What if you could spend Christmas Day without the hassle of cooking for the masses, cleaning and having to endure Uncle Ron’s jokes. The ultimate festive holiday with all the trimmings can be as close as your nearest port. Take it from Melbourne-based cruise fans Mark Eden and Jay Cadiramen who love to spend Christmas on a cruise, so much so that they have booked the next three Christmases at sea with Cunard.
“The minute you step on board, it’s so festive, you get the full Christmas feeling without having to deal with [putting up] all the decorations,” says Jay of the Cunard sailings that they love. This year they will sail on Queen Elizabeth to the South Pacific.
“Cunard does the traditional English Christmas with turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings. They do a really good job,” says Mark.
Here are seven Australian Christmas cruises you can still book for 2024:
1. Queen Elizabeth
Departing from Sydney on December 23, Cunard’s 13-night South Pacific Christmas Voyage visits New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. As well as Christmas trees, twinkling lights and festive menus, there will be on-board seasonal shopping and a gingerbread village display. This voyage still has Grills cabins available, which is Cunard’s business class equivalent.