Help! with coordinating large group on Carnival Breeze in January 2016!

Okay -- so my siblings and I (there are 5 of us) are surprising our parents with a gift of a cruise on the Carnival Breeze in January 2016 for their 50th wedding anniversary. The biggest part of the surprise is that we (and all of our kids and grandkids) will be on the cruise too (total of 19 :eek:). This is going to be HUGE for our mom and dad as our entire family hasn't been together for many years! We got what I thought would be the most difficult part out of the way -- picking the cruise line, date, and destination. Our cabins are all booked and we're set for that. Now is the - surprisingly - even trickier part -- getting everyone together to surprise the parents before getting on the ship. My family and I recently moved to Naples and would like everyone to meet up at our place for the big reveal. No one has visited us here yet except for my parents. Everyone else lives out of state -- North Carolina, Colorado and Texas. Ship is departing from the Port of Miami (which is only 2 hour drive from Naples). It is looking like flights into Miami or Fort Lauderdale from CO and TX are way cheaper than flights into Fort Myers (which is only 30 minutes from Naples) -- which means the majority will be flying into the East coast. Cost is definitely an issue for us as this trip seems to be getting more expensive by the day! On the other hand - for the people arriving from NC (my parents, my brother and his daughter) - it is most cost effective to fly into Punta Gorda (1 hour from Naples). Found a really cheap flight already for that part and booked it -- Allegiant Air $150 -- so we grabbed that immediately. The thing with Allegiant is they only fly a few times a week, so in order to make it to the ship on Jan. 10th -- they have to fly into Punta Gorda on the 8th. Now, I'm finally getting around to the conundrum at hand (sorry this is taking so long). I will be picking up the parental units (and brother and niece) on the 8th (my brother is just going to say he is coming down to FL to see them off then tour around Naples. Because remember -- my parents will be thinking they are the only ones going on the cruise at this point. Then the rest of my family (total of 11) will arrive at either FLL or MIA on Jan 9th and I need to figure out a way to get them to Naples. AND THEN, we all (19 of us!) need to get to the Port of Miami on Jan 10th. I have called every single shuttle service, limo company, bus service, car service that I can find. $400 on the low end and well over $600 on the high end. And that is for each way. Even the shared shuttle -- which means we'd have to get everyone to a Walmart or Burger King parking lot early in the morning (that alone will be a challenge) is still about $55/person -- for that price I'd rather not wait in a parking lot with all of our cruise luggage waiting on a bus at 8 in the morning! I found a private bus that I think I can talk my sibs into for the trip back to Miami - just under $500. Just no way that we could even spend close to that trying to get the 11 over to Naples on the 9th. Hoping that there might be some local Floridians out there that have had to get a large group to the port and can give me some pointers. Had originally thought between my and my husband's cars we could fit everyone -- but with our two cars we can only fit 10. That 11th passenger really throws a wrench in there. And there's all the luggage to consider too! Whew! Sorry again for a such a lengthy post!! Many thanks in advance for any advice! :)

You might get some helpful info on the Florida forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

Post your questions there, you could just copy and paste, but please try to split it up in paragraphs, it will be much easier to read. :)

Thanks for the tips -- will do!

Congratulations on your parent's 50th anniversary, and to you for taking on the task of coordinator for the whole event. Please be aware that you should be sharing some of the responsibilities with your siblings, otherwise it may ruin your holiday from exhaustion and stress. Let someone else figure out some of the logistics, and remember one thing - you are not responsible for their good time on this cruise. It is your holiday as well. I wish you well in finding the transportation required to bring everyone together to pull off this wonderful surprise.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Not from Florida so I can't answer that question, but perhaps you can split up your parties a bit into more than one vehicle. You might have a problem with shared vehicles as if it's busy at that time, there may not be room for anyone as I'm sure not too many people will want to give up their spaces if want to get to the pier too, early enough.

Some transportation services will do point-to-point pickups. Have you looked into that? Maybe even a small bus? I'm sorry if I missed the details, but your paragraph (as noted above) is very hard to read.

