Wanted: Ideas for Family Reunion Activities for all on Sky

[uromac]

Hi!

 

Next Weekend for my parents' 50th anniversary, we are going for a weekend small family reunion cruise on the NCL Sky. Family info: - total # of guests - 10 - ages: 4 (almost 5), 8, 17, 21, 4 in their 40's and 2 in their 70's with some slight mobility issues). this is a Christmas cruise however we do not celebrate the holiday. We have decided to basically stay on board with the mobility issues and the youngest just breaking her arm last week! However, I just thought I would like to have some family reunion games, competitions to prevent boredom, friction, etc.. so I thought we would have some family fun together for some of the time. Ideas so far Bingo (cost is a factor maybe once or twice), shuffleboard, may be team basketball shootout?, scavenger hunt (not too sure how to do this ideas, places, approval, getting ship crew involved, etc..) ideas? Also, my parents will have an AB suite cabin, which we would love to use as a hub for a lot of the activities, so I was thinking of just some things to bring some portable games from home (cards, ideas for more games - things to bring that will not take up too much space in the luggage! and can be played with a lot of people and/or teams. Finally I was thinking of printing out certificates (perhaps printing them up on board?) for the winners, prizes from me and/or souvenirs/things purchased on board the ship or gotten from staff if possible. - ideas and/or thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance :) !

 

Melissa

[uromac]

Also I was wondering if there are any private tours, activities such as cooking/kitchen perhaps, or otherr ideas (most of us are foodies). Thanks again!

 

Melissa :)

[myra711]

Melissa - your age range is pretty big,so this wouldn't be for all of you. BUT, for the "wordies" among you, the game "bananagrams" is great fun and is very portable (a little sack of tiles). I'm planning to bring it on my cruise in April.

[spacepotatoes]

If you pop over to the Ports of Call - Bahamas forums, there's a thread discussing a "Taste of Nassau" historical tour that might appeal to the foodies in your group. The forum is here:

 

http://forums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58

[uromac]

Thanks for some ideas!

 

I did see of the bananagram game - so I may check that out!

 

Also, I just looked into the "Taste of Nassau" - however on the boards it seems that tour is not offered any more!

 

I will look again and check other easy portable games and or possible presents for the group!

 

Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming! :)

 

Melissa

[pboedeker]

First day on board - have a Poker/Cabin crawl

 

Second day on board - start a Farkle tournament complete with tournament bracket (finish tournament on day 6)

 

Find a meeting location for pre-dinner drinks each evening. Meet here 30 minutes before dinner each night. Or meet up in the big suite!

 

Girls spa day - on port days there are specials offered at a better price!

 

Not sure if the Sky has one, but - a putting tournament would be good for the guys.

 

Silver or higher in Latitudes - see if a bridge tour can be arranged.

[bob brown]

It is often that I see those on family reunions wearing a specially designed t-shirt during the day.

The cruise line may have some suggestions for special activities, sometimes conducted by a cruise staff member, but they are usually for larger groups than yours. They sometimes may offer use of one of the conference/meeting rooms, but there may be some fees involved. Check with ship services.

[spacepotatoes]

Thanks for some ideas!

 

I did see of the bananagram game - so I may check that out!

 

Also, I just looked into the "Taste of Nassau" - however on the boards it seems that tour is not offered any more!

 

I will look again and check other easy portable games and or possible presents for the group!

 

Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming! :)

 

Melissa

 

Sorry that the Taste of Nassau tour isn't available! I hadn't been following the most recent posts so I didn't realize. Good luck finding some more activities and have a great cruise :)

[DMH15]

Melissa-

 

We did a 50th Birthday family reunion cruise for my cousin. Did tshirts we all wore on 1st day that had his picture on it that said, "if you see this guy wish him happy birthday!". It was a real hit.

 

Maybe they will have the not so newlywed game and your parents can be on it? How fun that could be!

 

Have fun.

[Ms belp]

Take an empty journal and have family member write congrats/memories/draw pictures. Present it at the end of the cruise. Takes no space but provides lasting memories. Crayons for the younger ones.

[flowerchild]

I'm in a similar siutation, we are a group of 9 on a 13 day Panamanian repo with 8 wonderful sea days to fill. We brought Uno, dominos (we're hispanic), cards and poker chips and a travel backgammon game.

 

I loved the other ideas, too... the meeting before dinner for drinks was nice and I loved Girls Day at the Spa...I think I'm gonna steal that and buy my mom a spa certificate as a Xmas present for our January cruise and I can get my sisters and my aunt to join too...we plan to do dinner at a MDR together on each sea day but on port days we are free to make other plans (specialty restaurants, eat at a different time, eat alone, etc.)

[MeHeartCruising]

Personally, I think a scavenger hunt might be fun if you planned it well enough so that it wasn't destructive/damaging to the ship and not a huge distraction to the rest of the passengers and crew. Break up into teams and rather than focusing on collecting items, how about people have to take pictures of certain things on their digital cameras and then someone downloads them to a computer at the end. It does require the equipment, but it's pretty common these days so maybe you have that. Suggestions... a team picture with an officer, a picture of the bridge from the viewing room, a picture of the team stacking a deck of cards 6 levels high, a picture of them placing shuffleboard markers over the numbers 1, 3, 5 etc, a picture of an animal on the ship (could be from the kids area, or a towel animal, etc.), Make them move around all decks and document they did certain things. Previous cruisers of this particular ship probably could come up with other creative things to do as part of this too. I'm keeping them pretty general since I don't know the ship.

[Michuck]

For my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, we had T-shirts made up that said "I'm with John and Mary". Then Dad's T-shirt read "I'm John" and Mom's T-shirt read "I'm Mary". It was a great hit!

 

Michele

[crew mom]

Personally, I think a scavenger hunt might be fun if you planned it well enough so that it wasn't destructive/damaging to the ship and not a huge distraction to the rest of the passengers and crew. Break up into teams and rather than focusing on collecting items, how about people have to take pictures of certain things on their digital cameras and then someone downloads them to a computer at the end. It does require the equipment, but it's pretty common these days so maybe you have that. Suggestions... a team picture with an officer, a picture of the bridge from the viewing room, a picture of the team stacking a deck of cards 6 levels high, a picture of them placing shuffleboard markers over the numbers 1, 3, 5 etc, a picture of an animal on the ship (could be from the kids area, or a towel animal, etc.), Make them move around all decks and document they did certain things. Previous cruisers of this particular ship probably could come up with other creative things to do as part of this too. I'm keeping them pretty general since I don't know the ship.

Very cool idea!

 

Maybe take along a pile of old photos and use them as memory prompts for family stories. Maybe try to gather some of the photos who you don't know who the people are so that your parents can fill you in on the relationships etc.

 

Don't forget to also consider doing or attending some of the activities that the ship organizes as a family. Karaoke anyone?