Holiday gift giving doesn’t have to be hard when you’re thinking outside of the box. For people like my parents, I’ve struggled to give them gifts over the years and I’ve finally come to the conclusion, “it shouldn’t be this difficult!” I’m starting a new tradition this year, I’m gifting experiences for the couples in my life like my parents, my brother and his girlfriend and my in-laws. Instead a one-and-done item, I plan to offer my loved ones memories, a festive adventure, or possibly a new tradition.
Shh don’t tell them, I’m buying lucky family members an adventure on the San Francisco Bay with Hornblower Cruises! Maybe it will be a champagne brunch they’ll enjoy or a sunset dinner cruise, but I can be sure that they’ll love the gentle bay breezes, glittering waves, and the dramatic San Francisco skyline!
Hornblower is offering a variety of Holiday Cruises this year including three Thanksgiving Day Cruises to choose from. If you’re looking for a different kind of turkey-day experience this year, the three-hour premium Thanksgiving package includes seated dining, a hosted bar, and a live entertainer. A buffet dinner and seated dining options are also offered at a less expensive rate and include coffee, tea, and soda with alcohol and juice at an additional charge. One Hornblower boarding photo and endless views of the gorgeous San Francisco Bay and it’s bridges are included with each package! Here are a few of the sample menus:
Hornblower holiday cruises for the Christmas season are also full of festive fun! Whether it’s a holiday-themed brunch, lunch or dinner cruise, there’s something for everyone. Special Santa Brunch Cruises are available on December 5-6, 12-13, and 19-20 and perfect for the family. These two hour cruises offer a buffet lunch and free-flowing champagne, bottomless mimosas, orange juice, coffee, tea and water, live entertainment and a visit from Santa Claus himself! Imagine not having to wait in line for hours at the mall to see the man in red!
Yuletide Lunch and the Holiday Cocktail Cruises are available Fridays in December for only $60/person. Yuletide Lunch Cruises would be great gifts for co-workers for a company luncheon! Delicious hors d’oeuvres and a welcome glass of champagne step up cocktail hour on the two hour cocktail cruise with more libations for purchase. The sample menu has me drooling! 
Dinner cruises throughout December will have you in the holiday spirit on the Hornblower! Enjoy watching the sun go down and the city lights come up around the by on the Holiday Sunset Buffet Dinner Cruise. Two and a half hours of induging while enjoying live background entertainment will relax you as you watch views of Alcatraz island and the Golden Gate Bridge pass by.
My husband and I are looking forward to enjoying the Belle of the Ball Holiday Dinner Cruise on one of it’s three Saturday nights. With a buffet dinner, wine and beer bar and a DJ spinning some tunes, we’ll be dancing the night away in our best holiday attire! The Silver Bells Dinner Cruise is offered on 15 dates in December and also has live music and dancing with a four-course seated dinner.
Finally, if you’re up for a new tradition for your family or with friends, Hornblower has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day cruises. Offered in the early evening you can enjoy a wonderful meal of traditional fixings, live entertainment for dancing, and still have time to head home for presents and hot cocoa around the tree!
Whether you book online for your family and friends or purchase a Hornblower Cruises gift card, this is a great gift that anyone on your holiday list will enjoy! Also, Hornblower cruises sail out of six ports in California besides San Francisco as well as New York, so if you’ve got relatives beyond the bay area, you’re still in luck! For more information, please visit https://www.hornblower.com/.
This December, Royal Caribbean International invigorates the holidays with festive activities and entertainment aboard all ships sailing in the Caribbean. Whether you’re looking forward to rockin’ around the Christmas tree with your favorite DreamWorks character or simply spending some quality time with family and friends, the cruise line is inviting cruisers of all ages to immerse themselves in a diverse lineup of holiday celebrations during their vacation.
