At a glance
- You can reach European Christmas markets on both ocean and river cruises, with no-fly and rail-and-sail options available
- Classic warm-weather destinations for Christmas cruises include the Canary Islands, the Caribbean and French Polynesia
- Twixmas and New Year’s departures mean you can enjoy celebrations at home before heading off on a post-Christmas escape
- Prices range from a few hundred pounds for shorter European sailings to a few thousand for longer itineraries to far-flung shores
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World of Cruising, along with our sister publication, Cruise Trade News, has one of the UK’s most experienced teams of cruise journalists and contributors. Our experts have racked up hundreds of nights at sea and sailed with most cruise lines. Most weeks, one of our writers will be at sea or on a river. We don’t just write about cruising, we experience it.
Best Christmas market river cruise: Riviera Travel
Few moments feel as festive as a visit to a European Christmas market, the air rich with mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and carols. River cruises offer an excellent way to experience them. They allow you to take a whistlestop tour to several medieval cities and towns in a matter of days, experiencing distinct yuletide traditions along the way.
While many cruise lines offer festive market sailings, Riviera Travel was named ‘Best River Cruise Line’ at the 2024 Wave Awards for good reason. A Christmas market sailing aboard one of its five-star ships means insightful excursions with local guides, onboard entertainment such as festive folklore shows, and dining that showcases regional flavours.
Itineraries: One of the main advantages of Riviera Travel is the breadth of dates and routes it sails, including cruises designed exclusively for solo travellers.
The Danube and Rhine are the most popular rivers for Christmas market cruises. The former has stops in Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Salzburg, while the latter showcases cities like Strasbourg and Cologne.
The Seine is another standout, with cruises that bring you to French châteaux dressed in Christmas finery and the City of Lights illuminated for the season.
Price: From £1,200 per person for a five-day sailing, including regional flights; train tickets are available as an alternative on select sailings.
Browse offers:Riviera Travel
Best no-fly Christmas market cruise: Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
If you want to experience fairytale Christmas markets without the hassle of flights or the Eurostar, Fred. Olsen’s festive no-fly cruises are a strong contender. Sailings depart from Southampton, Liverpool and Portsmouth.
While sailing directly from a UK port does mean more time at sea, the journey itself becomes part of the fun in the weeks before Christmas. You’ll find your ship trimmed with holly, garlands and lights, while menus have a festive twist, starting with the Mistletoe Martini.
If that doesn’t put your fellow passengers into a merry mood, the programme of activities and entertainment likely will. Think themed quizzes, carols, Christmas jumper competitions and seasonal craft classes.
Itineraries: Fred. Olsen’s fleet includes ocean-going ships that are small enough to sail down rivers, so itineraries often combine coastal ports with those slightly inland. For example, you might find yourself in Hamburg, which sits on the River Elbe in Germany, or Antwerp on the River Scheldt in Belgium. Both are known for going all in on Christmas, from markets to music and city-wide decorations.
Some sailings also extend to the Baltic, calling at Riga in Latvia, Tallinn in Estonia and Helsinki in Finland. There, a visit to a sauna provides a restorative pause from all the seasonal excitement.
Price: At the time of writing, £600 per person for five nights, no flights required.
Browse offers: Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Best Christmas cruise for families: Disney Cruise Line
A Very Merrytime sailing with Disney Cruise Line celebrates Christmas with a family-focused voyage.
On board, the ships are decked out in festive fashion, complete with a 24-foot Christmas tree and dazzling lights. Depending on the itinerary, there may be a tree-lighting ceremony with Mickey and Minnie, appearances from Disney characters in seasonal attire and even a visit from Santa Claus.
The cruises also deliver the entertainment Disney is known for, from Broadway-style productions such as Frozen, A Musical Spectacular, to fireworks at sea.
For parents, the well-supervised kids’ clubs can be a welcome break, giving them the chance to snag a table at Remy, the adults-only fine-dining restaurant inspired by Ratatouille, or to spend time in the over-18s pool area.
Itineraries: These sailings depart from US ports such as Galveston in Texas and Port Canaveral in Florida. From there, the ships head for the Caribbean, primarily the Bahamas.
Many itineraries include a stop at Disney Castaway Cay, a private island with white sand beaches, water-play areas and a lagoon teeming with marine life. For the festive season, it transforms with Christmas trees and flurries of artificial ‘snow’.
