Help me spring the surprise - any ideas?

[mom2two2]

DH and I are almost ready to book a cruise for next Jan and it will be the first time we have taken the kids who will be 11 and 8 at the time. I would love some really creative ideas to tell them we are going. We are not telling them for quite some time (can you IMAGINE all the "how many sleeps?!?!?!?" questions I would have to answer for the next 6 months? lol) but do want to tell them ahead of time.

 

Does anyone have any creative ways to break the happy news?

 

TIA

mom2two2

[Cruise Envy]

If it's a January cruise, I'd "give" it to them for Christmas!

[baffy]

A friend of mine made a little scrap book, each page had a little clue or picture, leading to the end of the book where the destination was announced. She wrapped the book up in their own little carry on suite case and snorkle set.

[Angeleyes1382]

LOL, I always hear, "How many tomorrows?" To solve that problem I went on word and copied a couple of pictures of our ship/destination and printed them off. Then I typed the numbers of days we had left for our cruise (250 249 248 247...). I printed that on top of the pictures of the ship/destination. Each night we marked off a day. You could make one for each child.

 

You could also make a little photo book with pictures of the ship and destinations. Then print some little tiny pictures of your kids and paste them on the ship and destinations. Then hole punch and bind it with yarn.

[sparky-elpaso]

Are they into photography? There are quite a few reasonably priced digital cameras that would be good for kids their ages. If you got them a couple of months early they would have time to practice so they can get some good shots while on your cruise.

[snydermann]

As exciting as it may be for them to receive the news at home, there is nothing like the impact of reality and seeing that ship and it's size in real life. I'm still in awe every time I board a ship, I can't imagine if I was 8 or 11. Their heads will explode!

 

You did mention that you wanted to tell them ahead of time, but I can't help but feel the astonishment they'd have by seeing that ship for the first time and then realizing it was their ship.

 

Maybe you'd consider telling them that you are going to a nice hotel on a beach, so they can ready for that kind of vacation . . . but when you arrive they'll see your hotel floats on the water! That is a surprise they will NEVER forget.

[griffy116]

We ran into a friend/co-worker who was doing the same thing as you, same months. She was in a department store and had picked out a caribbean type Christmas ornament for each child. She has a tag that will be dangling from the ornament telling them they are going on a cruise. Inside another box is an inexpensive disposable underwater camera for each child and a pair of pool/beach shoes. I would love to find this under the tree for myself on Christmas morning!!!

[shines57]

We are going the day after Christmas. Right now we are just saying that we're going to a CARNIVAL in California after Christmas - they think it's a place that has ferris wheels etc...but when we get to the dock and they see the word CARNIVAL on the ship, they will understand!!! And I won't have to hear "how many more days..."

[CougarMom]

We told then 11 year old son we were going on the best vacation ever. He convinced himself it must be Disneyworld. Drove to New Orleans, spent the night, waited around to board the Holiday (it was ported in NO at the time). Went to the mall adjacent to the boarding area and milled around. He was quite frustrated that we were not in our vehicle headed to Florida. We sat on the balcony overlooking the Holiday for 30 minutes - he was fuming. We finally pulled out the ticket book and said here, you need to sign these papers before we can leave. He saw the logo, his chin dropped, he turned and looked at the Holiday and suddenly the light bulb went on in his head.

 

The pictures from that morning are priceless.

[TwoMateys]

For my then-8 year old, for our first cruise, I made up a treasure hunt and woke her up very early in the morning to catch our flight. I had her follow the treasure hunt which included things like, get dressed and then go for the next clue. I had taken her favourite stuffed friend and placed him in her booster seat in the car with a clue telling her to go look in the trunk and then hurry back to him. She opened up the trunk, saw our suitcases and the homemade tickets saying we were going on a cruise. I got both video and stills of all of it. She had that initial look of surprise and disbelief, then the screaming, and jumping started, ending with "you're the best Mom"!

 

Have fun with it.

[cruisin'4fun]

As exciting as it may be for them to receive the news at home, there is nothing like the impact of reality and seeing that ship and it's size in real life. I'm still in awe every time I board a ship, I can't imagine if I was 8 or 11. Their heads will explode!

 

You did mention that you wanted to tell them ahead of time, but I can't help but feel the astonishment they'd have by seeing that ship for the first time and then realizing it was their ship.

 

Maybe you'd consider telling them that you are going to a nice hotel on a beach, so they can ready for that kind of vacation . . . but when you arrive they'll see your hotel floats on the water! That is a surprise they will NEVER forget.

