Kids first cruise...Creative suggestions?

[Vanderboom]

We just booked at cruise in January to Mexico. We will bring our 12 yo dd and 9 yo ds. This will be the first cruise with the kids. We have not told them yet... Any creative suggestions? I was going to try to surprise them at Christmas but I am not sure "I" can keep a secret that long:cool:

 

Also, any suggestions while on board with the kids?

[eh2zed]

Kids related forum on the Family Cruising board under Special Interest. Should hang out there,

[Nebr.cruiser]

When we took the grandkids on a cruise we gave them each a piece of luggage with a "Surprise! We're going on a cruise!" poster inside. (This was at Christmas)

 

The great things was that we found really nice 21" carryons for $4.99 at our local Menard's, pink for the girls, black for the boys. And they have held up well!

 

Any kind of cruise-related gift; beach bag, snorkel set, new swim suits, sunglasses, etc. would work too.

[KKB]

I intend to give them several small gifts w/ trinkets that relate to the trip but hopefully will be like a riddle to figure it out. I haven't totally figured it out yet...maybe a toy lion, toy tiger, toy shark, volcano poster, Grand Canyon book, pirate eye patch...goodies to suggest the attractions we are planning to see.

Another year I put a word in several packages; they had to unscramble the words to figure out where we were going.

I like the idea of a small suitcase w/ goodies...might do that, too (since I don't really want to spend much more on Xmas!)

[dswift008]

For the most part what my kids have enjoyed doing involved the kids club. We also like to play minute golf.swim and walk around the decks.

 

One reason that I enjoy cruising is that is one time that my teens cell phones are off and I like going to the coffee shop or pizza parlor one on one and really comunicating for once.

 

I do agree with you that I would be unable to keep the secret until Christmas. Maybe do a house wide scavenger hunt to tell them.

 

Paula

[pjck71]

I love the idea of giving luggage or some "clue" gifts for Christmas. We were going to do a Christmas cruise with our kids next year, but I think I've decided to wait 'til spring break instead.

 

We'll be taking our first cruise in Dec, so I don't have any advice for what to do with the kids. I do plan on checking out the kid/teen areas for future kid cruises.

 

Best wishes for an awesome family experience!

[MrsNancyG]

No helpful hint here, just cute story. Our son (mildly learning disabled) is most comfortable keeping to himself and used to get upset if he lost at the cruise director games like bingo and whatnot. He decided that he would stay in the cabin and play his video games. He still loved the cruise and going new places, but just was a bit uncomfortable in a larger group of people. We agreed to allow him to do his thing and enjoy the vacation his way.

 

Well, one early afternoon, he was saying he was hungry, but just didn't have the get up and go to hop in the shower quite yet. I told him that he was welcome to use room service if he'd like. I reminded him that the crew were busy people and he needed to be mindful that he wasn't the only passenger using this service. He was fine with that. So he ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was so good that when he finished he ordered another then on to a third....mind you, we were not in the room with him. He was mid teens at that point.

 

The next day he couldn't wait for 11ish to roll along so he could order his favorite PB&J EVER. This time when he called, when the platter was delivered, it contained THREE sandwiches and the woman making the delivery had a HUGE smile on her face. Needless to say, we did some very generous tipping that cruise.

[chipq]

First cruise with the kids, 11 yo DS and 9 yo DD, we had wanted to surprise them with little clues over time but could not keep the secret very long. Wife blew it in within 2 weeks. Still it was great fun looking and planning activities with them. They both had a blast with the youth program.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[dmwnc1959]

MrsNancyG - such a CUTE story I actually LOL and grinned ear to ear. Thanks for sharing it with us... :D :D :D

[meggie711]

No helpful hint here, just cute story. Our son (mildly learning disabled) is most comfortable keeping to himself and used to get upset if he lost at the cruise director games like bingo and whatnot. He decided that he would stay in the cabin and play his video games. He still loved the cruise and going new places, but just was a bit uncomfortable in a larger group of people. We agreed to allow him to do his thing and enjoy the vacation his way.

 

Well, one early afternoon, he was saying he was hungry, but just didn't have the get up and go to hop in the shower quite yet. I told him that he was welcome to use room service if he'd like. I reminded him that the crew were busy people and he needed to be mindful that he wasn't the only passenger using this service. He was fine with that. So he ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was so good that when he finished he ordered another then on to a third....mind you, we were not in the room with him. He was mid teens at that point.

