Saturday, April 3, 2010

Holidays at Sea. Great Family Experiences

The trend of extended families taking cruise vacations over holiday periods continues to gain strength. And the cruise lines are doing their best to make holiday cruise experiences a special time for their guests.


At Christmas time the ships will be decorated in holiday garb, with special concerts, the appearance of Santa Claus (or one of his international versions—like Sinter Claus on Holland America Line) --a special event for children both large and small. Even during minor holidays like Halloween, special candy gathering trick or treating if offered onboard.

What makes a holiday cruise getaway even better is that it often takes away the pressures of holiday entertaining for those families who elect a ship instead of home. Special foods, parties and events are completely taken care of by the cruise line. They do all of the cooking, cleaning, and preparation, and all the guests have to do is show up and enjoy.

This year we even had a couple who decided last minute they wanted to get away for an Easter break on Wednesday the week prior. We found them a nice balcony stateroom on Princess sailing to the deep Caribbean from San Juan—and our couple used frequent flyer miles to get them from Seattle to Puerto Rico and back.

We have one group of family and friends sailing over Christmas on Royal Caribbean’s new mega-ship the Allure of the Seas. They’re planning on having a great cruise on a brand new ship making its first Christmas sailing in the Caribbean. By booking this cruise early, they’ve been able to select the kinds of exact staterooms they want, including several which have interconnecting doors, so the can keep tabs on their older children.

So, no matter what the weather might be at home, it’s certain that during holiday times, fair and warm weather is usually the norm on a cruise. These special cruises are a treat and it’s easy to see why they are becoming ever more popular.

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