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Surprising someone with the gift of a cruise


bananatami
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Anyone have any good stories of how you surprised someone by giving them a gift of a cruise? I came up with a cute way and thought I would share to give some people some ideas.

 

I'm 21 and my bf is 22, we just celebrated our 2 year anniversary and for our anniversary I gave him the great gift of a cruise for the 2 of us. He took me to dinner and from there I blindfolded him and drove his car to a nearby beach (we live on lake Erie) there is one spot that has a waterfall. I parked the car and took his had and guided him down a flight of stairs that ends on a small concreate platform. I layed a blanket down, took a tap light (candles would have blown out) 2 champaign glasses and my walkman that had mini speakers playing Ella Fitzgerald's "Isn't it romantic" I took the blindfold off and presented him is gift. The way I "wrapped" the card that said we were going on a cruise was, I put it in a blue bottle with a cork (got it at a craft store) and placed it inside a childs sand buket filled with sand. On top of the sand was an assortment of seashells that were also placed thruout the sand. also a wooden palm tree and sail boat that I hand painted. He had to dig thru the sand and find the seashells. on each seashell I had pained a letter and color coded them (Blue letters, orange letters and so on) The blue letters spelled out ARUBA the orange BARBADOS so he then had to unscramble them. at the very bottom of the bucket I had a seashell that had the map of the itenerary that I cut from the carnival book and glued on the shell. I helped him with the unscrabling and also sifting thru the sand. I figured this was a very original way to present a gift of a cruise other than in an envalope.

 

also, with the hand painted palm tree, I painted one for myself as well, I'm going to go to Michaels and get a wooden craft picture from, glue the palm tree to it and put a picture of us from the cruise.

 

Sorry this was such a long post, I would love to hear other stories

 

 

 

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CARNIVAL DESTINY~

 

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  • 1 month later...

My Dad surprised my mom with a cruise on their 20th anniversary (12 years ago). The way he wanted to surprise her was He told her about what she needed to pack, they would go to the airport, get to the peir and surprise. Well that didn't happen at least not all of it. They got to the airport and the guy checking them in for their flight blurted out "Oh are y'all going on a cruise?" At that moment mom heard the word cruise and turned to my dad and said "WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE!" Needless to say it wasn't a surprise anymore.

 

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Caribbean Princess here I come!

 

Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often!

Peace, Love and Mickey Mouse!

 

~ Heather ~ ºoº

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My cruise in July was a Christmas gift from my hubby of 17 years. I had always wanted one, but we put it off because we liek to vacation with our kids and the cost of course. Well this year for Christmas, amoung my other gifts from him, I received a shirt sized box. Inside was a wonderful card (that made me cry) and the Royal Caribbean Cruise brochure and the ticket confirmations.

 

I got the best gift out of all my girfriends this year!

 

Until the Caribbean!!!

countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=191970&cdt=2004;7;1;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500

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I'm surprising my DH for his 40th birthday with a cruise. This Friday (6/18) my best friend and her fiancee are having a surprise party for him and I'm going to present him with the cruise at the party. He will be really shocked because we leave on Monday (6/21). Luckily he already has next week off. I can't wait.

 

Ecstasy 6/00

5 year Anniversary

 

Fantasy 10/01

DM 50th Birthday and

My 31st Birthday

 

DH 40th Birthday Surprise on the Fascination 6/04

countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ff00&cdt=2004;6;21;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

 

 

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Well, this isn't a cruise, but I just surprized my DH for his 50th birthday (he's MUCH older than I am!) icon_wink.gif with a trip to Atlantic City. We left Saturday morning with friends for "breakfast" ended up at the airport on a private plane to AC with a limo waiting a suites at Ball's on the 28th floor overlooking the ocean! We didn't win but gambled enough to have everything comp'd by the casino.

 

He had a blast!

 

Good luck with your surprize CruisingGirl!

