Thanksgiving good/bad

[Jamara]

We are looking to book a cruise over Thanksgiving - we have cruised a lot but never with HAL but have seen a good itinery for us this year and would like to give HAL a try.

 

We did a holiday cruise last Christmas which we did not like as it was booked to capacity and the service and food were not great.

 

Will there be lots of children on board? and should we expect high capacity?

 

My husband is not keen and would prefer to book after Thanksgiving but I would like to give it a go! our family are abroad and I feel it would be nice to be on board at this time.

 

Looking forward to your advice.

 

Mia

[DaveOKC]

Did you check the fare differences between your cruise and one a wek later? I have found that one of the cheapest weeks of the year to cruise is the first week of Dec.

 

DaveOKC

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam over Thanksgiving -- LOTS of children -- packed!!

These are very popular cruises.

One time we did a 10 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera over Thanksgiving and was surprised to see so many children on board -- over 200.

[sail7seas]

We've done some Thanksgiving cruises and enjoyed them. You should expect lots of families some with young children. I think it's great to see the generations all cruising together and I enjoy seeing the famililes all enjoying together. HAL's Club HAL handles the kids very well IMO and we have hardly ever been particularly disturbed by the ' young 'uns'. Certainly, there can be a few bad parents who don't supervise their kids but that can happen anywhere.

 

We fully intend to sail Thanksgiving/Holidays again.

[tangerinebunny]

We considered Thanksgiving this year, too. But the crowded airports tipped the balance to early December for us. Is that an issue for you?

[sail7seas]

We considered Thanksgiving this year, too. But the crowded airports tipped the balance to early December for us. Is that an issue for you?

 

 

If it still interests you to sail Thanksgiving, look at Nieuw Amsterdam, back-to-back, November 20 and November 27. It's fabulous if one wants 14 days, on the ship for the holiday and (hopefully) miss chaos as the airports. It should be early enough before and long enough after that the flights should be 'normal' loads.

[m steve]

we do Thanksgiving week almost every year, mostly w/ HAL. It's good as it covers the holiday and my partner's birthday. The bad is that HAL uses a prepackaged turkey roll instead of roasting real whole birds so there's no skin, legs, wings or any real parts.

[SwissMyst]

My guess is this might be a different experience on the smaller HAL ships as they are a bit more expensive and do not really have many facilities for younger people. We did Christmas on the Oosterdam and it was a very different feeling- more intense but festive.

 

I would not rule another holiday cruise again if the price and itinerary were right myself, but knowing ahead of time it will be different. But we think just going on any of the larger HAL ships is "different" anyway. Plus I think getting that special HAL Christmas day stollen bread in the Lido is worth all the other holiday cruise time compromises!

[CowPrincess]

We did a 10-day cruise over American Thanksgiving one year. We found the ship to not just BE full, but to FEEL full too. It was the Ryndam, a smaller ship. So SwissMyst, your theory was (unfortunately) not true :)

 

It would have to be exceptional circumstances to get us on another cruise over American Thanksgiving. Free cruise, maybe, would do it :)

 

We just found the "vibe" to be somewhat unpleasant, most of the triples and quads were full to capacity, the crew was overworked, and we could tell that some members of some of the extended families on board were just not happy with the "up close and personal" relationships they were being forced into with other family members.

 

Just our experience, others have had better, I'm sure.

[baggal]

we do Thanksgiving week almost every year, mostly w/ HAL. It's good as it covers the holiday and my partner's birthday. The bad is that HAL uses a prepackaged turkey roll instead of roasting real whole birds so there's no skin, legs, wings or any real parts.

 

In 2005, I came home from a very disappointing Thanksgiving cruise and made a "soup-to-nuts" traditional Thanksgiving dinner the following weekend! They need to find a way to pump the scent of roasted turkey, etc. into the dining room. Then it'll feel more like Thanksgiving.

[sapper1]

Our B2B next year on the NA has the second portion over the American Thanksgiving. We have decided to stay on in Fort Lauderdale for a day or so after the cruise to avoid the airport holiday crowds on our return.

 

We have already paid for a cabana for the two weeks so we won't have to fight for space around the pool, or a table at noon in the Lido.

 

We just want to have a lazy two weeks and do not plan to fight the crowds by going ashore most places and certainly will not be doing any excursions. We plan to treat it like an all inclusive resort where the scenery just happens to change each day.

 

I think we will have an enjoyable cruise. Not taking excursions will be different so we'll see. I may yet come back and bemoan going on a holiday cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[clr0806]

We are doing Thanksgiving in New Zealand. This is late spring and school is not out for summer yet. Not a Holiday for them so I don't expect any issues.

[SwissMyst]

........ and we could tell that some members of some of the extended families on board were just not happy with the "up close and personal" relationships they were being forced into with other family members.

 

........

 

That did make for interesting "people watching" to see how these inter-genrations interacted, after seeing mainly solos or couples on other non-holiday cruises.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The 10 day cruise we did was on the Ryndam -- everything felt crowded for a small ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

we do Thanksgiving week almost every year, mostly w/ HAL. It's good as it covers the holiday and my partner's birthday. The bad is that HAL uses a prepackaged turkey roll instead of roasting real whole birds so there's no skin, legs, wings or any real parts.

 

I agree -- I hate processed Turkey!!

[WriterOnDeck]

You get out of cooking Thanksgiving dinner -- 'nuf said!

[Himself]

I was once Chaplain on a cruise ship and our last day at Sea was Thanksgiving Day. I thought it was GOOD. My sister at home thought it was BAD--I missed Thanksgiving Day at home!

[CowPrincess]

That did make for interesting "people watching" to see how these inter-genrations interacted, after seeing mainly solos or couples on other non-holiday cruises.

 

We didn't have to "people watch", we could "people hear" :D , often without even having to leave our cabin.

[Avery's Gram]

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last year on the Hawaii cruise (out of San Diego.) We were invited to join the chief engineer for dinner, and it was just a lot of fun. Such nice people, and such a lovely crew..... I don't remember many kids, but we usually cruise with a crowd of family since we plan cruises for inter-generational family reunion. Our theory is that on a cruise, no one has to cook, clean, or sleep on the floor!

[topspot]

We cruise over Thanksgiving mostly because DD is off from school then. If we could go the week before or after we sure would. Prices for cruise and flights are much less. Can't wait til she's in college, then we won't be tied down to taking vacation during school vacation.

[catl331]

Last year we took out a lg. turkey dinner with all the fixings from Cracker Barrel and took a West. Carib cruise the next week. Enjoyed the real turkey and quiet, cheaper cruise!

[Jamara]

Thanks to everyone for the information which will help us decide what we should do! We are 6 months in the UK and 6 months in Florida therefore can be flexible with our cruise dates. We need to look again and will cruise the week after Thanksgiving.

 

I do think we will try HAL after reading the posts it sounds like a good line for us.