Christmas is that time of the year where we go shopping, eat to our full, get together with family, long lost relatives and friends. Christmas sees a lot of deals go live and shopping malls fill up. In these malls we also have Santa, at least one of them, giving gifts to children, taking pictures as well. A Christmas without Santa Claus would have been unthinkable a year ago but with all that is happening with COVID and social distancing restrictions it has become the norm. There is hope however, currently there are some services online that offer parents the opportunity to have Santa around virtually for their kids this holiday, thus preserving the tradition of many.
Currently if you want to talk to Santa Claus online there are many services that offer this. Cameo, JingleRing, AskSanta are a few. Some of these services offer personalized video messages, real time AI powered chats and facetime with Santa.
A quick google search “How to talk to Santa Claus” and you may be overwhelmed with the number of results that come up. That’s why I came up with this article, to help you make better informed decisions. I’ll try my best to explain these services for you, their perks as well as their prices in this article.
Cameo
Cameo is an American video-sharing website headquartered in Chicago. It offers you the chance to pay for personalized video messages from your favourite celebrities, even Santa Claus. You’ll need to create an account to use their services however the process is very straightforward. At the time of this writing Cameo isn’t offering any free trail to their premium services.
On Cameo you can pay for a Mr. Santa, Mrs. Santa as well as some elves. There is a Santa that speaks Spanish, along with a comedian Santa. Their prices for a personalised video message currently range from $10 to $150. Each Santa has a response time that can vary from a few hours to 7 days. If after 7 days you don’t get your personalised video message, the hold on your card is lifted. So it’s advised you request early for your video message just so you can avoid any disruptions to your plans this festive period.
Going through their catalogue of Santa not all of them are meant for children. Some are in my opinion more favourable for grownups who are interested in a unique Christmas cheer. When trying to decide you’ll find the reviews helpful. When it comes to a younger audience I personally feel “America’s Favorite Santa Claus”, one of the Santa available would be the best. He currently charges $99 for a cameo video and has a response time of 13 hours with a rating of 5.0 from 39 reviews so far.
Ask Santa
Imagine having a chat with Santa without having to leave your sofa, for free I might add. Your kids would get the chance to ask Santa all the questions they have on their minds and with all responses pre-recorded and certified by kidSAFE to be children friendly you wouldn’t have to worry about any inappropriate content. This is what Ask Santa is all about.
Ask Santa is one of the few online services that is powered by AI. It allows you to chat with an AI version of Santa for free. This is made possible through the kind donations made to their charity partner, American Heart Association.
It provides an opportunity for children to have fun, exciting interactions with Santa using StoryFile’s cloud based AI system. I personally tried it out and it was impressive. Santa was responsive to a lot of questions (Christmas related), honestly it was incredible. It is also kids friendly, you’ll find on the site it’s a part of the kidSAFE seal program. This means it has been independently reviewed and certified that it is safe for children and online privacy is respected. When using it I found I had to speak slowly so Santa was able to get my correct question but it didn’t ruin the experience for me.
Portable North Pole
Portable North Pole (NPN) is one of the better known online services that offer virtual Santa visits and messages. They have well over 10 million downloads on the google play store with an average rating of 4.7. This would be my preferred option when it comes to deciding which online service I’d use.
They offer a free 90 second video that includes Santa mentioning your child’s name along with their picture being hung on a wall. The 90 second video is also of high quality and well made. I tried it for myself and even though I knew I haven’t been exactly on the good list this year it felt real and comforting to hear Santa call my name.
Their premium services include interactive or live video calls with Santa along. Currently they’re offering special limited time offers that allow free trials of their services. Frankly there’re a lot of services they offer, too many to put down. Their premium services price range from $4.99 for a single premium call (video or audio) to $14.99 (currently on $13.99) for their Magic Pass and $39.99 for their Ultimate Magic Pass. A simple Magic Pass on their platform would be a better option in my opinion but depending on your needs you can choose anyone.
JingleRing
Traditionally Santa has been white and spoke only English but for some people they may prefer a Santa that speaks their language and is closely related to their faith. I am happy to say Jingle Ring provides you just that, and it’s virtual too. So let’s say you would prefer a white Mrs Claus, Black Santa, Black Mrs. Claus they have you covered. Their Santa is available in both English and Spanish. They also have a Santa that is available for children with special needs.
It is however an entirely premium service with no free trials currently. When trying to book a visit, I found out during a call to Santa, they currently only support Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge browsers but no Safari. This is something iOS users should note. Prices currently start from $24.95 to $86.80 based on selected preferences and selected days for visit. When choosing your experience you can invite up to 4 children at no extra charge. Due to the high demand and scheduling some variants of Santa may not be available. As of the time of this writing, neither Black Santa nor Mrs. Santa can speak Spanish or communicate in sign language. So you should head over now to secure a booking if interested.
Conclusion
Growing up, Christmas was very special for me as it is for children these days as well. These days my Christmas tradition involves me spending time with family and friends, exchanging gifts, donating to orphanages. As a kid, I’d have been really bummed out that I couldn’t go to see Santa. I’d usually drag my parents to the mall for the chance to see Santa.
Understandably with everything happening around us this year with COVID-19, all in person Santa visits are being canceled. Most people who have performed as Santa for years have been left unemployed or have moved their services online. However there is increasing hope the worse days are behind us, perhaps next year you won’t have need for this article.
For now however, we have the opportunity to save Christmas for children this holiday, as well as keeping many Santa employed. I visited Santa many times growing up so I can do without a visit this year but for Children, their experience might be different.
In this article I’ve tried to show you some of the online services to offer virtual Santa visits. I hope you’ve been able to find one that will be perfect for you this holiday. I wish you a merry Christmas and please stay safe out there.