I Had NO IDEA What A Christmas Cruise Would Be Like. Until Now!
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- I love cruising and I love Christmas, and so putting them together sounded like a perfect combination. But was it? Discover what I found out about cruising over the Christmas holidays! And what you must consider before doing it!
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My wife and I chose to take the Viking River Christmas Markets cruise. The price was for great for a Viking river cruise. Every stop in a town led us to a new Christmas Market. It truly was magical with the Christmas spirit everywhere. We fully enjoyed the experience and felt that it was a great way to cruise and experience the Christmas spirit where the people truly celebrate Christmas.
YES, AND THERE ARE NO ANNOYING UNDERAGE KIDS TO BOOT. THAT IS WHY VIKING IS GREAT!
That sounds wonderful compared to this one. If I had a husband, I would be THRILLED to do the market River cruise
I’m looking forward to doing that one myself. Not over Christmas Day tho.
@@kathyradford7187 I’m single, & I’m still going to go. Maybe friends will come, maybe not, but there are a lot of options for single cruisers & I think a small boat cruise will make it easier to make friends on board.
We went on a Viking Christmas Market Cruise two months ago. We saw some markets, but not at every port. The biggest problem was the high water levels which caused us to miss the Strasbourg markets. I just assumed we would see Christmas Markets at every port. Nope.
I took a Viking River Christmas Market cruise on the Danube this December which began with a 2 night pre cruise stay in Nuremberg. The Christmas markets were so beautiful and were filled with families enjoying this festive season. On out river ship Viking made the experience so wonderful. One night early in the cruise each guest was given an ornament and a marker pen to write a special message. Then we put our ornament on the Christmas tree. The last night of the cruise we undecorated the tree and we’re given a box to pack our special ornament safely to take home. One night the crew, made up of the waitstaff and cabin attendants, donned reindeer ears and sang Christmas carols in the lounge. Everything about the trip was made to be a traditional Christmas experience.
That sounds nice. I think my next Christmas if my family is busy. I will take a river cruise during Christmas instead of an ocean cruise.
I’m looking into for next Christmas. Thank you 🎉
Overcrowded, packed with kids, little to no enrichment and everything made family friendly sounds like a cruise that I would not enjoy. I was thinking about booking a Christmas cruise but I will look into other times of year after hearing this!
I have two children and three grandchildren, and the idea that parents just let their children run wild like that really bothers me. I shouldn`t be surprised though; I worked in a toy shop for many years and really enjoyed interacting with the kids, but there were always some parents who just stood in a corner on their phone while the kids pulled toys out of packaging and ran rampant! Mind-blowing!
Haven't done Christmas on a cruise ship, but our group has gone right before Easter, where there were a lot of families with kids, spring breakers, and high school trips. Out of all the young people, the only group that I would willingly throw overboard are the age 12-15 boys. Loud, obnoxious, show-offy, and the group that the adults most often left unsupervised. The little kids were fun to have around, the little older kids (say 10 and under) were fine, and the older (age 16 through college) ones just wanted to be left alone and hang out together. And the tween and young teen girls weren't bad, either...maybe a little squeally, but they were basically pursuing the boys.
On our cruise, the 12-15's were doing stuff like congregating near the end of the pool-deck pizza counter and seeing how many people they could get to drop their pizza by "accidentally/on purpose" jostling them.
They somehow had it in their minds that constantly hitting on the 17-20 year old women was a good idea. (We did see one of these Romeos get his nose busted at the pool by a college age women after his buddies talked him into grabbing her ass as she walked by in her almost-bikini. Good for her. After she decked him, she stood over him, stuck her finger right in his face, and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Don't you EVER f-cking grab another woman like that. Do you understand?").
There was a daily battle between them and the staff because they would try to take over the "adults only" hot tubs at the back of the ship by invading in groups of a dozen or so. And all 12-15 of them would try to crowd into a tub that already had 3 or 4 (or more) adults in it. (We saw a male passenger get into a heated exchange with a "Karen" parent because he admonished her little angel by starting out, "Listen, you little bastard......")
