I agree that It is hard to keep a secret but it is worth it in the end. Sometimes my wife and I are talking about the cruise in code and the kids will ask what we are talking about and we'll just say, 'oh, we're just DREAMIN'....Last year we surprised them with a trip to Disney on Christmas day...they woke up and there was only one present under the tree per kid and a note from Santa that essentially said, Christmas has gotten out of control, it has become more about the presents than about family...so this year we're doing something different...get in the shower because we have a plane to catch! We were worried about how it would go over with them but they all say that it was their favorite Christmas ever. The best part for us was no malls, no shopping, no wrapping! Now the question is... since we are leaving home on the 17th, do we have to set up the tree and all the decorations or can we skip that too.

Our kids know where we are going. As far as the tree goes, we are not setting it up, to much hassle for it to be only looked at for a week or 2 at the most. Our kids understand and have agreed on a 3 foot tree on the table. How old are your kids> Ours are 15, 8 and the youngest will be 3 in January.

My son is also 15 and Carnival cruise is new for him, are the activities as busy as the camp carnival if you know. My daughter and I were on the Sensation last month and she had a blast.

17b, 16g,14g,12b,10b,6b

I have been on a Christmas cruise or at least out of town for Christmas for the past six years straight and we may put up a few window decorations but we never put up the tree anymore. We are always back after Christmas and gone before so it doesn't make sense to do it. Plus, my birthday is the 23rd so, Christmas really doesn't start for us until the 24th anyway. I guess it would depend on how old the kids are. I'm going to be 27 and my little sister is 12 and she has lived without a tree for half her life.

 She's always willing to give up the tree for a cruise or trip to Disney!

I am so glad to see some fun families will be on board. I have cruised before but not at Christmas and not on Carnival. We are so excited. Still trying to decide about the tree at home and how to make it feel like Christmas on the cruise My son is 9 and loves the whole season so I will be dreaming up some Magic!! Can't Wait!! Cindy

sxyshell - I'm so glad to hear your son and niece had a great time!  You know how vacations go - if the kids have a great time, the adults will too.  We'll definitely have the kids go to their various clubs in the beginning of the cruise to find friends to hang with. I'm guessing that since it's a Christmas cruise, there will be lots of kids.  And, thanks for the dining info.  Our bookings are linked together, so it should be okay

Can't wait for the Dream to sail so we can read the reviews and see pictures!

 

 

I was thinking there would be a lot of kids as well since it's a holiday and school will be out.  There were a lot of kids on the June 6th cruise that we were on!

I can't wait to see the reviews as well!!!  I'm sure it will be magnificent!

Just a response to decorating for Christmas, I put my decorations up on Black Friday so I'll be able to enjoy them for a few weeks before we cruise.  It's worth it to me.  My son and I put on the Christmas music and decorate together so it's quality time for us.  With the last name of "Christmas", (yes that's really my last name) We have to go all out on the holidays.  I'm going to ask my mom to bring some decorations so we can at least decorate our door for Christmas on the ship!  She lives in FL and doesn't have to fly like we do!

Interesting dilema with the tree and decorations.  Do you normally put up the tree before the 17th?  Would the kids notice if the tree wasn't up by then, and would that give them a hint that something different is going on for Xmas? We don't usually get around to putting up the tree until the week before, even though each year I tell myself that I'm going to try to get it up earlier.  Maybe if you put a few decorations around the house in early December and tell the kids you'll put the tree up later, when it gets close to Xmas, they won't suspect anything. That way, you can avoid the hassle with the tree. Just a few household decorations won't be too much trouble.

 

We've never cruised during any major holiday.  My youngest son had asked me if they were going to decorate the ship.  I told him I thought they might, but I wasn't sure.  After all, not everyone celebrates Christmas.  I really like your idea of bringing decorations for the cabin doors.  That's a nice touch (and it will help the kids find our cabins easier).

I hope the Dream gets decorated.  I really want this to be an extra special Christmas.

We normally set the tree up the first week of December so we will have to do some light decorations and then stall them. If they start getting suspicious I will just go ahead an do the tree thing so as not to blow our cover. My next decision point is to decide what to do about the Aquaventure excursion at Atlantis. The itinerary says that we are only in port from 8:30-2:00...and the water park doesn't open until 10:00. So if we do this on our own outside of the ship and book a room at Comfort Suites to get the passes I would be ready to roll at the water park by 10:00 but then panic of missing the ship would set in around 12:00-12:30 so I would wrap it up. I really wanted to take the kids there but don't know if it is worth it to do it for 2-2 1/2 hours. This itinerary would be perfect if we could stay in Nassau until at least 5:00.

I've read on other message boards that they do decorate the ships similar to how they decorate at the malls with the garland and balls but that's about it since not everyone celebrates Christmas.  I guess we'll find out this year won't we?? 

We sailed on the Inspiration the week after Thanksgiving a few years ago and it was decorated beautifully for Christmas, excellent photo ops!  We're sailing on the Bloggers Cruise on Dream 12/3 and I hope it's already decorated. I plan to decorate the house before we go, I LOVE the season and since my son is allergic to Christmas trees, we have ours ready to go in the basement. 

I agree with the best gift being family. About 4 years ago, we started giving our kids a cruise for Christmas, but we don't sail until February break (5 kids, so it's more affordable). 

Hope everyone has a great time with their families onboard!

On our June 6th cruise, same itinerary, our ship was late getting into Nassau and we didn't get off the ship until close to 10:30 so we didn't have much time there at all which was fine with us because we had been there before and hadn't planned any excursions.  So keep that in mind as well.  I hear it's a great excursion but not if you don't get much time there.  You can check out cruise critic.  They have a ton of info on their message boards.

My sister was 5 for her first Christmas cruise so we were able to make some Christmas cruise traditions. We pack her big "Santa" gift in our luggage already charged and wrapped so she has a gift to open on the boat. They usually have a tree and Santa on the boat on Christmas morning and he hands something out to the kids or the night before they make an announcement that Santa has stopped on the boat. It's pretty cool what the different cruise lines do for Christmas on the boat.

 There is also a special menu for Christmas in the dining room which I find really nice. It's usually holiday turkey with all the trimmings, etc.

I know some people who have packed a small tree in their luggage for their cabin (a tabletop tree). There are tons of things you can do to make it special on the boat.