Surprise!!!

Hopefully she likes surprises. Personally I would be very ticked off if someone drove me somewhere and said, surprise we're going on a trip.

When we had first started dating, my hubby had already been on his first cruise and wanted to plan one with me. As I tend to get motion sickness (on a trip to Catalina and a 3-hr trip around a marina for a work party, I took an OTC remedy but would get drowsy), hubby decided to take me on an one-day cruise that he's done in the past -- you board in San Diego, sail to Ensenada, and return in the evening. Not an overnight one but apparently was a gamblers' day trip for many of the passengers. I seemed to survive that so we booked a 7-day cruise. When we decided to try our daughter out on her first cruise we did a three-day cruise.

I decided to try out ginger (candied ginger and ginger-flavored Altoids) and that seemed to work better than OTC meds (I don't like being drowsy except at bedtime, of course). But if someone is on blood thinners it's contraindicated.

Actually the one cruise on which I didn't feel the motion was our Alaskan cruise that was round trip out of Seattle. We were even far forward and that's where people can feel the most motion.

I think when posters are mentioning that an one-day cruise might not be long enough for your girlfriend to judge whether she likes cruising is that once you get on board (maybe 1 or 2pm), you'll be getting off maybe 18 or so hours later. And on an one-day cruise, there may be less things going on. The only thing she'll be able to tell is if the sea motion bothers her for that short amount of time and whether she gets some sort of claustophobia or agoraphobia.

You'd be surprised at how trusting a partner can be with a surprise.

If she's a sport, when you say "I have a romantic surprise weekend planned. I've taken care of everything, you just bring a smile" she'll be in to the game.

I've been on both sides... part of the fun is surrendering the control. We've done silly blindfolds and a sign that said "Anniversary Surprise" -- when it's clear that the person wearing the blindfold is in on the game, people were surprisingly helpful. It's not for everyone... even just keeping their eyes closed was enough.

For less visible travel, consider writing THIS IS A SURPRISE on the outside of envelopes, and she can just hand the (unsealed) envelope to the appropriate people. Again, when it's clear that she is participating of her own free will, those associates will often play along.

If she wants/needs to know details, it's hard to hide them, but you might find that she's willing to close her eyes, leave the tickets in the envelope, and trust you.

Oh, and do NOT sneak medication into her food or drink. That's a felony. Really.

The seasickness bands, according to my daughter, work within minutes. She will put them on, lay down for 5 or 10 minutes, and then be good to go. No interaction with other medication, no drowsiness.

We're on the Crown Princess, Sept 19th! It's nice that it's a Saturday/Sunday. As we do not work those days and no one has to take time off work. :)

The wristband would definitely be something to look into once we do her first more than one night cruise. I hope whatever her usual regiment is will suffice because this really will be like sleeping on a ferry.

We're taking the 6:30am. Arriving 1 hour and 5 minutes before check in. I'll try to get her to "explore the city" kind of walking towards pike place. The hard part is deciding if we should get there for the 12pm check in and madness or stall an extra hour.

There are two trains a day. When you book, look for the option that says "Amtrak Cascades" it's 4 some odd hours down the coast, but it should be a nice ride, have breakfast, enjoy the sunrise. I think it's 6:30am and 5:30pm only. When booking it shows a little picture of a bus or train too.

Don't worry, I won't. She already knows she's going on a train that day. She just doesn't know where to. So she'll more than likely take care of her medications herself.

And mostly in part that the train leaves at 6:30am and We'll have to be up 4:30am. She will want to ensure she sleeps on that train.

We're on the Crown Princess, Sept 19th!

Oops, I meant to type the 19th, don't know why I typed the 25th. Look for an older person wearing a blue baseball cap or ask somebody outside in the bus lot for Tom when you arrive and I may be able to help you along in your little surprise! :D

Do you know how you'll be arriving at the pier? I'm guessing right now it will be by taxi, but let me know.

Tom

Keep it simple. The more elaborate the story, the harder it is to keep the details straight. I would just say that the two of you were going to Seattle for the weekend. Take the train (or bus) down, then catch a cab from the station directly to the pier. You'll be a little early for check in but she can admire the ship while you wait. You won't really have time to do a lot of exploring in Seattle anyway. On a one nighter, you want to spend every minute on board to make the most of it.

