Merry Christmas!... Now... who was onboard for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

[kiapepito]

We've heard of all the activities for Merry Cruise leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas. What fun extras do they offer for these two days that may be different from the rest of the holiday season? Thank you much!

 

[texas disney mom]

Not much. Santa was there but with very limited access. Lines were so long we never got to see him. They would shut the line just like at the parks. Christmas music playing around atrium areas but not on other parts of the ship. Tree and decorations in atrium. Hot cider for sale in atrium sometimes. Gingerbread house session if you get tickets. It lasted about 20-30 minutes. Some decorations at castaway cay. One holiday themed deck "party". Twenty minutes. Some characters in holiday "costume" sometimes.

 

[rwhistler92]

We will be on the Wonder Christmas 2016. I would love love to hear more.

 

[kiapepito]

We will as well! That is why I was curious!!

 

[Hundredacre]

We were on the wonder this year and got off on christmas eve. We have spent three Christmases in wdw and two on cruises. The wdw christmases were much more christmasy than the cruises. The cruises were awesome anyway, but besides the big tree there is not much going on. We also did not get to see santa. It is not a tic keted event and they do cut off the line. Hopefully this will change for next year because it was a real bummer.

 

[Bee2u]

The only difference from any other Merritime cruise is that chocolates and a special lithograph is left in your room on Christmas Eve.

 

[aggiedog]

We just got off the Dec 24th sailing. I'll agree with above. There wasn't that much different from our May cruise other than the music and decorations. We did not even try for Santa or the gingerbread houses. The atrium smelled heavenly though, between the huge gingerbread house and the spiced wine they were selling.

 

[thegales]

We cruised over Christmas in 2010, so things can definitely be different now. Christmas was a sea day, which was perfect for our family (me, DW, DD14 and DD12, at the time). Santa was in the Atrium Christmas morning. As others mentioned, it had a line, which our DD's got in. DW got in line for the buffet in one of the MDR, as it also had a wait. I bounced between the two lines. Shortly after the girls got their picture with Santa, we were able to be seated for brunch. I think they also had hot cocoa and cookies in the atrium Christmas morning.

There was a midnight Mass Christmas Eve in the Walt Disney Theatre. This was open to all guests and crew. It was a joy to be worshiping with a variety of people and nationalities. We looked around just before the service started, and saw a number of crew, from Entertainment Staff, Maintenance Crew, Servers, etc. It was neat seeing them all in street clothes, mostly dressed more nicely than the guests. My guess is many do not have the opportunity to dress like that often on the ship. And my DD's got to pass the peace with Prince Charming's friend.

One thing that was odd (not bad, just odd) was the normal evening entertainment Christmas Eve. I think it was a hypnotist. I don't know what they should have done different, but it was weird watching him Christmas Eve. DW and I also went to the adult entertainment that night after seeing the main show. Going to the Midnight Mass later that evening helped me normalize the holiday again.

I highly recommend a cruise over Christmas. We have been sharing memories of the cruise this Christmas.

 

[kiapepito]

We cruised over Christmas in 2010, so things can definitely be different now. Christmas was a sea day, which was perfect for our family (me, DW, DD14 and DD12, at the time). Santa was in the Atrium Christmas morning. As others mentioned, it had a line, which our DD's got in. DW got in line for the buffet in one of the MDR, as it also had a wait. I bounced between the two lines. Shortly after the girls got their picture with Santa, we were able to be seated for brunch. I think they also had hot cocoa and cookies in the atrium Christmas morning.

There was a midnight Mass Christmas Eve in the Walt Disney Theatre. This was open to all guests and crew. It was a joy to be worshiping with a variety of people and nationalities. We looked around just before the service started, and saw a number of crew, from Entertainment Staff, Maintenance Crew, Servers, etc. It was neat seeing them all in street clothes, mostly dressed more nicely than the guests. My guess is many do not have the opportunity to dress like that often on the ship. And my DD's got to pass the peace with Prince Charming's friend.

One thing that was odd (not bad, just odd) was the normal evening entertainment Christmas Eve. I think it was a hypnotist. I don't know what they should have done different, but it was weird watching him Christmas Eve. DW and I also went to the adult entertainment that night after seeing the main show. Going to the Midnight Mass later that evening helped me normalize the holiday again.

I highly recommend a cruise over Christmas. We have been sharing memories of the cruise this Christmas.

How wonderful! I would have to say that one of the things I am mostly looks forward to is Midnight Mass on the ship. We attend every Christmas Eve and this year I kept thinking to myself during Mass "this time next year we will hear Mass on the boat!"

That is awesome that they are open to crew members to attend. Was there a choir during Mass?

 

[thegales]

...

That is awesome that they are open to crew members to attend. Was there a choir during Mass?

There was no choir, however there was a singer. I think she was a member of the entertainment staff.