Thanksgiving Cruising???

[ilovetexas]

We are looking at going back to sea for Thanksgiving. Honest truth is that I would love the break from cooking a ridiculously huge meal. :D

 

Has anyone sailed for Thanksgiving and if so, are the menus different? Do you recommend a particular ship? I've tentatively booked the Legend because I had so much fun in May and can now take the whole family.

 

Do the ships typically make Thanksgiving and formal night the same night or is it just luck of the draw if they fall on the same day?

 

Thanks in advance.....

[firefly333]

They have a turkey entree, but its nothing to write home about, more like pressed turkey.

 

still fun to cruise.. you wouldnt starve. they wouldnt change formal night for thanksgiving.

[Quincella]

I sailed on Thanksgiving two years ago. Like the previous poster said, they had turkey in the dining room for dinner, which wasn't that great because it wasn't traditional turkey. They also had carved turkey in the buffet later that night for turkey sandwiches! That worked for me, for sure.

 

Honestly, though, I wouldn't sail over Thanksgiving again. I didn't have to cook, which was great, but it was SO crowded it was not as enjoyable as my other cruises. Still a cruise, so I'm not complaining. Just saying that it was as sea of humanity and not as relaxing as other times of the year.

[CWcruisers]

This will be my 4th Thanksgiving on the Spirit. My advise is if you want the traditional Turkey dinner, eat at the Lido deck where they serve the carved turkey. I eat turkey at home all the time so I prefer to each in the MDR and order something else. It used to be Filt Mignon but now the the new menus, who knows.

 

The ship is crowed and there are a lot of kids because many schools close for the entire week, but the kids and the crowds have never bothered me. I sure have enjoyed not doing that big dinner and clean up, and if you are a football fan, it's a great time to sail because there are lots of games on, Sunday football, Monday Night Football and Thanksgiving day football.

[soccerATAmom]

We sailed on Fantasy last Thanksgiving. Our experience was different from earlier posters. While I agree about the dinner not being anything spectacular, it was a formal night on our cruise. Ship was less crowded and more laid back than our summer and spring break cruises. Loved the other families at our table. Loved the no stress holiday and being able to truly reflect and appreciate my blessings, not busting my hump for the "traditional" feast, shopping, cooking, clean up...that we tend to get caught up in.

[gone_cruisin]

We have done 2 Thanksgiving cruises and love them. Yes it is crowded and I have found that are a lot more extended families/large groups.

 

The food is just as everyone else stated....pressed turkey.

 

I loved our Panama cruise on the Freedom!

[jbhcw]

We sailed the pride several hears ago for thanksgiving :) yes there were lots of kids but it was a great cruise.....we are trying it again this year with HAL.....hope the turkey dinner is good:eek:

 

Any cruise with all your family with you is special:):):)

[happy cruzin]

We sailed the Splendor for Thanksgiving a few years ago. It was great to see so many extended families enjoying the holiday.

The "traditional" turkey dinner was a disappointment....it is the turkey and farfalle that is on the revised menus, day 4 I think....not at all "traditional" - but it was turkey ;)

[Jilpo]

We sailed on the Miracle for Thanksgiving 2 years ago. Had an awesome cruise - Thanksgiving was formal night, and we chose to go to Nick and Nora's. I think there was turkey available in the MDR, but I would not have had that in any case - I am not a fan of turkey! I don't think there was any change in schedule - it was just the normally scheduled elegant night and turkey in MDR.

[ilovetexas]

Thanks, all. I wasn't even thinking about the football; I can't miss the Texas v Texas A&M game. The sports bar on the ship would be a great place to watch it!

 

If we go, we'll be contributing to the kid population on the ship so I can't complain about that. I'll just remind the family that the ship doesn't have the kitchen facilities to roast a hundred turkeys for several hours, so if they opt for turkey they shouldn't expect what they're used to. As long as I'm not cooking it or cleaning it up, I don't care! :D

[carncruiser1964]

We're sailing on the Sensation for just Thanksgiving weekend - leave Thanksgiving day and come back Sunday. We have never gone away on Thanksgiving but decided we didn't want to cook this year so we booked it.

Pressed turkey - not a big deal. Just will be happy to be on a ship :D

[Layla and Beaux]

My husband and I will be on the Triumph for Thanksgiving this year :) It will also be our delayed honeymoon and his first time ever cruising....it should be a super interesting five days. (I am looking forward to not cooking....even if we only eat burgers for dinner.....if I wanted MY traditional spread, I would stay home and cook it)

[markntara]

We're sailing on the Sensation for just Thanksgiving weekend - leave Thanksgiving day and come back Sunday. We have never gone away on Thanksgiving but decided we didn't want to cook this year so we booked it.

Pressed turkey - not a big deal. Just will be happy to be on a ship :D

 

We have done this the past 2 years, we stepped up for this coming Thanksgiving . . . 7 days on the Glory to St. Thomas and PR! Can't wait!

[janm8144]

Sailed the Dream last year for Thanksgiving. Best Thanksgiving yet! I liked the turkey served in MDR & it was formal nite. Ship did seem crowded in the public areas but it's a huge ship with lots of people. I would sail again on Thanksgiving.

[IwannaGo Now]

I've had 2 Thanksgiving cruises with CCl..the Triumph in 2008, and the Freedom, in 09. Although there were more kids than when I normally cruise it wasn't a disaster. The MDR turkey was fine, but if I remember correctly they served some sort of sweet potato thing.....I'd rather regular mashed....but I managed. The only cruise line that was unacceptable was NCL (Dawn)....I was served turkey ROLL in the MDR....("Roast Turkey")....round, and half dark/half white meat circles :eek:....absolutely horrible.

[Alwaysundecided]

We have done 2 Thanksgiving cruises and love them. Yes it is crowded and I have found that are a lot more extended families/large groups.

 

The food is just as everyone else stated....pressed turkey.

 

I loved our Panama cruise on the Freedom!

 

We did the Miracle exotic Southern last Thanksgiving, and are doing the Freedom Panama Thanksgiving this year. Glad to hear you loved it. I am definately looking forward to it!

[FloridaCouple05]

We did it once. Once was enough. The extended family was generating a bit too much drama that year, and we thought getting away for a Thanksgiving cruise sounded like a great idea. We ended up somewhat disappointed. The Thanksgiving dinner in the MDR was really nothing special, and it sort of made the holiday just another day at sea. Don't think we'll do it again.

[MamaParrotHead]

I don't know about the cruise itself, so no help there. The AIRFARE, however, will kill ya, and the inflated pricing for that week. I made that mistake ONCE. Plus I really didn't like going from relaxing cruise mode and being tossed into frantic holiday mode (and I had everything I could possibly do done ahead of time because that's just how OCD I am, lol, and it STILL didn't help). Between trying to catch up on all the household stuff that accumulated from being gone (we flew Black Friday and returned the weekend after Thanksgiving), and having to run around Christmas shopping and decorating and family visits and obligations...I personally won't be travelling any time around the holidays again.

[rwilk1129]

We did it a couple years ago. Won't do it again. Too many large families taking over the ship.

[tuscandream]

We do Thanksgiving cruise almost every time. My daughter is off school and doesn't need to miss full week of school. It is nice because they have the boat decorated for Christmas as well as the islands yes it is crowded with families and more kids this holiday.

[tracyanns]

We sailed on the Dream for Thanksgiving and loved it! The turkey dinner was not good, but the other food was fine. There were a lot of families but we had ours so it was fine, but not as much as summer and spring break.

 

We actually went just my, hubby and 2 daughters to get a way from who's gonna cook, dinner here, dessert there, etc...best Thanksgiving I have had in years!!