Premium worth it for Christmas cruise?

Hi,

My husband and I are 42, looking at cruising with my mom & husband who are 59 and live in another city (no kids). Hubby and I have done two fabulous cruises on Celebrity, and are looking at their holiday cruises in the Caribbean Dec 2014. We notice that a 7 night veranda room is $900 pp if we depart Dec 13, but is $1600 if we depart Dec 20 or 21. In your opinion, do the cruise ship do enough to make it feel "Christmas-y" that it's worth it to just go for it and go over Christmas? I know the whole idea is that the cruise is how you celebrate the holiday and they do all the cooking and cleaning- but maybe it's worth it to save the money and have a mellow Christmas alone when we return. Thoughts?

Hi,

My husband and I are 42, looking at cruising with my mom & husband who are 59 and live in another city (no kids). Hubby and I have done two fabulous cruises on Celebrity, and are looking at their holiday cruises in the Caribbean Dec 2014. We notice that a 7 night veranda room is $900 pp if we depart Dec 13, but is $1600 if we depart Dec 20 or 21. In your opinion, do the cruise ship do enough to make it feel "Christmas-y" that it's worth it to just go for it and go over Christmas? I know the whole idea is that the cruise is how you celebrate the holiday and they do all the cooking and cleaning- but maybe it's worth it to save the money and have a mellow Christmas alone when we return. Thoughts?

Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean. We went on RC this year on Dec. 8-16. They had sold out the ship to 2000 over 70 year olds that were crotchity and nasty and oblivious to anyone else's needs or wants. It was miserable. That is why the price was so low. They notified any senior groups and even transported them to the ship and back. It was not fun. Never saw so many walkers and scooters. They even packed the dining room so tight with cover table toppers that the waiters could barely get through. We saw them remove them on the last night. They must have packed those rooms to the gills. Apparently, because people are getting ready for Christmas, it is a slow time and this is their way to fill it up. Our room was very cheap, but definitely NOT worth it. They have some Christmas deco on RC, but not enough to warrant experiencing rude whiny people. Believe me, I am in my 60's and so was my friend, but we are human and they were not! I would call Celebrity and ask a lot of questions.

I did a New Year cruise a few of years ago; I'm also in my 60's. It was full of families, so it was kids being kids rather than whiny old people but overall the atmosphere was no better than asuedonym describes. No more holiday cruises for me.

I'd also suspect if Christmas decorations are important to you, you're unlikely to find cruise line lip-service satisfactory.

I was on the Rhapsody of the Seas for Christmas last year. Firstly, I found the atmosphere on board was lovely. Everyone was very friendly and happy. Mostly families on board - average age 40-50s. Never felt crowded - could always get a seat inside or out. Hardly saw any kids until Christmas morning. I must say I loved the Christmas decorations on board as did my family. Most the Christmas activities occurred on Christmas Eve and they were lovely. Production singers sang Christmas songs in the Atrium, we had carols with songbooks and crew and passengers sang along, we had free champers etc - it all very very nice. Christmas Day was very low-key. Apart from Santa arriving for the littlies and one christmas cracker per person on the table at the MDR in the eve, it was just like another day at sea.

Christmas is what you make it. I am glad to sailed over Christmas (it was lovely not to be the one cooking the turkey for a change!) and we had a wonderful cruise but I will be honest and say Christmas Day itself was a bit of an anti-climax. This year we are doing NYE which is even more expensive than Christmas but I like the idea of being at sea for special occasions and I would cruise again at Christmas, despite the extra cost because I like the overall atmosphere and love seeing the boat decorated.

We took our kids (16 and 13) on a cruise to Key West and Cozumel for Christmas a few years ago. The ship was not really decorated for the holiday that I remember. However, since there was a formal Christmas Eve dinner it felt like a holiday. We spent Christmas eve in Cozumel and everywhere we went they were celebrating the holidays even singing christmas songs at Fat Tuesdays. Waking up and sharing a private christmas morning with coffee and the kids in the hot tub (where was everybody?) was very special and spending the day snorkeling, shopping, singing holiday tunes at Fat Tuesdays, made it a great holiday and gave us wonderful memories!!!

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We have done several Christmas cruises on Princess. We have always enjoyed them and Princess has always made Christmas special. They have had a ginger bread village set up and special events. Last year we were in Puerto Vallarta Mexico on the cruise and the town was hopping. Its a good time to get away from work so it works for me and is worth the extra money.

We went on a New Year's cruise several years ago. I was shocked with the drunk teenagers (13 and 14) on the ship. I was worried about their safety.