The area where the elevators and stairwells were often became the site of their impromptu indoor soccer matches.
We could lose that group.
Ugh, middle schoolers are definitely the worst. It's the raging hormones. I'm sorry.
Wow! I'm so proud of the woman who taught the young man a lesson about groping. It's not funny and I'm glad she took him to task for it!
Glad you laid it out as you did. Makes it easy for me to decide "No" on taking a Christmas cruise.
Doing a European river cruise and visiting the historic Christmas markets might have been a more enjoyable Christmas cruise for you and non-families.
I think that European river cruises would not have as many children as ocean cruises, but I have not compared them.
As I've been thrown out of my friend/family, Christmas cruising sounds like the way to go.
I will never cruise the week of Christmas ever again. I did a cruise Christmas 2021, omg. Children running up and down the halls all day and night, running through the casino, cutting the line at the buffet and ice cream station, hands going under the sneeze guard. People just let their children run amuk. 2022, I was getting off the ship as the Christmas folks were coming on, a much better experience, and you still get to see the decorations.
I’m in your camp 😂😂😂
Try the first week of December. It's more affordable, less chaotic, but with all of the Christmas decorations and special events (at least on Royal Caribbean.)
I think there’s nothing better then traveling the world and growing as a person.🌍
My wife and I spent the last two Hanukkahs on a HAL ship and enjoy ourselves greatly. We celebrated with other Jews a wonderful eight nights. The ship provided wine, bread, potatoes pancakes complimentary each night. It made this trip memorable.
We took a Carnival cruise over Christmas with our child, who was 11 at the time. We experienced everything you talked about in your video. But we were expecting it, embraced it, and had a good time. What turned out to be a smart move was to do the fixed seating dining. They put us at a table with a family with a child the same age and there was no waiting in line with a hangry child.
I would be livid about sll of this.
We had our honeymoon on the week before Christmas, over 30 years ago on Holland America. We loved it. It was the least expensive cruise of the year, seeing as many people did a back-to-back cruise over Christmas. The ship was decked out in Christmas decorations, so we were able to experience the Christmas feel without paying the extra cost.
We did a back to back cruise in the Middle East and South Africa. The two cruises were night and day different and highlighted all the things that you mentioned. My husband and I will NEVER take another cruise at Christmas again. We couldn’t believe the unruly, entitled children running around in the dining area and even laying down in the middle of the floor where people were trying to get around them to find a seat! Unbelievable. The parents were oblivious. Wow. I’m glad that I’m not the only experienced cruiser that found this out the hard way!
Hi Gary. This cruise looked like my worst cruise nightmare. All those kids and the ship being overcrowded, too! We cruised with Cunard just before Christmas. We experienced all the Christmas decorations and feeling but it was quiet and relaxing.
Too many children! We always left our children at home (with proper supervision of course!) so we do prefer our cruises with minimal children.
Halloween seems to be a stay at home to celebrate holiday though!
Joan, we also cruised Cunard for Christmas/NewYear, Australia around New Zealand. Fabulous, decorations a very happy feeling around the ship. A few young folk, but they were very well behaved. Cunard has really spoiled us, non Christians in our later part of life, but still young at heart. Gary you have my sympathy, some cruise lines have become Greyhound bus service to people.
Glad to see this. We only cruise with HAL and as adults, there is no way we would want to be overrun with kids and families, no matter the time of year. We have never done a holiday cruise and have no plans to. Yes, nice for families, but adult couples should explore other options.
It was a very very different to usual HAL experience so definitely choosing is key
My adult daughter and I cruised on HAL Rotterdam over Christmas and had a very different experience. We went out of Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean. Like your cruise, there were more children on board than on a typical HAL cruise, but neither the pool nor the music venues were taken over by young people. I had booked dinners in two of the specialty restaurants a couple of months before the cruise so that was not a problem and, as soon as we got on board, we made reservations in the main dining room for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners. Other nights, we just showed up at the main dining room, always got a table for two, and never waited more than a few minutes. The Crow's Nest was a little more crowded than usual, with many families playing games, but that didn't bother us at all. The only stage show we saw was on Christmas Eve when the crew put on an absolutely fantastic show. Other nights, it was BB Kings or Billboard On Board. I had expected more Christmas decorations on the ship, but what was there was okay. Overall, we enjoyed the cruise and it gave us something to do over Christmas, but I probably wouldn't bother cruising for Christmas again. And thank you for your videos. I find them very informative.
