Christmas Cruise?

[amdrees]

Has anyone done a Christmas Cruise where you are actually on the ship for Christmas? If so, I am interested in opinions/experiences.

 

[dclpluto]

Has anyone done a Christmas Cruise where you are actually on the ship for Christmas? If so, I am interested in opinions/experiences.

Was at castaway cay on Christmas Day back in09. Got a really good price a couple months before the cruise. Now prices are way too high imo.

 

[jdb in AZ]

As mentioned above, prices are too high now, but our DCL cruise on the Magic several years ago was one of our all-time favorites. The Fab 4 dressed in Victorian-Era costumes and when they came down the grand stair case on Christmas Eve, it started "snowing" in the atrium.

Some extended family members would rather spend Christmas at home in front of their fireplaces, and you can't take large gifts on the ship. No bicycles or ponies. If you're flying, TSA doesn't want wrapped presents in your checked luggage.

 

[traveln4fun]

We just got off of the Wonder Friday. The offerings on Christmas day were Santa in the main lobby for a few hours with a very short line, tables set up in the lobby with egg nog, hot chocolate and all sorts of cookies and desserts, a special Christmas menu in the restaurants, a huge lithograph in each stateroom designed especially for the Christmas cruise and a box of Disney Chocolates in a cute box, also during the week we were gifted a snowflake shaped loofa type sponge that is wonderful. This was on our bucket list to actually sail on Christmas day and we were not disappointed. It is extremely pricey, but if you can afford to sail, your kids will love it. The shows and Christmas carolers are wonderful and everyone is in the 'holiday spirit." We went to Nassau, Key West, and Castaway Cay and had 2 veranda rooms so the scenery was nice and weather was warm.

 

[cheribelle]

We just got off the Fantasy this past Saturday. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on the cruise. The ship was decorated so beautiful.

My favorite part was Christmas Eve. First we had the Tree Lighting which was a little show in the atrium and we did a countdown to light the tree. They had a spot marked up front for all the little ones to have a good viewing. Then at 10pm (think that was the time) we had the Holiday Ball which was one of my favorite things on the cruise. It was so magical! Santa and Mrs Claus made a stop on the ship to join in the party (and he was such a jolly Santa!). It was a show with characters, singing and dancing. For the finale, Elsa and Anna came out and Elsa made it "snow". Mind you, it was a lot of snow. Again just magical.
Came back to our room that night to a box of chocolates and a scented "sponge". Haven't opened it yet so not sure what it's like.

My husband went to a catholic midnight mass but I was just too tired to make it.

All week long Christmas music was playing in halls and atrium. Though honestly by mid week I felt like i wanted to hear the regular Disney music again.

I don't remember much other Holiday activities. Maybe a few in kids club. We got gingerbread tickets for Wednesday but by then we kind of lost the Holiday excitement and skipped it.

There seemed to be a abundance of stateroom doors decorated for the Holidays. My sister surprised us with some holiday magnets and my kids loved that. I think there was more decorated doors than I usually see on the cruise.

One thing I was very happy about was the ship brought in a special performer - Susan Egan - the original Belle from Broadway Beauty and the Beast. I love her! Saw her as Belle many years ago. Was able to meet up with her on the cruise after one of her shows for pictures and a chat. Very nice!

Another thing i did not know was the dinner menus were all changed. Our dinner rotation was RAAERAE. We had Palo on the third night and didn't want to miss the crush or animators show in animators pallete. But someone assured me that they do those shows the first and last time in Animators. Figured we were ok. But our first night in Animators was Christmas Day and they did not do any shows. Instead they had a special Christmas menu. Which meant if we didn't make a Palo change, we would miss the crush show the next night. Guest services was not too nice this cruise and she gave me a hard time. Palo was a little more accommodating and moved us to Wednesday.
Also note because of this menu change, Pirate Night was not a Pirate Menu. It was the Prince and Princess night. Kind of odd to see everyone decked out in Pirate Gear and the waiters were dressed very royal.

It was nice to see the Ports and other country's decorated for the Holidays too. Castaway Cay had a beautiful tree and snow. (Though because of the winds we almost didn't dock there. Commodore Tom finally docked after lunch). Cozumel had an nice display inside their shopping area by the Port.

