Cruising at Christmas became our family tradition. It was such a magical experience for our family that I wholeheartedly believed in Santa Claus for a long time. Our Christmas presents would magically appear on our beds Christmas morning, and then the bigger presents that Father Christmas couldn’t bring on a cruise would be left at our house and they would be waiting there when we returned home. When we left home there were no presents and yet when we returned from our cruise the presents had mysteriously appeared! The cruise ships tracked Santa and his reindeer on the radar and then we always got to meet him on Christmas Day. I think that because we cruised at Christmas, my brother and I had more reasons to believe that Father Christmas was real.

There are a number of advantages to going on holiday over Christmas and I’ve rounded up some of them for you here:

You skip the long lines at grocery stores.

No matter how much you buy in advance and prepare for, you still have to brave the winter weather and head out to the grocery store along with everyone else to pick up your meat for your Christmas dinner.

christmas at sea

You are prepared in advance.

If you are leaving on the 18th December, or a few days before Christmas, you are forced to make sure everything is prepared in advance. All the gifts are bought and distributed and you avoid any last minute shopping or dashing around. Last year we went on a cruise at Christmas and I remember going to Shopper’s Drugmart and buying sun cream while everyone else seemed frazzled buying chocolate, gifts and crackers.

You don’t have to squeeze all the family into your home.

The holidays are the perfect time to catch up with family, but it can be quite a chore fitting everyone into your home. A lot of cleaning and laundry needs to be done before any family members even arrive and then of course you have lots more cleaning and laundry to do once they depart. Going on a family holiday over Christmas means that somebody else does your laundry and cleaning and you just get to sit back and enjoy everybody’s company.

Somebody cooks Christmas dinner for you.

Cooking a Christmas dinner for the whole family takes a lot of planning, coordination, time and effort. Having someone else do this for you allows you to enjoy Christmas with your family and you don’t even have to do the dishes after!

You escape winter for a little while.

Some people equate Christmas with cold weather. I don’t do that! I thoroughly enjoy sitting on a beach over Christmas knowing full well that the winter weather will still be there when I get back. If you believe a white Christmas is the only way to do Christmas then there are always skiing holidays or other cold-weather holidays where you get all the benefits of being on holiday and you still get your snowy Christmas.

santa beach photo

It’s more relaxing.

Going away at Christmas upgrades your two-day holiday into a week long (or more!) holiday without any stress! I’ve heard so many stories where people feel the pressure of planning the perfect Christmas and then it’s over in a day. Once you take away all the planning that is involved for Christmas at home, you have a recipe for a much more relaxing time with the family.

About the Author

Rhian Torontow is a Family Travel Consultant with Magical Family Adventures. Rhian creates travel experiences that foster connections in your family that will last a lifetime and transforms your children into open-minded, flexible, well-travelled people. During Rhian’s childhood, her father travelled for work constantly and it was always travel that brought her family back together. You can follow Rhian on Facebook at www.facebook.com/magicalfamilyadventures, Instagram @MagicalFamilyAdventures and you can also connect with her on LinkedIn ca.linkedin.com/in/rhiantorontow/