Festive Traditions on a European Cruise

Moroccan Christmas Cruise Experience

If a snowy Christmas isn’t your dream, the mild climate of a Moroccan Christmas might suit you better. While Christmas isn’t widely celebrated, you’ll find festivities around Catholic cathedrals due to French influence. Don’t miss out on the French Christmas cake known as Buche de Noel from local bakeries. Shopping centers are beautifully decorated, but don’t expect Santa Claus; the French refer to him as Pere Noel or "Father Christmas."

Yuletide Cruise in Ponta Delgada, Azores

If you set sail to Ponta Delgada during the Christmas season, don’t miss their traditional dish: dried and salted cod. Also featured is Polvo de Natal, a festive stewed octopus. In Ponta Delgada, locals attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve, enjoy time with family and friends into the early hours, and then return home to exchange gifts.

Christmas Voyage to Iceland

Iceland is a fantastic holiday cruise destination, brimming with unique traditions. For instance, children must behave well, or else Gryla, the mountain-dwelling ogre, may catch them and cook them for soup. Her mischievous assistants deliver gifts to well-behaved children, while naughty ones receive rotten potatoes. Adults must also be cautious, as every Icelander is expected to wear new clothing on Christmas Eve to avoid the wrath of a fearsome black cat.

Christmas Cruise in the Canary Islands

A hallmark of Christmas in the Canary Islands is the intricate nativity scenes known as belens. The most famous one is crafted from sand at Las Palmas' Canteras Beach. A festive dinner on the islands features seafood such as fish and prawns. Don't leave without sampling the dessert made of sweet potato and pumpkin pastries called truchas.

Christmas Voyage to Ireland

When you cruise to Ireland for Christmas, you'll experience festive caroling in cathedrals on Christmas Eve and gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. The day after Christmas is St. Stephen's Day, honoring the patron saint of horses, and many head to the racetracks to place bets on the ponies. January 6 marks the conclusion of the holiday season, known as Women's Christmas, where women enjoy a day off while men take over cooking, cleaning, and dismantling decorations.

Christmas Cruise in Scotland

If you're heading to Scotland for Christmas, you'll get to experience a holiday that was prohibited for 400 years by Puritan Protestants! Viewing it as a deviation from the Roman Catholic Church, it wasn't until 1958 that Christmas became a public holiday. It was all "bah humbug" until then. In Scotland, the grander celebration is New Year's Eve. The Scots are the ones behind the song Auld Lang Syne, which translates to "for old time's sake." They refer to New Year's Eve as Hogmanay, or "first-footing." The first person to enter a home in the New Year should bring gifts of coal, shortbread, or whisky. It's considered good luck for a tall, dark-haired person to be the first to cross the threshold, while fair-haired visitors are seen as bad luck.

Christmas Voyage to Denmark

On a Christmas cruise to Denmark, Santa Claus is known as Julemanden, or "the Yule man." His mischievous helpers are called nisser, believed to reside in attics or barns, assisting around the house or farm. On Christmas Eve, children leave rice pudding out for the nisser to keep their antics in check.