help me make my son's b-day extra special

[girlsjustwannacruise]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

[kimmi5207]

Is there an excursion he would love that would normally be too expensive to do on a cruise? Perhaps that could be a birthday surprise if it's something he would never think you would do.

[5waldos]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

:) I know just how you feel. They will sing happy birthday to him in the MDR which would either please him, or make him miserable. Does he love good good? You could do the steak house that night. On board you are somewhat limited as to your options- you could ask the lobby band/singer to sing HP also? Send a big cake to the teen club if he will be in that? Give him a gift certificate to spend in port or a debit VISA or AmExp card to spend? I just keep remembering the year when my son was young and he said he wanted to get up and find that the dining room was filled with balloons and his favorite breakfast was there- we spent half the night blowing up helium balloons. but I don't know about balloons onboard.

[5waldos]

Good Food, of course, sorry.

[Purplefin]

I haven't learned about ordering cakes and having the room decorated - could you please explain more for a newbie? We have a son who will turn 13 the day we sail.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

Son will be celebrating his 12th on our upcoming cruise. Ordered decortions and cake and he will be zip lining for the first time on his Birthday! This will be his third cruise on his Birthday. We usually ask the room attendant to decorate the room while we are out on an excursion, so that when we come back the room is decorated on the day of his Birthday. Before we cruised on his Birthday, he would wake up to balloons all over his bedroom!

[KirkWN737]

I haven't learned about ordering cakes and having the room decorated - could you please explain more for a newbie? We have a son who will turn 13 the day we sail.

 

You can do it via Bon Voyage. http://www.carnival.com/bonvoyage/default.aspx

You can order it online or by phone.

[OceanDreamin]

We were on a cruise for my DD's 6th birthday. I had printed out a picture of her, and made a sign saying "My 6th Birthday!" or something similar, that and stuck it to the outside of our cabin door, along with our other door decorations. I was amazed how many people recognized her from the picture, would see her in the elevator or at a show or something, and wish her happy birthday. Don't know if that would still be "cool" for a 15 year old though:cool:. LOL

[chiapetti]

They will sing happy birthday to him in the MDR which would either please him, or make him miserable. Does he love good good? You could do the steak house that night.

[girlsjustwannacruise]

thank you guys!!! i like the balloon idea and the birthday sign on the door, ill skip the picture though, he wouldnt like that, lol. but the other ideas are awesome! i didnt think of the visa card!

[funfamilyof6]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

We celebrated one of our daughter's Sweet 16 on our cruise this past summer.

 

We let her pick out an excursion which she was wanting to do. What islands are you doing (I may be able to give you a couple of good ideas)? :)

 

Another thing that we were able to do is to send a Happy Birthday message shout out that was played all day on the TV on her birthday, but this was on RCCL, I'm not sure if Carnival does this. :)

 

 

Our really nice dining room waiter carved this out for my daughter because she doesn't eat cake...she LOVED it.

[meatloafsfan]

Send a message to the CD on board, they'll mention him on the morning show.

 

What about slipping a small present (or a few small presents) into his luggage so when he's pulling out his clothes he'll find a surprise or two.

 

If he finds friends he wants to hang out with (my god daughter loved Club O2), buy a cake and bring it up to the pizza place one night. that way he could have a "party" with pizza and cake with his new friends.

[CharmedMom]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

My daughter will also be turning 15 during our cruise. We are having the room decorated on her birthday as a surprise for her (I know she'll love it). I'm not sure what else we are going to do, but I also want to make things special for her (this is my youngest child).

[KBD1516]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

One thing we do for birthdays is take all the decorations etc and have a party in the dining room at lunch. We ask for a space and have a regular party We order a cake on board ( need 24 hour notice) and everyone orders from the lunch menu. We play games and such too. My g-son was 16 on RCCI last Dec. We had a family party at lunch and he had other activites at other times of the day.

