Christmas Cruise 2014 Mexico?

[Blue Line]

Hello everyone, I am considering taking the family on a Christmas cruise in 2014. After initially looking at caribbean cruises and considering that it costs more than $2500 dollars to fly to florida (before taxes and for non-refundable seats (aka: the cheapest)); I am considering keeping it local and doing a week long cruise on the Crown Princess out of Los Angeles. My question has a few parts:

 

1. Are Christmas cruises worth the extra expense? (I have never been on a cruise over a holiday)

 

2.What are your personal experiences with the crown princess, and if you have cruised on it over Christmas; I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

3. I was considering the aloha deck, and will be getting a balcony for the wife and I. If I take this cruise, we will also need an inside cabin on the same deck as our room. Any thoughts as to decks? (We prefer privacy on our balcony)

 

Thank you in advance!

[runnerodb83]

Hello everyone, I am considering taking the family on a Christmas cruise in 2014. After initially looking at caribbean cruises and considering that it costs more than $2500 dollars to fly to florida (before taxes and for non-refundable seats (aka: the cheapest)); I am considering keeping it local and doing a week long cruise on the Crown Princess out of Los Angeles. My question has a few parts:

 

1. Are Christmas cruises worth the extra expense? (I have never been on a cruise over a holiday)

 

2.What are your personal experiences with the crown princess, and if you have cruised on it over Christmas; I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

3. I was considering the aloha deck, and will be getting a balcony for the wife and I. If I take this cruise, we will also need an inside cabin on the same deck as our room. Any thoughts as to decks? (We prefer privacy on our balcony)

 

Thank you in advance!

 

1) Christmas cruises are great. Worth the extra expense...well if you get a good deal maybe? We are going this year over xmas but got a good deal for it otherwise it was going to be almost double the price of mexico at other times of the year, and most would say mexico is not worth it for that price. That said, the ship is decorated throughout, there are carolers, and many other things. Last time we cruised at Christmas was 2008 so I'm sure there have been additional improvements. One thing that stood out was when we were at anchor in Cabo San Lucas on Xmas day, the Cruise Director came on and announced that someone was approaching the ship and that all the children should look on the port side. Sure enough, a crewmember dressed as santa was being ferried to this ship on the small life raft skiff. He boarded in the atrium and handed out small gifts to all the children. My niece and nephew really loved it.

 

2) havent sailed on the crown

 

3) Sounds like Aloha, Baja, or Riviera are the decks you'll need to choose from.

 

Edit: heres a small picture of snow in the atrium

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2012/11/29/10188569/HolidaySnowinAtrium11_29_12.jpg

As you can see, the ship is pretty festive.

[Blue Line]

1) Christmas cruises are great. Worth the extra expense...well if you get a good deal maybe? We are going this year over xmas but got a good deal for it otherwise it was going to be almost double the price of mexico at other times of the year, and most would say mexico is not worth it for that price. That said, the ship is decorated throughout, there are carolers, and many other things. Last time we cruised at Christmas was 2008 so I'm sure there have been additional improvements. One thing that stood out was when we were at anchor in Cabo San Lucas on Xmas day, the Cruise Director came on and announced that someone was approaching the ship and that all the children should look on the port side. Sure enough, a crewmember dressed as santa was being ferried to this ship on the small life raft skiff. He boarded in the atrium and handed out small gifts to all the children. My niece and nephew really loved it.

 

2) havent sailed on the crown

 

3) Sounds like Aloha, Baja, or Riviera are the decks you'll need to choose from.

 

Edit: heres a small picture of snow in the atrium

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2012/11/29/10188569/HolidaySnowinAtrium11_29_12.jpg

As you can see, the ship is pretty festive.

 

That is awesome! It sounds like it is worth the extra cost. i like the thought of the ship being decorated too Thank you so much for your reply, and I like the pic!!

[caribill]

Holiday time pictures on an Xmas time cruise

[melody hounddog]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

[Blue Line]

Holiday time pictures on an Xmas time cruise

 

Thank you for sharing the pics!!! Now to confuse things, wife thinks she may want to go the following week (starting 12-27-14 for 7 days)... Do they keep the decorations up, or are the festivities dialed down?

 

Thanks again for everyone's input!

[Blue Line]

*i will show her the pics when I get home-- those may change her mind again (back to the Christmas cruise)

[Maddle]

We've been on two Christmas cruises, and I would say yes, they were worth the extra expense (and I don't think it was that much more.) We did miss our extended family though - so give that some consideration. (It was just my husband and myself both times.)

 

Two years ago we were on the Sapphire to Hawaii, and last year we did the Disney Magic to Western Caribbean. They were both wonderful....but I do think Princess was the better Christmas/Holiday celebration overall.

 

Three years ago we went the week following Christmas (that your wife is suggesting) on the Carnival Splendor to the Mexican Riviera. The decorations (trees, wreaths, etc.) were still up until New Year's Day, and then a few garlands and lights were left in place. While that is my only data point, I would imagine that is pretty typical.

