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Published on 10/09/1995 All articles from this issue

Holiday travel: Christmas at Sea

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by Janet Trebowski

Special to the Town Crier

Those who spend Christmas at sea can still enjoy many of the age-old traditions and festivities associated with the holiday season while experiencing the unique customs of Christmas from faraway places.

Christmas aboard ship means festive food, champagne and holiday confections. Special menus and gala buffets offer foreign delicacies as well as traditional specialities like roast turkey, Christmas goose, pumpkin pie, eggnog and fruit cake.

Cruise lines create a festive atmosphere on board their ships with glittering decorations, tree trimming, Christmas music and entertainment, caroling and gift exchanging. On Christmas Eve, a gift-bearing Santa Claus usually arrives by tender or helicopter if the ship is docked, or he is lowered in a life boat if the ship is sailing.

Royal Caribbean decorates its fleet with about 175 artificial trees, adorned with 38,000 ornaments, three miles of lights and nearly a quarter-mile of garland. An additional 22 miles of garland, festooned with 15,000 decorations hang in the public rooms and all public areas.

And17 miles of ribbon is intertwined with the garland or made into bows and used in the fleet's 130 public rooms with some small touches left over for the fleet's 7,510 staterooms. Festivities include gifts from Santa, special dinners and entertainment, and a champagne New Year's Eve party

Passengers sailing either Crystal Cruises' Holiday Fiesta cruise on the Crystal Harmony from Acapulco to Ft. Lauderdale or Crystal Symphony's Auckland to Los Angeles cruise, will find the ship lavishly decorated throughout with mistletoe, candles, garland and lights. Holiday festivities include elves and carolers, a visit from Santa Claus, toys for all kids, Christmas dinner, and a gala New Year's Eve party on deck.

On holiday sailings, there is a children's program supervised by a junior activities director. In addition, children under 12 sail free on Crystal Harmony when sharing a room with parents.

While cruising with Royal Cruise Line to either Africa or the Orient, the Mexican Riviera, the Caribbean or the Amazon, passengers can enjoy a Christmas show, Dickens-style caroling, classic Christmas movies and religious services on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, Santa Claus arrives with presents for each guest, followed by a traditional holiday feast with all the trimmings.

During a gala New Year's Eve celebration, passengers can share in the Greek crew's traditional "cut of vassilopita," in which a coin is hidden in a large bread. According to Greek folklore, the person receiving a coin in a piece of bread will have good luck throughout the year.

While cruising the Caribbean, Holland America Line's seven ships will sparkle with elaborately decorated trees, fresh evergreen wreaths, massed poinsettias, elegant floral arrangements, lights and ornaments. Passengers may even order a small, live, fully-decorated pine tree for their cabin.

On Christmas Eve, crew members sing carols from their native lands, and there will be midnight religious services conducted by an onboard priest, minister or rabbi. Holiday menus will include many traditional favorites and several specialties like venison, smoked duck and quail. There will also be a spectacular chef's buffet, a gala New Year's Eve champagne party, a festive New Year's Day dinner, and special programs for children.

Princess Cruises' nine Love Boats will sail seven- to 16-day holiday cruises to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Australia/New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. Ships will be trimmed from stem to stern with Christmas trees, wreaths, holly and mistletoe. Festivities will include Yuletide carolers, theme shows, a visit from Santa, and a traditional Christmas dinner. A midnight mass on Christmas Eve, an inter-denominational church service, and a New Year's Eve party are also held on each ship.

Children can join art and craft classes for Christmas ornaments used to decorated the ship's Christmas tree, sing-a-longs and parties. Youngsters can also participate in a production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" or another holiday tale performed for all passengers.

During a Christmas cruise on Royal Cruise Line, passengers can enjoy Yuletide entertainment including a Christmas show, Dickens-style caroling, classic Christmas movies and religious services on Christmas Eve. Public rooms are decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths, boughs of holly and poinsettias. On Christmas Day, Santa Claus arrives with presents for each guest, followed by a traditional holiday feast with all the trimmings.

Seabourn Cruise Line blends American and Norwegian traditions on holiday sailings on the Seabourn Pride's South China Seas cruise and on the Seabourn Spirit's Caribbean cruise. Festivities include Scandinavian Christmas songs, Santa Claus, and midnight mass on Christmas, and religious services, egg nog, glogg and a dinner on Christmas Day. A gala New Year's Eve involves the arrival of Father Time and the New Year's baby.

KD Christmas cruises on the Rhine, the Danube, the Elbe and the Main rivers begin in early December with visits to celebrated pre-Christmas markets. jOn the seven-day Danube cruise from Regensburg to Vienna the Heinrich Heine passengers can attend Christmas Eve mass in the baroque parish church at Durnstein.

Passengers on the Deutschland's seven-day Rhine cruise can attend Christmas Eve mass in the Imperial Cathedral in Speyer. While cruising the Elbe River aboard the Clara Schumann, passengers receive excursions to Prague on Christmas and New Year's Day.

Delta Queen Steamboat Co.'s Mississippi Queen, Delta Queen, and American Queen cruise the Mississippi with an old-fashioned Southern holiday theme complete with decorations and twinkling lights from bow to stern. Passengers can also enjoy more traditional activities such as caroling, quilting and ginger-bread-house decorating. Each cruise concludes with a feux de joie, or fires of joy, a brilliant bonfire on the river's levee which legend says shows Papa Noel the route for his deliveries.

Janet D. Trebowski is a Los Altos, travel writer, 415-941-6500.