Gary -- this was SO helpful because I want to cruise at this time as a single. I cannot stand the freezing cold of my home from December - February any longer and have no real family to celebrate the holidays with! Generally, it seems the zeitgeist of culture is changing in this direction especially after the psycho-emotional stress of the pandemic. Families are seemingly becoming more headstrong and exclusive while singles are being treated like third class citizens no matter how wealthy they may be!
You can get some of the pleasure of Christmas cruising without the overcrowding and hassle by going in early December instead. On Cunard, anyway. The ships are beautifully decorated, the gingerbread village goes up, and there's caroling in the Grand Lobby, if you want it.
Thanks Kathy. We wanted to see a few more reviews of when and who to travel with.
YES! and YES! again. We took a back-to-back Christmas/ New Years cruise last year. Should have been a back-to-back New Year's and the week after. Too many kids! This was because everyone was on vacation, plus they hadn't traveled in two years. Never again! Thanks for the great video!
When you first said you were going on a Christmas cruise while also trying to sell Mark on going back to Holland America I was quite surprised. Seems like it turned out about like I would expect! Cruising while school is in session is definitely for me.
You missed returning to cold wintery San Diego! :D
My wife and I did QM2 Christmas Caribbean round trip, while you could consider 3 trips in 1 with the 2 transatlantic legs to NY sandwiching the Caribbean. Was a great blend of festive events and the excellent Cunard insights etc. While more children over the Christmas period their excitment brought a smile and were very well behaved. Would love to do again, that will have to be on a few years though.
We would very much like to do a Christmas cruise across the Atlantic. We have been told the only cruise line to consider is Cunard, but the weather can be impossible at times. Does anyone have an opinion that isn’t second hand?
Last December we took an Aida cruise that ended right before Christmas, with disembarkation on the morning of 24th. It was incredible value and much, much cheaper than if we had embarked on the 24th.
We love the Viking river Christmas Market cruises in Europe. It’s an amazing time to visit and a wonderful way to celebrate the season.
I'm a teacher so I don't have a choice of non family vacation times. Did bring my mom and husband on a Celebrity Southern Caribbean cruise for Christmas a few years back and we loved it. It was not overbooked. Maybe because it started in Puerto Rico? We are going again this Christmas to Western Caribbean (Celebrity). Hoping our experience is not like yours!! I love the idea of a Christmas market cruise in Europe. Thanks to the other viewers who posted their comments about it. Love your channel Gary!
Emmy C
Agree with Chris Nichols below. Right after Thanksgiving we took our first Christmas market river cruise in 2019 on AmaWaterways with my husband and adult daughter and had the best time ever! There were Christmas decorations all over the ship and Ama really made us feel welcome. The food, accommodations, excursions and crew were all excellent. The European Christmas markets along the Rhine were very charming. The many castles we passed on the river were magnificent, as well as the scenery. There were no children aboard. And we still had several weeks to get ready for Christmas when we got home. Would definitely try a Danube Christmas market cruise next time on AmaWaterways. Try it - you’ll like it! 😁
This is probably one of the best videos that I’ve ever seen about cruising. I usually go on many cruises throughout the year and I’ve been on a few Christmas cruises as well. I think Gary you hit the nail on the head with this video. When I was very young, my grandparents used to take us on Christmas or New Year’s cruises and we always had a great time. At the time I was too young to really understand the dynamics but all we knew is that we all wanted to be together, and it was a great experience. Fast forward to now I’m an adult and as an example I went on a princess cruise through the panama canal from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles in early December, the cruise ended in Los Angeles on December 18. I had an amazing time and there were only eight kids on board the ship. The ship was about 80% full. Really no lines or anything as far as waiting and they were rarely venues that did not have seats available. My friend got on the princess cruise ship when I got off. She sailed from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale for Christmas and New Year’s. Her experience was totally different, and she actually said it was one of the worst cruises that she had ever been on. She said the ship was totally full, there were over 200 kids on board. It was rowdy. It was everything she did not want. And to top it off, she paid 40% more than I did for the same cruise in a similar type cabin. Also, liked seeing so many photos of Mark in this video!