Price: A four-night sailing starts at around £700 per adult, excluding flights. Prices for children vary by age, with fares from around £300 for babies and toddlers.
Browse offers: Disney Cruise Line
Best Christmas cruise for winter sun: P&O Cruises
Christmas sailings with P&O Cruises are full of festive touches. Themed cocktails appear on the menus, Father Christmas and his helpers set up a grotto for young travellers, and classic Christmas films play in the onboard cinema. Around the ship, gingerbread villages and glittering trees set a seasonal scene.
Because P&O caters first and foremost to the UK market, British cruisers won’t miss out on familiar favourites. For example, expect a classic Christmas dinner complete with all the trimmings, as well as traditional pantomimes. The difference is that these hallmarks of a British Christmas are enjoyed under sunny skies rather than in the bleak midwinter back home.
For anyone who prefers to spend Christmas Day itself in the UK, there are also New Year’s sailings that depart during Twixmas, so you can enjoy a traditional celebration with friends and family before heading off on a post-Christmas escape.
Itineraries: With P&O, you can celebrate Christmas in the Canary Islands, Madeira, Spain, Portugal and the Caribbean. If you’re headed to a European destination, there are no-fly options that depart directly from Southampton, though these are typically longer and therefore pricier than fly-cruises.
Price: At the time of writing, prices start from just over £1,000 per person for a week-long fly-cruise to the Canaries, including flights.
Browse offers: P&O Cruises
Best for Northern Lights at Christmas: Hurtigruten
Dreaming of a white Christmas? Chances are you will find it on a Christmas or New Year’s voyage along the Norwegian coast. Even more alluring than snow-covered mountains is the possibility of the Northern Lights appearing overhead, offering a once-seen-not-forgot festive experience.
Hurtigruten, which has been sailing the Norwegian coast since 1893, offers itineraries designed to seek out the Aurora Borealis. Its experts are so confident in your chances of seeing them that they provide a Northern Lights Promise. Essentially, if you take a voyage of 11 days or more between the 20th of September and the 31st of March and the lights do not appear, you’ll be invited back for a complimentary six- or seven-day sailing.
In December, as well as watching the skies, you can experience Nordic traditions at their best. Carols are sung against a backdrop of Christmas trees and lights. At mealtimes, guests tuck into seasonal favourites like julegrøt (find the hidden almond and win a gift), gløgg (mulled wine) and lutefisk, a seafood classic.
Itineraries: Hurtigruten sails the Norwegian coast, among the fjords and above the Arctic Circle to the Auroral Zone. Along the way, you may see reindeer in the snow, go dog-sledding, browse Christmas markets or perhaps even visit Bergen’s Pepperkakebyen (the world’s largest gingerbread city).
Price: From about £2,200 for 12 days, including flights.
Browse offers:Hurtigruten
Best for luxury at Christmas: Windstar Cruises
On Windstar’s small ships, which feel more akin to yachts than traditional cruise ships, Christmas is made effortlessly chic. This is a sophisticated way to celebrate the season: relaxed, stylish and never stuffy.
The festivities on board feel pleasantly personal. One highlight is the captain’s reading of The Night Before Christmas. Just as charming is the New Year’s Eve tradition, when the eldest member of the crew rings out the old year and the youngest rings in the new.
Food, as you would expect from the official cruise line of the James Beard Foundation, is at the heart of the experience. It begins with thoughtful touches – Christmas cookies and candy canes left in your cabin – and builds to meals that balance the familiar with the unexpected.
Seasonal classics like turkey, eggnog and Christmas high tea with stollen and Christmas cake sit alongside butter-poached lobster, Christmas pudding soufflé and inventive vegetarian dishes that are far from an afterthought.
Itineraries: Days drift by on sun-dappled teak decks as you sail to destinations like Costa Rica, with time ashore to explore Monteverde Cloud Forest and Arenal Volcano, or French Polynesia with its sand beaches and turquoise lagoons. The ABC Islands are another favourite, where you’ll taste coquito, a Caribbean take on eggnog.
Price: At the time of writing, fares start from under £2,000 for a weeklong Caribbean sailing, excluding flights.
Browse offers:Windstar Cruises
Next up, read: Best luxury cruises
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