Christmas Cruising

Hi all,

Tossing around the idea of a cruise for the Christmas Holiday. Either NCL Epic or Princess line.

Curious to read if others have done a Holiday cruise and what the experience was.

Was the trip mostly filled with families and kids. Was it more of a single/solo type of situation. Don't want to go and then discover there is nothing for a solo to do .

Thanks in advance

Patty

Any Christmas cruise will be overrun with families/children. Most cruising because schools, businesess closed. I, as a single, disliked the environment. Noisy, crowded. One of most expensive weeks also. Consider first 2 weeks of Dec.uncrowded and cheap.

I haven't done a Christmas cruise before, but I am doing the Epic one, so there will be at least one other solo there :p (I think there's a few others on the roll call as well).

I am preparing for many children and families. I'm planning on boarding early and buying a posh pass if they are selling them this sailing. And yes, it is more expensive than some other times, but since I am cruising because I'm getting time off work at that time, too, it is still better than sitting at home while my husband is at work all day (it is the busiest time of the year for him). The prices on this cruise are actually pretty reasonable IMHO, studios as low as 649 (+10% in OBC or UDP) a couple of days ago, though looks like they are back to 799 now.

Any Christmas cruise will be overrun with families/children. Most cruising because schools, businesess closed. I, as a single, disliked the environment. Noisy, crowded. One of most expensive weeks also. Consider first 2 weeks of Dec.uncrowded and cheap.

Let me second the recommendation to look at the first two weeks of December. Holiday cruises can have a lot of kids which may not be what you want as a solo. The cruises in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas don't sell well -- yet the ships are all decorated for the holidays and very festive.

I'm also thinking about doing a solo Christmas cruise. Something to do that week when I'll have the week off, which I won't have during the earlier, cheaper weeks in December. Additionally, as the OP said, if you go earlier, you still have the question of what to do with yourself during Xmas week. There are kids running around loose everywhere you go during the week of Christmas, onboard ship and off, so I'm not sure that's a deal breaker for me. Hope more Christmas cruisers will chime in!