Princess cruise to Hawaii for Christmas

Hi all;

I'm looking for insight from anyone who's done the Hawaii cruise at Christmas, or been on boats over that time in general.

1-What does Princess typicaly do for Christmas? Anything special?

2-How about if you're at sea for NYE? Do they go wild with a party? Is it typically formal night?

3-We'd be at Kauaʻi for Christmas Day. Would Excursions still run like normal or how would it be effected?

Thanks in advance for any insights

Hi all;

 

 

I'm looking for insight from anyone who's done the Hawaii cruise at Christmas, or been on boats over that time in general.

 

 

1-What does Princess typicaly do for Christmas? Anything special?

Yes, ship is decorated, there's cookie decorating, caroling, sometimes it "snows" in the Atrium, crafts of sorts, and so on. Santa visits Christmas day.. Small gift on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning (last year was small stocking stuffed with candies)..

Christmas finner in MDR, generally formal night also

2-How about if you're at sea for NYE? Do they go wild with a party? Is it typically formal night? Regardless if whether New Year's Eve is sea day or port dsy - Yes and yes. Party in Atrium, party in most lounges, generally one lounge doing a "welcome in new year party" for each time zone, deck party, weather permitting, with band, DJ, etc after party in Club, etc. Champagne on special, or bring your own. Hats and noise makers handed out at dinner.. Excellent fun.

3-We'd be at Kauaʻi for Christmas Day. Would Excursions still run like normal or how would it be effected? You can expect your excursions to run as scheduled. I'd highly recommend checking out TripAdvisor to see if things may be closed, but most everything is open as far as tourist sights and Tours..

 

 

Thanks in advance for any insights

See above in red.

Have s great time, we sail for Christmas and New Years just about every year.

To add to all the info above:

1. Ugly sweater contest - bring one if you want to be part of it. It's a lot of fun!

2. Christmas show in the theatre that includes numbers from staff and children from kids club. Excellent show!

3. Gingerbread house decorating - we bring lots of extra bits to decorate (candy, sprinkles, etc)

4. Princess pop choir is focused on Christmas songs and had a performance of them in the atrium

5. Santa in the atrium for Christmas Day along with snow! All kids get a gift from him and you can take pictures with him - many adults also line up to sit on his lap!

6. New Years Party and balloon drop at midnight in the atrium - the hats and noisemakers are a really nice touch! For our cruise last year, pretty much EVERY staff member was out and enjoying the evening. We got to hang out with the dancers and really had a blast!

7. New Years in the Wheelhouse (on our cruise it was welcoming in British New Year - which suited me since that's where I originate from and it gave us an excuse to start drinking at 4pm - lol)!

8. We were in Honolulu on Christmas Day - while most of the stores in Waikiki were open, the stores around the port area/Chinatown were not. Excursions ran as normal apart from Pearl Harbour, which was not open. Also, the shuttles from the port to Waikiki were not as regular as usual due to the holiday.

9. In addition to the Christmas activities, you will have many, many Hawaiian themed activities offered - at times we forgot that Christmas was even close!

10. MANY passengers wore Christmas themed attire - Santa hats, Christmas sweaters, etc. It was so great to see everyone in the spirit and happy!

11. If you usually buy photos onboard, definitely consider getting the all inclusive package. It covers all pictures for the whole two weeks. We walked away with almost 200 - and I don't think there was a bad one amongst them! There are LOTS of picture opportunities on this cruise!

This was one of the best cruises we have ever taken! We had done the itinerary before and it wasn't nearly as much fun as it was over Christmas. I would do it again in a heartbeat - might even do it this year of prices come down at all! You will have a great time!

Thanks for the thoughts all.

Curious, about how many kids are on board? I find Princess isn't that family orienated typically with young kiddies, but how many are around on a 15 day cruise over Christmas?

Thanks,

Sounds like a really nice cruise for Christmas :D. We are doing the Hawaii the Dec 4 ,2019 cruise . We always spend time with family in LA for Christmas dinner & days prior & just after Christmas:):)

Thanks for the thoughts all.

 

 

Curious, about how many kids are on board? I find Princess isn't that family orienated typically with young kiddies, but how many are around on a 15 day cruise over Christmas?

 

 

Thanks,

We've dine said cruise twice, and there were approximately 500-600 under 18s on both sailings.. Not as many as would be on a shorter holiday cruise, but they're there.

And they're fun! Give me kids having a good time over the grumpy complaining adults who also will likely have a large presence on your cruise any day! (unfortunately , no stats on the grumpy cruisers. Lol)...

Thanks for the thoughts all.

 

 

Curious, about how many kids are on board? I find Princess isn't that family orienated typically with young kiddies, but how many are around on a 15 day cruise over Christmas?

 

 

Thanks,

On ours last year, I believe the count was 374 kids in the Tree House and Lodge. Not sure how many teens. To be completely honest, it really didn't seem like that many at all. I have been on cruises with far less kids and they were way more noticeable! The Christmas cruise felt more family oriented and lots of families actually spent time with their kids rather than letting them run wild. I agree with the other poster that said the kids being around was fun - they really got into the Christmas things and there were always big smiles and lots of excitement!

Sounds like a really nice cruise for Christmas :D. We are doing the Hawaii the Dec 4 ,2019 cruise . We always spend time with family in LA for Christmas dinner & days prior & just after Christmas:):)

You will see the ship decorated for the holidays, at least a little. Enjoy the less crowded cruise!!

Thanks for the thoughts all.

 

 

Curious, about how many kids are on board? I find Princess isn't that family orienated typically with young kiddies, but how many are around on a 15 day cruise over Christmas?

 

 

Thanks,

We've done this 15 day cruise over the holidays a couple of times and there have always been many children, mine included. I've never paid attention to the actual number of children, but there were always a lot. I've never found them to be a disruption to our enjoyment. At this point, our kids, 10 and 15 tend to stay with us most of the cruise. So it's not like they are left alone to wander the ship. You will see groups of kids hanging out, but again, they tend to be well behaved.

The weather to and from Hawaii is too cold for us in the pool, but the kids don't care. Ensenada and Hawaii will be great weather. We've not have an ugly day in port for the holidays yet!

Enjoy your cruise, we will also be on a holiday cruise!! we love when we can cover both Christmas and NYE on the same trip!

Happy holidays!

Thanks all for the info and input! We're pretty sure we'll end up doing this in a few years, as it'll combine a nice holiday trip with our 10th anniversary

Curious, about how many kids are on board? I...Thanks,

We have taken the RT LA cruise to Hawaii several times on a couple of ships over the holidays. Each time our family included three generations. Expect A LOT of children including teens. Activities are added for their enjoyment. Do preregister any children for the youth program if any are cruising with you. It fills up fast. We would take it yearly if time and finances allowed.

3-We'd be at Kauaʻi for Christmas Day. Would Excursions still run like normal or how would it be affected?

We are on the cruise that will be in Kuaui on Christmas Day this year. There are a number of Princess excursions offered for that day. I do not know if some usually offered are not part of what is offered.

I suspect it would be difficult to arrange independent excursions for that day.

We are also on this cruise over Christmas :). We have done a few over the christmas period but not Hawaii! All information given on activities is pretty standard and has a lovely feel to the ship over christmas, also NYE is good fun. Princess used to have a deck party, not sure if this still happens, been on RCI for the last few years . Enjoy x