and go there early.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I'm sure I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I despise New Years Eve.  I think it's b/c I am so exhausted from Christmas that by the time NYE rolls around, I am SO D.O.N.E.  The truth is, even when I was younger and more prone to manifest my inner party-animal, I still hated NYE.  When we sail on NYE I always plant myself at a casino table somewhere and ride out the madness. I've never been much of a drinker to begin with and on "amateur night", drunks are particularly repugnant.

[Matt]

How Royal Caribbean celebrates Christmas and New Years holidays on its cruise ships

[mom2mybugs]

1 hour ago, octaviocloss said:

We are also booked on Harmony for the 31 sailing with my whole family, i honestly can't wait, first time cruising on new years eve!

So excited too!  There are a few of us here!  Have a great trip! Jane

[Riley]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I'm sure I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I despise New Years Eve.  I think it's b/c I am so exhausted from Christmas that by the time NYE rolls around, I am SO D.O.N.E.  The truth is, even when I was younger and more prone to manifest my inner party-animal, I still hated NYE.  When we sail on NYE I always plant myself at a casino table somewhere and ride out the madness. I've never been much of a drinker to begin with and on "amateur night", drunks are particularly repugnant.

As a long-time bartender I view NYE (and St. Patrick's) as "Amateur Night" and these days am quite happy to be in my jammies in front of the TV when Midnight rolls by.... If I make it that far

[smokeybandit]

Just coming off a Christmas cruise, I honestly would never do one again.

 

Not because of anything RC did.  They did it up great of course.  But just because there are so many first time cruisers (over 60% on Mariner) and just a completely different vibe than a typical cruise with a lot of seasoned cruisers.

[D Alt]

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Just coming off a Christmas cruise, I honestly would never do one again.

 

Not because of anything RC did.  They did it up great of course.  But just because there are so many first time cruisers (over 60% on Mariner) and just a completely different vibe than a typical cruise with a lot of seasoned cruisers.

Same. I was on Anthem. For me it was just too many families/kids. (being a solo cruiser)  The problem wasn't the screaming kids everywhere, but their germy little fingers. 

It was great as a novelty cruise to try once, but done.  I'll probably avoid NYE as well. Too crowded. 

The ship was nicely decorated. People practically dressed up every night in either formal wear, Christmas wear or in matching PJs or Tshirts.  They wore antlers and hats on their heads. So did some of the crew. 

Lots of decorated doors.  

Jewel might be better as it isn't one of those types of ships that caters to the kids, so maybe they'll be less of them?  let us know @Ditchdoc

[JohnK6404]

We will probably give it a shot one day to at least cross it off the bucket list, but I would definitely love to sail a week or two before Christmas in the near future so we can enjoy the decorations and atmosphere onboard!

[cruisellama]

It's nice to find a cruise that will cover both holidays Christmas and New Years.   B2Bs can work well also.  Great not to worry about entertaining or prepping large holiday meals.

[WannaCruise]

Next year will be our first NYE's cruise, and the following year we have xmas booked.  I honestly prefer not to sail at this time.  We are coming with our teens (who are very well behaved), but am worried of the crowds and germs as someone mentioned above.  The only thing is our older one will be in university starting next September so this is the only time that works where we can cruise with both kids.  We are also not Christian so although i love the decorations and general holiday mood, being on a xmas cruise per se isn't meaningful to us.  Still, it's a cruise and the only time we can make it work going forward.

[smokeybandit]

The suite lounge was absolutely dead this past week. Even the concierge said he had never seen it like that.

[WAAAYTOOO]

The casino was dead on OA this past week, too.  Families, and all of that…

[smokeybandit]

There was a lot less inter mingling between passengers, too. Everyone stuck to their family groups.

[Ditchdoc]

Back home and almost unpacked from this cruise.

Overall it was a good trip.

For Christmas, the Centrum was very nicely decorated. Most all the crew members wore Santa hats. Many of the guests wore Christmas themed clothing. A lot of cabin doors were decorated.

The weather was great. We got out before the dramatic Arctic chill hit most of the US and we got back just in time for warmer temperatures at home. Most every day during the cruise the temps were in the 70s and 80s.

We attempted to get photos taken but the waits were long and the end results were not good enough to take advantage of even though we had some free ones we could get.

Overall, the food was very good. There were a few duds but considering how much food and the variety available, I would not complain.

As usual, there are always a few guests that could stand to have more patience and consideration.

Jewel was near capacity and probably the most balanced group I have seen with young children, teens, family's and older adults.

Entertainment was somewhat lacking I thought. There was a 4 member band, Kronos, that were excellent but there play list was almost the same every time they played. There was a 3 piece Latin group and a classic violin and guitar duo. That was it. The rest of the entertainment was crew members trying to engage people in trivia and karaoke.

The RC app was helpful at times. Other time it was not up to date with schedules/events and times were wrong. It has a lot of potential but I miss the Cruise Compass.

I missed some of the attentiveness of past cruises. Nothing major but things like Windjammer staff offer to get you get you water, coffee or refills. This just does not happen much anymore.

Dinning room staff seem to be short handed. You don't see them as often, they seem to be always rushed. Service was generally timely and if something did not meet your approval, staff was eager and willing to make it right.

Jewel was tidy, clean and a good looking ship but again, lack of attention to some details was present. In the past, it seemed every opportunity in port, crew members could be seen touching up paint, cleaning windows etc. Jewel had a few rusty spots and some windows need attention. Minor stuff but things did you would not have seen ten years ago.

Yes, I am being picky and nothing was noted that would keep me from cruising RC again. It just seems RC has lost a little of its edge. Maybe its due to COVID, maybe inflation.

Cruising is still the best bang for the buck but I see and read a lot of things where cruise lines are raising prices and catering more to the wealthy.

At the end of this cruise I found myself owing about $300 just for tips. I don't begrudge the staff tips and I should have expected it but it is disheartening to think you have paid everything in advance to be hit with a sizable bill when you get off.

So that's it. My totally biased opinion. I have some other RC cruises I am looking at that are interesting to me but the general trend of decreased service and increasing prices are starting to make me look toward other types of vacations other than cruising.

 

[Pattycruise]

On 1/2/2023 at 11:48 AM, Ditchdoc said:

 

At the end of this cruise I found myself owing about $300 just for tips. I don't begrudge the staff tips and I should have expected it but it is disheartening to think you have paid everything in advance to be hit with a sizable bill when you get off.

 

Sounds like a good time overall.
In regards to gratuities.  When you book your cruise you have an option to pre-pay.  If you book on your own it is near the end of the check out.  If you use a Travel agent they should have asked if you wanted to pre-pay.   I guess this is a "now you know" scenario, sorry you were disheartened.  My first cruise I learned an awful lot and put it into my "memory bank" so I would not make those mistakes.  Lots to learn on these pages and it's one of the reasons I share what I learn, so others don't have the unexpected surprises.  

 

[castle25]

did Explorer for Xmas and New Year last week.  

Aaprt from the big Xmas Tree, the boat was not very festively decorated.

The MDR menu was the same (25th/31st) apart from Beef Wellington was changed to Filet Mingon. 

The Xmas headliner show was awful.

Barbados was complete carnage as too many people and not enough buses

Most of the entertainment was poor and Elvis is the worst Entertainment Director we have ever seen.