 

The next day he couldn't wait for 11ish to roll along so he could order his favorite PB&J EVER. This time when he called, when the platter was delivered, it contained THREE sandwiches and the woman making the delivery had a HUGE smile on her face. Needless to say, we did some very generous tipping that cruise.

 

Mrs. Nancy, great story! I would have loved to see both of their faces when the delivery was made!

 

To the OP, I wouldn't sweat it if you don't make it to Christmas before spilling the secret. Being perfectly honest, one of my favorite parts of cruising is all of the planning leading up to setting sail! The cruise only lasts a short while.. the planning and anticipation can be months (one time we even booked a year and a half out)! If you spill it early.. have a plan in place for fun things to do leading up to the trip. Have a night where you all eat popcorn and watch Youtube cruise videos (try to avoid the stormy ones.. lol). Take a shopping trip to buy cruise clothes, beach towels, etc. Get a cruise catalog from your travel agent and do a scavenger hunt through it to find different attractions or activities so that the kids can see what all there is to do. Whatever you do, have fun with this surprise! Can't wait till our little one is big enough to go! :)

[spunkyhungry]

No helpful hint here, just cute story. Our son (mildly learning disabled) is most comfortable keeping to himself and used to get upset if he lost at the cruise director games like bingo and whatnot. He decided that he would stay in the cabin and play his video games. He still loved the cruise and going new places, but just was a bit uncomfortable in a larger group of people. We agreed to allow him to do his thing and enjoy the vacation his way.

 

Well, one early afternoon, he was saying he was hungry, but just didn't have the get up and go to hop in the shower quite yet. I told him that he was welcome to use room service if he'd like. I reminded him that the crew were busy people and he needed to be mindful that he wasn't the only passenger using this service. He was fine with that. So he ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was so good that when he finished he ordered another then on to a third....mind you, we were not in the room with him. He was mid teens at that point.

 

The next day he couldn't wait for 11ish to roll along so he could order his favorite PB&J EVER. This time when he called, when the platter was delivered, it contained THREE sandwiches and the woman making the delivery had a HUGE smile on her face. Needless to say, we did some very generous tipping that cruise.

 

Haha that's a cute story! I wonder what made the sandwiches so delicious that they were the best ever?

[MrsNancyG]

Haha that's a cute story! I wonder what made the sandwiches so delicious that they were the best ever?

 

I say cause they were made with LOVE! ;)

[SOMBRERO6]

If you are not from a warm weather climate, you may want to tell them this summer so you can start shopping for "cruise clothes". We are cruising in Feb. and that's what we are doing now. We don't have any summer clothing available in Ohio after August! Also the same goes for snorkle gear, swimwear, etc. Have fun planning!

[dustyroad]

on one of my cruises some kids were on a scavanger hunt. they were collecting small things that could be on passengers--a baret, scrap of paper and stuff like that. they had a great time and everybody was happy too help them out.

[newbiecruiser09]

If you are not from a warm weather climate, you may want to tell them this summer so you can start shopping for "cruise clothes". We are cruising in Feb. and that's what we are doing now. We don't have any summer clothing available in Ohio after August! Also the same goes for snorkle gear, swimwear, etc. Have fun planning!

 

 

OP has already sailed--original post was back in Sept 2011. Great tip though! ;)

[mitsugirly]

My youngest was 3 when she started cruising last September and has been on one other 2 months ago. We did not know how she would react so planned ahead by buying a small, inexpensive gift for her to open each day. We did this as a "reward" for being good (like at the dinner table or while in port or whatever the reason).

 

Everything was related to the cruise. Our trip there on the airplane (her first flight) we bought a replica airplane of the plane we traveled on. The first port day we were going to the beach, we bought a pail and shovel for sand. Someone on here suggested a certain kids cruise book that was actually written by a captain of one of the cruise ships. We bought toys that were related to the beach (rubber starfish, fish, shells and so on). You get the idea. Although some of these things might be too childish for your age kids, but I'm sure you can come up with something. Each were gift wrapped or in a gift bag. She loved it and did GREAT on the trip. Now that she has 2 cruises under her belt at 3 years old...all she does it talk about the ship, the beach and snorkeling. She can't wait for the next cruise in 6 months. :D