Christmas on a cruise. Yes/No

With just over 6 weeks until Christmas day the question I wanted to know is would you holiday over the Christmas period? Or would you prefer to be at home with the family. Today I will be looking at the pros and cons of both options before finally giving you my opinion on what I prefer. I would also like to hear from you as to why you would choose one of the other.

Cruising at Christmas. The main benefit of a Christmas cruise is to give everyone a break. As a nation we’ve become so worried about creating the “perfect” Christmas, that often this time of year has become the most stressful when it should be the most enjoyable. Everything is taken care of, all you need to do is pack your bags. No cooking, no worrying about if you’ve got everyone’s favourite tipple or snacks, there’s even no need to worry about finding enough chairs for everyone. You can sit back and focus on enjoying quality time with your family. If you prefer the sun to a cold, wet dark day then Cruising could also be a perfect choice. With winter sun as little as a 4 hour flight away. You may even hit 30 degrees by travelling a couple of extra hours to some of the Middle East.

How do the cruise lines make it special?

Every cruise line is different here’s some of the ways in which your Christmas cruise could be made special:

• • Decorations throughout the ship (most cruise lines)
  • Visit from Santa (most cruise lines)
  • Carol singing (most cruise lines)
  • Card and decoration making (most cruise lines)
  • Special Christmas menus with traditional treats like sugar cookies, gingerbread, mulled wine and eggnog (most cruise lines)
  • Special Christmas show (Most cruise lines)
  • Christmas cooking classes looking crafting with sugar and marzipan (Azamara)
  • Christmas music available in your cabin (Carnival)
  • Holiday movies in the onboard cinema e.g. Polar Express (Carnival)
  • Decoration making in the Kids Club (Carnival)
  • Midnight buffet on Christmas eve (Celebrity)
  • Gingerbread houses (Celebrity)
  • Santa’s late night milk and cookie snack (Holland America)
  • A turn-down gift in passenger staterooms (Holland America)
  • Snow machines in the atrium (Princess Cruises

Christmas at home. With all the above benefits of being on a cruise during Christmas you may think my mind is made up as to which one I would prefer. Although I am not Christmas days number one fan, I do believe it is one of the only times of the year that your whole family get to meet up. Every other time of the year there is an excuse of work etc. I really believe it is important to spend quality time with the family. My wife for example loves Christmas and has a lot bigger extended family than I do. For her she wouldn’t want to be away from them and would much rather be away at other times of the year. Of course I would do anything to make her happy. I also think there is something quite special about the build up to this one day. Trips to the supermarket to get big boxes of chocolates, stuffing and twiglets. Yum this is something you probably won’t get on your cruise although i’m sure you could sneak a pack on board. I love decorating the house and walking the streets to see people lights.

So all in all If I had a choice I would choose to stay at home and opt for a trip away in January when the festive period is over. When the weather is still miserable here. I would like to hear from you guys. Do you agree or disagree with me on this one?