We are taking our 5 kids plus a sinificant other on a cruise next Christmas. I think you point that it is a good opportunity to get them all together in a low hassle method is spot on. As they spread out in life it will be a great way to spend time together.
We , a gay couple, love cruising the second week of December. Kids are in school and that is a slow week for cruise lines. And, the cruise ship is decorated for Christmas already.
We were onboard Queen Elizabeth on a New Zealand cruise last Christmas and we had a great time. Not overly packed at all. Lots a lovely Christmas decorations too....
I've cruised a bunch in my life thanks to my grandparents who liked to gift it to the family--they were almost always at Christmas. And that's the key here, Christmas cruising is for a very specific audience. We were a family of about 18 (cousins, siblings, parents, aunts/uncles) all on the trip and thanks to the 9 children in the group, and the fact that four family members are school teachers, Christmas was the only really practical time that a big gift like this made sense. The Christmas activities like Santa were great for the kids, while the normal itinerary was special to the adults. I can absolutely understand why a cruise regular would not find Christmas compelling, but I don't think that group is actually the audience for this kind of seasonal cruise. Likewise, now that my wife and I are cruising for ourselves with no family but us, we also would not go at Christmas.
You are scaring me. I just booked a 16 day cruise on HAL SD to Hawaii return for Christmas and New Years. I don't mind a few kids but not hundreds. Leaving our families behind to enjoy the time with other adults. Want a good time but not mayhem.
Jesus! That is my idea of Holiday Hell! I've never been on a cruise, and never really fancied it, and this has pretty much put me off the idea for life! Thanks for sharing this!!!!
You have to choose your cruise line very carefully to get the experience that suits you. You might enjoy a different line.
I think the key here is the precise point Gary was making, that this was NOT a typical Holland America cruise in any way. If you can make time to get on a cruise with the right line and outside of peak holiday periods, it can be very much more relaxing.
Fascinating. We’ve done 4 Christmas cruises from Southampton: 2 with Cunard, the others with P&O and Fred Olsen. Hardly any children or families but great cruises. Shame about the cost premium. Our next cruise? Yes, Christmas; again with P&O but this one on an adult only ship. It’s always great fun to laugh at the casinos on American ships 🤣🤣
400 kids...thanks for the warning. I dont even like being in the same room with just one kid. LOL.
Excellent points. This is why your channel is heads and shoulders above the rest. Thank you.
Parts of this are true also on a guided tour on land as well. When you are a big group you are not as available to meet or spend time with new friends. I think this is really a specific group time at the holidays or maybe some summer months when kids are out of school.
We went on a 15 day Xmas cruise last Dec. 2022, and there were only about 40 kids that we saw. This is due to it being a longer cruise, most folk won’t pay for kids to go on a longer cruise. It was all good.
I found that cruising in the first week of December includes all of the Christmas decorations and such, but the prices have not yet gone up.
Yes! A great tip !!!!
That tip also works for Disneyland Paris too!
I have found that if you do your homework you will get on the right cruise for you. Give Mark a gold star as he deserves one. I don't like it when rude people take over the ships at any time or any price.
We cruised at Thanksgiving once. Never again. It felt sad being just the 2 of us and watching all the families. We also missed our family. We avoid holidays now when planning a cruise
Our very large family is spread across the US and we gather at Thanksgiving (25 in 2022). My wife and I are the grandparents/great grandparents of this mob, so we have found Christmas cruises to be a way to be intentionally by ourselves.
My family travels for Christmas, and we are looking at a cruise for next year . But we travel because we lost family members and it’s just to hard to stay home , we have tried but it’s easier for us to leave and travel .
