How to Surprise Kids with Hallowe'en Cruise?

[Livabeth]

We are cruising with our two girls over hallowe'en this year. We booked this cruise last winter and were planning on surprising them with the cruise when we left for the airport, but I am having second thoughts about this. They were talking about Halloween costumes, decorations and trick or treating with their friends over the weekend. I am now concerned they won't be as excited about the cruise (and maybe alittle disappointed) and feel we should tell them soon. Plus .. it may be challenging to pack and plan without them knowing and I am too excited to not talk to them about it.

 

I still want to make telling them fun and a surprise for them. Does anyone have any ideas of ways we can tell/surprise our kids??

 

Thanks.

[chipmaster]

For my kids, when they were young halloween was a huge deal at least in their little minds :D

 

Of course cruise or trick or treat, not even a question for us bigger minds. I'd not want to suprise them.. might be more of an ugly suprise :eek:

[queenL]

What about a trick or treat bag full of candy and clues about the cruise. Some object or picture to represent each port you'll visit. Some symbol of the activities they might do on the cruise and of course a picture of the ship. Let them open the bags and try and figure it out.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Yea, it may have sounded like a good idea, but sometimes it's best not to surprise someone with a cruise. Another thing to think about is if they are school-aged kids, they'll miss out on classroom activities. And there probably won't be too many kids their age on a cruise as in most areas, school is in session in late October/early November.

 

At age 14, my teen already has bought part of her costume.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Why on earth would they not enjoy looking forward to a cruise? It seems to me it would be an odd child that would find 1 moment of excitement to be a good swap for 10 months of anticipation.

[fisherhum]

we have surprised the kids a couple of times with vacations (both cruise and disney). Once we surprised them on the day as we headed to the ship, the other time, it was a week before.

 

As they have gotten older and I wanted their input in packing I found the surprise of about 1 week early worked best for everyone. It gave them time to think about the trip. It also ensure it wasn't MY fault if something wasn't packed. They became involved in the packing.

 

Also, they were able to talk to their friends about where they were going etc. The total surprise one worked, great and they were very excited, but they were younger.

 

If it was me, I'd let them know just a bit before. This way you don't have to listen to the anticipation for a year, but you do get some help getting ready.

 

Have fun!

[PoppyMac]

I would tell them before. My 16 year old..her and her friends would make plans to trick or treat together, have costumes that went together..get excited for school party..so to a child, this is a big holiday. I think you could throw a surprise special trick or treat bag on dinner table one night ..and have cruise stuff in it, new suits maybe, or a string of holiday lights they could decorate cabin with, gel decorations that will stick on cabin door...some little things. They will want to know if they can still wear costumes, will they be able to trick or treat, will there be any special halloween event for them? I know many of my daughters friends, consider Halloween thier favorite holiday, so I think letting them know in advance is a better idea. Just my opinion. For my 3 year old I think he wouldnt care as long as he gets to wear his fireman costume. :)

[mjkacmom]

Why on earth would they not enjoy looking forward to a cruise? It seems to me it would be an odd child that would find 1 moment of excitement to be a good swap for 10 months of anticipation.

 

My kids range in age from 8 - 14. We did do a Halloween cruise last year, and they were okay with it, but it took a few minutes for them to get over missing trick-or-treating. Younger ones still had the halloween parade at school the day before, so they still got to dress up.

 

As for when to tell them, I told them 10 months out, and the excitement and anticipation really slowed down, and it was hard to get it back up again right before the cruise. One even asked me to never tell that far in advance about a vacation.

 

OP, because of the holiday factor, I'd tell them. There was supposed to be TOT on our cruise, but they had way more kids than expected, and it was a disaster.

[kassimer1]

Why dont you carve a pumpkin out with a ship shape. You dont say what ship you are going on but instead of trick or treat you can put pictures or just a descriptions of different things they can find on the boat for a scavenger hunt in side the pumpkin. We did this for easter instead of an egg hunt. tell them they can still dress up during the hunt and for each item they find they get a candy or points that they can trade in for arcade tokens , suveniers.... If they are a little older you can send them out on a video hunt with thier cell or a digital camera but I would stay with the little ones. They might even like to have a little note book they can carry for the days leading up to the hunt to write down where things are. This would also help you with your excitement cause you can look at pictures ahead of time to find what you want them to find. If you tell us what ship maybe cruise critic members that have been on that boat or ones that just look at pictures can help you come up with a list.

[kassimer1]

Duh just saw your banner so i guess that answers what ship

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Yea' date=' it may have sounded like a good idea, but sometimes it's best not to surprise someone with a cruise. Another thing to think about is if they are school-aged kids, they'll miss out on classroom activities. And there probably won't be too many kids their age on a cruise as in most areas, school is in session in late October/early November.

 

At age 14, my teen already has bought part of her costume.[/quote']

Good points.

[crusinmama06]

Buy them the costume because they can always wear it on the ship. :D Your kids are the same age as mine. Mine would consider it a good trade. ;)

 

How about you set up a SURPRISE TRICK OR TREAT to "guess their surprise"? If you are close to your neighbors, set it up a few weeks before. Or a few days before your cruise. Your girls can wear their costumes. And the kids can go "trick or treat" to the neighbors house and each house will have a new clue for their surprise.

 

You might be able to do this if you have family/friends that live close.

 

Get it all on video. I bet it will be a Halloween they will never forget :)

[Livabeth]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I think we are going to surprise the girls at around the 30 day mark and will incorporate many of the ideas. I'll come back and let you all know how the surprise happens and their reaction.