Caribbean
Winter sun for the whole family, on ships that make Christmas and half-term easy.
Christmas & New Year
Luxury Christmas and New Year cruises
The one week a year everyone can get away. Spend it somewhere warm, with the cooking done by someone else.
Free initial consultation · Personally planned · No obligation
Mid-December to early January
Luxury Christmas and New Year cruises for families and grandparents: the Caribbean and beyond, the ships that do the festive season well, and why these sailings are planned earliest of all.
Christmas cruises sell to the same people every year, for the same reason: it is the one week when three generations can be in the same place, and nobody wants to be the one cooking. The Caribbean is the natural choice for warmth and short flights from the east coast of America; from the UK it is a long-haul flight that the right pre-cruise hotel turns into part of the holiday.
The luxury lines do the season well: carol services, proper Christmas dinners, New Year's Eve on deck. The ships with children's programmes run them, and the best family suites are booked a year or more ahead. This is the season where we most often have to say we are too late, so we would rather you asked early.
Planning for christmas and new year?
Tell us who's travelling and roughly when. We'll come back with the two or three sailings we'd actually consider, a cabin plan and a planning figure for the whole party.
Start planningWhy plan now
The constraints that are real for this window.
Not manufactured urgency: these are the things that genuinely narrow your options the later we start.
Christmas and New Year sailings are the most consistently early-selling sailings on every luxury line we work with.
Family suites and connecting cabins over Christmas are routinely planned twelve months or more ahead.
Long-haul flights for a party of six to ten over the festive period are limited and expensive when left late.
Pre-cruise hotels in Miami, Barbados and San Juan over Christmas are planned with the cabins, not after.
Where we'd look
Destinations that work in mid-december to early january
French Polynesia
Bora Bora, Moorea and the Society Islands from a yacht that stays a while.
Antarctica
The trip of a lifetime, planned a year ahead and done in real comfort.
European Rivers
Rhine, Danube and Douro: a new town every morning, no sea days, everyone back for dinner.
Travelling with three generations?
Connecting suites, different activity levels, dining that works for everyone, and transfers that suit grandparents and toddlers alike. The best family suites go first, so start early.
Cruise ideas
Sailings we'd start with for christmas and new year
Planning figures per person, not quotes. Final price depends on sailing date, suite and availability.
Explora II: a Caribbean Christmas for the whole family
Barbados round trip over Christmas with the Grenadines, connecting suites and someone else cooking.
Silver Endeavour: Antarctica in comfort
The trip of a lifetime with a butler, zodiac landings twice a day and a fly-cruise option across the Drake.
Cruise lines
The lines we'd shortlist first
Honest ratings on every line page, including who each one isn't for.
Explora Journeys
Modern, relaxed, generous with space, and genuinely happy to see children.
- Best for: Three-generation groups who want modern comfort and plenty of room
- Not for: You want a traditional, intimate ship
- Included: dining across most venues; drinks and minibar
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
The most inclusive fare at sea, on all-suite ships that take elegance seriously.
- Best for: Grandparents hosting adult children, and couples who want a fully inclusive, elegant week
- Not for: Your party includes young children or you want a casual atmosphere
- Included: all-suite accommodation; shore excursions in every port
Silversea
Butler-served suites, serious destinations, and one of the strongest expedition fleets afloat.
- Best for: Couples and well-travelled grandparents, and families with teenagers on an expedition
- Not for: You need a kids' club or a big, lively pool scene
- Included: butler service in every suite; drinks and dining
Seabourn
Small, sociable, quietly luxurious ships, with a sister expedition fleet.
- Best for: Couples and adult groups who value calm, warmth and a small ship
- Not for: You are bringing children
- Included: all-suite accommodation; drinks and dining
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
Boutique river ships with lavish interiors and dedicated family sailings in the school holidays.
- Best for: Multigenerational groups on a family departure, and grandparents who prefer rivers to oceans
- Not for: You want sea days, a pool and open horizons
- Included: dining and drinks; excursions
How it works
What happens after you enquire
No obligation. No pressure. Just a conversation about what would work for your party.
Tell us what you're thinking
Two to five minutes online, or a call. Who's travelling, roughly when, and what matters most.
We call you
A cruise specialist talks it through: the party, the occasion, the budget, and anything that worries you.
We shortlist the right ships
Not forty options. Two or three we'd actually recommend, with the reasons, and the ones we'd avoid for you.
We build the trip
Cruise, suites, flights, hotels before and after, transfers, excursions, dining and any celebration on board.
You approve it
Nothing is booked until you're happy with the plan and the price.
We handle the rest
Documents, confirmations, requests to the ship, and one person to call before and during the voyage.
Who is travelling?
Planned around your party
Three generations
Grandparents, parents, teenagers and small children on one ship, with the suites, pacing and excursions planned around all of them.
Grandparents
Whether you are hosting the grandchildren or travelling as a couple, a specialist who understands what a good week at sea looks like at this stage of life.
Families
Ships that genuinely welcome children, suites that connect, and a specialist who has checked the kids' club runs on your dates.
Good to know
Christmas and New Year: questions we're asked
When should we book a Christmas cruise?
For a family needing more than one cabin, a year or more ahead. For a couple, six to nine months ahead still leaves reasonable choice on most Caribbean itineraries.
Is the Caribbean the only sensible option at Christmas?
No. The Canaries and Morocco are shorter flights from the UK; Antarctica and South America are extraordinary for adventurous families with older children; a Christmas-markets river cruise in early December suits grandparents travelling with adult children.
Do ships do Christmas properly for children?
The family-friendly luxury ships do: decorations, a visit from Father Christmas, children's parties and a festive dinner. We confirm what each sailing runs before you commit.
Other dates
Planning around a different window?
Luxury summer cruises 2027
The Mediterranean, the Greek Islands, the Fjords and Alaska — planned now, while the suites that suit a family are still open.
Luxury cruises in August 2027
The month most families have to travel. Here is how we make it work, and the ships we would choose.
Luxury family cruises for the summer holidays
Six weeks, one window, the whole family. The ships that make a summer-holiday cruise feel like a holiday for the parents too.
Luxury cruises for October half term
A week of warm sea, quieter ports and lower prices than summer. One of the best weeks of the year to cruise with children.
Planning something specific? Tell us what you're looking for.
Don't spend thirty hours comparing forty ships, cabins, dates, flights and hotels. Give us five minutes and we'll narrow it down to what is worth considering.