gifting a cruise-ideas needed!

[momma5]

My hubby and I are taking my in laws on a cruise for my mother in laws birthday in September. My father knows the details but we are surprising my mother in law-we won't be telling her until the week before we leave. She has never been on a trip like this and we want to come up with a fun way to give her her gift-the cruise. Any ideas??

 

We are debating between telling her about the cruise on her birthday (in a creative way) or telling her on her birthday that we are taking them on vacation (we are staying in Clearwater 2 days prior) and surprising her with the cruise once we are down there.

 

We want to find a fun creative way to surprise her!!

[4FRCruising]

My hubby and I are taking my in laws on a cruise for my mother in laws birthday in September. My father knows the details but we are surprising my mother in law-we won't be telling her until the week before we leave. She has never been on a trip like this and we want to come up with a fun way to give her her gift-the cruise. Any ideas??

 

We are debating between telling her about the cruise on her birthday (in a creative way) or telling her on her birthday that we are taking them on vacation (we are staying in Clearwater 2 days prior) and surprising her with the cruise once we are down there.

 

We want to find a fun creative way to surprise her!!

Do a Bon Voyage Theme Party :) Give her a little plastic boat (or if you want to really go all out get her a good "ship" charm)

 

Not sure if it is a really good idea to wait that late to tell her though....she might enjoy the fun of pre-cruise planning/shopping too. Also she might appreciate the time to get together what she needs for the cruise (clothes, shoes, etc).

[tomko2]

Definitely let her know that it is a cruise (she will need her passport). Bon Vogage theme is a great idea.

Kathy:)

[RetireeWannabee]

Please give her more lead time!!

 

I have no idea what her age is, but I have older female relatives that would never forgive me if I didn't give them a chance to go get their hair done and go shopping and do all the other hundred things... AND they would want to tell all their friends, FOR HOURS!

 

Plus, just cuz her hubby knows doesn't mean all the arrangements for leaving the house will be made. If she runs the household, that will fall to her. She will be exhausted.

 

Give her at least 2 weeks notice. even then, she may have appts she has to cancel or change (doctor or whatnot).

 

You might consider telling her about A Birthday Trip, its date and duration so she at least doesn't have other plans for that timeframe. She will need to know what to pack but you don't need to tell her Everything.

 

I would start dropping hints as soon as you tell her and let it build up. You could do a Secret Santa thing, send her a gifty hint every so often. If she guesses, let on. The surprise may be a lot more fun for you than it would be for her. I think it's fun to have a vacation I know all the details about planned. I would be momentarily panic-stricken if someone surprised me with a week away that I didn't see coming, regardless of what it is.

 

Especially if this is a long-time dream of hers, tell her early, let her enjoy the anticipation.

 

Regardless, what a great birthday gift!!

[Marie51]

What a wonderful present!!

 

You say your MIL has never been on a trip like this before, and therefore she may appreciate having time to get ready (new clothes, haircut, etc). I say you let her know 3-4 weeks in advance. As wonderful as the whole thing sounds, I would not want to be surprised like this.

[megr1125]

surprise is good...,but give her lead time.....coming from someone who has surprised mom with lets see...1 land trip and 3 cruises...one land trip was in the car on the way to the airport (bad-but at least i had just, literally picked her up at the hairdresser. she made me go home so she could see what i packed!! it passed. still she kept saying she wasn't going...yeah right!)

 

1st crusie was a week before, 2nd was a month or so cause RC sent the docs HOME instead of the TA. ....last one was 6 weeks ahead...made an easter basket with shell-shaped candies, a chocolate sailboat (ok, so it was all i could get on good friday!) pink and blue "grass" for pink sand and blue water...(we went to bermuda!), a book and the set sail passes!!!

[forensic]

This is a wonderful gift and a wonderful thing that you are doing for your MIL! But, for me, and I know that I am not alone, anticipation is at least 50% of the joy of a trip! I love reading everything I can find about where I am going, reading all about the ship we are going on, shopping, planning, packing and repacking.

 

I think a Bon Voyage Party is a GREAT idea, but do it like a month ahead of time so that all of you will have plenty of time to plan and get ready together for this wonderful trip!

 

You could tell her it is a Bon Voyage Party for some friends of yours to get her there.

