Need help in surprising someone with a cruise!

[Bgem75]

I'm surprising my daughters next week with a cruise. They think we are going 2 hours away for an overnight stay at an amusement park. They are cruisaholics (10 & 13 year old) We aren't telling them until we are hours into the drive and they start wondering. Plus John Heald promised my older daughter a surprise in the room because of her obsession with Carnival. She picks 1 ship at night before bed to read about and quiz herself on. Crazy girl but its funny she knows things I have no clue about.

 

Have a great time!!!!

 

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[mishka422]

I get the feeling that those who don't think it's 'mature' to surprise someone creatively were forced to grow up way too fast or lost their sense of adventure a long time ago!! Live a little people! Life is too short!

 

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[arkjeweler]

I surprised my wife for her birthday by getting a cruise guide from the travel agent and cutting out the page with our itinerary. I put that in a picture frame and wrapped it. She thought it was a picture of me. Shock of her life.

[Bgem75]

Now hold on a minute, I'm not so sure that this is a bad idea!

 

I'm thinking, if she doesn't know where she is going beforehand she won't know what to pack. That is a big deal for girls is it not? I mean, that is half the fun, yes? :eek:

 

Maybe send her a card with a ship on it (doesn't matter what kind) and some sort of gift card as her "graduation present." Make sure this is a congratulation on your graduation type card. She will be thinking, well, that's it and it may throw her off the scent for a while. That will be the first clue.

 

Maybe make out a packing list for her of "suggested items" and send it with a cruise "basket" like you are thinking - beach cover up, sunscreen, plus something whimsical and fun... a beach ball for example. Just tell her some bogus story that you saw these things and you thought of her. That will be the next clue. If she asks, just tell her she will need them to go to the beach when she arrives, like a day trip if you don't live near the beach.

 

Have M&D send her passport etc. to you separately but make sure they use something traceable to mail it. Don't want to lose that. M&D should play clueless. They have no idea what is going on.

 

When she arrives, make sure she has everything she needs for cruise, surreptitiously of course. Maybe, go out shopping for a sun dress, sun glasses or something like that, anything she may have missed. Just have some quality girl fun time...

 

Then, the day before the cruise, do a scavenger hunt for the "real reason" you wanted her to pack all those things! Maybe, hide some cruise related items around the house, a camera, a bathing suit, a sun hat, some cruise brochures or maybe even a copy of the Carnival Fun Times or picture of a towel animal. Send her on a wild goose chase. You are obviously creative!

 

You are such a dear to do this for her. It is very thoughtful and will always be remembered. God rest the soul of my dear aunt who made everything an adventure. And lastly may I say, I graduated with my doctorate in December of 2000. Could you please buy me a surprise cruise? :D

 

We are so very proud of her!!

She is the first one in my husbands family as well as in her dads family to graduate college...so I wanted to make sure it was celebrated in a big way.

She basically worked full time hours like I did through college.

Congratulations on your doctorate!!! But your should have told me back then...you could have cruised with my dh and I on our honeymoon!! Lol

 

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[Bgem75]

I surprised my wife for her birthday by getting a cruise guide from the travel agent and cutting out the page with our itinerary. I put that in a picture frame and wrapped it. She thought it was a picture of me. Shock of her life.

 

I figured I might make then personalized carnival shirts...I got a lot of practice making shirts for our Disney trip last summer...made a total of 48 shirts for all the family members that went.

So if I can do that I can make a couple of shirts for them....

Now you have me thinking...I could print up the itinerary map....

Dates, Ports of call on the back and the carnival logo with the ship name (on the front left side chest)

Hmmmmmm....

 

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[Bgem75]

I get the feeling that those who don't think it's 'mature' to surprise someone creatively were forced to grow up way too fast or lost their sense of adventure a long time ago!! Live a little people! Life is too short!

 

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Life is short!!! Lets enjoy the good times and fun!!!! I don't care if anyone thinks its not "mature" to surprise someone with a cruise... I know I would have been over the moon if someone had done that for my college graduation!!!!

Plus...who isn't a big kid on vacation?

I know we are!!

 

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[justusfour2014]

I get the feeling that those who don't think it's 'mature' to surprise someone creatively were forced to grow up way too fast or lost their sense of adventure a long time ago!! Live a little people! Life is too short!

 

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Indeed!!!

 

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[Bgem75]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE IDEAS!!

