Christmas holidays on a cruise ship - Mahahual, Costa Maya, Mexico — *Mahahual, Costa Maya, Mexico*

Are you wondering how Christmas is on board on a cruise ship for a crew member? How are we spending the holidays in the middle of the sea? I will tell you some behind the scenes stories. Stay with me!

The translations of my posts are still in process. So later you will find some other festive posts on my blog. They were written on the ship and because of this, the tones will be completely different from this post. Sometimes sad and sometimes cheerful. Reading it all back, the memories come up again and I’m just smiling at now and thinking how I did everything all the way through.

Table of Contents

Christmas holidays on a cruise ship

Christmas decorations on

From the beginning of December, we start to decorate almost every corner of the ship. There is a large Christmas tree set up in the lobby where guests and staff can take festive pictures. Here we used to take a steakhouse group photo every year. Sometimes more times while the tree was standing there. Gingerbread houses can’t be missed either, where everyone can stop for a photo or two and admire it.

I decorated my room every year, at least when I was on board. Most of the time, I took ornaments from home and I felt a little bit of the warmth of home in them. I always looked for the chocolate advent calendar when we were in the home port. So I could make my own countdown until Christmas. There was no shortage of Christmas candy or gingerbread cookies either. My mom always sent me a package with these from home that didn’t last long. It is understandable I guess. A bite of chocolate and work can begin.

Work never stops during holidays

Christmas holidays on a cruise ship - Nouveau Steakhouse, Carnival Spirit — Nouveau Steakhouse, Carnival Spirit

Some of you may already know that we need to work every single day on board for several months without day-offs. The holidays here, like everywhere else in hospitality, are busy with so much work. These days are the same as the others, with the difference that the decor is different. Getting home from the boat is not easy at this time. Of course, you can request what is either accepted or not. In this case, you need to work more than usual and the number of working hours will jump. Because of this busy period, you can’t really feel the festive mood, you just see it. Which is not the same. Only the ports of call are different every day. Different countries, different islands, and different climates.

Secret Santa

It was 8-10 of us in the restaurant where I worked onboard. Every year we did Secret Santa. It’s the same as at home. We pull out a note from a small hat whose name is written on it we have to buy her/him a gift in a certain amount. The possibility to shop on ships is more limited than on land. It is not always possible to get off the boat because of the schedule or because the boat is right in the middle of nowhere. There is a gift shop or shops on board where there is a last-minute chance to buy a gift.

Last time at Christmas (2019), we got our schedule so that everyone had a chance to go ashore in the main port (New Orleans) to buy a gift. We put these gifts under the tree in the restaurant and after dinner, we made a small Christmas party between us. Because the team was small, we could easily figure out to who we got the package. Little talking, eating, drinking and everyone went back to their cabin or straight to the crew bar.

Christmas Party

As for guests, a Christmas party is organized for the crew as well. The venue is always in a designated place in the guest area, but only the crew is allowed to be there. How can you recognize an employee from a guest? Crew and staff must wear a nametag on board at all times.

Everyone comes to the party when they can. If somebody has the night shift, he/she can check in the party even in uniform during the break. In case the steakhouse is busy during dinner service, we end up late due to closing. Since we know this in advance, we are also preparing for the party in advance. We don’t have more hours to prepare after work. Here we had to learn in 5-10 minutes to get ready with makeup for the parties. (This is most common on New Year’s Eve.)

When there is a ‘Formal night’ on board, we can ask for permission to go to the guest area after work. This time we are allowed to spend our free time anywhere and we can wear our own clothes. We can watch various shows in the theatre, have dinner in one of the restaurants (the Sushi bar is usually open until late at night) or have a cocktail in our favourite bar. In most cases, the evening ended with a pizza night. Then we went out to the open deck and from there we admired the view. The light of the bright moon has reflected the sea. Can’t forget those moments.

Spending time ashore

Christmas holidays on a cruise ship, working on a cruise ship, Lifou, Isle of Pines

I took the little Christmas tree that you can see in the picture from home (along with many other decorations) to make my room a little cosy. Then I had a thought and took it out with me to take a few photos of it on one of the islands. I already bought a Santa hat in Sydney. In the absence of red, it was just white, but I couldn’t leave it there. Even so, my break was fun outside. With my coworkers in December, we went outside just to take pictures specifically in Santa hats. The location has always been different over the years. However, the season is always the same, summer.

Spending Christmas on a boat is not an everyday thing, especially not on an island. It is said that the ship is a large family, yet everyone is a stranger. I didn’t have to occupy my mind because the work did it for me. Instead of resting, I always ran outside for a quick Christmas lunch.

Overall

That would be my story, that I didn’t regret at all. I spent wonderful years at sea. I visited a lot of places and celebrated Christmas on several smaller islands. It’s interesting to experience the same things in a completely different world. Because ship life is kind of a different world. As I am used to the four seasons, the holidays without the cold winter (and snow) in the heat of almost 40 degrees evoke different feelings in me. Especially when the first time I experienced these new things.

This year, after several years abroad, I will finally celebrate Christmas at home with my family. I already had the Christmas mood in November. I started to count down the days as a small child and look forward to the moment when we can decorate the Christmas tree with my family. All gifts are purchased and wrapped so I am totally ready for Christmas.

I wish everyone a very nice and pleasant Christmas holiday preparation!