As to seasickness, I wouldn't worry. My husband gets nauseous in a bathtub and he has no problem. Take gravol as a precaution and move on. The ship doesn't go far enough out to sea to encounter rough waters. Have fun!

One thing in this whole surprise idea that I haven't seen is how you are dealing with her cruise ID. Meaning a passport card or better??

One thing in this whole surprise idea that I haven't seen is how you are dealing with her cruise ID. Meaning a passport card or better??

Excellent point. She would need a passport anyways to go from Vancouver to Seattle. The question is if you can give the border agent, entering the US, enough information without giving away the secret. I'm sure they will care more about the one-way ticket than your girlfriend will.

Hopefully she likes surprises. Personally I would be very ticked off if someone drove me somewhere and said' date=' surprise we're going on a trip.[/quote']

 

Me too! The planning and anticipation are half the fun!

 

Then again, I'm not a very spontaneous person. :o

One thing in this whole surprise idea that I haven't seen is how you are dealing with her cruise ID. Meaning a passport card or better??

LUCKILY, that one was easy. We're going to watch a friend of mine get married in Mexico in Nov. I told her the travel agent needed our documentation for our booking. So booking online was easy.

Then I think the night before, she knows there is a BIG date on that day. I will tell her to have passport, license, health card...tell her anything can happen and to be ready for everything.

Solid point...I think I'll have to carry around a Sign in a note pad. "Secret Cruise from Seattle to Vancouver, over night."

I'm getting worried about how to do this!

How exciting. The first cruise is always the best!

I am extremely prone to seasickness. I chew a Bonine in the am of the cruise and one more at about 5pm. You can't very well hand her one in Vancouver and say chew this, but as soon as you get to the terminal you can. If she should get the slightest bit nauseous, she might never try it again. I really would do the Bonine or if the generic meclizine is a pleasant tasting chewable, it would be a tad cheaper. A small package of Bonine is pretty cheap, anyway.

Oops, I meant to type the 19th, don't know why I typed the 25th. Look for an older person wearing a blue baseball cap or ask somebody outside in the bus lot for Tom when you arrive and I may be able to help you along in your little surprise! :D

 

Do you know how you'll be arriving at the pier? I'm guessing right now it will be by taxi, but let me know.

 

Tom

We'll be arriving by taxi!! I may use you, I'll devise a plan... if it makes it super easy to say one of my cousins is going on a cruise and briefly stopping in Seattle on the way to Alaska. I will let you know!! Do you work at the terminal or are you going on a cruise too?

If you tell her that you are taking the ferry you have a perfect excuse for seasickness meds- I rarely get seasick but ferries can do it for me. No need to hide them.

Do you work at the terminal or are you going on a cruise too?

Up to this year I worked for Princess. Seattle and Vancouver were the only 2 places in the world where you were processed on and off Princess ships by Princess employees. Their parent company, Carnival, wanted everybody to use shared services for that so now we work for a 3rd party :(

I'll probably be working right next to the taxi line greeting buses when you arrive.

Still a Princess at heart though. :)

Tom

What company is the 3rd party that carnival brought in?

thanks.

Up to this year I worked for Princess. Seattle and Vancouver were the only 2 places in the world where you were processed on and off Princess ships by Princess employees. Their parent company, Carnival, wanted everybody to use shared services for that so now we work for a 3rd party :(

 

I'll probably be working right next to the taxi line greeting buses when you arrive.

 

Still a Princess at heart though. :)

 

Tom

Original Poster of this thread SHYLE.

HOW DID your surprise go? how did everything work out for you?

:)

IMO an overnight cruise is not a good way to introduce someone to cruising.

Not near enough exposure and a totally different cruising experience on a 1 night cruise. Just sayin. :cool:

Agree. The worse thing about cruising is getting on and off the ship. By the time you get on, get your stuff, go to dinner.... well, it's time to put everything out to go to bed. Then you get up, have breakfast and have to deal with the thousands of people you dealt with getting on. You might as well have just taken her out to dinner and had more fun.

My DH is the worst traveler EVER. He is fun when we get there but the to and from - a living nightmare.

In order to prepare him for a trip I bring it up slowly. For example, we are taking a 4 day cruise from Vancouver to LA in November. I have finally told him we are going to Vancouver in November. Baby steps.