“It feels like I jumped into my television and I’m actually living in a Hallmark movie” was one phrase overheard many times over four days on the 2025 Hallmark Christmas Cruise, which marked its second year in a new annual tradition for the network. 18 of Hallmark Channel’s biggest stars joined 4,000 diehard fans for a four-day journey from Miami to Cozumel and one thing was clear: it’s all for the fans.
There’s something special about the Hallmark community, both within the talent pool and among the fans around the world. This is a group of actors who fully understand the impact they have on their followers and go above and beyond to return the appreciation right back to them. After hosting two cruises on a smaller boat last year, the network upped the ante for 2025, booking a ship with double the capacity and bringing more stars along for the biggest holiday celebration of the year.
Holiday singalongs, exclusive movie screenings, an ugly Christmas sweater contest, live game shows, a Broadway-style variety show, panels with the talent, and so much more made this the ultimate destination for Hallmark Channel’s biggest fans.
JustJared.com was along for all the fun this year, and we had an all-access pass to bring you a behind-the-scenes look into how everything came together.
Head inside to read about the full experience…
All photos by Allister Foster for Hallmark Media
The holiday cheer was already evident upon arrival at PortMiami, with most fans dressed in custom t-shirts created specifically for the cruise. Sixthman, the company that creates curated cruises with every immersive theme you can think of, transformed the ship in a matter of hours to become a Christmas wonderland, decorated with festive trees, lights, ornaments, and gingerbread houses wherever you looked. The fans took it one step further by decorating their cabin doors in the most creative ways and bringing stocking stuffers to hand out to their fellow cruisegoers. The stocking on our cabin door was stuffed with more items every time we returned to the room!
It was clear that everyone was in the holiday spirit by the time the “Sail-ebration” event began on night one. As the Norwegian Joy sailed away from Miami, all 18 actors gathered on stage to kick off the cruise with a welcome party hosted by Jonathan Bennett and Nikki DeLoach, complete with a tree lighting ceremony and a singalong to “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Having 18 famous stars on a cruise ship alongside 4,000 of their biggest fans sounds like a logistical nightmare and a possible security risk, but the Hallmark and Sixthman teams handled it with ease. The actors had their own sanctuary at the top of the ship in the special “Haven” area, a section of the cruise ship that is usually available for Norwegian guests to book for a VIP experience but was held exclusively for the talent on this sailing. The actors used a series of secret hallways and private elevators to get from event to event but often stepped through the main areas of the boat and were greeted by delighted fans.
While every guest on the cruise was assigned a time to take a professional photo with a group of actors, the talent also spent hours upon hours across the four days trying to greet as many fans as they could, often sticking around after their scheduled events to snap an endless amount of selfies and listen to stories from their biggest fans. We spotted Ashley Williams taking every free moment that she had during the cruise to pop into the general areas and surprise the fans. She estimated that she took at least 1,000 selfies across the four days!
Every day on the ship came with its own theme, including a pajama day on Friday, a sparkle and shine night on Saturday, and an ugly Christmas sweater day on Sunday.
For a panel under the stars that JustJared.com hosted on Friday night, Ginna Claire Mason, Sarah Drew, Taylor Cole, and Ashley Williams were all dressed in matching PJs from Printfresh. Let’s just say it was definitely the comfiest and coziest day of the whole cruise!
The creativity of Hallmark fans is unmatched, which was evident during the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest held on Sunday. Hallmark stars went into the crowd during the event to pick out contestants to represent them on stage, with the audience ultimately choosing the winner of the contest. One winner had a working shower/tub attached to his sweater!
Cruisegoers had the opportunity to extend that creativity while on the ship at workshops hosted by actual Hallmark artists. “Create & Learn” workshops included Christmas cookie decorating, letter writing, canvas painting, and more.
While there were all-day movie marathons of Hallmark movies across the ship, fans were also treated to an exclusive premiere of a brand-new movie that no one else in the world had seen yet – including the actors themselves. Everyone on board got to watch Three Wisest Men over a week before its network debut. During one of five screenings, cast members Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker, Paul Campbell, and Kimberley Sustad even popped in to watch with the audience!
Paul told the crowd, “We were given a link to watch the movie last week and we refused because we wanted to see it for the first time with you guys.”
A highlight of the cruise was “Festive Feud,” a game show held five times throughout the trip to ensure every guest had a chance to attend. Jonathan Bennett hosted every edition, bringing different actors together for each round alongside some lucky fans. Non-stop hilarity ensued each time and Jonathan proved why he’s Hallmark’s go-to host. (If you’re not watching Finding Mr. Christmas, you’re truly missing out).
Some memorable moments included Taylor Cole dressed in a snowman suit playing in character as “Froze,” Heather Hemmens bringing up her period panties collection Galifornia Undies, and Tyler Hynes jumping on stage to hug a contestant who revealed she works as a hospice nurse.
Jonathan hosted multiple events built around Finding Mr. Christmas, including an early episode screening that ended in a cliffhanger because Hallmark wouldn’t let him spoil it.
A “Finding Mr. Shipmas” game show featured eight men competing for “Mr. Shipmas,” decorating Hallmark stars as Christmas trees while performing scenes alongside them as well. The final round showcased two contestants improvising skits with actual Hallmark actresses; let’s just say that winner deserved that title after an impressive performance!
Ginna Claire Mason, who filmed her first Hallmark Channel movie while simultaneously playing Glinda in Wicked, led Saturday night’s variety show adding Broadway-style flair to this vacation experience.
“I thought what does every cruise ship have? A Broadway night! So I pitched having an evening of song and dance,” Ginna Claire shared with us. “I wanted classics everyone would know regardless if they’re theatergoers—music people could sing along to that sparks nostalgia… I’m grateful to be part of this Hallmark family and inspired by this remarkably kind group.”
The actors stayed onboard during Saturday afternoon’s stop in Cozumel rehearsing songs like “Summer Nights” from Grease, “Lean on Me,” “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors, while Ginna Claire gave fans a taste of her performance from Wicked. During both variety show performances she invited audience members up for duets like “For Good!”
“We brainstormed creative ways to involve our audience; one favorite idea was having someone jump up to sing ‘For Good’ with me!” she said. “That song will forever pull at heartstrings; probably one of my sweetest moments! The volunteers did such an excellent job.”
Erin Cahill‘s husband singer-songwriter Paul Freeman, performed three songs during this show while both Andrew Walker and Kevin McGarry dropped backup vocals.
Rachel Boston brought along her mom’s prom dress from 1968 saying: “When brainstorming outfits I found my mom’s prom dress! It was perfect! So special having it travel from her prom in Tennessee to our Christmas Cruise!”
The variety show also included somber moments when Nikki DeLoach broke news that actors Paul Campbell and Kimberley Sustad </strong;had left mid-cruise due to family emergencies.
“We don’t let friends do things alone,” Nikki told guests leading prayers sending strength toward Paul during this difficult time.
Bingo rounds along with cocktail tastings hosted by talent were also included as well as “Newlywed Game”-style shows hosted by Nikki .
Here you can find original article; photos used are sourced from there.