Guests sailing on a Royal Caribbean cruise this holiday season will experience new amenities and activities that are sure to excite guests of all ages. Holiday festivities that will get families into the spirit include: classic movie screenings, guest and crew caroling, family arts and crafts and cookie decorating, special holiday-themed Adventure Ocean youth program, upgraded stateroom experiences—including themed and adorned towel animals – a commemorative seasonal souvenir cup from Coca-Cola as well as holiday ice skating aboard select ships.
If you have the cruising bug like I do now, then you’ll want to hear about the fabulous 2015 Princess Cruises is having! Just over a month since 
The party will also include a production number, a celebration of weddings and anniversaries of guests onboard, a photo op with a Love Boat life ring and plenty of dancing!
I thought my 2014 was pretty awesome as far as my travel bucket list. I ventured to Aruba, Vancouver Canada, Riviera Maya Mexico, Alabama, Kentucky, Las Vegas (twice), and some great new places in California I’ve never explored. 2015 quite literally started off with a bang as I marked another travel experience off my bucket list, my first cruise ship excursion with 
Just after the new year, my husband and I flew to Los Angeles to board Princess Cruises’ Crown Princess ship for a 3-day trip to Ensenada Mexico! A perfect introduction to cruising, this shorter cruise gave us a taste of what it’s like to take to the sea in luxury and get our minds planning for the next adventure where we can bring the whole family. I had an idea in my head that this has got to be the perfect vacation for families. We’ve wanted to grab grandma and grandpa and the kids and take a family cruise for years because it seems that you can please people ages 1-100 on the ship with their variety of activities. This year both my parent’s wedding anniversary and Princess Cruises celebrate 50 years and hopefully we can plan a trip to commemorate these two occasions!
I honestly cannot wait to plan our next cruise, it has me chomping at the bit! It was hard to narrow down, I could write about 100 things, but here are 10 reasons why we loved our first Princess Cruises voyage!
1. Cruise Personalizer Prior to sailing and after you book, you can do a variety of things on the Cruise Personalizer at Princess.com that make your planning, boarding, and overall experience easier! For our cruise I scanned all the options for our Ensenada excursion on the Cruise Personalizer that even lets you know how many spots available are left for each activity. This can be done up to a week or so before cruising. Also, I knew I could get a spa treatment while at sea or while in port and the booking times available made my selection easier to make. Boarding passes and baggage tags can be printed from your computer along with your travel summary, a travel check-list, and important contact information.
3. Balcony Suites As our first experience, we had the best option available in my eyes. Yet, it makes it hard to ever have anything else in the future right? We can’t have an inside stateroom after feeling the wind in our hair on our own personal balcony and sleeping with the sliding doors open in the middle of winter across the Pacific Ocean! I was impressed by the amount of space we had for our king suite. A desk and table with chair also fit in the main room, while the closet/storage area and bathroom make up the other half of the suite. 
The balcony fits two chairs and a table so you can enjoy private room service meals overlooking the ocean through a clear panel. Sure the shower is compact but I’m small and my husband is 5’10” so we had no issues in the bathroom. Best of all, private sunrises and sunsets at sea that make you believe that mother nature hand made them especially for you!
I couldn’t wait to check the mailbox and when it came I kept it with me 24-7 so we didn’t miss a thing. My husband and I planned our day and set our alarms so we could try a little of everything all while keeping to our press trip itinerary. On a 3-day cruise I imagine it’s harder to get a chance to see all Princess Cruises has to offer but we tried our hardest. On port day we chose only one excursion to take advantage of a few events that gave way to less crowds.
5. Activities Galore One thing you’ll never say on a Princess Cruise is “I’m bored” because it’s quite impossible! The Princess Patter lists the ship’s daily activities fit for the whole family. One of my favorites was gambling to be quite honest, I played Bingo twice in Club Fusion and also played the slots in the Casino. I think this made me think of how much my parents would enjoy the cruise as they also like to have some lady luck on their side. The second Bingo game had a $1000 prize so of course with a small crowd as you find on the ship, chances are better. My husband and I also played trivia, so rounds of which were themed. Fitness activities like Zumba, yoga, and basketball can be found around the ship as well as standard gym equipment in the fitness center.
