Suggestions on how to surprise family with cruise for Christmas?

[tamilyn]

So, I know I've read on here different ways folks have surprised their families with cruises for Christmas, but I can't seem to find the threads right away.  I'd love to hear how some of you have done this if you'd be willing to share!

 

[Kellie in Texas]

I remember other threads similar to this too, maybe not a holiday surprise cruise but just a surprise cruise. My thoughts are don't wait to tell people. I am the cruise planner in my house and we've got a New Year's Eve 2022 cruise booked but I told my family back in July. I love the anticipation of it, so I would feel cheated if I didn't have lots of time to look forward to it. Plus everybody needs time to get passports, wardrobe, look at excursions, etc. You can always gather everybody to "watch a movie" and then pull up videos of the ship, ports, etc.  

[tamilyn]

Yes, maybe I wasn't very clear...

We are giving the cruise as a Christmas gift but not actually going on the cruise until next year.  So, plenty of time to prepare (or back out if they want).  I was just looking for creative ways to "give the gift".

 

[HicksRA]

Maybe a wrapped bucket of water with a little boat floating in it…..

[Rubyfisch]

I took my parents on their first cruise as a surprise 65th birthday gift for my mother. I put together a binder with a tab for each port and a some other things, wrapped the binder, and gave it to her.

[DaKahuna]

46 minutes ago, tamilyn said:

Yes, maybe I wasn't very clear...

We are giving the cruise as a Christmas gift but not actually going on the cruise until next year.  So, plenty of time to prepare (or back out if they want).  I was just looking for creative ways to "give the gift".

 

 

Make some fake boarding passes, print them out and put them a Christmas card.  

 

I did something similar when I gave three of our grandchildren vacations at Seaworld. 

 

 

[Poplin]

I gave monogrammed beach towels and a cloth bag ( Vera Bradley) filled with funny towel clips (Amazon) and sunscreen.  I also had personalized door magnets with their name on it for their cabin doors. 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Buy a model of the ship, wrap it up, and put under the tree.  

[Kellie in Texas]

Our first family cruise was to Alaska in 2011 (oldest son's high school graduation). For Christmas, I got everybody a rain jacket (wrapped individually), long-sleeved tshirts/Henleys, and a couple of other gifts like that.  Then -- and this was back in the day when you didn't book online, you got the big RCCL "wish book" brochure -- I wrapped the brochure in a box with little sticky tabs on the page for the specific cruise we were going on.  So, by the time they saw the brochure, they had pretty well figured it out. 

[neverbeenhere]

Invite me over for the big day and say: "Hey everyone! Guess who's going on a cruise with us next Christmas!"

Edited October 11, 2022 by neverbeenhere
Merry Christmas

[def0715]

I did a scavenger hunt kind of thing for my daughters. There was a wrapped gift for each of them at the very end of the hunt. Inside were matching T-shirts I had gotten made with our cruise particulars. It was a fun way for them to figure it out, and they were surprised and thrilled. We took a photo in our matching shirts, which we still have somewhere.

[linerode]

3 hours ago, tamilyn said:

Yes, maybe I wasn't very clear...

We are giving the cruise as a Christmas gift but not actually going on the cruise until next year.  So, plenty of time to prepare (or back out if they want).  I was just looking for creative ways to "give the gift".

 

I did this for my wife. I created a notebook of the reservation documents plus pictures and information about the ports, pictures of the cabin, etc. Wrapped it up in a box and she loved it. 

[renza]

Fill up a box with travel size goodies like toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoos, and print fake boarding passes. Get cruise luggage tags, towel clips. Have picture of ship too. Have fun and fill it with anything cruise. 

[flamingos]

DH gave me an envelope stuffed full on $1 bills - I thought he was taking me to a strip club (!) until I saw the rest of the things in the box - a photo of a tropical island, a picture of a tropical drink, and a picture of a cruise ship.  🤣

[Mum2Mercury]

Luggage tags? 

Sunscreen?  It's on clearance at Walmart right now.  

