christmas present

[tcc3]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any great ideas on how to tell our kids they are going on a cruise in March...Christmas morning they will find out when they open up their present.:)

[cb at sea]

If they're old enough to read, a guidebook would be great! (Not just for them, but the whole family!)

 

Or, binoculars for the trip....or a tote bag, with the cruise brochure in it...assuming they are reading!

 

If they are very young....not sure I'd do it as a gift...they would have trouble with the time concept!

[MichelleChell]

Well I have a 4yr old and a 8yr old. We are also going in March and telling them Christmas. I am sending my kids on a scavenger hunt. I want to just put a little fun thing at each clue. Then the gift will actually be back in my house. I plan to do a box for each of them with cruise things I have purchased. On the 8yr olds box will be a letter with a clever poem spilling the beans about the cruise.

For the box I have

sunglasses

swim suit

hat

lanyard

sunscreen

cruise book from the cruise line

Camera (you could do the water proof disposable)

[notentirelynormal]

Even for my grown kids I put together a "booklet" with certiificates showing an airplane and the seats (with the info), a picture of the ship, a picture of the stateroom (good for 2 adults and 2 children), the shore excursions etc. For my adult kids I wanted them to appreciate the cost so I included more. For younger ones, lots of pictures showing the trip from driving from home to the airport to the plane to the bus to the ship to the cabin .... well you get where I'm going.

 

Throw away cameras for them to take pictures and you don't care if they lose or break the camera. New bathing suits, goggles, life jacket for the little one. I usually order a teddy bear sent to their cabin as a surprise.

[K&Rs Mom]

We're doing that this Christmas too. I've collected a bunch of different sized boxes, and wrapped them inside each other. The middle one has a note telling them we're going. That is inside another box with some water stuff & lanyards from a previous cruise. That is inside another with some books labeled "for the drive" (we're driving from MI to TX). That is inside another with new swim goggles. Finally the biggest box contains all the others, two tote bags and a note that says "start packing." :) Their stockings will have travel stuff like those fold-up toothbrushes.

 

Now I just need to manage to keep it a secret a couple more weeks!

[GinaRz]

We are also telling our kids Christmas morning. I was thinking of buying one of those blank small puzzles from the craft store and somehow spelling it out on there. I was then going to wrap each piece individually (or maybe a few pieces per box) and have the kids fix the puzzle together..

[MichelleChell]

I have had to keep this secret since last March!! It has been killing me!! LOL

[tcc3]

Hi,

Thanks for all of your ideas. My kids are 14,12 and 8 and they have cruised before so they will be super excited. We also booked last Febrauary, and I can't wait to tell them. The closer Christmas comes the harder it is to keep a secret. Thanks for all the great ideas!

[jeanietoo]

We have been keeping our secret since June, Christmas Cruise! DH (10) does not know and it is our "family" Christmas present. I'm DYING to see her face when we show up to the port on the 23rd and say Merry Christmas!

[Keith1010]

For those of you who are surprising your children with this on or near Christmas I just wanted to post to say how nice this is. These are moments that your children will truly remember as they look back later in life of their memories from the holidays. Same is true as they look back at their family vacations.

 

Happy Holidays.

 

Keith

[momsthequeen]

We will also be surprising our 3 kids (17, 17 & 15) on Christmas with a cruise in March. I have not completely figured out how we are going to do it though. So far I have a picture of a sea turtle to represent Barbados (we are doing a catamaran excursion), disposable underwater cameras and I am wrapping up their expired passports. I will probaby wrap each one separately and then have the cruise documents be the final gift. Any additional ideas are welcome:) We are doing the Southern Caribbean itinerary on the Victory.

[imjoyful2]

We too are surprising our kids on Christmas day as well and we actually leave next month! I am thinking of doing a scavenger hunt. This will be their 3rd cruise so I know they will be thrilled. Plus we are going with friends of ours which will make this an even more special trip!

[Onessa]

SO - what did everyone do, and how did it work out (while it is still fresh in everyone's mind!)?

[MichelleChell]

Well we did the scavenger hunt. I run a mini storage facility and I hid little gifts and notes in different units. There were Chipmunk coloring books, sunglasses, flip flops, swim suits, sun screen and new cameras. The last stop was back insdie where they started. I had a shirt box that had a note saying we were going on a cruise. Then in the box was the Royal vacation planning stuff and some fun stuff my Mom brought back from when she went.

They are super excited! I asked my daughter if she figured it out and she said no I jsut thought we were going to the beach since we live so close to Galveston. LOL She also couldn't believe I kept it a secret from her since March. Now we are planning and she is super excited about zip linning

[klepton]

We wrapped up an inflatable cruise ship (about 20", inflated) in a big box with some individually wrapped other items like a new swim suit, nautical themed stickers, book, etc. We also put in a note with a picture of the cruise ship we were going on. Our 6 year old is still learning to read, but could read the note that told her how much we loved her and that we really wanted to take her on the cruise. She knew we were going, but thought she was staying with Grandma and Grandpa. She was very surprised and happy, and says it was her favorite christmas present.

 

I like the idea of the scavenger hunt.... I'll have to remember that for next time.