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We were on the Zaandam over Christmas & New Year this past year.  I was only able to attend 1 watercolor class due to them filling up very fast, to attend the watercolor class, I had to stand outside the door for about 1/2 hr before class time.  But that 1 class was a parrot, not Christmas themed.  Just beware that they fill up fast.  I wish they would have a "take a number" type of set up.  I have also done the acrylic class on a different, non holiday cruise-FYI-those are for a fee. They also had origami classes & coloring for adults which were complimentary.

The ship was decorated beautifully for our 16 day holiday cruise, plus tea time was Christmas themed.

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Dec 21 '23 - Jan 5 '24 K'dam neither origami nor watercoloring were holiday themed.

The ship was decorated fabulously and Midnight Mass was wonderful. 

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25 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Dec 21 '23 - Jan 5 '24 K'dam neither origami nor watercoloring were holiday themed.

The ship was decorated fabulously and Midnight Mass was wonderful. 

Thanks. I've only done 1 cruise during this time frame. It was MSC. Their crafts were themed and they gave out champagne at dinner on the eve and chocolates and gifts on sale after holiday. So just trying to get a feel for how different they are.

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They did pour a bit of champagne on New year's eve, I don't remember any free alcohol for Christmas, but I may have just missed it.  I am a Protestant, so didn't attend the Catholic service, but have heard they do a wonderful job.  They do have a non denominational service, which is either led by the Priest on board or a volunteer pastor on board. 

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On 7/3/2024 at 2:13 PM, AerynSun_JohnCrighton said:

We are doing a Holiday cruise in Dec. I was curious as to the arts and crafts and painting acitivities. Will these all be Christmas themed or some other stuff? 

 

The arts and crafts will be a mix, but the majority of the arts and crafts activities were not holiday-focused. There was definitely some holiday-themed origami, holiday doodles and coloring pages, and two Christmas cookie decorating classes. (I have sailed HAL for Christmas every year since 2013 and this was the first time I have ever seen a cookie decorating class, and it was a ton of fun.) The watercolor classes were all destination-themed, and the acrylic painting classes were the standard lessons offered on any sailing. The latter are video-instructed classes so I can't imagine that would change.

 

Note that most of this is likely dependent on the arts and crafts instructor onboard, and quality of those can vary. We had a very good and thoughtful instructor on the Zaandam last Christmas, but YMMV. 

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