[Cruise Gopher]

We gave my parents a Mediterranean cruise last Christmas and we bought some different foods/snacks from Spain, France and Italy to package in a box for each of them, and then at the bottom of the box under the food we put a printed itinerary of the cruise and a fake cruise boarding pass. 

[Mike-Cruisin]

One year I found small tin boxes similar to the old lunch boxes we used as kids that were painted to look like travel suitcases with stickers on them of various cities. Inside the "suitcases" were fake boarding passes and a Christmas ornament relating to the destinations.

 

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, tamilyn said:

Yes, maybe I wasn't very clear...

We are giving the cruise as a Christmas gift but not actually going on the cruise until next year.  So, plenty of time to prepare (or back out if they want).  I was just looking for creative ways to "give the gift".

 

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but there could be some ramifications if they back out after you have purchased the cruise. Make sure you book it with a refundable deposit. There are other things that I read about, but didn’t pay much attention to. Something about if you book it in someone’s name and they back out then they will get the FCC or refund and not you. It goes to the person who’s name is on the reservation even if you paid for it. @Ourusualbeachwill know the details. If this is for your spouse and kids and not relatives then it probably isn’t a big deal. Just something to keep in mind.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but there could be some ramifications if they back out after you have purchased the cruise. Make sure you book it with a refundable deposit. There are other things that I read about, but didn’t pay much attention to. Something about if you book it in someone’s name and they back out then they will get the FCC or refund and not you. It goes to the person who’s name is on the reservation even if you paid for it. @Ourusualbeachwill know the details. If this is for your spouse and kids and not relatives then it probably isn’t a big deal. Just something to keep in mind.

What you stated sbout FCC's was correct up until July however the non refundable deposits now are 100% forfeited if they cancel.  No FCC's are issued. 

 

Definitely should be booking refundable. 

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but there could be some ramifications if they back out after you have purchased the cruise. Make sure you book it with a refundable deposit. There are other things that I read about, but didn’t pay much attention to. Something about if you book it in someone’s name and they back out then they will get the FCC or refund and not you. It goes to the person who’s name is on the reservation even if you paid for it. @Ourusualbeachwill know the details. If this is for your spouse and kids and not relatives then it probably isn’t a big deal. Just something to keep in mind.

 

 I am pretty sure it goes back to the credit card that was used to make the deposit and any payments, regardless of the name on the reservation.  How would they refund if they did have a credit card to refund it to. 

 

[ReneeFLL]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

What you stated sbout FCC's was correct up until July however the non refundable deposits now are 100% forfeited if they cancel.  No FCC's are issued. 

 

Definitely should be booking refundable. 

Thanks for correcting me. I figured I’d possibly have something wrong. 
 

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I am pretty sure it goes back to the credit card that was used to make the deposit and any payments, regardless of the name on the reservation.  How would they refund if they did have a credit card to refund it to. 

 

It must have been the FCC that was refunded to the person who’s name was on the reservation. I knew Ken would be able to correct me if wrong.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

Thanks for correcting me. I figured I’d possibly have something wrong. 
 

It must have been the FCC that was refunded to the person who’s name was on the reservation. I knew Ken would be able to correct me if wrong.

This was definitely an issue during Covid with all the FCC's that were being issued after final payment or being sble to cancel nrd bookings without penalty. 

[ARandomTraveler]

Print out the itinerary, fold it up and put it in this 

 

BILZ Gift Card and Money Puzzle - Brain Teasing Maze for Cash or Gift Cards - Great for Stocking Stuffers, Secret Santa Gifts, or Birthdays https://a.co/d/31Dgw7n

[Tin can]

I printed a big card myself with the ship and destinations on it and superimposed my wife's and sons head on to people at these destinations.

 

It wasn't difficult to do and was very funny even if I do say so myself, they were confused initially and then very excited so it had the right effect.

[shelbee79]

It wasn't for a cruise, but I brought my parents return flights for a trip that included Malta, Venice & Rome. For them I made up some boarding passes, and used them as bookmarks inside "Italian for Dummies".