 

Until the Caribbean!!!

countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=191970&cdt=2004;7;1;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500

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Thanks ladybeachlover-

 

I'll be writing a review when I get back. Have a great time on your cruise.

 

Ecstasy 6/00

5 year Anniversary

 

Fantasy 10/01

DM 50th Birthday and

My 31st Birthday

 

DH 40th Birthday Surprise on the Fascination 6/04

countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ff00&cdt=2004;6;21;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

 

 

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wow, i wish one of you would adopt me and give me a cruise icon_biggrin.gif. what a wonderful thing to do. and im sure the recipients love you for it.

 

DUSTY

 

Carnival Spirit, 9/10/03 Alaska glacier bay

 

Carvival Spirit, 5/11/05

Alaska glacier bay again

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Bananatami, Very creative and fun!! My mom loves to play bingo so we surprised her on Mother's Day with coupons to play bingo "On a cruise"

She was very excited, just have to get her past the fear of flying :rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

On August 3lst, it our 30th anniversary, and little did I know what my husband was planning!

While I was on a trip to visit my family in Nova Scotia (airmiles...free!), he went to the travel agency and planned a wonderful cruise to Alaska for us. It's amazing that he did this without me knowing because I don't usually miss anything that goes on in this house. I found out everyone in the family knew. The funny thing about it was that while I was away he was sending emails to my sister, thru my email account, not realizing that I could access it from there! It dawned on him one day and he asked questions. He was told he better get home and delete stuff before I get into the account. Anyway, he didn't get caught that way! He wasn't sure how to tell me and he wanted that to be something special too, so after much pondering he decided he would let my best friend of over 35 years tell me. We were having a Girl's Weekend together and while at a brunch at a restaurant she gave me the tickets and a letter from him. Of course, I bawled! My friends even took pictures of me as I was reading the letter. We leave on Aug. 22nd till the 29th and I can't wait. This is our first cruise ever and I bet not our last!

Hope I didn't go on too much, it's just that I'm so amazed by this man! :)

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This summer is our 20th wedding anniversary, so last August, I booked a cruise to Alaska without my husband's knowledge. We have been on one other cruise with our kids (Disney) and loved it. We had talked about cruising to Alaska since we were high school sweethearts.

 

The plan was to tell him on our anniversary, June 2, and then sail on July 24. Unfortunately, I had to make some decisions regarding our two post cruise days, and I needed his input to make sure we were going to be doing stuff he wanted to do. So, I compromised and told him on his 42nd birthday in January. He was shocked and very happy! He couldn't understand how I had kept it a secret for so long (not my style!).

 

I will never forget his face when he opened a book on cruising Alaska for his birthday. It was priceless!

 

Target

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since this is still being posted to, I will relate our cruise surprise. Last year (2003), my wife and I and our two kids saw the passing of my father (Valentine's Day), her mother (June), one of my Uncles (September) and the father of our daughter's best friend (November). Needless to say, it was a lousy year for us and we felt that our life was completely sucked out of us. We had no joy and nothing to make us feel good. Thanks to an inheritence from my father and a bonus from my wife's employer, we decided to to do something that would make us feel good about life and bring some happiness to others. We decided that we were going to take family and some friends on a cruise.

 

I created a video of pictures from a past cruise on the Carnival Triumph and past ship inspections. I then found a recording of Jimmy buffet singing "Sea Cruise". You know the song where the lyrics go "won't you let me take you on a sea cruise." At the end of the pictures, I added a few frames of text wishing them a Merry Christmas and that we wanted them to join us as we sailed the Carnival Triumph on August 7, 2004. The next frame told them that our Christmas gift to them was a cruise in a Balcony cabin along with round trip air. The last frame stated that tips, shore excursions and on board charges were not included.

 

As we showed people they video, we gave them a bag with a Carnival brochure, a deck plan showing which cabin was theirs along with other information on cruising and Carnival. People were shocked, speechless and some even cried. Needless to say, we sail in less than three weeks. We invited 33 other people and have a total of 12 balcony cabins. This past Saturday, one of my sisters in law held a picnic for all the cruisers. A cousin's daughter created a logo for our cruise and she and her mom had t-shirts made for everyone with the logo along with a tote bag for each cabin.

