michigyrl Posted January 8, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I am seriously considering booking a cruise for my daughter (24) and I for Christmas 2014. I saw a Carnival cruise that I was so close to booking today! For those of you that have cruised at Christmas, is it mostly families cruising or is it a mixture? I spend so much time "doing" around the holidays...baking and buying that it just gets tiresome. We really have no family left in the area and I think getting away for the holidays would be perfect for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwg03 Posted January 8, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I have been on two Christmas cruises and they are fantastic. Many more kids but the atmosphere is great. It's a great mix that if you want to getaway from Christmas you can but the ships are also tastefully decorated. Also, the weather is absolutely perfect! DO IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfromCT Posted January 8, 2014 #3 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I say DO IT!:D:D I am so tempted as well, as we don't have much family here, either. I would just LOVE to get away and not deal with the Chaos of the holidays. Go, and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endymion6942 Posted January 8, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 8, 2014 My DW and I have done a Christmas cruise with our two sons every year since 2006. Since my wife is a teacher, we have to look close at school schedules and sailing schedules. For us it is not a question IF we are doing a Christmas cruise, but which one. I highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forwardcabin Posted January 8, 2014 #5 Share Posted January 8, 2014 By all means--book the Christmas cruise. We have been on both Christmas and New Years cruises with our family. It's a great alternative to staying home for Christmas. The ship is decorated. There's Christmas music playing. On our last Christmas cruise there was caroling and dancing in the atrium where they made real snow fall from the top. They had a big Christmas show in the main lounge complete with the Camp Carnival kids performing Christmas music and Santa reading a Christmas story. Again, real snow fell from the top of the show lounge. Be sure to bring your own Santa hats. New Years is another great time to be cruising--perhaps you could book a B2B! What a party! On New Years Eve, there's complimentary champagne. They give you hats and noise makers. There are New Years Eve parties in all the bars and lounges. There's a killer rock-n-roll party on Lido. Then they blow the horn at Midnight (no fireworks, of course)! Here's hoping you have a great holiday cruise. Bon Voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle1836 Posted January 8, 2014 #6 Share Posted January 8, 2014 lots of kids since they are all on winter break. just got off the Fantasy (went in between Christmas and New Years) and there were 900 kids on board!! it wasn't horrible but they place the kids clubs right near the piano bar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winddawn Posted January 8, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I am seriously considering booking a cruise for my daughter (24) and I for Christmas 2014. I saw a Carnival cruise that I was so close to booking today! For those of you that have cruised at Christmas, is it mostly families cruising or is it a mixture? I spend so much time "doing" around the holidays...baking and buying that it just gets tiresome. We really have no family left in the area and I think getting away for the holidays would be perfect for us! You are so correct! Cruising over Christmas is a great way to get away from the stress associated with Christmas. I've cruised over Christmas many times. You can leave the cooking and decorating to Carnival. With a little imagination, you can personalize the experience and create new family traditions not only by cruising at Christmas, but by figuring out gifts that fit in your suitcase to take with you to make the experience more fun and memorable. I hope it works out for you where you can cruise at Christmas. Start a new family tradition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsgoneletscruise Posted January 8, 2014 #8 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Do it!!! :D We have found that cruising during the holidays makes it more about our enjoyment to be together rather than that perfect gift, dinner, parties and the chaos that comes with all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcool Posted January 8, 2014 #9 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I would say go for it I witch I could do a Christmas cruise I have done everything to try to make a Christmas cruise but because of work I can not do it. So have fun for me. You only live once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forwardcabin Posted January 8, 2014 #10 Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) ...With a little imagination, you can personalize the experience and create new family traditions not only by cruising at Christmas, but by figuring out gifts that fit in your suitcase to take with you to make the experience more fun and memorable... ...That's exactly what we did. DW made some little mittens out of felt and ribbon. Then we packed them with gift cards and cash. There were multiple mittens from which to choose on the table with their names on them. We all exchanged other gifts that were small enough to bring in luggage. The kids still talk about this as the best family cruise they've been on. Here's hoping you have a great Christmas cruise. Bon Voyage! Edited January 8, 2014 by forwardcabin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manmachine Posted January 8, 2014 #11 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We have done two-- we live in Florida-- and enjoyed them both. We brought small decorations for the cabin. Very low stress for us. But... If I had to travel over the holidays, meaning fly... I just would not do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichelleChell Posted January 8, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I am booked for Christmas 2014 on Magic and can't wait! I will have a 6yr old and a 11yr old. So I'm doing stockings with GC and cash and stuff in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigyrl Posted January 8, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Thanks everyone!! I appreciate your feedback! :D I hadn't thought about the flights in and out...I guess that is something we would have to deal with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrieluvsgreg Posted January 8, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We went on a 4-day in December, but returned on December 23. The ship was decorated beautifully, there was a special show on the last night that was for Christmas. There was even "snow" in the atrium! All that being said, by returning on the 23rd, there was still the push to have traditional Christmas things when we returned. It was a lot to accomplish and left us feeling drained. I could easily do a cruise that happened over Christmas, but because of our extended family, it's just not an option for us. