You don’t have to spend the holidays with relatives, cooking, decorating, gift wrapping, and cleaning up. If that’s how you like to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, good for you, but if it’s not, know that you have options, the most enjoyable of which is to take off on a cruise. Planning a holiday season a la Luther and Nora Krank is entirely possible and it looks nothing like what goes on in Skipping Christmas. Instead, it’s all about relaxing, leaving the chores to others, and exploring far-flung destinations. Use the money you would have spent on groceries, gifts, and ornaments, and get yourself a drinks package and some shore excursions on one of the following amazing sailings that still have availabilities for the 2024 holiday season.
13 Cruises to Book if You Want to Spend the Holidays Far From Home
Spend Christmas and New Year wildlife watching on a Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic cruise
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For a total change of scene and the opportunity to see unique wildlife, book yourself on one of Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic’s holiday sailings. The cruise line has two different voyages on offer in December: one to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and one to the Galápagos Islands.
During the Baja California Holiday Voyage (Dec. 21-28, Dec. 28-Jan. 4), you can expect to see pods of dolphins, blue, grey, and humpback whales, mobula rays, and sea lions from the ship or while kayaking, snorkelling, and hiking.
With only 48 guests on board, the Ultimate Galápagos Holiday Voyage(Dec. 19-30) is a very intimate and active sailing during which you can snorkel, hike, kayak, and paddleboard and observe sea turtles, penguins, marine iguanas, and giant tortoises.
Enjoy all the holiday traditions you love at sea, and in the sun, with Holland America
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If it’s a sunny escape you’re looking for this coming November and December, Holland America’s got you covered for all three big holidays. Spend Thanksgiving in the Caribbean on the cruise line’s seven-day Tropical Caribbean (Nov. 24 to Dec. 1) or the 11-day Eastern Caribbean Wayfarer (Nov. 23 to Dec. 4) sailings; enjoy Christmas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the seven-day Eastern Caribbean (Dec. 22 to 29) or the seven-day Eastern Caribbean Holiday (Dec. 23 to 30) voyages; or ring in the new year in Mexico on the seven-day Mexican Riviera Holiday cruise (Dec. 28 to Jan. 4).
If you want to get away for the holidays but don’t want to completely ignore all the lovely traditions of the season, know that Holland America organizes Christmas tree and candle lighting, latkes and jelly-filled donuts for Hannukah, a holiday village display, and a New Year’s Eve party during all its holiday sailings.
Have Christmas dinner in Antarctica with Aurora Expeditions
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Few places will get you as far away from annoying relatives than Antarctica and, as luck would have it, the Antartica cruising season happens to start in November and last through mid-February. Aurora Expeditions will take you there on a 14-day voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina, through the Drake Passage, across the Antarctic Circle, and around the Peninsula through both Christmas and New Year. In between Zodiac trips to see whales, penguins, and ice seals, you’ll get to enjoy a Christmas dinner surrounded by icebergs.
Celebrate Christmas and New year sailing around the Great Barrier Reef
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December and January is peak summer season in Australia, guaranteeing some hot and sunny weather for those who will travel on Oceania’s Wonders of Australia voyage. This sailing starts in Sydney on December 22, takes you north on the Coral Sea (home of the Great Barrier Reef) all the way to Darwin, before making three stops in Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, Komodo) and ending in Perth on the west coast. You will, of course, have the opportunity to snorkel and dive to see the world’s largest coral reef system, and the creatures that inhabit it, up close.
Embrace the holiday season on a Christmas Market cruise through Europe
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One way to enjoy Christmas at its fullest is to book a cruise that will take you to the most Christmasy places in the world: Europe’s Christmas markets. Viking’s Christmas on the Rhine sailing is an eight-day trip through four countries (Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands), that stops at some of the most magical Christmas markets in the world, including the ones in Strasbourg, France, and Cologne, Germany. There are several departure dates in December, and if you opt for the December 18 sailing, you’ll spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day on board.
Embark on a 1931 historic four-masted ship to spend the holidays in the Caribbean
Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises
Sea Cloud Cruises has a fleet of three luxury four-masted windjammers, including Sea Cloud, a storied 1931 ship on which you can spend both Christmas and New Year. Because peak Caribbean cruising season starts in December, Sea Cloud will depart from the island of St. Marteen on December 20 and sail to eight different Caribbean islands during a 14-day voyage before returning to the Dutch island on January 3. There will be plenty of opportunities to swim, snorkel, and SUP throughout the trip. You’ll spend Christmas Eve in St. Lucia, Christmas Day in Grenada, and New Year in Virgin Gorda for a holiday season under coconut palms.
Celebrate both Christmas and New Year on European rivers
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Scenic’s Christmas & New Year sailing is a 15-day trip across four European countries via the Danube and the Rhine rivers. The voyage starts on December 23 in Budapest, where you can attend Christmas mass in a local church on Christmas Eve, and continues through Austria and Germany, where multiple stops are scheduled, before ending in Amsterdam in the Netherlands on January 4. The New Year celebrations will take place in the UNESCO-listed town of Bamberg in Germany.
Spend the holidays sailing around New Zealand
Photo: Celebrity Cruises
A 13-day loop starting from and ending in Sydney, Australia, Celebrity’s New Zealand Holiday sailing will visit seven different ports around both the South Island the North Island of New Zealand between December 20 and January 3. While Christmas Eve will be spent in Dunedin, on the west coast of the South Island, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day will be spent at sea on board the Celebrity Edge, where there are 29 food and beverage venues and a spa offering up to 120 different treatments. 