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Easter cruise? Thumbs up or down?

vickster6k

By vickster6k,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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vickster6k

vickster6k

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Trying to decide on our next cruise. One option is the Gem over Easter.

 

We will be in St Thomas that day. Will there be excursions like normal?

 

What will be different?

 

Do they do anything extra for the Kiddos? We have a 6 year old.

 

Any and all advice and opinions are welcome!!

 

Thanks!!

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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Trying to decide on our next cruise. One option is the Gem over Easter.

 

We will be in St Thomas that day. Will there be excursions like normal?

 

What will be different?

 

Do they do anything extra for the Kiddos? We have a 6 year old.

 

Any and all advice and opinions are welcome!!

 

Thanks!!

 

we have done a couple cruises that started on Easter Sunday, but never one over Easter.I am guessing there will be some tours that day, but not much really going on. As for activities for kids, again, I am assuming the kids club will have something and the dining room will offer a tradtional Easter dinner. Remember, the ship will be filled with kids, that will effect service etc, but they are used to the crowds.

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Kierste

Kierste

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Just did an 11 day that ended the day after Easter on the Pearl. Because it was an 11 day, we only had about 100 kids on board. We did pass the Easter bunny at some point, and there were a little bit of stick up decorations in the buffet. I remember there was also a service mentioned in the daily and they televised the Pope's service. We had a sea day for Easter though.

 

Good Friday however, we were on St Thomas. I know there were less excursions and less shops open because of it. I would assume Easter would be worse. We did the Simplicity sailboat on St Thomas and loved it. Neither the captain or his helper have young kids yet (just a cool dog), so I wonder if they would go out on Easter. My guess is yes.

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DMH15

DMH15

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I cruised Easter on the Jewel. It was a sea day for us. There was no services. I missed that. I did an easter egg hunt in our cabin for my niece.

 

I think they had an Easter dinner menu. We did not go. I think we ate at O'Sheehans that night.

 

Easter cruises can overlap with some Spring Breaks, as ours did. There were 750 kids on board but it was never a problem. They were delightful.

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zqvol

zqvol

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All 7 and 8 day Easter cruises overlap spring break. The ships are full of K-12 age kids running around like made men all hours of the day and night. The ships don't typically do anything special or extra because it is a religious holiday that is not universally celebrated, even among all Christan denominations.

 

You will likely find things in St. Thomas either closing early or opening late.

 

Some lines might have an Easter egg hunt for the children and a "special" meal in the dining room but that is about all that you will see different than on a non holiday cruise.

Edited by zqvol
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luvtheships

luvtheships

Posted
Posted (edited)
Trying to decide on our next cruise. One option is the Gem over Easter.

 

We will be in St Thomas that day. Will there be excursions like normal?

 

What will be different?

 

Do they do anything extra for the Kiddos? We have a 6 year old.

 

Any and all advice and opinions are welcome!!

 

Thanks!!

 

We embarked the Jewell on Easter Sunday one year

 

The Easter bunny welcomed us aboard they had Easter egg and bunny decorations in venues for the week and the md in le bistro gave us the huge solid chocolate bunny that was the center piece on our table

 

 

As for the port...... Well one year we were porting in Aruba on Easter Monday and because the place was closed down I must be the only person on the planet who isn't impressed with Aruba

 

I would think the snorkel tours would be on though as they are basically run by great young adults and usually just in the am

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by luvtheships
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weltek

weltek

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As for the port...... Well one year we were porting in Aruba on Easter Monday and because the place was closed down I must be the only person on the planet who isn't impressed with Aruba

 

 

I thought I was the only one that doesn't think highly of Aruba! Cheers to us. :-)

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  • 2 months later...
Kierste

Kierste

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Our last full sea day was on Easter Sunday, there was a beautiful spread (ham, cross buns etc) at the buffet, but we had reservations at Le Bistro that night, nothing special for Easter that we noted, but the food was fantastic. Lots of little hints of decorations, and we did see a fairly sorry excuse for the bunny at one point (the girl's hair was poking out the back)... so the bunny was on board. We snuck Easter stuff in the suitcase and hid plastic eggs in the room etc... so it was festive enough for us :)

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asdjl

asdjl

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We were on the Getaway for Easter 2014, it was a sea day. I didn't notice anything special, I think there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids. However, we don't celebrate so I wasn't looking for anything, so I may not be the best person to ask, :) There was plenty to do on the ship, I don't believe there were any religious services. I will see if I still have the dailies.

