Need help surprising the family on Christmas

Last December my wife and two kids (ages 10 and 7) went on our first family cruise. We had a blast and the kids had "the best vacation ever".

This year the kids both have a cruise as their #1 item on their Christmas lists and my wife has also been hinting around that going on another cruise would be fun. For the past month or so I've been downplaying the chances of that being a possible but I've since come around to the idea. Maybe it's the Christmas spirit, or maybe it's just the cold weather, but I've decided to surprise the family on Christmas morning with a family cruise on either Oasis or Allure (never been on either). :D

One thing I'm trying to decide is how to go about giving them the present. I've thought of a few ideas, but they all seem anti-climatic. I'm hoping some of the fine folks here can provide me with a few ideas…

So far this is how I'm leaning – We'll get up in the morning and we’ll open our presents as they always do. The cruise present will be totally out of site at this point (kind of like the Red Ryder BB gun from The Christmas Story). I'll ask the kids if they got everything they wanted and all that good stuff - all the while knowing the big gift is still coming. :D

It’s tradition for our family to go have Chinese food for lunch on Christmas day. As we’re about to drive out of the driveway I'll realize I "forgot" my wallet and run back into the house. While in the house I’ll place the cruise present (whatever it may be) under the tree. Then, when we come back, they’ll discover the new present and it'll be Christmas round two! My wife and kids should be super excited!

So what do you guys think, does this sound like a good way to do it? What do you think I should put in the present? We have some old sea pass cards, a model of Adventure of the Seas, a few lanyards and things like that. Maybe I can put some of those souvenirs in a box along with a card… Perhaps I can make up some fake boarding passes? Photoshop a picture of Oasis and Allure with caricatures of us on it and put that in the box?

What do you guys think? Any ideas?

That sounds like a good idea.

Some time ago I read a review on the carnival section were the parents gave the kids a cruise as a gift. What they did was place a few items in a little box for each of them. The gave then a couple of cruisecritic items and a funnel I think. It might be too late to get the cruisecritic items, but you might be able to find a toy cruise ship or something like that. Just a like a little something to throw them off and be like ?!?!?!?! and after that you tell them.

The family took some pictures of the kids opening the gifts and they were incredibly excited, it seemed to be a very sweet moment them.

Let us know what you end up doing.

I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays :)

We too are surprising the kids with an upcoming cruise as a Christmas gift. The plan is to wrap a conch shell for each kid with a printout of one of the RCL "sea is calling" images I found online.

We did this last Christmas and we made up boxes with cruise related items, RCI brochures, sea pass cards from previous cruises, lanyards, etc., but we didn't make them wait until late in the day. We also made up a 8 x 10 sheet and framed it, and it was an invitation to be our guests on the Allure OTS. They opened that before they opened the other boxes with the cruise related stuff, and they were so excited it made for a wonderful day. I don't think I could wait until later on in the day, but if you can, good for you:)

I think it would be great if you could somehow work it out with the Chinese restaurant so that the cruise would be revealed in your children's and wife's fortune cookies. Otherwise you could order personalized fortune cookies through an online company, there are many that make them, and give them to your family after the meal. I think that would be so much fun!

We took a different approach. I had booked a Feb cruise a few up years ago. I did not tell kids. I wanted to surprise them for Christmas. DH convinced me it would be a better surprise to tell them on way to airport. We actually didn't tell them until we parked car at the off airport parking. We told them to take off their coats on the sweatshirts I handed them as we were going to FL. My then 12 yr old just sat there with a dazed look on his face. We didn't actually tell them about the cruise until later that night at the hotel in TAmpa. They had planned the week on plane and at dinner. They insisted on seeing the cruise docs! It was the best vacation we have taken as a family. The looks on their faces was priceless. What worked in our benefit was our kids are huge video game junkies. They played their game boys/ds all the way to airport Nd never looked around. My then 6 yr old looked around asking where we were going and we said a computer store near the airport which we had been to before. It appeased him.:D

let's pretend your last name is "Smith"... get some tshirts made up that say: "2nd annual Smith family cruise" and have a picture of the allure/oasis on it with all your names, and then it can serve double duty as you can wear the shirts on travel day =) They wrap each shirt individually, and have them all open their present at the same time.

We took a different approach. I had booked a Feb cruise a few up years ago. I did not tell kids. I wanted to surprise them for Christmas. DH convinced me it would be a better surprise to tell them on way to airport. We actually didn't tell them until we parked car at the off airport parking. We told them to take off their coats on the sweatshirts I handed them as we were going to FL. My then 12 yr old just sat there with a dazed look on his face. We didn't actually tell them about the cruise until later that night at the hotel in TAmpa. They had planned the week on plane and at dinner. They insisted on seeing the cruise docs! It was the best vacation we have taken as a family. The looks on their faces was priceless. What worked in our benefit was our kids are huge video game junkies. They played their game boys/ds all the way to airport Nd never looked around. My then 6 yr old looked around asking where we were going and we said a computer store near the airport which we had been to before. It appeased him.:D

:D So much fun. We got our daughter to the airport with the surprise, we are going to Florida for the week. She found out about the cruise when we arrived at port with the ship sitting right there.