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegal11 Posted January 8, 2014 #15 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Do it! We just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Freedom. We had a fabulous time! It was so nice not to have to cook and clean. There was free champagne on the first day and on Christmas day. Our next adventure will be a NYE cruise on the Breeze 2015. We're anxiously awaiting the rest of the 2015 itineraries. Happy cruising!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigyrl Posted January 8, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Do it! We just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Freedom. We had a fabulous time! It was so nice not to have to cook and clean. There was free champagne on the first day and on Christmas day. Our next adventure will be a NYE cruise on the Breeze 2015. We're anxiously awaiting the rest of the 2015 itineraries. Happy cruising!! Funny because I was thinking about booking the Breeze. 8 days and a great itinerary! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigyrl Posted January 8, 2014 Author #17 Share Posted January 8, 2014 ...That's exactly what we did. DW made some little mittens out of felt and ribbon. Then we packed them with gift cards and cash. There were multiple mittens from which to choose on the table with their names on them. We all exchanged other gifts that were small enough to bring in luggage. The kids still talk about this as the best family cruise they've been on. Here's hoping you have a great Christmas cruise. Bon Voyage! Love the photo!! And thanks for the ideas! I told her the cruise WAS her Christmas gift, but I would love to secretly take something along to surprise her Christmas morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forwardcabin Posted January 9, 2014 #18 Share Posted January 9, 2014 ...also, bring Christmas or New Years decorations for you cabin door... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LMaxwell Posted January 9, 2014 #19 Share Posted January 9, 2014 A week or two earlier, if possible; half the price, 1/3 the kids. Xmas week is one of the most expensive weeks to cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healthcoachAmy Posted January 9, 2014 #20 Share Posted January 9, 2014 My husband and I spent 8 days on the Splendor for Christmas!! It was awesome!! Quite a few kids but nothing more than what I would call as usual. If you pick a large enough ship you won't see the kids that much. Kind of fun to get a "slight" sunburn on Christmas Eve while in Freeport, Bahamas full well knowing that all my friends in Connecticut were freezing their rears off! We don't have family in the area so it wasn't a hard choice to make. Sit on a boat and complete 2013 with three cruises or sit at home and grumble that it is cold. Ha. The meals on Christmas Day in the main dining room are over-the-top and a little extra special. snow in the atrium, and a christmas special. the in room movies were holiday themed at times so I was able to see some of the traditional holiday movies. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcnusoon Posted January 9, 2014 #21 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I am seriously considering booking a cruise for my daughter (24) and I for Christmas 2014. I saw a Carnival cruise that I was so close to booking today! For those of you that have cruised at Christmas, is it mostly families cruising or is it a mixture? I spend so much time "doing" around the holidays...baking and buying that it just gets tiresome. We really have no family left in the area and I think getting away for the holidays would be perfect for us! I would book a Christmas cruise in a heartbeat! Every year I hint to my girls (23/17) about going away for Christmas and they are dead set against it. I figure we could cruise, then when they start having families, etc. we'll stay home. I don't think I can convince them in time this year as I did win out on going away for Thanksgiving. Book and have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigyrl Posted January 9, 2014 Author #22 Share Posted January 9, 2014 A week or two earlier, if possible; half the price, 1/3 the kids. Xmas week is one of the most expensive weeks to cruise. I wish I could! I see those prices and they are a great bargain! But my daughter's a nanny and only gets the time off at Christmas. Plus we really want to get away at Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigyrl Posted January 9, 2014 Author #23 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Just booked our Christmas cruise on the Breeze!! Can't wait! Cloud 9 Spa Room + the FTF. And the looooong wait starts now! Thanks again everyone for your imput! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz.n.carebear Posted January 23, 2014 #24 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I just booked yesterday for our Christmas cruise, too! I went back and forth and decided that this would be our Christmas in lieu of gifts! We are not telling the kids - we're sailing on a 12/21 sailing - so we're going to somehow surprise them by maybe wrapping up little gifts that give hints, like sunscreen, or shore excursions, etc and let them open them up on the 19th and tell them to start packing! I do have a question since there are so many of you that have done this over Christmas. Are shore excursions affected on Christmas Eve/Day? We are in Cozumel on Christmas Eve and in Grand Cayman on Christmas Day. Will the excursions be operating as usual, or will we have to adjust our plans? We want to do Amazing Cozumel Race and Stingray City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wb3690 Posted January 23, 2014 #25 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I would do it in a heartbeat! I suggest vacations over the holidays EVERY single year...they never want to go. I think if they tried it they would have a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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