[RetireeWannabee]

You could tell her it is a Bon Voyage Party for some friends of yours to get her there.

YES!!!

 

Or, a friend of HERS who should be at the party when MIL gets there.

[momma5]

Thanks for the ideas. I love the Bon Voyage party idea.

She's not the get your hair done and go shopping type. I do plan on taking her shopping the day after her b-day to get some new clothes for the trip and we had her take the week off work and keep her calendar clear for that week already by asking her to watch our two little ones for the week (we told her we are taking the older kids on vacation but not the babies) so she's already made her arrangements for free time.

[4merlurker]

Very Nice Gift! We sent our parents on a surprise cruise for their 50th this past July! I wanted to tell them a few days before (I knew they had passports) but thank god my sister convinced me to give them a few weeks. They really needed the time to get everything in order. They had medication to renew, appts to change, clothes to shop/press/pack etc.

 

Believe me, they were so excited when we gave them the "tickets"! That was a big surprise in itself - and they were able to relax and let it all sink in!

 

~Connie

[lady_cruiser]

Do give her a little more time to get together her ward robe. She'll need outfits for shopping/touring, sitting by the pool, casual dress nights in the DR not to mention a formal for formal nights.

 

Go nautical. Try this website: http://www.shindigz.com/ to get ideas for your party.

[momma5]

Thanks for your advice, we are going to tell her in July at a surprise party and we don't leave until September so she'll have plenty of time to prepare.

We've decided to give her a beach bag with several gifts, "clues" so she can figure out what the "gift" is. We thought about maybe a life jacket, sunscreen, any other ideas on what to put in the bag?

 

Thanks again for your help!!!

[UtterCaro]

Thanks for your advice, we are going to tell her in July at a surprise party and we don't leave until September so she'll have plenty of time to prepare.

We've decided to give her a beach bag with several gifts, "clues" so she can figure out what the "gift" is. We thought about maybe a life jacket, sunscreen, any other ideas on what to put in the bag?

 

I'm so glad you decided to give her plenty of planning/anticipation time! Time is the one thing we simply can't renew or replace, and recognizing that is the nicest gift you can give, even better than a surprise cruise.

 

As for what to put in the bag -- sunscreen, a nightlight, a luggage scale, a paperback, a travel clock, a lanyard, a memory card if she has a digital camera, and (especially) a box of Bonine should give her plenty of clues and will all come in handy onboard.

 

Caro

[4FRCruising]

Thanks for your advice, we are going to tell her in July at a surprise party and we don't leave until September so she'll have plenty of time to prepare.

We've decided to give her a beach bag with several gifts, "clues" so she can figure out what the "gift" is. We thought about maybe a life jacket, sunscreen, any other ideas on what to put in the bag?

 

Thanks again for your help!!!

 

Maybe a tape/DVD of the old Love Boat series....but not in the beach bag - in the bag maybe a handmade movie ticket with some popcorn to a "private screening" with a special date. If she hasn't figured the gift out by the time of the "screening", the Love Boat should give her the final answer :)

[n2cruisin2]

The paperback book could have a cruise title or cruise story. That would be fun. my 2 cents. :D

[Beachgirl6479]

Thanks for your advice, we are going to tell her in July at a surprise party and we don't leave until September so she'll have plenty of time to prepare.

We've decided to give her a beach bag with several gifts, "clues" so she can figure out what the "gift" is. We thought about maybe a life jacket, sunscreen, any other ideas on what to put in the bag?

 

Thanks again for your help!!!

 

For my mom's 45th birthday, my dad and I took her on a cruise. Well, I paid for the cruise, and he took care of everything else (all of those frou frou drinks my mom and I consumed:rolleyes: ). I made the mistake of only telling her she was going on vacation for her birthday, so she had no concept of time. It was noon, and she still wasn't packed and we still had to get to Tampa which was about an hour away. Nearly gave me a panic attack! So it's a good thing you are giving your mother-in-law plenty of time.

 

Besides sunscreen, I would perhaps do a waterproof disposable camera, Frommer's has a great ports of call book that is a lot of fun (plus, she can plan where she wants to go next), travel sized cosmetics (Sephora has a great selection!), depending on where your cruise is going, a CD with some tropical themed music...

