Christmas and New Year often evoke feelings of nostalgia and tradition. Family Christmas lunches, Boxing Day buffets and epic board game battles. Certainly, the festive period is a time of year when each person or family have their own set of traditions. Having taken a cruise during the festive season, I wanted to share with you a new tradition that my husband and I started and it involves celebrating aboard the high seas!

Farewell UK…Hello Caribbean!

Firstly, as both my husband and I have December birthdays sandwiching Christmas Day, a festive cruise was always going to be tempting. In addition, when you factor in the cold, gloomy weather that we often get in the UK at this time of year it was even more enticing. In 2008, we took our first fourteen-night Caribbean cruise incorporating Christmas and New Year.

Leaving Gatwick, shivering in the cold and touching down in a balmy, tropical Jamaica was magical and, most importantly, left me excited and ready to explore. Our cruise was enchanting, experiencing the beauty of the Caribbean islands, unique in their cultural heritage, yet with the same warmth and friendliness you can expect from the locals who greet you on your travels.

An early highlight of the trip saw us spend the most amazing Christmas Eve, sitting on the top deck, watching the sun setting with its rosy hue and then subsequently star-gazing as we sailed away from Dominica.

A Cruise Ship Christmas

Christmas Day was a fabulous experience, and we deliberately chose an excursion that would be special, therefore being something to tell the children and grandchildren about. Consequently, we ended up river-tubing in Grenada. It was wonderful and awe-inspiring, with cascading waterfalls, exquisite flora and fauna. The peace of nature mixed with the laughter, joy and frivolity of fellow guests, all accompanied with the most delicious rum cocktails – an absolute must on a Caribbean cruise!

A cruise ship at Christmas is a special place, and festive cheer can be found in every nook and cranny. The fairy-tale Christmas trees adorning the spectacular atriums, garlands seductively decorating bars and the most spectacular gingerbread villages that I have ever seen in my thirty something years.

Christmas movies can be viewed on the cinema screens if you are hankering for some familiar traditions, and for the little ones a certain man in a red suit makes a magical appearance. Fellow guests decking out their cabins with mini Christmas trees and cherished decorations makes you smile. You may wish to take the opportunity to sing your heart out to favourite carols, if that is something you want to do (I must add you can do as much or as little as you like).

On our Caribbean cruise there was a special gala menu to celebrate the festivities, with a delicious cocktail of the day – Santa’s Cup (no innuendo required) and specialities such as lobster or filet mignon.

With your culinary appetite satisfied, you might wish to indulge in some top-class entertainment. The Cruise Director will ensure that the entertainment aboard is suitably fitting for such a special evening; an exhilarating Broadway style show or an awe inspiring classical score in an opulent bar. For the young at heart, the ship’s nightclub provides an uplifting and vibrant venue to dance into Boxing Day.

Inspiring Destinations

A Caribbean Christmas is truly magical and we have been fortunate enough to experience this more than once. A European Christmas cruise can be just as wonderful in different ways. We’ve enjoyed an enchanting Christmas Eve in Barcelona including a stroll along the stunning Las Ramblas, sampling the wonderful array of fresh fruits in the markets and being dumbstruck by the magnitude of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia.

Getting the chance to experience the festive season in different countries is amazing. It’s an opportunity to gain an appreciation of that country’s way of celebrating Christmas with their traditions and culture. It will stay with you forever in your memories and your heart.

This Year’s Christmas Adventure

With pregnancies and babies, we have missed our Christmas cruising, however, not this year, we are back! We will be embracing the traditional Christmas markets and chocolatiers of beautiful Bruges. Our festive cruise will take us to majestic Copenhagen, awe-inspiring Oslo and tantalising Amsterdam.

All ports are overnight stops which will bring the most wonderful opportunity to truly sample the Christmas traditions of these superb countries. We have our thermals ready to wear, snow boots purchased and the all-important Santa tracking device for my 6-year-old son, whose only question was “Will Santa be able to find our cruise ship??”

Lifelong Cruise Memories

So, you’re probably asking yourself is Christmas cruising for you? I have shared just a small insight into what it might be like. There are so many wonderful cruise opportunities at this special time of year, that you might find it hard to decide where you should sail.

You could take a short break island hopping in the Caribbean from Miami or take in the wonder of the Christmas Markets in Northern Europe. You could experience a cruise sailing around destinations of magnitude and glamour in the Middle East. Whether your cruise is short or long, a Christmas cruise will take you on a fantastic voyage to some of the most magical places on earth, at a very special time of year.

Finally, don’t forget New Year’s Eve! A cruise is an amazing way to see in the new year and some of our most incredible memories at this time of year have been formed on a cruise ship. I’ve experienced fireworks, sampled the delights of Japanese cuisine and revelled in the electric atmosphere of a Mardi Gras…and that was just on one night!

I can assure you that you will not be disappointed should you choose to take a festive cruise and you’re bound to make memories that will last a lifetime.

Annabel x