 

I have told everyone that the cruise came about because four people are no longer with us. It isn't about their death but rather is is about the live's they all led and the way we loved them all as well as everyone that we invited. The unofficial theme for the cruise is LIFE, LOVE, FAMILY.

 

Joe Canino

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My story doesn't compare with Joe's, but I'll try. For Valentine's Day my husband gave me a Valentine's card with $100 and an envelope inside. When I opened the envelope there was another $100 and a birthday card and another envelope. Now I figured he had lost his mind or didn't want to give any cards for the rest of the year or something. I opened the envelope and there was an Anniversary card and a cruise to Alaska itenerary. We have always talked about taking a cruise but figured we would wait until the kids were out of college. Husband had been planning since November. Daughter was in on it. I was very surprised. We are going in August which is husband and my birthday month, and our 25th wedding anniversary is in October. I can hardly wait.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A couple of weeks ago we presented a surprise cruise to a couple going on their honeymoon. A couple of us asked for donations over the course of 6 months because this couple couldnt' afford it themselves. Of course, they will be going with a group of us (this cruise was already planned and they couldnt' make it but really wanted to) but they said they'd rather cruise with all of us and be guaranteed a good time.

 

We presented it at their work. I walked in with balloons tied to a plastic jalepeno. One of the balloons said "congrats". I wore a sombrero and when we walked up to them I put them sombrero on the groom's head and he had bewildered look on his face. Everyone cheered and clapped and that's when I handed him the album of all the signatures, sentiments and quotes from everyone who donated. We think we saw some tears welling up in the grooms' eyes.

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I had the time of my life planning Mom's 50th surprise birthday party and gift. I spent months planning and buying all the supplies for a luau (in February).

The decorations - A hammock, a dozen or so plastic pink flamingos and a huge blow up palm tree (think the blow-up Santas that people have in their yards at Christmas time) were in the front yard. The drive way and sidewalk were lined with flaming tiki torches decorated with bright tropical flowers. All the guests were waiting in my driveway when I pulled up with her in the car. I think the "SURPRISE" about made her wet her pants! :eek: The garage walls were covered with white sheets that my cousin painted with a beach sunset scene (the beach, water, palm trees, setting sun, watercolor sky, etc.) I put a light directly behind the sun and it actually looked like it was glowing. I had more blow-up palm trees in the garage and totum polls. The limbo stick was fun for the kiddos! The tables were decorated with grass skirts and tropical centerpieces. Brown sugar looks just like sand & the little palm trees and seashells were adorable!!! Little table-top tiki torches lit up the garage and lots of Christmas lights with plastic fish light covers. I also had a beach chair, towel, and umbrella set up for my Mom to sit in while she opened her gifts. The BEST decoration... brought in sand for the garage floor to complete the beach look... Check out Oriental Trading Company if you ever want to have a theme party!

The food - Watermellon "whales" with lots of fruit and pineapple boats, coconut shrimp, and lots of fru-fru drinks. I even bought special flamingo stem glasses. And a Lilo and Stitch cake (I subbed an adult hula dancer that I found in the auto section at WalMart).

The guests - everybody knew it was a luau so Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, and leis for all. I even bought a hula skirt and lei for Mo (my weenie dog). He was the star of the show. I even had my Aunt (Mom's best friend) fly in from Indiana to surprise her!

The gift - found an adorable beach bag at Target with a beach scene embroidered on it. I put 4 plastic boats (bathtub toys for little ones) inside the bag. Each boat had one of the ports of call written on it. She kinda had a "thanks but what am I going to do with 4 plastic boats???" :confused: look on her face. She still didn't have a clue. When I explained what the boats were and gave her the itinerary - she CRIED!!!

