More senior travelers are deciding that home is no place to be for the holidays. They’re going as singles, with spouses and friends, and taking along children and grandchildren.
Joan Chrystal, a 71-year-old New Hampshire retiree, is among those joining such holiday group tours, boarding cruise ships decked out with decorations or heading off to resorts and hotels that burn yule logs and serve sumptuous banquets.
Chrystal spent her first Christmas away as a recent widow about 10 years ago on a tour to Colonial Williamsburg, decorated in 18th Century wreaths, garlands, greenery and candles with carolers singing in the streets.
“It was a dream to me,” Chrystal says. “I was bitten. I found it a wonderful time to see other parts of the country. The following year, I went to Savannah (Ga.) and Charleston (S.C.), (which were) decorated in plaid ribbons because of their Scottish heritage.” Next came San Antonio and the Carolinas.
“On an Arizona tour I woke up Christmas morning at the Grand Canyon.”
Chrystal decided to travel during the holidays not so much because she feared being lonely but so she wouldn’t have to choose between her two children at Christmas. She visits them earlier in December or in January instead.
She has found that singles comprise a higher percentage of Christmas travelers than at other times.
“I’ve met people who don’t want to go to all the trouble of decorating and cooking anymore,” Chrystal says. “But they love the adventure of travel. Whether they come because they’re lonely or for another reason, they do well on Christmas tours.”
That’s because of the camaraderie that rapidly develops among group members. Chrystal has found that some fellow travelers — singles and couples — may join a tour when their children and grandchildren are spending the holidays with in-laws.
Chrystal uses Maupintour, which has developed what may be the largest choice of escorted trips during Christmas and New Year’s that focus specifically on the holidays as well as sightseeing and cultural activities.
Maupintour has 20 holiday trips in the United States and Canada this year, including Christmas day on a sleigh ride in the Canadian Rockies.
Maupintour runs 15 international tours a year, including trips to Peru’s Machu Picchu, South and Central America, Mexico and other parts of the world.
Saga Holidays and Grand Circle Travel, both senior specialists, offer additional choices. Saga destinations include the Canary Islands, London, Prague and Vienna.
Grand Circle goes to London or to Munich and Salzburg. Some of its tours have holiday departures, including Turkey, the Amazon Basin, the Galapagos Islands, Egypt, Croatia and Spain.
Other companies, including Globus, Cosmos and Abercrombie & Kent, feature the Christmas holidays among their regular departures. Most popular are such destinations as Egypt, Africa and Antarctica, says Christa Brantsch at Abercrombie. Its Pride of Britain Hotels, many in converted manor houses and castles, are popular because they have the atmosphere of a house party, Brantsch says.
Globus has 27 U.S. and international tours and independent city stays during Christmas, while Cosmos adds more than a dozen additional choices.
The University of New Hampshire’s Interhostel travel-study program for those 50 and older schedules trips to Prague and Eastern Bohemia, the Alsace and Paris, Rome and Florence, Vienna and Mexico.
These study tours are not appropriate for youngsters and teenagers.
“I’ve only been on one tour where someone brought a young grandchild, and the poor kid had nobody her own age to talk to,” Chrystal says.
Because of their convenience when grandchildren and children are along, rental condominiums are popular during Christmas, reports Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays.
Senior travelers with younger grandchildren also head to cruise ships and resorts, since many plan special children’s events.
Crystal Cruises, for example, has a good reputation for its holiday decorations and children’s programs. In the Caribbean, Holland America promises caroling with the ship’s crew and a special holiday menu, as well as frolicking on its new private beach.
Resorts, too, often have activities geared to children as well as adults. The highly rated American Club in Kohler, Wis., appeals because of its Teddy Bear Teas set in Tudor architecture and a manor-house atmosphere, plus its discounted winter and senior rates. Resorts in warm-weather spots may cost more but offer sports such as swimming and golf.
Those who prefer to be at home on Christmas will find holiday tours during Thanksgiving or New Year’s, to destinations from Pasadena, Calif., for the Rose Bowl parade and game, to a gala palace ball in St. Petersburg, Russia. They’ll also find pre-Christmas trips to cities, towns and markets in full holiday dress. Grandtravel offers upscale grandparent-grandchild tours to New York City and London and Paris immediately after Christmas.
“I met a woman who travels at no other time of year but Christmas,” Chrystal says, “and people who send a few cards then head on a trip because it’s what they love to do most.” They find Christmas is just as thrilling — but different from being at home — wherever they go.
DETAILS ON HOLIDAY TRIPS
A travel agent can suggest other companies and resorts with holiday tours, cruises and packages. But here’s how to reach those mentioned here:
– Cosmos or Globus, 5301 S. Federal Circle, Littleton, Colo. 80123; 800-851-0728.
– Crystal Cruises, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067; 310-785-9300.
– Grand Circle Travel, 347 Congress St., Boston, Mass. 02210; 800-221-2610.
– Grandtravel, Suite 706, 6900 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Md. 20815; 800-247-7651.
– Holland America Line, 300 Elliott Ave. W., Seattle, Wash. 98119; 206-281-3535; www.hollandamerica.com.
– Interhostel, University of New Hampshire, 6 Garrison Ave., Durham, N.H. 03824; 800-733-9753; www.learn.unh.edu.
– Maupintour, 1515 St. Andrews Drive, Lawrence, Kan. 66047; 800-255-6162.
– Saga Holidays, 222 Berkeley St., Boston, Mass. 02116; 800-343-0273.
