Families can enjoy more time with loved ones and leave the cooking to Royal Caribbean's chefs this Thanksgiving holiday, where the cruise line's main dining rooms will feature a gourmet turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Kids also will enjoy Thanksgiving-themed activities in the cruise line's Adventure Ocean programming. A special eight-night Bahamas itinerary aboard Explorer of the Seas, sailing on November 21, 2009, from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ, will help bring the whole family together for a wonderful Thanksgiving and kick off the festive season. Guests will enjoy Explorer of the Seas onboard amenities, such as an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall, and street parties and parades in the Royal Promenade, a boulevard that runs nearly the length of the ship, flanked by boutiques, restaurants, bars and lounges.
Royal Caribbean also will celebrate the Festival of Lights, offering Hanukkah-themed festivities throughout the holiday. A Rabbi will be onboard every ship to conduct services and preside over a Menorah lighting ceremony. In the main dining room, guests can enjoy the cruise line's food options or request a kosher meal, an option that Royal Caribbean offers on every sailing throughout the year. The December 12, 2009, sailing of Independence of the Seas from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, will combine the Jewish holiday with an eight-night Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard a Freedom-class cruise ship, with its exclusive amenities such as the FlowRider surf simulator, H2O Zone kids' water park, cantilevered whirlpools suspended 112 feet above the ocean, and the Presidential Family Suite, which sleeps up to 14.
Royal Caribbean will deck its ships with boughs of holly and other seasonal decorations throughout the month of December to herald the jolly holiday. Classic movie screenings, guest and crew caroling, cookie decorating, festive ambient music, and special readings of holiday tales will get guests into the Christmas spirit on a festive family cruise. A Catholic priest also will be onboard to lead the holiday's observances. Families can still book staterooms aboard the December 19, 2009, sailing of Oasis of the Seas, the newest and most revolutionary cruise ship to enter service in December 2009 from Port Everglades. With Oasis' seven themed neighborhoods offering the most options of any cruise ship at sea, every guest of every age will have an unsurpassed holiday.
All Royal Caribbean ships also will usher in the New Year at sea, with a Cruise Director and Captain's Countdown and with themed parties in all onboard lounges. The cruise line's younger travelers will enjoy the extended late night party zone where kids and teens will be celebrating their very own respective New Years parties and countdowns. Vacationers from the West Coast can ring in the New Year aboard Mariner of the Seas' December 27, 2009, sailing on a seven-night Mexican Riviera gala cruise from Los Angeles. Mariner is the most exciting ship on the West Coast, also offering an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall, inline-skating track, nine-hole mini-golf course, Royal Promenade, and a unique pool deck adorned by pop-artist Romero Britto.
For additional information or to make reservations, call your travel agent, visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com or call (800) ROYAL-CARIBBEAN.
Liberty of the Seas Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International