I'm guessing you've already booked the cruise (and had a TA do the heavy lifting of collecting money, etc.). Make sure to make it a plan that you all won't be joined at the hip on the ship and in the ports. That way if some people want to do a tour, others want to do things on their own, and others beach it, every one gets to do what they want.

Friends of ours did something similar many years ago, but they surprised the parents with the gift of the cruise and then surprised them again when everyone showed up on ship. If getting together at your house and then getting everyone to the port is becoming a logistical nightmare, you could consider doing the surprise at the ship.

I agree with the above comment that each family unit should step up and take responsibility for getting their own transportation taken care of, regardless of whether that is to your home and the ship or just the port. Flight cost is just part of the entire transportation picture.

If everyone else is flying into the east coast of Fla on the 9th, instead of them all getting over to Naples, and for what the costs is, and then everyone getting back to the east coast for the cruise, why don't you and whoever is flying into Punta Gorda or Ft Myers go over to the east coast on the 9th and everyone stay at the same hotel. There are many that are not too pricey and offer comp parking whilst on your cruise. Pick a restaurant, make a reservation for a large group (maybe you can find one that would offer a private room) have everyone else get there a little before you and your parents, and......surprise!!!!!!!!

I would have the majority of the family book a hotel for themselves and your Naples group in Miami that has a free shuttle to the port and free parking while you cruise. The one sibling that will be flying into Punta Gorda can just say that they intend on touring the Miami area after the parents go on the cruise so they'll just go with to say Bon Voyage. Have a surprise party that night pre cruise at the hotel.( meet in the lobby bar area ) Those flying into MIA can work out those arrangements and let you know where you'll be staying over there.. Co-operate and delegate!

Good idea. Meet at a hotel in Miami.

If you, OP, do not want to spend the night in Miami arrive early at the hotel for breakfast.

I have to agree...skip the visit with you in Naples (even tho I know you want to host everyone....plan that for a different date!!!), and just have everyone show up together on the ship....still a HUGE surprise...and no juggling people here and there...no added costs for moving back and forth across Florida....just so much simpler, less costly, and will have the same "end effect".

Congratulations on booking and planning this huge family event. I'm sure you will all have a spectacular time and your parents will be very surprised and thrilled.

I think it would really be a lot easier if you just met everyone at the cruise pier or aboard the ship.

It seems very complicated to make a big trip to Naples for the other 11 people in your family.

I think it would be a really wonderful surprise if you met the initial contingent at your home in Naples and then either at the cruise pier or aboard the ship you would suddenly bump into the rest of your family. It would be an extra Wow for your folks with this second surprise and much, much easier for your family to simply fly into Miami.

This will be significantly less stressful for you and your family. With such a long two-hour journey to Naples and back there are too many things that can go wrong.

I have planned numerous events and that is what I would suggest. It would be so cool to suddenly be at the check-in desk and say, "Hey is that Uncle Jeff and Cousin Mary?"

Have a wonderful family reunion cruise.

Jonathan

Let them think they are going with just you. Have everyone else surprise them as they arrive at port or on the ship. This would be easy.

When we arrived at the pier in FLL, as we sat down in the terminal my sister and her husband walked up to us and surprised us with the fact that they were joining us. It was a great surprise. :)

Friends of ours did something similar many years ago, but they surprised the parents with the gift of the cruise and then surprised them again when everyone showed up on ship. If getting together at your house and then getting everyone to the port is becoming a logistical nightmare, you could consider doing the surprise at the ship.

 

I agree with the above comment that each family unit should step up and take responsibility for getting their own transportation taken care of, regardless of whether that is to your home and the ship or just the port. Flight cost is just part of the entire transportation picture.

I vote for this idea. Let each family get themselves and their luggage onto the ship.. Then surprise your parents after muster drill by meeting everyone else in a pre-determined place, like the aft deck for a GREAT Sailaway party.