Thanksgiving at sea

[lesands77]

Hi everyone, we are sailing on Ovation on the 16th and I’ve just found out that thanksgiving is on the 24th! Is there anything special that happens on board? I’d love to hear what not to miss! 😊

[ValerieJo]

There will be a special dinner menu that will include the traditional Thanksgiving fare.  There will also be standard items on the menu as well.

[BirdTravels]

28 minutes ago, lesands77 said:

Hi everyone, we are sailing on Ovation on the 16th and I’ve just found out that thanksgiving is on the 24th! Is there anything special that happens on board? I’d love to hear what not to miss! 😊

Turkey at the buffet and in the MDR. Along with normal fare (Chinese, Indian, burgers) because only a portion of the passengers are American and not all celebrate the holiday. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by BirdTravels

[aunursa]

I was onboard Mariner of the Seas during Thanksgiving in 2011 and Freedom of the Seas in 2016. The ship was decorated for the holiday. There was a special Thanksgiving dinner menu, and a Thanksgiving themed family activity in the evening. All of the decor was gone by the next morning as the crew prepared to install the Christmas decorations.

[ONECRUISER]

34 minutes ago, aunursa said:

I was onboard Mariner of the Seas during Thanksgiving in 2011 and Freedom of the Seas in 2016. The ship was decorated for the holiday. There was a special Thanksgiving dinner menu, and a Thanksgiving themed family activity in the evening. All of the decor was gone by the next morning as the crew prepared to install the Christmas decorations.

Yup! Done 8 Thanksgivings lots of Thanksgiving Fare inc great Desserts, though was one in 2019 we didnt have multiple Xmas Trees, Deco's up and Holiday Music playing Friday Morning. They put them up the next nite

Edited November 2, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[lcpagejr]

We are also cruising over Thanksgiving on Odyssey of Seas... Have cruised numerous times over Thanksgiving...really can't add anything to what has been previously commented. However I do not recall them decorating for Xmas while on ship ...I do recall seeing boxes of trees, ornaments, decorations etc as we disembarked the Sat/Sun after Thanksgiving

[lesands77]

Thanks for all your replies! Looks like I have lots of turkey and good desserts to look forward to. I hope they have pumpkin pie - I’ve always wanted to try it 😋

[powelweb]

In addition to having Thanksgiving at sea (where I was the only one of our party who ordered the traditional turkey dinner), we stopped at St. Thomas for Black Friday shopping and were able to make a significant dent in our holiday shopping.

[ARandomTraveler]

I'm hoping there's special Black Friday sales at the Next Cruise desk. My credit card will be ready. 

[joand452]

We sailed on Anthem over last Thanksgiving (2021) and also on Quantum in 2014. 
 

On Quantum, Christmas decorations went up on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, but not on Anthem last year.  Maybe it’s a ship-by-ship thing. It was disappointing to me, as I had wanted to switch our door magnets!  But I survived! 😉

[ONECRUISER]

Wanted to add even WJ this inc Whole Turkey Carving Station

[Mum2Mercury]

We sailed over Thanksgiving once -- it was when my kids were still small -- we won't do it again:  

 

- Yes, they served an excellent turkey meal in the MDR.  One of the best MDR meals I've ever had.  I cannot remember whether pumpkin pie was a dessert choice.  

- The ship sailed at over-capacity, meaning every cabin was full and more cabins than usual sailed with 3rd and 4th passengers.  The ship was crowded, and that made a difference in our enjoyment of the cruise.  They even assigned us to a horrible little side room instead of a table in the main dining room (we were on Mariner, and it was a side room called Melodies ... you can see it on the deck plans); it felt like being at the kids' table.  

- Because of the holiday, the cruise price was quite high.  

- They started putting up Christmas decorations, and they were lovely. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Mum2Mercury

[jsf]

We sailed over Thanksgiving for many years and every time they always had the traditional dinner. To be truthful I always had Prime rib for dinner, I can get turkey for $.69 a lb at home not the Prime rib.

[SRF]

On 11/3/2022 at 11:22 AM, ARandomTraveler said:

I'm hoping there's special Black Friday sales at the Next Cruise desk. My credit card will be ready. 

 

I did not think of that.  Hmmm.  Hide the cards????

 

😄

[mets123]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:56 PM, lesands77 said:

Thanks for all your replies! Looks like I have lots of turkey and good desserts to look forward to. I hope they have pumpkin pie - I’ve always wanted to try it 😋

I'm sure your local grocery store or Walmart sells pumpkin pie, at least the ones where I live do.

[CntPAcruiser]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:56 PM, lesands77 said:

Thanks for all your replies! Looks like I have lots of turkey and good desserts to look forward to. I hope they have pumpkin pie - I’ve always wanted to try it 😋

 

The one Thanksgiving cruise we did, the turkey dinner was not bad, but the pumpkin pie was not good at all. They made individual tarts and overbaked them, so the custard had separated from the pie shell, which somehow was then soggy, and they didn't use real whipped cream on top. I hope that you will get something better on your cruise.

[lesands77]

2 hours ago, mets123 said:

I'm sure your local grocery store or Walmart sells pumpkin pie, at least the ones where I live do.

I’m in Australia so thanksgiving isn’t really a thing here. We have pumpkin scones but not quite the same experience I’m sure!

[George C]

We cruised thanksgiving week for about a decade , yes traditional Turkey dinner with the trim, they will start putting up Christmas stuff, we cruised the week after thanksgiving last decade , tree is totally decorated during that cruise. Definitely prefer the week after , way less children and much cheaper, we booked grand suites because of reduced price.

[AshleyDillo]

On Oasis one year they did a "turkey pardoning" on the Promenade.

 

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:22 AM, ARandomTraveler said:

I'm hoping there's special Black Friday sales at the Next Cruise desk. My credit card will be ready. 

 

Their Black Friday sales are usually the best of the year!

 

Plus you'll get to see their beautiful Christmas decorations.

[Mum2Mercury]

9 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

Their Black Friday sales are usually the best of the year!

Are the same Black Friday sales available online? 

Do they wait until the actual Black Friday day, or will they open them earlier in the month?

[PhoenixCruiser]

@Mum2Mercuryyes they will be available online. They might start on Wednesday or Thursday but not usually any earlier. At least that is what I remember.

[ARandomTraveler]

11 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Are the same Black Friday sales available online? 

Do they wait until the actual Black Friday day, or will they open them earlier in the month?

 

8 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

@Mum2Mercuryyes they will be available online. They might start on Wednesday or Thursday but not usually any earlier. At least that is what I remember.

So nothing extra is offered for Black Friday when you're on the ship vs when you're shopping online? 
 

I was hoping for extra on board credit or something like that. 

[Dan83]

We’re on Allure for thanksgiving week. I’m looking forward to trying chef’s table for the first time. Just trying to decide which night to reserve it for, basing my decision on the menu in MDR. Don’t want to miss lobster night of course. Royal app has the menu all scrambled up for our sailing compared to the current sailings. With the menu being blank for thanksgiving night and the rest of the week. If I end up with chef’s table on lobster night, would it be inappropriate to request a lobster tail as one of the courses?