The final night we came back to the stateroom to another gift. They had a really nice lithograph waiting for us.

Final opinions about Christmas on the cruise- I loved it and would do it every year if I could. I am usually the one entertaining and cooking on Christmas and miss out on all the fun things with my kids because I spend the day in the kitchen. This time I got to relax and have someone serve and spoil me. I spent a lot of time with my kids really getting into the Holiday Spirit.
But I seem to be in the minority with that. My family (husband, kids, parents, and sister) all felt like it wasn't really Christmas and missed it being at home. And I spoke to a lot of fellow cruisers and again I seemed to be in the minority with that. I guess everyone is different!

 

[cutigress]

My family also just got off the Fantasy, boarding on Christmas Eve. It was the most magical and surreal experience ever. There were several reasons we wanted this to be a special Christmas vacation, and Disney provided (and then some). I echo some of the comments above, everything from the tree lighting and Santa, to Midnight Mass, cookies and other treats, gingerbread house making, and just the overall feel. The crew members were wearing hats and scarves, the Christmas music was playing, the lithograph was a nice touch. My daughter joined in with the caroling on the grand staircase. The characters were all dressed in Christmas gear. The decor was fabulous:

The three of us absolutely adored the trip in every aspect. If we could do this every Christmas, we would (unfortunately the cost won't allow that for us!)

 

[whistlinmickey]

We also just got off the Wonder on Friday. Except for the weather delay the first day and the rough seas the last night, it was a wonderful cruise. I think if we could have done a Very MerryTime cruise on a week other than Christmas week, we probably would have. The price is just so high that week. But since that was the only possible time we could do a Very MerryTime cruise due to schedules, we just had to perform some budgeting magic to make it work. The extra gifts that were included for cruising specifically over Christmas Eve/Day were quite nice. But I don't necessarily think they were enough to make up for the significant price difference. I don't think there was anything extra that really set this week apart from other weeks of Very MerryTime cruises.

Would we ever do it again? I don't think so. But, do we regret it? No, not one bit.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

We were on the Dream for Christmas 2015. I can only echo what other posters have said. It was truly amazing. The ship is breathtakingly beautiful, the weather was lovely and warm ( we are from the UK, so I guess anything much above freezing at Christmas is a bonus!). We really enjoyed the tree lighting ceremony on Christmas eve ( the day we boarded) and thought the milk and cookies in the lobby you could take back to your stateroom for Santa was a lovely touch. We were given a box of chocolates and a lithograph.
Our itinerary was PC, Sea (Christmas day), Nassau, CC PC. We loved spending the day by the pool on Christmas day!
We are planning on a merrytime cruise for Christmas 2018 - depending on the cost it will either be just before Christmas, or over Christmas.


Claire

 

[CathyCU03]

We were on the Fantasy Dec. 17-24. We had all the activities everyone describe above (except gifts and christmas menu). We live on the east coast so we had a quick flight back and were home by 3pm on Christmas Eve. We could still do most of our traditional activities and we didn't have to worry about brining Santa gifts on the cruise. Plus it was substantially less (and we could use an OBB discount) than the cruise that left 12/24. Something to keep in mind.

 

[aggiedog]

We embarked Dec 24 last year for a 4 day cruise out of Galveston. I'd agree with everything above, particularly the price. It was sooo much more than 2 weeks prior, but that was the only dates that worked with school vacation. We brought a small lighted palm tree to put on a desk, and stockings with small presents for the kids (ages 9-15 at the time.) I actually loved traveling over Christmas - no cooking and cleaning I had to worry about. Oddly, my kids were kind of bummed to be away from home, even on the Wonder.

But I seem to be in the minority with that. My family (husband, kids, parents, and sister) all felt like it wasn't really Christmas and missed it being at home. And I spoke to a lot of fellow cruisers and again I seemed to be in the minority with that. I guess everyone is different!

Perhaps this is a mom vs the rest of the family thing! LOL My parents traveled with us, and my mom was happy to be there and my dad was in the "better to be home" category.