Chinese food for lunch on Christmas day normally means your Jewish and celebrate Hanukkah. :)

I surprise my granddaughter with a cruise for her birthday. after she opened all her presents I told her she had to put on sunglasses and a flower lay to open her last present. the box was covered with fish net and had shells and fish and a port hole on the outside. when she opened it there was a picture of the ship and a t shirt with the words Nana and Celena cruising to.......... the dates and a picture of the ship. I had it made from cafe press. she was so excited. and a great end to her birthday

Wrap a box with sealed envelopes. First for youngest child 'We are taking a trip' , next second child 'for 7 days' 'bring your bathing suits' etc with the last message 'On the xxxxx ship to the xxxx'. Maybe do this last one on a banner to hang on the tree.

Great ideas! I can't wait to hear what you decide!

I like your orginal idea and the fortune cookie one also!

I have no other suggestions, but wanted to comment on what a wonderful Christmas gift to give your family!! Love the idea of making new memories for kids to always remember (also will help to get through the Maine winter!). When will you be going?

We have taken each child (older) individually on a cruise ... August, 2013 will be taking the last "kid", our DIL & our grandson on the Oasis ...

PS - Christmas Eve is always our time to have Chinese!

Enjoy your newest adventure. Jan

These are some great ideas, keep them coming!

I don't remember exactly how we ended up with the tradition of having Chinese for lunch on Christmas Day but it just kind of stuck. It's nice to have a bit of time to ourselves between all of our evening gatherings. Plus my wife likes not having to cook!

I'm going to give this some thought over the next few days and will definitely keep everyone posted on what I decide.

I'm intrigued by the sea is calling idea. I'm thinking maybe I could buy one of those recordable greeting cards, take out the guts and put them in the shell so the shell actually talks when they take it out of the box.

 

I'm intrigued by the sea is calling idea. I'm thinking maybe I could buy one of those recordable greeting cards, take out the guts and put them in the shell so the shell actually talks when they take it out of the box.

That is brilliant! If that doesn't work maybe you could just put the shells in a box and don't say anything about what they are for. Then maybe after lunch you could play the "sea is calling" commercial off of youtube and see if they put 2 and 2 together!

My thought.

Give everyone their last wrapped gift which they all unwrap together. Each has a "hint" gift ....like suntan lotion .... snorkel ....lanyard .....(something nautical) ...and then have them guess what they all mean.

After everyone takes a guess, let your wife unwrap the final gift which is the booking and itinerary.

Come back and let us know what you did and how everyone reacted.

Last December my wife and two kids (ages 10 and 7) went on our first family cruise. We had a blast and the kids had "the best vacation ever".

 

This year the kids both have a cruise as their #1 item on their Christmas lists and my wife has also been hinting around that going on another cruise would be fun. For the past month or so I've been downplaying the chances of that being a possible but I've since come around to the idea. Maybe it's the Christmas spirit, or maybe it's just the cold weather, but I've decided to surprise the family on Christmas morning with a family cruise on either Oasis or Allure (never been on either). :D

 

One thing I'm trying to decide is how to go about giving them the present. I've thought of a few ideas, but they all seem anti-climatic. I'm hoping some of the fine folks here can provide me with a few ideas…

 

So far this is how I'm leaning – We'll get up in the morning and we’ll open our presents as they always do. The cruise present will be totally out of site at this point (kind of like the Red Ryder BB gun from The Christmas Story). I'll ask the kids if they got everything they wanted and all that good stuff - all the while knowing the big gift is still coming. :D

 

 

It’s tradition for our family to go have Chinese food for lunch on Christmas day. As we’re about to drive out of the driveway I'll realize I "forgot" my wallet and run back into the house. While in the house I’ll place the cruise present (whatever it may be) under the tree. Then, when we come back, they’ll discover the new present and it'll be Christmas round two! My wife and kids should be super excited!

 

So what do you guys think, does this sound like a good way to do it? What do you think I should put in the present? We have some old sea pass cards, a model of Adventure of the Seas, a few lanyards and things like that. Maybe I can put some of those souvenirs in a box along with a card… Perhaps I can make up some fake boarding passes? Photoshop a picture of Oasis and Allure with caricatures of us on it and put that in the box?

 

 

What do you guys think? Any ideas?