Kind of what I have planned with my grandsons - 8 & 5. I have been hearing for over year how bad they want to go on a cruise, so I booked a 4 night one as a "trial" in September. Going to tell them we are going to Galveston for the day, then when we get there say "hey! let's see if a ship is here today!" Hoping that I will hear "Wish we could go on a cruise!" when we see it and then I will pull into the parking lot and say "Let's go!" :D

[mass02703]

I once surprised my daughter with a trip to Disney. She was 9 at the time. I am a school teacher and never get to accompany her on her own school field trips. This one year she was particularly disturbed by this. I planned a 3 night trip to Disney just for the two of us (from Providence). I woke her at 6 that morning and told her to get up, we were going on a field trip. When she asked where we were going I told her that we were going to visit Mickey, and to hurry up and get dressed before we missed the plane. A little while later I returned to her room to find her sound asleep. I woke her again and told her that if she didn't hurry up and get ready we were going to really miss the plane. She had thought that she was dreaming. She was in such shock she didn't believe me until she got up and saw the suitcases packed in the living room. We have been on many vacations since but still this was such a special and memorable one for both of us. I love surprises! Thinking back now I don't know how I ever kept it a secret.

[rjm1cc]

Look for a Travel style Move or if you can not find one maybe the cruise line has a CD that features a cruise. Let them watch it and ask them if it would be fund to try that. Of course if they say no you have a problem.

[gijanemom]

We always get the cruise as a Christmas gift for our 4 children.. this past year, we had our PVP send us some free cruise goodies. She sent us a beach bag with her logo "best Cruise planners" on it, a deck of cards, flyers telling about our ports, the ship, and carnival's kids clubs, and laynards. We put this all together along with an enevelope with some spending money for "kiddie fru fru drinks", and disposable underwater cameras. Even though they knew they were getting a cruise for Christmas, they still flipped out when they checked everyting out!! We had kept the destination a secret. This year, we told them we couldn't get booked on the ship in time to get rooms in proximity and that we are going to Fla to the parks instead! We are actually taking a 7 night, our longest cruise and the biggest ship we have been on! Now I just gotta figure out how to top off lasts years under the tree surprise!:D

[Wilda]

We gave our grandson a suitcase for his birthday. He looked at us like we were nuts. We told him to open it and initially he didn't want to because he thought it was going to be filled with "boring stuff like socks and pants". Inside all of the pockets were different items (Disney dollars, maps of the park, etc.) He figured it out fast:D

 

You could do something along those lines.

[mom2two2]

these are all great ideas, thank you. I think my kids suspect something already so it will be hard to keep this a secret for long. I will have to spring it on them before their 1st Twinrix Jr shot as that will be a dead giveaway...lol.

[mjkacmom]

We surprised our kids with Disney the morning of. We stayed onsite (BCV), and they thought the van picking us up after our stay was taking us to the airport. When we pulled up to the port (DCL), they were like "why are we here?" This was after watching tons of DCL commercials at the resort. I said "just to torture you," and then we took our bags out of the van. Their faces made it all worth while! Yes, I packed for a family of 7 for a 10 day vacation totally on the sly!

[mom2two2]

Yes, I packed for a family of 7 for a 10 day vacation totally on the sly!

 

Oh you are GOOOOOD. LOL.

 

At the moment I have been combing the summer sidewalk sales at the mall (we have all the Fall stuff coming in and I have gotten my DS golf shirts for $5.00 each!) looking for extra flip flops, sundresses for my DD and so on....There is a great big rubbermaid bin behind my bed and it is slowly filling up with all this stuff. DH looks at me like I am a NUT but I am not paying full price at specialty stores for summer clothes in January.

[notentirelynormal]

Just to be a brat for our last cruise - I told my DD if she wasn't nice to me I was gonna tell the 4 YO DGS about the cruise and she'd have to listen to months of "when is the cruise". And I did. We started by saying it's for your birthday. Well, he wanted his birthday to be everyday. She finally made up a paper chain and he got to take off a ring every day. I told that girl not to mess with me, that I had raised her and I knew how to make kids crazy. But, NO.... she had to, so for 8 months she had to hear it. :D

 

I have made up booklets for Christmas with pictures of the ship, cabin, ports, the airplane etc. Gifts would be water shoes, bathing suit cover ups, shore excursions, books etc. I make them (the grown kids) read it from cover to cover just so they know how much I spent and appreciate it accordingly. :eek:

[ilovetexas]

I got this idea (from the Disney board) last year when we were preparing to take our kids on the Wonder in January. Remember those paper chains you used to make when you were little? (Cut out strips of paper, glue them together in links.) Tell them about the cruise (or just that you have a really cool vacation planned and don't tell them it's a cruise until Christmas!), then have them make the chain; one link for every day between now and the cruise. Hang it, then cut a link off every night. You can watch as the cruise gets closer. It's really fun and you start getting excited when you're down to a few links!!

 

Also, go buy some inexpensive stickers and let them decorate the chain while they make it. My kids did it and they are older than yours! Plus, they won't have to ask "how much longer".

[kassimer1]

I would make one of those count down calenders like they have for christmas and when they open the door each morning it will give them a clue where a small gift is hidden, things like sunglasses, suntan lotion, new swin suit, a book featuring one of the stops or aabout a boat and see how many days it take sfor then to figure out the big prize.