[BlessedBeingMom]

I don't know what we are doing yet, but my son is celebrating an extra special (Leap Year!) birthday on our cruise. He will be 8 years old, but it will be his second birthday! :D

[Puskylover]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

 

Ask John, he gives free stuff to all that ask!

[molole]

I don't know what we are doing yet, but my son is celebrating an extra special (Leap Year!) birthday on our cruise. He will be 8 years old, but it will be his second birthday! :D

 

He was born on 2/29? Now that's really cool, and what i think a special birthday. :)

[zqvol]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

 

What you are looking for is a way to make your day special. Him turning 15, no matter what you do, is not going to be a big deal for him. At that age birthdays are not a big deal. Do the cake, and let him buy something nice at one of the ports, and then treat yourself to the spa!

[spiritfox]

We have a young lady in our family that will be turing 15 on our June cruise. I had already planned for the room decorations--but didn't see the cake. Another great idea that we will definitely order! :) Maybe not a big deal for some kids who turn 15--but definitely a big deal for her!

[CharmedMom]

What you are looking for is a way to make your day special. Him turning 15, no matter what you do, is not going to be a big deal for him. At that age birthdays are not a big deal. Do the cake, and let him buy something nice at one of the ports, and then treat yourself to the spa!

 

Ouch zqvol - I'm not sure how you can decide what is and isn't special for ANY child. At any age, birthday's are a big deal to all my children (it is ME that birthday's aren't a big deal for - not just mine but anybody's, but I am more than happy to fuss over someone else's birthday provided mine isn't fussed over). And furthermore, in the Korean culture 15 is a VERY important birthday for the child AND the parents.

 

For those of us that have children celebrating birthday's on the cruise - I believe making their birthday special for them IS important. Because regardless of the age, the day is about the child and the child definitely isn't going to be happy with doing nothing when they would've done something at home (especially because this is vacation and all are supposed to be having fun).

[FoghornLeghorn]

okay- my son is turning 15 on the cruise- yah!!! although most would say a cruise is enough.. he is my baby.. and i want to do something to celebrate his life, as it was the best day of my life as well. the day i became a mommy. :D

i know about ordering cake, and having the room decorated-

looking for some creative ideas, or past experiences you all have had, so i can really make him feel special.

 

What ship? and where are you going? Perhaps we could suggest something unique.

 

My suggestion without knowing your destination would be to get 15 small gifts to take with you. Don't wrap them in case security would make you unwrap them. Just take some flat wrapping paper or small gift bags, or just some envelopes.

 

You could do a gift card to his favorite fast food restaurant, a CD, a DVD, other gift cards, an envelope with money, etc. Things that aren't bulky to pack.

 

Throughout the day, he could open these as he either "found" them, or you just gave to him.

Then the 15th one could be something bigger, to be opened at dinner with a cake.

 

Sharing the places you are going to visit, might spark some better ideas:)

[Martini Mom]

We decorated our cabin door for son's 12th birthday onboard. He really liked it and liked the birthday wishes he was greeted with by strangers (with the door open OR closed).

 

[funfamilyof6]

What you are looking for is a way to make your day special. Him turning 15, no matter what you do, is not going to be a big deal for him. At that age birthdays are not a big deal. Do the cake, and let him buy something nice at one of the ports, and then treat yourself to the spa!

 

Wow...........what a party pooper. :rolleyes:

[Martini Mom]

What you are looking for is a way to make your day special. Him turning 15, no matter what you do, is not going to be a big deal for him. At that age birthdays are not a big deal. Do the cake, and let him buy something nice at one of the ports, and then treat yourself to the spa!

 

Both of my boys still really look forward to their birthday's, even the ones that aren't the big ones (13, 16, etc.). I also make a special dinner and we have cake on the first day of school. It's like a back to school party. I like to celebrate them and show them how special they are to me. :)

[ATL2LAS]

Set up a photo scavenger hunt around the ship. For every item he finds, he earns a reward. You can make it as special as you want to. Even include some of the ports you are going to.