Holiday Cruise- what to expect

[Banditswife]

We will be doing a 16 day "holiday" cruise on the Zaandam-12/19 thru 1/4.  What special activities will there be onboard?  Someone on our roll call said ugly Christmas sweater contest & New year's eve ball.  I know the ship will be decorated.  And since we will be in the Caribbean, I think I'll try for an ugly Christmas tshirt.  Anything else I should plan on packing?

[sailawayward]

You'll be in Barbados on Christmas Day and in Jamaica on New Year's Day. I'd be more concerned about having something worthwhile to do in port on those days.   

[kazu]

Santa comes for the kiddies on Christmas Day.

 

Carol singing Christmas Eve.

 

New Year’s has a countdown in several places.

 

There’s a tree lighting before Christmas which is nice - probably around the 20th?

 

there will be more children than usual although with the length of your cruise probably not as many as on the 7 day cruises.  

 

I honestly do not recall an ugly sweater contest on ours.

 

 

[albingirl]

34 minutes ago, sailawayward said:

You'll be in Barbados on Christmas Day and in Jamaica on New Year's Day. I'd be more concerned about having something worthwhile to do in port on those days.   

Barbados is outstanding. Beautiful beaches!

[Infi]

Have been sailing HAL for Christmas since 2013 and have never seen a ugly sweater contest onboard. May be a roll call thing. 

[Infi]

14 hours ago, Banditswife said:

We will be doing a 16 day "holiday" cruise on the Zaandam-12/19 thru 1/4.  What special activities will there be onboard?  Someone on our roll call said ugly Christmas sweater contest & New year's eve ball.  I know the ship will be decorated.  And since we will be in the Caribbean, I think I'll try for an ugly Christmas tshirt.  Anything else I should plan on packing?

 

Seconding the replies above and adding these:

 

• Lots of ship decorations: Christmas trees, garland, gingerbread house village in the atrium
• Special MDR menus for Christmas eve, Christmas day, and New Year's eve
• Tree lighting ceremony and caroling in the atrium (last year on Zaandam they also served mulled wine and Christmas cookies)
• Christmas eve show in the theater: caroling, performances by the crew, and a very beautiful recessional
• Christmas day visit from Santa with presents for under 18s
• Christmas movies in the theater and Christmas music throughout the ship
• Christmas cookies in the Lido, eggnog and stollen on Christmas morning
• The ships used to have three simultaneous parties for New Year's eve (usually crow's nest or piano bar, theater, and the pool), each with a different ambiance. The one in the theater was the largest and most similar to the balls HAL has on longer voyages with live music and a balloon drop. Since the pandemic, they have only had one party outdoors by the pool. It's most similar to the orange party IMHO.

[Banditswife]

Thanks for these replies. 

Barbados- there wasn't much for shore x with HAL or private tours.  So we plan to just DIY, see if anything is available from the port area.  But we have visited Barbados previously.

Jamaica- we've been here before several times & will probably stay on the ship or just check out the port area again. Have done different tours here before, so no biggie to miss this one.

We are most looking forward to being on board a ship over the holidays, so we aren't worried about the ports.  Our kids & most of our grandkids are grown & do their own thing for the holidays.  

I don't mind kids onboard, but was hoping with the longer itinerary, there would be less kids.

[Infi]

13 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

I don't mind kids onboard, but was hoping with the longer itinerary, there would be less kids.

 

You won't find many kids aboard. Last Christmas on Zaandam we did a similar itinerary (16 day Southern Caribbean, just different ports) and there were less than 50 kids under 18. 

[FlaMariner]

21 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

I don't mind kids onboard, but was hoping with the longer itinerary, there would be less kids.

 

I would bet it will be less kids than last years Nieuw Statendam Thanksgiving cruise.....Remember that?.....That was the "high level mark" for us and kids on a HAL ship......Good to see the multi-generations onboard HAL but Her Majesty and I thought we had just boarded a Carnival ship in the summer....brought back memories...some good, some not so good....

 

Enjoy the Christmas cruise in the Caribbean.  

[Banditswife]

Tell me more about the New Year's Eve party.  Do I need to pack a more dressy attire?  I usually pack a black mid calf length cocktail dress for "dressy" nights, but I do have a long beaded dress I could pack for myself.  But DH doesn't own a suit or tux, just a jacket & tie w/ slacks- will this be dressy enough for him?  Looking forward to the special events.

[Banditswife]

2 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

I would bet it will be less kids than last years Nieuw Statendam Thanksgiving cruise.....Remember that?.....That was the "high level mark" for us and kids on a HAL ship......Good to see the multi-generations onboard HAL but Her Majesty and I thought we had just boarded a Carnival ship in the summer....brought back memories...some good, some not so good....

 

Enjoy the Christmas cruise in the Caribbean.  

We were on NS for the week before or after Thanksgiving last year, can't remember which. But I think we missed the actual holiday week.  There were a bunch of kids that is for sure, which also surprised me.  They took over the center pool & the aft pool.  And yes, it did remind me of a Carnival cruise, only worse because at least Carnival has water slides & other things to keep the kids occupied.

[ldog]

27 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

Tell me more about the New Year's Eve party.  Do I need to pack a more dressy attire?  I usually pack a black mid calf length cocktail dress for "dressy" nights, but I do have a long beaded dress I could pack for myself.  But DH doesn't own a suit or tux, just a jacket & tie w/ slacks- will this be dressy enough for him?  Looking forward to the special events.

We were onboard last year. New Year’s Eve party was dressier than others but it was the full gammet from evening gowns to polo shirts. 
 