Can you put one under my tree too :)

Sounds like a SUPER idea. How about putting a model of Oasis or Allure under the tree !!

Steve

Love your idea! We once gave our kids a Spring Break cruise for Christmas and wrapped up boxes with cruise gear such as swimsuits and goggles and decorated the boxes with pages we clipped from a Royal Caribbean book. That was their first cruise and they loved it!

Last year we wanted to get really creative and woke our boys (10 & 15) up at 6am on the 23rd, handed them notes that told them they had 20 minutes to shower and dress in jeans & a nice shirt and meet us in the kitchen. We had done all of the packing and planning without them knowing so they were completly surprised when we got in the car and ended up at the airport. :) Then we played a game of "I don't know, I guess we'll find out..." as we got to the airport. Once in Fort Lauderdale - surprise!...we met up with my parents and brother (what are you doing here?) and headed to a hotel. We let them think we had this hotel for a night and were moving to a much nicer hotel the next day -so don't unpack!

The next morning the bellman at the hotel was let in on our secret and called us a cab to the port - and made sure the cabbie was prepared to play along. We headed off to our new hotel and as we came into view of the port I made a big deal about wanting to see Oasis up close - do you think we can?? Of course we can says the cabbie and pulls into the port and right up to the Oasis. Do think we can get out to take a picture? Of course you can...I literally had my boys out of the car taking a picture before I asked "do you want to go on that ship someday?" DUH! Yes, of course they did - so then I asked "what about today??" It's hard to believe that they were really in disbelief up to that point but they really were - best thing is that I have it all on video and the shock on thier faces is priceless. It turned out to be a fantastic week on the Oasis, complete with opening our gifts on our balcony on Christmas morning. What more can you ask for?

Good luck with your decision on how to surprise your family - I'm sure they are going to love it!

Love your idea! We once gave our kids a Spring Break cruise for Christmas and wrapped up boxes with cruise gear such as swimsuits and goggles and decorated the boxes with pages we clipped from a Royal Caribbean book. That was their first cruise and they loved it!

 

Last year we wanted to get really creative and woke our boys (10 & 15) up at 6am on the 23rd, handed them notes that told them they had 20 minutes to shower and dress in jeans & a nice shirt and meet us in the kitchen. We had done all of the packing and planning without them knowing so they were completly surprised when we got in the car and ended up at the airport. :) Then we played a game of "I don't know, I guess we'll find out..." as we got to the airport. Once in Fort Lauderdale - surprise!...we met up with my parents and brother (what are you doing here?) and headed to a hotel. We let them think we had this hotel for a night and were moving to a much nicer hotel the next day -so don't unpack!

 

The next morning the bellman at the hotel was let in on our secret and called us a cab to the port - and made sure the cabbie was prepared to play along. We headed off to our new hotel and as we came into view of the port I made a big deal about wanting to see Oasis up close - do you think we can?? Of course we can says the cabbie and pulls into the port and right up to the Oasis. Do think we can get out to take a picture? Of course you can...I literally had my boys out of the car taking a picture before I asked "do you want to go on that ship someday?" DUH! Yes, of course they did - so then I asked "what about today??" It's hard to believe that they were really in disbelief up to that point but they really were - best thing is that I have it all on video and the shock on thier faces is priceless. It turned out to be a fantastic week on the Oasis, complete with opening our gifts on our balcony on Christmas morning. What more can you ask for?

 

Good luck with your decision on how to surprise your family - I'm sure they are going to love it!

What a great story! Sounds like that took some planning to pull off. Talk about a great memory. I don't think I could pull something that elaborate off, or wait that long to let them in on the surprise...

I think it would be great if you could somehow work it out with the Chinese restaurant so that the cruise would be revealed in your children's and wife's fortune cookies. Otherwise you could order personalized fortune cookies through an online company, there are many that make them, and give them to your family after the meal. I think that would be so much fun!

You can get custom fortune cookies from here

http://customfortunecookies.com/dozen.html

I think that is an awesome idea

You can get custom fortune cookies from here

http://customfortunecookies.com/dozen.html

I think that is an awesome idea

Perfect!!

The suspense is killing me, but they don't suspect a thing! I can't wait until they open the present. I just hope it works the way it should.

I did manage to rig up a talking conch shell which will be very cool if it works like it's supposed to.

Details to follow.... :D:D

Merry Christmas everyone!

The suspense is killing me, but they don't suspect a thing! I can't wait until they open the present. I just hope it works the way it should.

 

I did manage to rig up a talking conch shell which will be very cool if it works like it's supposed to.

 

Details to follow.... :D:D

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

can't wait :)

I wanted to surprise our daughter for the Australia cruises and wished I had figured a way to do it beforehand, but wasn't sure she could get that much time off.