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  • 2 months later...
SWFL_Cruising

SWFL_Cruising

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We were on the Getaway for Easter 2014, it was a sea day. I didn't notice anything special, I think there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids. However, we don't celebrate so I wasn't looking for anything, so I may not be the best person to ask, :) There was plenty to do on the ship, I don't believe there were any religious services. I will see if I still have the dailies.

 

 

Did you ever happen to come across your Dailies for your Easter cruise? I'm on the Escape for Easter and curious what (if any) Easter activities they'll have for children.

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Donna_In_India

Donna_In_India

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School vacations usually overlap Easter - some the week before, some the week after. In any case, there will be tons of kids on board. We sailed Oasis the week before Labor Day and one of the face painters was telling me there were 900 kids on our sailing and 2,700(yikes !) on the Easter sailing. For those of us who have to work around a school schedule, sometimes we have to go with the flow. If I had a choice though, I wouldn't sail that time of year.

 

I am sure that there is some celebration for Easter - there always is for Christmas. You can call NCL....

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LrgPizza

LrgPizza

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Did you ever happen to come across your Dailies for your Easter cruise? I'm on the Escape for Easter and curious what (if any) Easter activities they'll have for children.

 

I would be extremely surprised if there were any. You will find people of many religions on your cruise, and not all celebrate Easter, including a lot of the crew. I don't think we can expect the ship to plan activities around every individual religion's specific holidays.

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Donna_In_India

Donna_In_India

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I would be extremely surprised if there were any. You will find people of many religions on your cruise, and not all celebrate Easter, including a lot of the crew. I don't think we can expect the ship to plan activities around every individual religion's specific holidays.

 

Christmas is definitely celebrated on cruises...why not Easter? And as mentioned above, Easter has been celebrated on past NCL cruise.

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LrgPizza

LrgPizza

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Christmas is definitely celebrated on cruises...why not Easter? And as mentioned above, Easter has been celebrated on past NCL cruise.

 

But in the kids club? I think they will be way too busy decorating and planning for the huge Passover celebration.

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jkneern

jkneern

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We cruised over Easter a couple years back. It was a typical sea day. No special festivities. A little surprised about that but as others said not all recognize all holidays. If your bringing your children, plan ahead and bring stuff aboard. How fun to have an Easter egg hunt in the cabin. They will surely remember that!

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Donna_In_India

Donna_In_India

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But in the kids club? I think they will be way too busy decorating and planning for the huge Passover celebration.

 

Not sure if that was an attempt at humor or sarcasm. Don't believe there was any mention of the kids clubs. If you read some of the other posts, the Easter Bunny apparently was on board, there was a chocolate bunny, Easter egg hunt, etc. Have you done an Easter cruise?

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LrgPizza

LrgPizza

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Not sure if that was an attempt at humor or sarcasm. Don't believe there was any mention of the kids clubs. If you read some of the other posts, the Easter Bunny apparently was on board, there was a chocolate bunny, Easter egg hunt, etc. Have you done an Easter cruise?

But was it the real Easter bunny, or just some crew member in a costume?

 

No, and thankfully most people here are reporting that there is very little done on board, so therefore it would still be an option. Although, if I did it, we would call it a "cruise" and not an "Easter cruise."

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luvtheships

luvtheships

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We'll be on the Gem for Easter 2016..I was wondering about Easter as well. My daughter who is 7 now actually asked me just yesterday if the Easter bunny would be on the ship. :)

 

The Easter bunny greeted us as we embarked on Easter Sunday 2011. There were Easter decorations around for a few days after...like hanging Easter eggs and we got to take a big chocolate solid bunny to our cabin from le bistro on Easter Monday...it was probably a table decoration from the day before

 

If they had the bunny greet us on Easter Sunday I would logically assume that the same bunny waved to the pax as they departed the ship before us

 

This was the jewel out of NYC btw

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by luvtheships
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asdjl

asdjl

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Yes, I would have been uncomfortable if it was made a big deal throughout the ship, as we were not there for Easter. The egg hunt was an optional activity, like the others on the ship (i.e. bingo, etc., although I believe the egg hunt was free). How is Christmas celebrated? That would be another time for us to cruise, we don't celebrate that either, so I would be curious to know what is done. I heard several families had their own Easter celebrations, and had one friend who declined to cruise at Easter because it was important for them to be in church on that holiday

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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