The dinner menus were varied. I had a delicious roast goose dinner at Christmas. 

[PalmSprings]

11 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

I would bet it will be less kids than last years Nieuw Statendam Thanksgiving cruise.....Remember that?..

It was really crazy!  The pools/pool decks and buffet were like war zones.  On the upside, it forced us to find hidden niches to spend time in peace and quiet.  Karma granted us a gift, though, on our next cruise this spring - only a couple of teens were aboard and they were all basically young adults.

[Banditswife]

My problem with the kids on the NS last year was they took over both pools.  And during the big screen movie made lots of noise on the deck above, making it difficult to watch the movie.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

On 9/17/2023 at 6:35 AM, kazu said:

there will be more children than usual although with the length of your cruise probably not as many as on the 7 day cruises.

A lot of families we met on the Zuiderdam last Christmas had booked during a ‘Kids sail for free’ promotion. It was a 12 day cruise, but could be booked as 7 and 5 day segments. The captain told us there were over 400 children on board on the Christmas portion.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Horizon chaser 1957

[Wayfairers]

On 9/16/2023 at 7:11 PM, Banditswife said:

We will be doing a 16 day "holiday" cruise on the Zaandam-12/19 thru 1/4.  What special activities will there be onboard?  Someone on our roll call said ugly Christmas sweater contest & New year's eve ball.  I know the ship will be decorated.  And since we will be in the Caribbean, I think I'll try for an ugly Christmas tshirt.  Anything else I should plan on packing?

We were on the Zaandam holiday cruise last year and surprised how much was closed in ports the entire cruise.  We expected on Christmas and New Years, but many places are closed the entire week.  We didn’t have an ugly Christmas sweater contest - but that would be fun.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

A lot of families we met on the Zuiderdam last Christmas had booked during a ‘Kids sail for free’ promotion. It was a 12 day cruise, but could be booked as 7 and 5 day segments. The captain told us there were over 400 children on board on the Christmas portion.

 

Yes, there were 500-600 children on the Koningsdam at Christmas /New Years.

 

The most were on the 5 and 7 day segments but there were still a pile on the 9 day one.  Also “kids sail free”.  Not sure why HAL offers that at a peak time?

[Horizon chaser 1957]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

Yes, there were 500-600 children on the Koningsdam at Christmas /New Years.

 

The most were on the 5 and 7 day segments but there were still a pile on the 9 day one.  Also “kids sail free”.  Not sure why HAL offers that at a peak time?

I know. I’ve heard good things about Club HAL, but it is NOT designed for hundreds of children!

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

I know. I’ve heard good things about Club HAL, but it is NOT designed for hundreds of children!

 

No, they can’t accommodate many children even on a Pinnacle Class ship.  I think I heard around 40 they could accommodate?  Don’t quote me on that - but, for sure it wasn’t a high number when you looked at the volumes of children on board

[Horizon chaser 1957]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:59 PM, kazu said:

 

No, they can’t accommodate many children even on a Pinnacle Class ship.  I think I heard around 40 they could accommodate?  Don’t quote me on that - but, for sure it wasn’t a high number when you looked at the volumes of children on board

40 is the ballpark I’ve always heard, too.

Oops - I just quoted quoted you on that!😉

[Banditswife]

There is a huge difference between 40 well behaved children & 40 not so well behaved children.  I am hoping that the Zaandam being a smaller ship, the 16 day itinerary, & no kids sail free sale that I know of- we should have less kids.  We love kids, have 10 grandkids- just not all at once.

[lelo14]

Hello,

 

We are in the Nieuw Statendam for New Year's and I'm trying to figure out how many formal nights to plan for and if New Year's Eve counts as one of them. Does anyone know? It's an 11 night cruise with sea days on days 2, 3, and 10 and NYE on day 5.

 

Thanks so much,

Laura

[lelo14]

Hello all,

 

Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

We are on a New Year's cruise on Nieuw Statendam departing Fort Lauderdale on Dec 27 for 11 nights.  I'm wondering how much Christmas stuff there might be. We would love some Christmas stuff.  My step-father-in-law is English and he is used to celebrating the 12 days of Christmas till Epiphany.

 

Thanks,

Laura

[Banditswife]

2 hours ago, lelo14 said:

Hello all,

 

Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

We are on a New Year's cruise on Nieuw Statendam departing Fort Lauderdale on Dec 27 for 11 nights.  I'm wondering how much Christmas stuff there might be. We would love some Christmas stuff.  My step-father-in-law is English and he is used to celebrating the 12 days of Christmas till Epiphany.

 

Thanks,

Laura

I am not sure about your 1st question, but pretty sure the holiday decor will be up & plentiful for your cruise.  We were on the NS last year the week after Thanksgiving, they were decorating the ship for the full 7 days.  We were on a deck where they were storing decorations, as the week progressed the storage room emptied & the ship became more festive each day.  I am pretty sure they keep it decorated until after New Year.  Although they may be dismantling it by the end of your cruise.  Our cruise ends on the 4th of Jan.  Have fun & enjoy your holiday cruise.

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, lelo14 said:

Hello all,

 

Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

We are on a New Year's cruise on Nieuw Statendam departing Fort Lauderdale on Dec 27 for 11 nights.  I'm wondering how much Christmas stuff there might be. We would love some Christmas stuff.  My step-father-in-law is English and he is used to celebrating the 12 days of Christmas till Epiphany.

 

Thanks,

Laura

I was aboard the Nieuw Statendam in 2021 and Rotterdam in 2022 for New Years cruises.  On both ships, all of the decorations remained up during my cruises.