Maybe, to avoid the chaos of families, choose an ' Adults Only ' cruise at Christmas. Just a thought !
Not surprised by all the kids. Schools out and it's Christmas. That's why we chose to book on Viking for 2023 Christmas markets on the Danube. Thanks for all your advice!
We always go away over Xmas and new year,leave on the 23rd and home on the 6th or 7th and we LOVE it,no,you don't really get much more but maybe the cruise line have to pay ports more? Or staff? I don't know but the good thing about Cunard is,they aren't overrun by kids,even at Xmas 😊
We did the Christmas and New Years cruise on Regent through the Panama canal this year. We really enjoyed it. It was a little sad not being home for Christmas, the entertainers put on a special show they did themselves for us. Spent Christmas day in the observation lounge going through the canal. Would do it again. Definitely the best New Years I have ever had.
,
You got off as I got on the Kdam!! I heard it was a tad crazy!! 🙂
It was! You had right idea doing the one before 😀
Christmas cruising in Australia is very busy as it’s school holidays but I didn’t find it more expensive than any other time of the year. Maybe it’s a Northern hemisphere thing - escaping the snow and cold to warm weather. We constantly have warm weather. I took a cruise the week before Xmas .It was a 4 day comedy cruise with P&O. The cruise was full from Brisbane( strangely it was too cold out to sea that hardly anyone got into the pool but stinking hot and humid in Brisbane ) . It only cost me $280 per person for a balcony cabin. The comedy shows were packed and if you didn’t turn up 45 mins before you missed out on a seat.
A Christmas cruise falls into the same category as any traditional family/school holiday period for me. Simply do not go on a ship at that time. For many of the reasons you have mentioned in the video, and also as a solo traveller, on a lot of lines you already pay above the odds to be there in the first place, so add on to that dynamic pricing and availability, and that 150% you are already paying as a solo is more like 200-225% of a non-holiday time cruise. My mind still sticks sometimes as to the value I get as a solo traveller, so to increase that even more would just make me resent the trip, so best to just avoid it. And, with that, you then avoid all of the stress from all the other things like you mentioned such as crowding, noise, queues etc which is what I enjoy not having to deal with at quieter times.
I have done an Xmas cruise, well, left LA on Xmas day on a cruise to Mexico. Done 2 NYE cruises. They are more expensive, but ANY travel during the Xmas/NYE holidays is more expensive and you have to book very early to make sure you get a flight or hotel room
In 2017 we booked a Christmas Markets cruise which we could not get to as the whole country was covered in snow that day. Last year we booked a Christmas Markets cruise to Bruges with Ambassador which did not sail because of a fault in one of the lifeboats. I have moved our 2024 Christmas cruise to November to stop it being jinxed.
Gary, Thank you so much for this informative video. I"ve wonder about the things you discussed many times. I'll save the approx. 30% cost increase bc of you! Best regards, always.
We sail every Xmas. For our family it’s the only week we have off. Love it.
Thanks for sharing this. I think I will stay away from cruising over Christmas, as the cost would be too high to pay for an overpacked ship with the same service as at other times. Good to know.
Brings to mind a Christmas story written 2000 years ago -- "No room at the inn."
Yes 😂
I have a cruise planned this coming Christmas and through past New Years for 2023. Its on Clelebrity and is a 14 day cruise to Patagonia. Know it’s going to be crazy but really excited! By the way; love your videos. Both my mother and I love watching your channel and want to tell you the videos are extremely helpful not to mention entertaining. Thanks.
I did this very cruise about 5 years ago on celebrity. From Santiago to Buenos Aires. I really enjoyed it. Interestingly, about half of the ship was from Mexico. Not sure why
Brave man. The Christmas Cruise sounds like everything I loathe. Thank you for the heads up! I will check out Holland America for my retirement celebration cruise later this year.
good info, I shall avoid those big ships. In contrast I went on a Christmas river cruise with Ama, as a solo, and had a great time. The intimate nature of a river cruise makes it a much better experience. There were no kids, the boats are decorated much nicer and having many Christmas Market stops, in centuries old quaint towns made for a wonderful cruise and Holiday experience. With fewer then 150 people on board, you still had the normal great cruise experience you expect AND its not much more then a normal cruise. We solo travelers are able to make friends with people here quickly and fit right in. Thanks Gary
Definitely I need to do a Christmas river cruise!!!!
