SETTING SAIL : YULE CRUISES LEAVE HASSLES AT HOME.Byline: Arline Bleecker Orlando Sentinel The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently in its 131st year of publication. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. If you're planning a Christmas cruise on Holland America, consider packing your Christmas ornaments along with your cruise togs. The cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships. Cruise lines have a dual character; they are partly in the transportation business, and partly in the leisure entertainment business, a duality that carries down into the ships themselves, which have both a crew headed by the offers passengers a novel Noel opportunity: Guests can buy a live Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. for their cabins. It adds new meaning to the night before Christmas n. 1. The popular name for a poem by Clement Clarke Moore erson> titled A Visit from St. Nicholas ltname>, a popular poem with the theme of St. Nicholas erson> (Santa Claus) coming to bring gifts to children on Christmans eve. aboard a cruise ship. Actually, when it comes to Christmas cruises, no line stints on the sentiment. Crystal Cruises spends $100,000 just on decorations for the Harmony, including playful rocking horses, one-of-a-kind handmade ornaments, sleighs, nutcrackers, angel vignettes and colorful toy soldiers. In fact, every ship decks out for the season, creating magical holiday wonderlands with poinsettias, wreaths, trees, lights and ornaments. But sailing amid decorations to die for is only one among the many advantages of a Christmas cruise: You can leave the hustle and hassle of the holidays behind and enjoy Christmas, courtesy of somebody else's effort. Even Dad can skip playing Santa, because visits from St. Nick are assured, even at sea. On every ship in Celebrity Cruises' fleet, for example, kids will be visited by a gift-bearing Santa who arrives in a lifeboat. Adults don't get short shrift short shrift n. 1. Summary, careless treatment; scant attention: These annoying memos will get short shrift from the boss. 2. Quick work. 3. a. either. Every Crystal Christmas passenger receives a specially designed holiday gift. Traditionally, Christmas Day is a day at sea - a delicious one with all the fixings. There also is caroling with the crew and holiday-related activities for kids. There may be a couple of months left till Christmas, but it isn't too soon to plan a holiday cruise. Christmas-week sailings are among the most popular, selling out far in advance. Like the holiday itself, Christmas cruises cover the globe. But you don't have to go far to enjoy one. Delta Queen The Delta Queen is an American sternwheel steamboat. The Queen is 285 feet long (86.9 meters), 58 feet (17.7m) wide, and draws 11.5 feet (3.5m). The boat weighs 1,650 tons (1,676 metric tons), with a capacity of 200 passengers. Steamboat steamboat: see steamship. steamboat or steamship Watercraft propelled by steam; more narrowly, a shallow-draft paddle-wheel steamboat widely used on rivers in the 19th century, particularly the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Co.'s paddlewheelers recapture an old-fashioned Southern Christmas. In the antebellum South, magnolias mingle with Christmas mirth, and passengers sailing to Natchez and Vicksburg, Miss., glimpse Southern celebrations in pre-Civil War homes that are open to the public. Cruisers along the Mississippi are treated to feux de joie - traditional bonfires built along the levees. In Cajun lore, these ``fires of joy'' light the way for Papa Noel. Delta Queen's seven-night Christmas cruise on the Mississippi Queen features entertainer Milton Berle Milton Berle (July 12, 1908 - March 27, 2002) was an Emmy-winning American comedian who was born Milton Berlinger. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater (1948-1955), he was the first major star of television. . The cruise departs Dec. 20 from New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded ; fares start at $1,400. Information: (800) 543-1949. Prefer Christmas in the Caribbean? Holland America offers seven-, 10- and 14-day Caribbean and Panama Canal Panama Canal, waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (by way of the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, built by the United States (1904–14) on territory leased from the republic of Panama. itineraries. One-week cruises start at $1,399, but passengers who want to span Christmas and New Year's can combine sailings on Ryndam and Statendam and save $400 per couple. Fans of Holland America's Rotterdam can sail on her final holiday excursion, Dec. 21 from Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale (lô`dərdāl), residential, commercial, and resort city (1990 pop. 149,377), seat of Broward co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled around a fort built (c.1837) in the Seminole War, inc. 1911. , on a 14-day Caribbean cruise. Fares start at $2,469. Information: (800) 426-0327. Those not wanting to ring out an old ship can ring in a new one. Celebrity's Galaxy actually will be christened in time for Christmas. Its maiden seven-day voyage departs Dec. 20 from Fort Lauderdale. Information: (800) 437-3111. Carnival Cruise Lines' Christmas departures visit the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Baja Mexico and the Bahamas. Information: (800) 327-9501. Similarly, Norwegian Cruise Line's six ships make weeklong visits to the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bahamas; all depart either Dec. 21 or 22. Information: (800) 327-7030. Some of Princess Cruises' departures include Christmas and New Year's Day New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. on the same sailing. Cruises range from seven to 16 days and include the Caribbean and the Panama Canal; some Princess holiday cruises visit regions as exotic as Australia/New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Information: (800) 421-0522. The whitest Christmas of all is in Antarctica, a region as far from the commercialism of the holidays as you can get. Weather permitting, Marine Expeditions' 80-passenger Marine Voyager plans a Christmas feast on deck during a cruise Dec. 21 to Jan. 3. Marine Expeditions' cruises are affordably priced from $2,395, include air fare. For more information and a free video on Antarctica, call (800) 263-9147. For Christmas, Quark sails 12-day Antarctic cruises aboard two ice-reinforced vessels, the Professor Khromov and the Alla Tarasova. These vessels each carry less than 100 passengers, and are captained by Russian seamen recognized as experts in ice navigation. Departures begin Dec. 18, with fares from $3,550. Air fare is not included. Information: (800) 356-5699. |
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