I think we will use a combination of them!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kristi Williamson]

Life is short!!! Lets enjoy the good times and fun!!!! I don't care if anyone thinks its not "mature" to surprise someone with a cruise... I know I would have been over the moon if someone had done that for my college graduation!!!!

Plus...who isn't a big kid on vacation?

I know we are!!

 

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Exactly what I was thinking!! I'm 43 and I would LOVE to be surprised with a cruise. What in the world does "maturity" have to do with being able to fully appreciate a sweet gesture and fabulous surprise or the thrill of being the one to give it?! Sounds like being an old grumpy to me! :D;)

 

Hope this turns out beautifully for you, OP. What FUN!!!!!

[MuffyKismet]

I need creative minds to help!

My husband and I are surprising our niece with a cruise for her college graduation.

Now her mom and dad are paying for her flights..(of course half of the surprise)

But I need help in coming up with a creative way to surprise her..

We know we want to have two envelopes one with her flight itinerary and the other with the cruise...

But I am trying to think of how to do it.

I thought I might get her a beach cover up, sunscreen etc... But DH thought that might seem trite.

And some how having either clues written up or a rhyming poem to surprise her...

We are booked on the Carnival Conquest on Sept 20th.

But I am having a mental block...lol

Please help!!!!

 

 

I want this to be a surprise to remember!!!

Thank you in advance for any ideas!!!!!!!

 

OK this is what we did several years ago for my daughter's college graduation. It has become a tradition that we make up T-shirts when we are sailing with several people or more on a cruise. SO we had the T shirts made up and we had names put on each of them , We packed them all in one box and put her's on the top and then Mom and Dad's (which would be obvious) then we put in order of how surprised she would be to find out a "certain" person or persons would be comming as well (We had 30people on that cruise and she flipped out as she opened each T -shirt and read off the name, each one a surprise that they were joining us on her graduation cruise, she was sobbing with joy by the time we reached the 30th t-shirt!!!! LOL We had her open it at her graduation dinner party! It was GREAT!!! Here is a hint though....be sure Carnival does not send her an email that says, Congrats on your upcomming cruise we look forward to seeing you again.....ugggg(thank god we were able to circumvent that email with her boyfriend's help, Carnival sent it to her email (even though she did NOT pay for it, because she was a "past guest" on carnival......you should have been there when I got hold of Carnival for that call......I said over and over again this is a surprise cruise for my daughter's college graduation, but NOPE they still send the email......I was fuming!!! LOL. Anyway it was a GREAT way for her to find out about the cruise and who was joining us on it!!!

[LVDFW]

Don't tell her until the morning of :)

[cruisin2ccu]

for my GF, one year for her birthday I found a ship on a stick for the ship we were sailing on ebay. I printed the itinerary in very small font so that I could stick it to the bottom of the base, and gave it to her in the smallest box it could fit in. She had no idea while she was opening it, and it took her a few minutes to realize what was going on even after she opened it!

[618mom]

We are taking our 14 year old DS on his 1st cruise for his 8th grade graduation. Not only is it his 1st cruise but it is a vacation with just mom and dad, we are leaving his 2 younger brothers at home.

 

Anyways, I plan on making up a poem. But we are just telling him we are renting a condo in Fl. He has never been there either, we are from IL. We are staying in a hotel overnight before the cruise and in the morning we are going to act like we are just driving by to look at the boats. We are going to wait and see how long it actually takes him to notice what we are actually doing.

 

65 days down 59 more to go to keep my mouth shut. It has been very hard! lol

[Dirkgun]

Being surprised by a thoughtful gift is not only for immature people..... Anyone would enjoy it. I agree she needs to know beforehand... the anticipation and planning is half the fun. Back in 2010 we took my parents on their first cruise (on the Victory out of San Juan). One weekend while they were visiting, we had a BBQ and told them we had some presents for them because we would not be able to come down to visit them over their respective B-days. We gave them a few packages with little trinkets like beach towels and sunscreen... They were ???ing what the deal was but too nice to ask why. Then we made some Pina Coladas and served them in hollowed out pineapples (yes we blended the fruit into the drinks) and gave them these to drink. Once everyone had their drink we gave them the box that contained a Carnival catalog with a place marker on our itinerary and the rooms marked on the deck plan page. After they were confused for a bit they looked at us like little kids and started almost squealing and jumping around like little kids at Christmas.... It was great.