 

http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml;jsessionid=2G22ALS25L20ECV0KQHRXCQ?categoryId=C15736

 

http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Cruises-Ports-Call-2008/dp/0470137355/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212602235&sr=8-5

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Put a hat in the bag...maybe one from the cruise line she will be on. She will need a hat if the sun is out when she is out on deck or sightseeing.

 

Fred

[momma5]

Well, we're down to the wire now. It's almost time to finally tell my mil about the cruise. Her surprise party is this weekend! We are so excited to tell her (and our kids-we didn't tell them yet either since we thought they are too young to keep a secret that long)

We have a beach bag with all kinds of clues, sunscreen, a book, some sand in a bottle with the dates we are traveling in it, a towel, a gift card to go shopping before hand for some new clothes, airline tickets (not the real ones) and a custom made t-shirt from the carnival site that has her name and the dates of travel-it's really great!

 

We're so excited! Thanks for all the great ideas! I'll be sure to update you on her reaction!

[notentirelynormal]

For Christmas I usually put together a bunch of pages.... read one at a time... first telling her that the gift certificate if valid for one berth for two people on the blank ship for the date of.. to ... the next page would be a picture of the ship, with a picture of the cabin. Then the next is the airline ticket with a picture of the seats (or something of the airline) then just various pictures from the ship. Something like that. Usually its finished with "and this will never happen again" :rolleyes: well, ok until the next time. If you are paying for shore excursions, I put the info on the shore excursions with pictures, or the pre/post hotel and include that too.

 

Maybe throw in little things like highlighter for the daily, sunscreen, a hat, etc. This year we went to New Zealand/Australia and everyone got a throw away rain coat and umbrella for Christmas. If this is her first cruise she won't think about all the little things. I usually take a baggie filled with bathroom stuff like band-aids, safety pins, emery board, neosporin etc. Maybe throw something like that in.

[kjunea]

Maybe a tape/DVD of the old Love Boat series....but not in the beach bag - in the bag maybe a handmade movie ticket with some popcorn to a "private screening" with a special date. If she hasn't figured the gift out by the time of the "screening", the Love Boat should give her the final answer :)

 

 

Gee, with those clues, my MIL might think she was going to get to go on a date with Stuebing! But then, that's the way my MIL works!

[Papasaurus]

Thanks for your advice, we are going to tell her in July at a surprise party and we don't leave until September so she'll have plenty of time to prepare.

We've decided to give her a beach bag with several gifts, "clues" so she can figure out what the "gift" is. We thought about maybe a life jacket, sunscreen, any other ideas on what to put in the bag?

 

Thanks again for your help!!!

My brother did something like that when he gave his wife a trip to Hawaii for Christmas. He gave her gifts like a bathing suit, beach towel sun screen etc. She could not figure out why he was giving her things like that in December. The last thing she opened were the tickets for the upcoming February trip to Hawaii.

[SheilaNC]

Do come back and tell us about the party and her reaction. What a lovely gift. As one who enjoys the anticipation/planning almost as much as the real thing, I think the party in July for a Sept sailing was a great decision. I can almost feel your excitement (and anticipate her response) as I'm writing this. Have a wonderful party!

[forensic]

Do a Bon Voyage Theme Party :) Give her a little plastic boat (or if you want to really go all out get her a good "ship" charm)

 

Not sure if it is a really good idea to wait that late to tell her though....she might enjoy the fun of pre-cruise planning/shopping too. Also she might appreciate the time to get together what she needs for the cruise (clothes, shoes, etc).

 

What an excellent idea! I agree with telling her a little ahead of time, I think the planning and shopping and reading cruise books and travel books are a HUGE part of the fun!

[momma5]

The party went great! My mil was sooo surprised! She cried quite a bit because she was so excited and shocked. I already took her shopping since the party for a new swimsuit and some clothes. She's been talking about it nonstop and keeps saying that she never thought she'd get to go on a trip like this.

And we finally got to tell our kids (ages 7, 5, & 4) that they are going on this trip too-we had to keep it a secret from them so they wouldn't tell grandma. So we are all just excited and ready to go!

 

Thank you so much for your help with all the suggestions. These board changed our minds about the timing on telling her about the trip and we are so glad we told her earlier.

[linkerbink]

What a great gift! I'm glad you told her in advance...anticipation is half the fun! We're going on our 7th cruise in October and I still get more excited the closer the big day comes.