Broadway-style shows like “Blame it on the Boogie” mixed singing and dancing to music of the 70’s and was so good! Outdoor movies under the stars (as well as indoor), magic shows, health/skincare seminars, art gallery showings, dancing, karaoke, jewelry showcases, musical performances, cocktail demonstrations, comedy, and that doesn’t even include the kid’s activities, teen and youth center agendas! 
Take a dip in four pools (plus 2 splash pools) with activities and games for the little ones as well as pool parties for 18 and over!
Captain’s party and the champagne waterfall is complimentary event that you’ll love as well as Chocolate Journeys featuring exquisite confections from chocolatier Norman Love, or sushi, tapas, and wine flights at Vines. 
Is it odd that I want to LIVE on this cruise ship?
6. The Sanctuary With over 3000 guests aboard Princess Cruises, you may think your stateroom is the only place for some peace and quiet. On the Crown Princess, we were lucky enough to enjoy an afternoon of romantic solitude at the Sanctuary and we completely felt like the only ones on the ship!
Whether we wanted to snuggle up on a chaise lounge for two and listen to the provided mp3 players or read, we literally couldn’t even hear the sounds of the other passengers on board. This amenity is an adults-only perk at an extra charge per day but completely worth it, the private pool and hot tub and afternoon tea time will make you feel like a VIP!
Hot stones were used to massage, a cooling leg and foot mask beneath hot towels, gentle sloughing, and then sexy red polish topped off the hour-long treatment. Most of our cruise found me in flip-flops to show off the beautiful job well done. Lotus Spa features many spa treatments, fitness classes and beauty salon services. The Lotus gyms offer the latest in equipment, as well as personal trainers and a variety of different classes throughout the day.
8. Excursions Our quick 3-day getaway included one stop to Ensenada for a cultural day in Mexico, in the state of Baja California. We felt the warmth of their mild winter as we approached port that morning, a very Mediterranean-like climate. The “Cinderella of the Pacific” has become a popular tourist destination by land or sea. With options to visit it’s wine country or the natural wonders, we chose to see La Bufadora, one of the world’s largest blowholes on scenic Punta Banda. Taken by bus and a fun and funny guide, we traveled about 40 minutes from port to our destination. 
A flea market of vendors lined the street approaching the inlet with their clothing, jewelry, and household wares for sale. They love to bargain so if you’re so inclined don’t buy at the first shop. Restaurants and food stands are also offering samples of pina coladas, churros, and tacos, their aromas mouth-watering.
At the site of La Bufadora, seawater crashes into the tiny crevasse with a roar and the water erupts as high as 100 feet! Legend has it that the site holds an angry snorting whale stuck in an underwater cave trying to escape. Believe it or not! The tour lasted about 4 hours round-trip but guest who don’t plan a set tour can still disembark and explore the city on their own via taxi, shuttle, or by foot.
The nicer sit-down restaurants like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Crown Grill, and Sabatinis had a more specific dining time frame and also the latter two had additional charges not included with your stay. Vines wine bar also offered sushi and tapas for a separate charge but worth the visit especially pairing the food with a wine flight (we chose both a red and white flight). 
The food was delicious, made on the spot many times and even room service was prompt and hot. Just like I mentioned about the activities, the food is abundant and you’ll not utter the words, “I didn’t get enough to eat” at any time on the cruise. Coffee, tea, lemonade, and water is always available around the ship and you can also purchase drink packages to enjoy throughout the cruise. For about $49/day per person you can enjoy unlimited cocktails, beer, wine, soda, shakes, specialty coffees, and bottled water. For those who don’t drink alcohol and children, an unlimited soda and more package can be bought for about $7/day per person. 
Packages don’t have to be bought, you can just pay as you go as we did one afternoon when we decided to splurge on a bucket ‘o beers to enjoy on the deck while we read!