 

Maddle

[Cruisin' Chick]

Our last three cruises were during both Christmas and NY during the last ten years. The Christmas decorations always came down a day or two after the 25th. To us, being on board meant we didn't have to fight the crowds at our local mall for both parking and breathing space.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

I love cruising during the holidays. The decorations are gorgeous, everyone seems to be in a good mood, lots of activities. Since I have to travel to see family and during horrible weather and my friends that are in town are miserable to be with (that is another story), I prefer the solitude of cruising during Christmas. The week goes by so fast, I get to see some sun, and I love being in Mexico. The extra price is so worth it to me.

[skf]

We have sailed 3 times in Crown...great ship. One Caribbean cruise (B2B 14 days in 2007) was over Halloween. It was a blast with all the decorations & costumes, so I imagine Christmas would be just as good.

Steve

[partybarbie]

DH and I spent 32 days on the Crown last year. The Christmas decorations started going up around December 1st. We got off the ship December 22nd, so we didn't stay on for Christmas. The Crown Christmas trees are beautiful, as were the stairway garlands and the gingerbread houses. It was really fun though seeing the European ports all decorated for the holidays. Local school children were selling homemade mini-pies and cookies and numerous cities had set up little street fairs.

 

DH and I did take his two teenagers on a Caribbean Christmas cruise. We had a wonderful dinner on Christmas eve, complete with beef wellington and lobster tails. The tables were decorated with English poppers and flowers. It was really nice.

 

The only negative thing that I would say is that some passengers did not have their children under control. May I say that the Elevator is not a toy nor a place to sit and play cards? Also blocking the staircase is not a good idea, or dumping the shampoo from your cabin into the hot tub. Just something to consider.

[madjohn]

I have been on one Christmas cruise and another this year. Its great and very relaxing. Right now I will not be doing it every years since I have smaller children and I think they need to have "traditional" Christmases. However the day is not far off where I will opt to do it this way every year.

 

I don't miss family, I always tell them they are free to book a cabin also.

[Blue Line]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I think our consensus is that we will go the 27th, so we can spend time with the whole family Christmas Eve (yearly tradition with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc)...

[PescadoAmarillo]

We rebooked our Christmas/New Years cruises today on the Emerald Princess, saving over $600 off a price that was already lower than we originally booked at, making our Christmas cruises no more expensive than in January. In fact, this will be our cheapest Christmas cruise ever...don't assume prices will stay as high as they are right now.

 

For lots of photos, menus, etc. you can check out my blog:

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas?m=0

[Blue Line]

I love cruising during the holidays. The decorations are gorgeous, everyone seems to be in a good mood, lots of activities. Since I have to travel to see family and during horrible weather and my friends that are in town are miserable to be with (that is another story), I prefer the solitude of cruising during Christmas. The week goes by so fast, I get to see some sun, and I love being in Mexico. The extra price is so worth it to me.

 

How was the weather last year? Is it warm enough totals advantage of the pool??

 

Thanks

[DougH]

I did a Christmas crusie a couple of years ago and it was very nice. Lots of families with kids but they were all well behaved (guess they wanted those presents) The ship was decorated very nicely and Princess did lots of special things for the kids.

 

I was pleasantly surprised how nice it was overall.

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you book far in advance of the cruise, you will pay a lot more than cruising at any other time of year with the exception of New Year's sailings. If you wait until after final payment, you'll get a good deal. This is what we did on our second Christmas cruise and it was really reasonably priced. In fact, our 2 balcony cabins were less expensive than the airfare for the 4 of us.

 

We're doing our third Christmas cruise in a few months. The majority of the decorations will be up after Thanksgiving, so you won't miss that if you go anytime in December. The first and second weeks are usually some of the cheapest weeks to go out of the entire year, so if you can go then instead, do so. You would miss some of the holiday festivities that are done only during the Christmas week though.

 

The one thing that I don't particularly like is the amount of kids onboard during Christmas week. It seems it's a bit over-run with kids then. But, as mentioned above, there are other fun things to outweigh that and there are always ways to avoid the crowds (like The Sanctuary). Our sons' companies close during that week and they have to take time off, so for us, it works to go on vacation then. I suppose there are many others in the same situation.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

We have cruised the week before Christmas week, which was a lot cheaper than sailing over Christmas itself, and it was already decorated for the holidays, holiday music was played, etc. So we enjoyed the holiday experience on board at less cost, and were back just in time to enjoy Christmas at home with family.

 

The Crown is a great ship!

[PescadoAmarillo]

There are a lot of kids on cruises at Christmas, but we've found that there are twice as many on the New Years cruises. There are also a lot of large, extended families on board, frequently from Mexico and South America.

 

Princess just released new, lower pricing for some Christmas 2013 cruises, and it's still before final payment. If you've ever wanted to take a Christmas cruise, do consider it this year.

[Tak8]

I really like Christmas cruises. I have done 2 on Princess. The atmosphere on board is wonderful. Princess has some great touches: eggnog, Santa visit, snow, gingerbread soufflé, music and lots of decorations. Also normally a wonderful Gingerbread village.