Onboard holiday festivities

Celebrity Cruises

Seasonal style: Traditional.

Thanksgiving: A traditional Thanksgiving meal will be served with fall decor (such as leaves and pumpkins) throughout the dining rooms.

Hanukkah: Hanukkah will be celebrated with the lighting of a menorah on each of the eight nights and with a traditional meal, including potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts. A rabbi will be onboard to lead prayers.

Christmas: The ships will be decorated with greenery and ornaments. Christmas celebrations include caroling by the ship's staff in public areas, holiday house music and seasonal movies. Most ships will also have some sort of holiday-themed show. Santa will pay a visit, and all kids, teens and suite guests will receive holiday gifts. A traditional Christmas dinner will be served. A priest and a reverend will be onboard to lead religious services.

New Year's Eve: New Year's Eve parties will include party favors and a Champagne toast at the dawn of 2009. A special holiday- themed dinner will be served.

Costa Cruises

Seasonal style: Christmas ... Italian style.

Thanksgiving: Costa only celebrates Thanksgiving in the Caribbean, but it does not have a ship there this November.

Hanukkah: Costa does not celebrate Hanukkah onboard.

Christmas: The ships will be exuberantly decorated, and staff members will lead passengers in caroling. Meals will be traditionally Italian, though American fare can also be found on Caribbean itineraries — a nod to the North Americans. Santa will visit, and each child onboard will get a special gift. There will be a midnight mass on Christmas Eve and services on Christmas day.

New Year's Eve: Celebrations will be held all day throughout the ship, so you can sip Champagne in a lounge or up on deck. Learn to count from 1 through 10 in Italian so you can keep up with the countdown!

Cruise West

Seasonal style: Traditional with regional twists, like a traditional Nochebuena Christmas Eve feast on a Sea of Cortez cruise and Ano Nuevo, celebrated in Costa Rica.

Thanksgiving: A traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and all the fixings will be served.

Hanukkah: Cruise West does not celebrate Hanukkah onboard.

Christmas: Travelers on the “Between Two Seas” Central America sailing will celebrate with festive Costa Rican and Panamanian holiday activities and traditional meals. Guests on the Sea of Cortez cruise will celebrate Christmas Eve with a Nochebuena feast and can spend Christmas Day on a remote beach in Mexico, enjoying holiday activities.

New Year's Eve: Guests and crew will count down during a party with a late-night buffet and midnight toasts.

Cunard

Seasonal style: Traditional, classy and British — with a nod to the Yanks.

Thanksgiving: A turkey dinner will be served.

Hanukkah: Menorahs will be displayed, and Hanukkah services will be scheduled each day from December 21 to December 29, led by rabbis onboard. Kosher culinary offerings will be available.

Christmas: The ships will be festooned with greenery, including trees and wreaths, ornaments, nutcrackers, gingerbread cottages and twinkling lights. Father Christmas will visit, of course, and hands out gifts to the kids. There will be special shows in the theater, caroling and pantomime, and a gala Christmas supper with roast turkey and Christmas pudding.

New Year's Eve: Guests will have a jolly old time at the black-tie gala with horns, hats, streamers and blowers.

Crystal Cruises

Seasonal style: Family fun in an elaborate and elegant setting.

Thanksgiving: A traditional five-course feast will be the highlight of the day.

Hanukkah: Hanukkah will be festive with menorah lighting, songs, stories and Hanukkah gelt (chocolate coins) for kids of all ages. Special Hanukkah meals will include gefilte fish, kosher chicken, matzo ball soup and latkes (potato pancakes).

Christmas: Each ship will feature handcrafted ornaments, ornate sleighs, gingerbread houses and elaborate trees. Special seasonal movies will be shown in the ships' theaters and on the in-room televisions. Clergy will be onboard to lead Catholic and Protestant Christmas Eve services.

Christmas Eve will include a dinner of roast duckling with chestnut stuffing, holiday music in the piano bar and a tree-lighting ceremony with the captain, followed by carols, hot chocolate, cookies and gifts for all guests. Christmas Day brings eggnog in the morning, a gala luncheon and a visit from Santa in the afternoon with gifts for youngsters onboard. A traditional Christmas Day dinner — featuring roast turkey — will also be served, followed by a holiday musical production show.

New Year's Eve: A gala dinner will be followed by drinks, dancing and a live show. At midnight, crew and passengers will count down to 2009, and a balloon drop in the atrium will start off the new year. On New Year's Day, celebrations will continue with complimentary Bloody Mary parties and a special brunch with Champagne and mimosas.

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