The finale - my neighbors LOVE fireworks (even though they are illegal here)... They put on about a 20 minutes display - the icing on the cake!!!

We are now less than 18 weeks away from our birthday cruise. We are soooooooooo excited! I can't tell you how many hours we have spent on this site, and shopping, and talking about ideas.... Woohoo!!! I am ready to go NOW!!! :D

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I had the time of my life planning Mom's 50th surprise birthday party and gift. I spent months planning and buying all the supplies for a luau (in February).

I'm the Mom Jammie gave the party for! What a surprise!:D I have never been so surprised or felt soooo loved in my life! I'm still crying! It was the very best party I have EVER been too! It was to cool for words! It was a full Moon night and I just thought we were going for a few drinks! I have the most AWSOME child in the world! And your wrong about my best friend Jammie, cause your my best friend, now and for always!:)

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  • 1 month later...

My boyfriend (now DH) surprised me with a cruise in 1992 for my birthday. To try and make this short.. (yeah, right) ~ he spoke to my parents and my boss to make sure that I can go. He told me that I needed to pack specific clothes for a few days and I couldn't ask any questions. The day before the cruise he left me notes with instructions that I had to follow and not ask any questions. The next day a white stretch limo picked me up at my parents house and took me to the airport. The driver wouldn't even tell me where I was going. I get to the airport and a friend was there waiting for me. She took me all over the airport. When I finally got to the gate, my boyfriend popped out of nowhere. Okay I knew I was going somewhere with him and we were flying to Miami. I never cruised before so I was completely clueless. Once we are on the plan and now 30,000 feet in the air, he pulled out this navy blue travel pouch and said "My love, happy birthday!... we are going on a one week cruise on Sovereign of the Seas." I nearly hit the ceiling. I wanted to do cartwheels on the plane but was stuck in my seat! All I know is that when I saw the ship I flipped out. Seeing them on TV, pictures, magazines, etc. is one thing but in person was unbelievable. Once he told me how he planned everything I was completely amazed. He dedicated so much time and love into this that I knew I found my future husband. I had no clue and then all of the crazy things that happened the week before the cruise finally made sense. I will never forget it!

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  • 3 weeks later...

DISASTER!!!

I've booked a surprise cruise for my wife, kept it secret for several months now, but last night, I was checking these boards when I heard her come in so I closed the window down.

The problem being when you log back in at first that damn newsletter window opens up and I forgot about it. So when she asked what I was looking at, I said I was just closing down, shut what I thought was the last window and sitting right in the middle of the screen is that damn newsletter.

It seemed an eternity to reach the close button and, although she never said anything, I'm sure she spotted it. aaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!!

So now all the picture clues I intend to give her in a restaurant the night before could be wasted if she just blurts out "is it a cruise".

Gutted!!:mad: :mad:

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I have booked and half paid for a surprise cruise for my DH and I to Alaska. We dont sail until June of 2005 and so far he is still clueless. I am just now trying to come up with an idea for the big reveal. It has to be a little in advance because I am dealing with the passport issue and will need to have time, after he knows, to get the passport. I'm thinking about maybe a treasure hunt where he is finding gifts that each will be something that we need for the cruise like binoculars and a digital camera and so on. Anyone have any further ideas for gifts or any other ideas for a great reveal? I'm still open at this point. Thanks for any help.

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...I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading these posts. They made my cry!

 

You (the surprisERs) are so creative and caring, and the surprisEEs are lucky to have such generous people in your lives.

 

But, then, I'm sure you know that!

 

T

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I have just booked a Royal Clipper cruise (sailing ship) for my boyfriend of 11 months to the Carribean. He's never been on a cruise before but I've been on lots of them from Windjammers to huge ships. I'm not very good at keeping secrets, but I'm planning to wait til Christmas.

 

Cat

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Good luck waiting until Christmas. I am a puddle of tears reading these posts of people and the creative ways that they have surprised their 'loved one'. If only my DH would do the same, but I am the one who plans, he is the one who follows. Maybe some year...

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