Whilst I've never cruised over the actual Christmas week, I have cruised at both the start of December and also New Year. I'd say that both were generally a lot older age-wise, especially P&O early December. I put it down to the fact that the kids would all be in school, therefore difficult to take holidays, but a lot older generally than what I had expected!
Really enjoyed this video as always, Gary!
We did an Antarctica Expedition cruise with Ponant over the Christmas, the cruise fare was actually cheaper than those in January, so it was perfect, as I wouldn't have enough time off otherwise to do it. And with an Antarctica cruise, the capacity was still capped at 200, so none of the problems mentioned in the video.
Thank You For Sharing Your Experience. We Have Only Cruised With Princess. We Are Trying HAL To Alaska This Year. We Definitely Would Not Cruise On Short Cruises During Christmas Or Spring Break.
I think I would have traveled early in December and gotten the same Christmas feeling. Then went home and had traditional Christmas at home:)
Agree!
Thank you so much for this great informative video. I would miss my family if I was not with them at Christmas. But I do think the Christmas together with family and cruise ship would be a lot of fun. Especially if you had a large family. ❤
I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise one week before Christmas. They still had the big gingerbread house display, the huge Christmas tree lighting every night in the Promenade, and caroling - for about 1/3 the price of the very same cruise the following week.
Low key west coast of Mexico end of the year cruise is excellent.
Thank you, I'm glad I missed it! Carnival probably would have been a hell of a lot cheaper.
I did a new years cruise in 2021 and actually enjoyed it
hmmm--now I'm rethinking the Holland America cruise we're taking during spring break--chose Holland because I thought less children--but maybe that won't be the case...
We sailed the same ship and itinerary Thanksgiving 2023 as a couple and had a very similar assessment. We were also very glad we booked a cabana.
51 in June. Gonna hold off on HA for several years. Lol. We r taking MSC for Xmas this year.
Another great honest and informative review.
It's incredible how many people wish to cruise in the best and new cruises but without kids around and in top of that during high season. Good luck 👍
I did a HA Christmas cruise in Asia and it had none of theses issues. I was like a normal HA cruise.
Hubby and I have done 2 Christmas cruises & loved both of them! We're Australian and already have a sunny Summer Christmas but our reasons were - convenience and also celebrating without having to do all of that work or organise all the family or go to/host multiple events! The first was on RC pre pandemic to the South Pacific islands and the second on Princess aroundNew Zealand in 2022. We had great prices both times and enjoyed the experience. Singing in the New Year for 2023 in the Bay of Islands was fabulous! RC did have a lot of families, Princess not so many. It really depends on the ship and its facilities...
Very good review, and advice. Thank you
We went on the same cruise in January. Am glad we chose the one we did. Great cruise.
We cruised on the QE over Christmas. Very few children,
Great video.
Thanks for watching 👍🏻
Thank you Gary! for your insight. May have to re-think a Christmas cruise forr the future
We did a Christmas cruise in 2019 on HAL which was part of a 30 day Amazon River voyage. That length of cruise tended to decrease the number of children on the cruise and we rather enjoyed it as a mid 70's couple. (Not to mention the adventure of getting stuck on a sandbar in the Amazon for many hours).
This is SO interesting as I’ve really been wanting to book a Christmas cruise. I finally booked one on Norwegian. Fingers crossed we enjoy it!
Thanks Mark. We are doing Christmas Cruise on the Danube. Looks way more like our cup of tea.
We do an xmas cruise every year. It’s become a tradition now. We did HAL last year and it was way too boring, but Celebrity and VV are great during the holidays.
Oh dear god, NO!! NEVER!! What a nightmare, Gary!!
My favorite cruise holiday is Halloween.
Fun onboard decorations and events.
