Cruise Lines with Family-Friendly Halloween Sailings

October is a beautiful time of year to travel: the weather tends to be cooler without being uncomfortably cold, airfare is lower, and crowds are smaller than in the peak summer months. This shoulder season is also a great time to take advantage of regional celebrations, such as wine harvest festivals in Europe, not to mention the natural splendor of fall foliage in regions like New England, the Canadian Maritimes, and even Japan.

Families traveling in late October have an additional factor to consider: Halloween. This spooktacular celebration is a favorite among kids, who look forward to carving pumpkins, donning costumes, and trick-or-treating. While some adults may be indifferent, most children don’t want to miss Halloween.

Luckily, many cruise lines cater to families during autumn months with Halloween programming. In some cases, cruise lines offer a special one-time itinerary that includes Oct. 31, while others have multiple sailings throughout the season with themed decor, drinks, and activities.

We’ve rounded up all the cruise lines that offer confirmed Halloween sailings with themed itineraries in 2024 and beyond. We focused on family-friendly cruises with activities for children and unique programming to celebrate the holiday.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line celebrates Halloween throughout the month of October across its entire fleet. All ships feature decorations – including Patch the Pumpkin Pirate in the atrium, and special Halloween backdrops for photos. Carnival also offers themed drink specials, and on Oct. 31, Halloween desserts.

Guests can enjoy activities ranging from “frightfully fun” trivia, dance classes, and karaoke, to trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving contests, and even Halloween-themed casino programming (North American only).

Not all of Carnival’s programming is the same across its fleet. Guests who travel on Excel ships (Carnival Celebration, Mardis Gras, and Carnival Jubilee) can enjoy a Halloween costume contest and “Monster Ball,” while the other ships feature “Patch’s Halloween Deck Party and Costume Contest” instead.

Costa Cruise Line

Kids sailing on Costa Cruise Line over Halloween will enjoy a decorated Squok Club, complete with creepy crawlies and pumpkins. The lounges, restaurants, and atrium will also be decorated with carved pumpkins, and on Oct. 31, Halloween-themed desserts are on the menu – including a specialty ice cream at the Gelataria.

Cunard

Cunard, known for its iconic transatlantic cruises and rich history, goes all in on classy celebrations – Halloween included. Guests can look forward to a Halloween-themed gala ball or a party in the Queens Room, as well as festive decorations, a pumpkin carving contest, specialty cocktails and desserts, themed quizzes, scary movies, and “kreepy karaoke.”

Cunard does have children’s activities onboard as well. Young passengers will enjoy Halloween crafts and activities in The Kids’ Zone, as well as trick-or-treating.

Disney Cruise Line: Halloween on the High Seas

Disney loves Halloween. This is true both on land and on the sea. While the theme parks are known for going all out with festive decor, specialty food and drinks, and even re-themed attractions, Disney Cruise Line offers its own spin on the holiday: Halloween on the High Seas. Available on Magic, Dream, Fantasy, and Wish, the special itinerary includes the dance party event Mickey’s Mouse-querade, themed crafts, trick-or-treating, spine-tingling treats, and character meet-and-greets.

One fan-favorite highlight of Halloween on the High Seas sailings is that the walkaround characters don special costumes. It’s a chance for guests to get their picture with Mickey, Minnie, and Donald and others in unique dress. Recently, Disney added Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle Cow dressed as the Sanderson sisters from the hit movie “Hocus Pocus.”

Similar to the parks, Disney’s Halloween festivities are not limited to October. Sailings begin in September, and 2025’s dates are already available to book with guaranteed activities.

Holland America Line

While Holland America Line is not a family cruise line in the same way most other cruise lines on this list are, it does offer a kids club. It’s overall laid-back vibe is good for multi-gen groups, but it might not be a great fit for a family with young kids looking for excitement.

Having said that, HAL does offer Halloween-themed activities that the entire family can enjoy (including Great-Grandma), such as crafts, a costume party, a themed tea, special desserts in Lido Market, and even a carved pumpkin contest guests can vote on.

MSC Cruises

Guests onboard MSC Cruises over Halloween will enjoy frightfully fun festivities for all ages. This includes themed menus, parades and parties, costume contests, arts and crafts, quizzes, and other themed games.

Kids onboard will also enjoy a Halloween-inspired itinerary designed just for them. Highlights include an MSC Scary House, trick-or-treating, workshops, challenges, gameshows, and even a writing contest. Teens can celebrate the season with a Halloween night party and costume and makeup competition.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line throws a Halloween party for passengers, complete with festive decorations, goodies, and specialty cocktails. Guests can enjoy themed activities like trivia, as well as trick-or-treating and a costume contest.

Be warned: Because youth programming differs ship-to-ship, NCL cannot confirm the specific activities onboard.

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises stands out as having some of the most creative and unique family-friendly activities on its Halloween sailings. In addition to the more common offerings, like pumpkin carving contest, themed trivia, and spooky décor, the cruise also runs a ghost ship tour, a pumpkin pie eating contest, a “guess the weight of the pumpkin” contest, and Halloween gameshows.

Cinephiles and horror-lovers alike can enjoy a scary movie marathon, while the kids can choose from Halloween pool games, themed arts and crafts, and even a ship-wide trick-or-treating with the whole family.

Royal Caribbean

Guests on sailings over Oct. 31 are encouraged to don costumes and celebrate Halloween with Royal Caribbean. The ships feature holiday decorations, as well as themed daily activities like costume contests and scavenger hunts.

Adventure Ocean, Royal Caribbean’s award-winning childcare facilities, also offers kid-friendly Halloween decorations and activities.