Four ways to spend December, from Cozumel’s reefs to your own Christmas table.
The last gift comes out of its bag. Someone pushes the tissue paper aside and catches sight of land beyond the suite window. Your coffee goes cold as you follow them onto the balcony.
Maybe the two of you want to spend Christmas underwater. Maybe your children will remember watching a ship climb through the Panama Canal more vividly than anything under the tree. You might have the time to let the holidays stretch across 25 nights of islands. Or perhaps the relatives are coming to your house on the 25th, and you want to get away before you welcome them.
In December 2027, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has a sailing for each of those wishes. The right one starts with the part of Christmas you want to keep, and what you want to do once the gifts are open.
For the couple who wants Christmas in the water
The gifts are still on the suite table when you pull on your swimsuit. Off Cozumel, the water deepens from turquoise to blue above the coral ledges. Fish move in and out of the reef while you and your partner follow at your own pace. December water often stays near 80°F, and winter brings spotted eagle rays to the island’s waters.
Seven Seas Grandeur calls on Christmas Day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., so you can spend the morning snorkeling and be back aboard for a late lunch. There is no Christmas meal to cook when you get back. You can go over what you saw while someone else brings the plates.
Advisor tip: Ask your advisor to compare the Christmas Day reef excursions by departure time, time in the water, snorkeling requirements, and return time. A tour that sounds right on paper has to work within that 3 p.m. departure, and holiday availability needs confirming before you count on it.
By the time Cozumel appears, you have spent Christmas Eve at sea in the Florida Straits, with Key West already behind you and nothing to do but settle into the suite. After Christmas, the coastline keeps changing: Guatemala, Belize, then Roatán, where the reef gives you one more morning to look for the eagle ray you missed. Costa Rica follows. On New Year's Eve, Grandeur reaches the Panama Canal's Gatún area and calls at Colón before turning toward Jamaica and Grand Cayman. The 14-night roundtrip brings you back to Miami on January 5.
For the family who wants to watch something happen together
Your youngest spots the waterline first. A few minutes ago, the concrete wall stood high above the deck. Now you can see over it. Your child points, someone else comes to the rail, and the conversation stops while Seven Seas Splendor rises through the first chamber of the Panama Canal.
At Gatún, three lock steps lift the ship about 85 feet toward the lake. You can leave for breakfast and return to another gate opening. The transit continues in daylight toward the Pacific, giving everyone time to drift away and come back to see what has changed. You do not need to keep the family together on a tour bus to share Christmas Day.
The day before brings a different kind of gathering. Cartagena reaches the last night of its novena de aguinaldos, when Colombian families mark nine evenings of prayers, carols, and food. Splendor stays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve, enough time for a guided walk through the walled city if the tour fits those hours. You come back aboard for dinner while Cartagena’s celebrations continue ashore.
After the crossing, the ship calls in Costa Rica and Guatemala. New Year's Eve finds you at sea. January brings Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas before you dock in San Francisco on the 5th. This is a 16-night journey from Miami to the opposite coast, so the flight plan matters as much as the suite plan.
Advisor tip: Have your advisor compare flights into Miami and home from San Francisco for every person traveling, then look at suite layouts before you commit. If Club Mariner matters to your children, ask your advisor to confirm whether the program for ages 5 to 17 operates on this departure. Regent offers it on select voyages, and this sailing’s schedule needs checking.
For the family with nowhere to be in early January
On Christmas morning, Gustavia’s red roofs rise behind a harbor full of boats. One of you climbs toward Fort Gustav for a view over the bay. Another carries sandals to Shell Beach and steps into the water. You meet again over lunch with time to walk through town before Seven Seas Voyager sails at 5 p.m.
By the time you reach St. Barts, you have already visited Tortola and St. Thomas and spent Christmas Eve in St. Maarten. After a day in Gustavia, you return to the table aboard that has begun to feel like yours. St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, and St. Lucia follow, then New Year's Eve in Grenada. January brings Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, with Cartagena and the Panama Canal still ahead.
For 25 nights, you can give different people different kinds of days. Someone stays aboard with a book while others go ashore, then the group meets again at dinner. Voyager returns to Miami on January 13. If school starts before then, another sailing fits better.
For the host who wants the islands before everyone comes over
You still want to hear your relatives arrive at your front door on Christmas Day. The trip belongs earlier in December, while the dining room table can wait a little longer.
You spend 11 nights among St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Tortola, then return to Miami on December 18. A week remains to travel home, unpack, buy what you need for dinner, and set out the plates for everyone.
If you can leave more of the preparation done before you go, Grandeur gives you 14 nights through Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Barbados, and Martinique. It returns to Miami on December 22. The extra island days leave just three days before Christmas, and your flight home takes some of that time.
Advisor tip: Ask your advisor to price flights home from Miami on December 18 and 22 and tell you when you would actually walk through your door. December 18 and December 22 feel very different when you are the one opening the door to guests.
The traditions that come with you
On the three Christmas voyages, you can still open gifts in pajamas and gather for dinner. Regent handles the cooking and dishes. Past festive sailings have brought German goose and English Christmas pudding on Christmas Eve, Champagne and baked Alaska for New Year’s Eve, and trees, gingerbread villages, and performances between meals. Regent has not yet announced menus or programming for these December 2027 departures, so ask what your ship has planned before making any one detail part of the family’s expectations.
If your family marks Hanukkah
All three Christmas voyages carry you through its eight nights, December 24 through 31. On Voyager, the first night follows the Christmas Eve call in St. Maarten, and the eighth falls on New Year's Eve after the Grenada call. Regent has held Hanukkah services and displayed a menorah on past festive sailings. Ask your advisor what is confirmed for your ship in 2027.
After the wrapping paper
The wrapping paper will end up in a pile wherever you spend the morning. What matters is what everyone reaches for afterward: the snorkel mask, the rail, a pair of sandals, or the front door when the first guests arrive. Tell your advisor which scene feels like your family, and let the sailing, suite, shore time, and way home take shape around it.