Most kids are in school and want to stay home to trick or treat.
No travel nightmares.
Shoulder season Cheaper rates etc...
We went on Holland America Niew Amsterdam over X-mas 2022. It went to the Bahamas & Caribbean. Because it was a longer cruise, it wasn't as packed as that. There were kids, but not a lot of them. Yes it cost more, but we didn't want to stay home alone over X-mas. We do this every other year. Don't expect the whole ship to be decorated, as none of the ships do this. Many people put foam X-mas decorations on their doors so they could find their room easier. Any excursions on any ship need to be reserved several months in advance to guarantee you'll be able to do what you want to. We enjoy Holland America because it's not such a partying, drunk ship as some of the others like Carnival & Royal Caribbean. They usually have retired people that just want to relax with peace & quiet. That's us! What I don't like is that all their Caribbean & Bahama cruises return to the original port 1/2 way through, then go to some of the same islands again.
Thank you Gary. Now I know to never book a Christmas cruise or a cruise on Holland America for that matter.
Who wants to pay for a premium cruise and have to wait in line to get seated for dinner or not be able to use the ADULT pool because a bunch of kids have taken it over.
I’m very surprised that HA cruise line doesn’t enforce rules or allows that rowdiness while making their passengers pay more. Sounds more like a Carnival cruise than a higher class cruise line.
BTW, Mark is very handsome! You make a beautiful couple.
Oh no! We’ve just booked a Christmas cruise as a couple. Now regretting it! 🥴🙈
Before I retired from teaching, cruising over Christmas was my only chance to cruise the Caribbean. So we have taken a few - three on Princess and one on Viking. And they have all been different experiences. The cruise around South America had a large population of Chinese speakers and that made the atmosphere very different because of the different societal norms. The two Caribbean cruises were much like any of the other 20 Princess cruises we've taken. Maybe a few more children than typical, but nothing like you're describing here. And Viking was just Viking. Not vastly different than the other Viking cruises we've taken. So I think there are a number of variables here and you might need to do another Christmas itinerary with a different line to compare!
I am a teacher too and go almost every Christmas with my Mom.
I’m a retired teacher too and the last thing I want is to be with hundreds of children!!!!
I don’t want to be with crowds of people and I definitely do not want to have to queue for anything!!
It depends on what sort of Christmas you are looking for…..and who you want to be with.
I always cruise at Christmas with Seabourn Cruises to the Caribbean.
Totally fantastic!!!!
As with other things in life, you get what you pay for!!!!!
@@angelawilson4190 True. Now that we're retired, we can choose when to go since we're not bound to the school calendar.
We were on the Discovery Princess during Xmas 2022. We felt the same way. It was not the normal Princess crowd that we know and love. There were way too many teenagers and kids. This almost turned us off Princess.
Sailed over Christmas a few months ago and while the ship was quite full it was still enjoyable for our group! We got an incredible deal on a lovely balcony sailing out of port Canaveral and I would certainly sail over the holiday again IF we got a similar deal!
I did a Princess cruise to the Panama Canal early December, about halfway through the cruise, Christmas trees went up everywhere, holiday decorations of all denominations, and a gingerbread house contest happened. Was a really nice surprise. But I can see how cruising during Christmas could be a mess!
So very glad I watched this! I would be one of the sorry solo cruisers, looking very alone, isolated and very SAD
Thank you for this! I was wondering about Christmas cruises…
Sounds like I would enjoy doing it the same way we did Disneyland…go after thanksgiving and before Christmas break. Sweet Spot
New Years cruises are much the same, we've done five and counting it tends to be when we can go as my wife's a teacher. Want quiet cruise Sept to late November or late April to June. I'd like to comment on the extra cost , no matter if you take a cruise , go to an all inclusive or just a local hotel there's a premium to be paid.
The wife and I were supposed to be on a Panama Canal cruise in December 2020 on celebrity but it was canceled maybe it was a blessing in disguise
Great video Gary, really interesting to hear yours and Marks experience. I must admit I have thought about doing one but that is definitely not for us! Thanks.