The Promenade Holiday Decorations on December Cruise

Last-minute Family Vacation Ideas For The Holidays: Creating Memorable Moments

Planning a Family Vacation By Starting a New Holiday Cruise Tradition.

By Sherri Eisenberg | Published on December 9, 2022

Someday, you might look at the calendar and realize the whole family has off from work and multiple schools, and that the days line up perfectly for once. The only catch? The holidays are approaching quickly, and you may be kicking yourself for not noticing the opportunity earlier and planning a family vacation during the holidays ahead of time. But there is a special joy to taking advantage of last-minute family vacation deals.

One great way to take advantage of a previously unnoticed travel opportunity is a cruise. Because a cruise includes your meals, entertainment and guest room, you can worry about the details of where you'll eat and what you'll do later. In most cases, you don't even have to think about the details until you arrive. It's time to set sail.

Kids with Santa Claus during December Cruise

Best of all, whether the holiday work would have included hours of decking the halls or weeks of planning the perfect family dinner menu, you get to leave all that to the cruise line and just relax and enjoy yourself. For parents who often feel more like staff than guests at their own holiday celebrations, you can't underestimate the value of being able to enjoy your last-minute vacation and the time with your kids instead. For that reason alone, a spontaneous vacation on a holiday cruise is a true gift.

Harmony of the Seas Holidays Christmas Tree — Holiday Decorations on Royal Promenade

It's important to gather together the family to gauge interest — and confirm buy-in — for a last-minute family vacation over the holidays. You want to make sure you set expectations that, for some holidays, this is a nontraditional, yet still festive, celebration. Making the choice shouldn't be stressful!

Here's our guide to making the most of an impromptu vacation on a family-friendly cruise this holiday season, including the few exceptions to the "figure it out later" rule.

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Planning a last-minute getaway this holiday season? Start a new tradition with holiday cruises, and enjoy tropical, action-packed days and unforgettable memories with the whole family.

Think About Any Traditions That Are Important To You

Kids on Pijamas During the Pijama Party and Movie Night

If you book a spontaneous vacation on a cruise this holiday season, think about what you want to pack or plan in advance to align with your own family traditions. For example, if lighting candles for Hanukkah is important to your crew, be sure to bring a menorah with you so you don't spend precious vacation time tracking one down. Not sure what your kids would and wouldn't miss? Have a family conversation about the vacation at dinner one night and get them talking. Better yet, surprise them by secretly packing Santa hats or the Elf on the Shelf.

For parents who often feel more like staff than guests at their own holiday celebrations, you can't underestimate the joy of just enjoying your vacation and the time with your kids instead.

Plan Ahead For Those Coveted Family Vacation Experiences

View of Santa boots just about to go on a zipline shore excursion

If there's a specialty restaurant onboard that books in advance and tends to fill up or a popular spa treatment with limited availability, take a moment to book these experiences as soon as you book your cruise to ensure you get the experience you've always dreamed of.

Peruse The Shore Excursion List For Any Must-have Tours

If you're visiting a destination for the first time, check out the shore excursion list once you book, and sign up for any opportunities that catch your eye. Some tours may fill up before you board. Don't miss out on this chance to do something you've always wanted to do, whether that's swimming with pigs in the Bahamas, visiting The Baths in Virgin Gorda, ziplining through Hawai'ian pineapple fields or wandering through the ruins of Pompeii. Also keep an eye out for any special holiday experiences on each island.

Of course, it helps if everyone's passports are up to date. It's a good idea to check them and update any that are close to expiration, even if you don't have a trip planned.

Determine How The Cruise Line Will Be Acknowledging The Holiday

Couple Taking a Selfie with a Christmas Tree in the Background as part of the Holiday Cruise Experience

Traveling over Independence Day or Labor Day is one thing, but if you're traveling over Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year's Eve you may want to inquire about how the cruise line is acknowledging the holiday. Most family-friendly cruises really lean into celebrations: You'll always find a costume party on Halloween and a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving complete with cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, for example. You may also find that New Year's Eve is more of a party than you're used to at home, with festive countdowns and ball drops that older kids are sure to enjoy.

Celebrate The Challenges This Option Eliminates

Christmas Elf Riding on the Carousel with a Little Kid

In my house, our family of five often enjoys three or four different meals simultaneously — we just can't get everyone on the same page at the same time very often. So, the true beauty of a cruise is that my littlest can have chicken fingers and fries for dinner while the oldest has mac and cheese and pizza and the middle child (our adventurous eater) explores whatever new options the menu brings his way. Best of all, I don't have to cook any of it. There's so much triumph in that sentence that it bears repeating. At breakfast, one kid can have pancakes while another has eggs and hash browns and a third has waffles and bacon — and, again, I didn't have to cook any of it.

Explore The Kids Club Options

Christmas elves working with a group of kids

Royal Caribbean cruises offers an onboard kids clubs, which is usually divided into age groups. If your kids find they're a good fit, parents may even be able to get some (gasp!) actual alone time on a cruise. These clubs include staff-led and hosted activities for everyone from nursery school kids to teenagers. For the older kids, there's evening programming as well. Whether your children choose to do finger painting, rock out in a karaoke tournament or join a pool party, chances are they'll be just as thrilled as you are with this part of their vacation. Some ships even have nurseries for families with babies and toddlers. Be sure to check out what special holiday events they have planned, too.

Lean Into The Novelty Of A Holiday At Sea

Oasis of the Seas Santa Relaxing by Pool

While Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day at home may be all about building snowmen and warming up in front of the fireplace with hot cocoa, you and your family may love the change of pace of a sunny beach holiday this year. My kids are never happier than when they're spending the whole day in the pool, splashing and playing, only getting out of the water when their tummies rumble or they need to reapply sunscreen. Because we live in the Northeast, we can't beat the treat of having a sunny "summery" day in the middle of winter.

Plan To Make New Holiday Memories On Your Family Vacation

Instead of lamenting what you're giving up on this last-minute getaway for the holidays — which, in addition to snow angels and steaming apple cider, also includes shoveling the driveway and doing load after load of post-holiday dishes — lean into the novelty and pleasures of the new things you may get to experience on a last-minute vacation. A Caribbean Christmas, for example, may give your family a chance to taste proper fruitcake and take pictures with Santa on the shore in their shorts or swimsuits. In the fall, a Halloween sailing may give you the opportunity to "trick or treat" around the ship.

Don't Forget To Document Every Family Moment

You may be used to taking a family holiday portrait each year, with everyone at the dinner table and the turkey ready to be carved, or a picture in matching spring outfits in front of the daffodils. Being on a cruise doesn't mean you shouldn't record this epic family holiday for posterity just because it's different from the others. Even if you have put your phone on airplane mode at sea, you'll want to bring it to dinner and other signature moments where the whole family is together to make sure you get your cruise photos. That confetti- and balloon-filled ball drop? It may just be the best New Year's Eve shot you ever get.

Written By
SHERRI EISENBERG

Sherri Eisenberg is a New York City-based travel and food writer who has written about travel for Condé Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Bon Appétit, and The Los Angeles Times and has served as cruise editor for Travel + Leisure and, before that, for Travel Holiday. As senior travel editor of Condé Nast’s Brides, she won the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for best travel coverage in a non-travel magazine. Sherri has been on more than 100 cruises and today she keeps a bag packed at all times so she can hop on a plane — or a ship — at a moment’s notice.

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