[Mysticks1]

My daughter and I gave my husband a cruise for Father's Day one year. I put together a power point presentation as a reveal of the gift. You could do something similar that starts out with photos of her growing up, starting in kindergarten, through high school graduation and milestones through her college years. At the end you can add slides that shows different things related to cruise with a final reveal slide that tells her she is going on a cruise.

[mojean]

The year my mother turned 60, I got my siblings together and we sent her to Las Vegas. We booked early enough that I typed up an itinerary for Mother's Day and place it in a picture frame and wrapped it as her gift. It also let her know she would be receiving x amount for spending money for her birthday that was in July. This gave her time to collect more if she wanted. I was the only one who went with her but she had the time of her life! I decorated the room while she was out and she actually thought the maid had something to do with it. You're never too old for those kind of surprises !!:D As most folks say ... "I wish somebody would do that for me ... " We went to Motown Show and had dinner on her birthday and she hit several hundered dollars that day ... Definitely a joy to remember.

[Jenhem31]

If she likes jewelry Pandora has a cruise ship charm that's adorable. You can get the charm and a cute leather bracelet for under $100

 

 

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[Musicsmylife]

Video the reaction.

 

 

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[Bgem75]

OK this is what we did several years ago for my daughter's college graduation. It has become a tradition that we make up T-shirts when we are sailing with several people or more on a cruise. SO we had the T shirts made up and we had names put on each of them , We packed them all in one box and put her's on the top and then Mom and Dad's (which would be obvious) then we put in order of how surprised she would be to find out a "certain" person or persons would be comming as well (We had 30people on that cruise and she flipped out as she opened each T -shirt and read off the name, each one a surprise that they were joining us on her graduation cruise, she was sobbing with joy by the time we reached the 30th t-shirt!!!! LOL We had her open it at her graduation dinner party! It was GREAT!!! Here is a hint though....be sure Carnival does not send her an email that says, Congrats on your upcomming cruise we look forward to seeing you again.....ugggg(thank god we were able to circumvent that email with her boyfriend's help, Carnival sent it to her email (even though she did NOT pay for it, because she was a "past guest" on carnival......you should have been there when I got hold of Carnival for that call......I said over and over again this is a surprise cruise for my daughter's college graduation, but NOPE they still send the email......I was fuming!!! LOL. Anyway it was a GREAT way for her to find out about the cruise and who was joining us on it!!!

 

That's is awesome!!! Thank you for sharing!!!! I am loving hearing everyone's stories!!

Carnival does not have any of her contact info (email, phone number etc. They have my email and phone number on her info for now) and she has never cruised with them before...so we should be ok there. We just booked it two weeks ago and we are telling her on may 17th..

 

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[Bgem75]

Being surprised by a thoughtful gift is not only for immature people..... Anyone would enjoy it. I agree she needs to know beforehand... the anticipation and planning is half the fun. Back in 2010 we took my parents on their first cruise (on the Victory out of San Juan). One weekend while they were visiting, we had a BBQ and told them we had some presents for them because we would not be able to come down to visit them over their respective B-days. We gave them a few packages with little trinkets like beach towels and sunscreen... They were ???ing what the deal was but too nice to ask why. Then we made some Pina Coladas and served them in hollowed out pineapples (yes we blended the fruit into the drinks) and gave them these to drink. Once everyone had their drink we gave them the box that contained a Carnival catalog with a place marker on our itinerary and the rooms marked on the deck plan page. After they were confused for a bit they looked at us like little kids and started almost squealing and jumping around like little kids at Christmas.... It was great.

 

Yes she will know not this weekend but next weekend..that way she has plenty of time to prepare!!

 

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[sassy~one]

Why do people do this? Don't you think she may want to know before hand? No input here.

[Kristi Williamson]

Why do people do this? Don't you think she may want to know before hand? No input here.

 

...sigh... Read the thread. She's telling her well in advance and wants to do it in a special way.

[Bgem75]

Why do people do this? Don't you think she may want to know before hand? No input here.

 

Ok....yes she will know well in advance...

She will know in a matter of 8 days from now and we have 135 until we cruise.

If you read above I have said that multiple times.

 

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[Bgem75]

...sigh... Read the thread. She's telling her well in advance and wants to do it in a special way.[/quote

 

Thank you Kristi. :)

 

 

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[Bgem75]

If she likes jewelry Pandora has a cruise ship charm that's adorable. You can get the charm and a cute leather bracelet for under $100

 

 

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I was thinking of something like that!

I know she loves alex and ani and didn't know if they did something like that too!!