Holidays onboard??

zebra · October 7, 2007

Have you ever cruised over Christmas. New Year, Thanksgiving or Halloween? If so, what do they do onboard to make it special? We have done a cruise to the Med over Halloween, but being in Europe I guess made all the difference - there was nothing "Halloween" onboard except for a handful of people who dressed up. I particularly wondered how Christmas and New Year's was celebrated onboard.

rogue · October 7, 2007

The only holiday that we cruised on was the 4th of July. Never was a big deal. there was some decorations and there was some mention of the holiday at the show in the evening. Other than that, I can't remember anything else being done. Next year, we'll be cruising in the Caribbean on Halloween.

JoeyandDavid · October 7, 2007

Jackie i think the lack of Halloween celebrating was Celebrity itself not the Itinerary...I understand that HAL Princess and Carnival tend to pay more attention to that holiday..

Now as far as Christmas I will be able to tell you about it at the end of next December......I do know that Keith and Rita do an annual NYE cruise so they may be able to shed some more light on this subject...

TheSkipper · October 7, 2007

We have sailed on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ships are decorated for Christmas with lots of trees, garlands, etc. There are Carol Sings and lots of general holiday spirit. On one cruise Santa made a surprise visit. Thanksgiving is a lot more laid back. Just the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

OceanAngel · October 7, 2007

I will be on board the first time for Halloween this year. :biggrin:

lovelypinky · October 7, 2007

i will be onboard for 2nd time on halloween this year

zebra · October 7, 2007

Ed, which cruise line were you on for Christmas?

sailingrose · October 8, 2007

We have done Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Love them all!!!!! On Thanksgiving the dinner menu had a full turkey meal.

We sailed 5 Christmas's 4 on RCI one on HAL. RCI was definately more festive especially for the kids (and boy are there a lot of them!!!!) Each child received an age appropriate gift and could sit on Santa's lap if the wish for a picture. They also had eggnog and candy canes. Lots of fun for us to watch the kids as ours are grown. RCI also had beautiful trees and a special "holiday" show. Carols on Christmas Eve. It also snows on Christmas eve(balloons). It was lovely.

HAL was definately more subdued but since it was our first Christmas at sea we still loved it. Much more sedate decorations and pictures in front of the tree. I also remember egg nog and a crew sing along Christmas Eve some sang itraditional Philipino carols. There was also a special menu.

We did New Years on RCI last year. We were on the Mariner(large ship) and they had a New Year's eve party in the Promenade. Lots of confetti and a giant screen for the countdown. They provided hats and noise makers at dinner that evening for the festivities. Of course they also passed the champage around. We are going again this year but on a smaller ship which we prefer.

Hope this give you a partial idea of what you can expect. I'm sure Keith and Rita can add much more.

zebra · October 8, 2007

Thanks Rose..... that gives us a great idea - it sounds like RCI was much more fun, although we love HAL as well.

Gregswife · October 8, 2007

On our first cruise, we were in Nassau on the 4th of July. The ship actually stayed in port overnight and there was a fireworks show that you could see from the ship. A military ship was docked next to us and they had lots flags draped over the sides of the ship and allowed visitors to come on deck - of course, that was way before 9/11. I don't think we will ever cruise over Thanksgiving or Christmas because I want my family around me then, but I would love to do a New Year's Eve cruise someday.