Help! with coordinating large group on Carnival Breeze in January 2016!

[catbarngal]

Okay -- so my siblings and I (there are 5 of us) are surprising our parents with a gift of a cruise on the Carnival Breeze in January 2016 for their 50th wedding anniversary. The biggest part of the surprise is that we (and all of our kids and grandkids) will be on the cruise too (total of 19 :eek:). This is going to be HUGE for our mom and dad as our entire family hasn't been together for many years!

 

We got what I thought would be the most difficult part out of the way -- picking the cruise line, date, and destination. Our cabins are all booked and we're set for that. Now is the - surprisingly - even trickier part -- getting everyone together to surprise the parents before getting on the ship.

 

My family and I recently moved to Naples and would like everyone to meet up at our place for the big reveal. No one has visited us here yet except for my parents. Everyone else lives out of state -- North Carolina, Colorado and Texas.

 

Ship is departing from the Port of Miami (which is only 2 hour drive from Naples). It is looking like flights into Miami or Fort Lauderdale from CO and TX are way cheaper than flights into Fort Myers (which is only 30 minutes from Naples) -- which means the majority will be flying into the East coast. Cost is definitely an issue for us as this trip seems to be getting more expensive by the day! On the other hand - for the people arriving from NC (my parents, my brother and his daughter) - it is most cost effective to fly into Punta Gorda (1 hour from Naples). Found a really cheap flight already for that part and booked it -- Allegiant Air $150 -- so we grabbed that immediately. The thing with Allegiant is they only fly a few times a week, so in order to make it to the ship on Jan. 10th -- they have to fly into Punta Gorda on the 8th.

 

Now, I'm finally getting around to the conundrum at hand (sorry this is taking so long). I will be picking up the parental units (and brother and niece) on the 8th (my brother is just going to say he is coming down to FL to see them off then tour around Naples. Because remember -- my parents will be thinking they are the only ones going on the cruise at this point. Then the rest of my family (total of 11) will arrive at either FLL or MIA on Jan 9th and I need to figure out a way to get them to Naples. AND THEN, we all (19 of us!) need to get to the Port of Miami on Jan 10th. I have called every single shuttle service, limo company, bus service, car service that I can find. $400 on the low end and well over $600 on the high end. And that is for each way. Even the shared shuttle -- which means we'd have to get everyone to a Walmart or Burger King parking lot early in the morning (that alone will be a challenge) is still about $55/person -- for that price I'd rather not wait in a parking lot with all of our cruise luggage waiting on a bus at 8 in the morning! I found a private bus that I think I can talk my sibs into for the trip back to Miami - just under $500. Just no way that we could even spend close to that trying to get the 11 over to Naples on the 9th. Hoping that there might be some local Floridians out there that have had to get a large group to the port and can give me some pointers. Had originally thought between my and my husband's cars we could fit everyone -- but with our two cars we can only fit 10. That 11th passenger really throws a wrench in there. And there's all the luggage to consider too!

 

Whew! Sorry again for a such a lengthy post!!

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice! :)

[JohninDC]

What about rental cars? :confused:

 

A couple of your family members pick up a couple of cars/SUVs/vans at FLL, drive to Naples and then drops them back at FLL the morning of your cruise.

[cruiserking]

Congratulations on booking and planning this huge family event. I'm sure you will all have a spectacular time and your parents will be very surprised and thrilled.

 

I think it would really be a lot easier if you just met everyone at the cruise pier or aboard the ship.

 

It seems very complicated to make a big trip to Naples for the other 11 people in your family.

 

I think it would be a really wonderful surprise if you met the initial contingent at your home in Naples and then either at the cruise pier or aboard the ship you would suddenly bump into the rest of your family. It would be an extra Wow for your folks with this second surprise and much, much easier for your family to simply fly into Miami.

 

This will be significantly less stressful for you and your family. With such a long two-hour journey to Naples and back there are too many things that can go wrong.

 

I have planned numerous events and that is what I would suggest. It would be so cool to suddenly be at the check-in desk and say, "Hey is that Uncle Jeff and Cousin Mary?"

 

Have a wonderful family reunion cruise.

 

Jonathan

[kelkel2]

I agree, do you have to surprise them at Naples? What if you just surprised them ON the ship? At that point they still wouldn't know everyone is cruising together right? Maybe you all should set a meeting time for a specific place and meet on board. Whoever is with your parents could just say, "oh lets go down to __ place for a drink at 2pm" and just have everyone else be there too?

I think $500 each way to get everyone where they are going just for the surprise is an awful lot of money to spend...

[mr jc]

I agree, do you have to surprise them at Naples? What if you just surprised them ON the ship? At that point they still wouldn't know everyone is cruising together right? Maybe you all should set a meeting time for a specific place and meet on board. Whoever is with your parents could just say, "oh lets go down to __ place for a drink at 2pm" and just have everyone else be there too?

I think $500 each way to get everyone where they are going just for the surprise is an awful lot of money to spend...

 

Agreed ! Go Cats!

[Straitlover]

Another option - have everyone come in and get to a hotel in Miami. Tell your parents you are booking them a room in Miami the night before and you'll drive them down. The brother and daughter who came in early can rent a car or maybe you have a second vehicle they could drive and they could take your luggage so your parents won't see it. Maybe find somewhere to book a dinner for everyone and plan to take your parents to dinner before you "head back home". Walk into the restaurant and Surprise!!!!

[Jenner9]

I agree with what others have said. Either meet in Miami and stay the night before the cruise or have a meeting spot on the ship itself.

 

What cruise in January are you on? Come on over and join us on the roll call if it is 01/16/16!

[catbarngal]

Thank you all for the great advice and tips! Really appreciated!

 

At Jenner9 -- we'll be just missing each other! We're going 1/10-1/16. So we'll be getting off the ship when you're getting on -- thanks for the invite to roll call though! :)

Edited May 31, 2015 by catbarngal