Surprise first cruise for kids--need ideas!

[travelplus]

One way to surprise your kids is to record The Sea is calling and have a friend or coworker pretend to be calling from Royal Carribbean.

 

You then tell your kids that unfortunately they can't go with you due to your current finances. A few days before tell them that you found a deal and your kids can come

[Familygoboston]

I'm trying to figure this out? :confused: I've been reading this thread for a while, and I'm frankly a little shocked at the level of ruse that goes on here. Is it worth the "punked" reaction to play with children's emotions? Is it really a great idea to lead kids on with a huge string of lies for a surprise?

 

I'm not trying to judge anyone's parenting, but as a person who works with small children I really don't see the developmental appropriateness of any of this for the child; while it may be a hoot for the parent and a great YouTube video, is it really ok to manipulate young children's emotions?

 

They trust us to be honest and fair with them and to help them appropriately prepare for new experiences. I'm hearing none of that in most of these "set ups"; sure the end result is fun...a cruise is always fun, but might it be more fun if children aren't suffering through emotional ups and downs that they are already too young to appropriately manage?

 

And next time when they are told (honestly) that they need to go to the doctor, they might be secretly hoping to go to WDW, and will have to manage those emotions, and you are likely not to even know " why they are so upset", nor would most kids under 8 be able to communicate it very well.

 

I don't want to be a kill joy, it's just that I have an understanding of child development and I'm trying to see it from the kids perspective.

[emeraldcity]

Thanks so much for all your ideas and advice!! I know that I get so excited about cruises that it will be hard for me to keep it in. Right now, all the girls know is that we said they should be old enough next year to go on a cruise. I use that as an excuse to talk about the ship and all the cool things to do. We even sat together last week and watched a 45 minute YouTube video on the Allure. The girls were bouncing in their seat and so excited about the possibility of going on the ship one day!

My mother lives in Florida, so we can always tell them that we are going down to see her as an excuse as to why we are packing. I love the idea of making it a pirate theme, since I think we are doing the pirate ship tour in Jamaica.

We'll see how it goes as we get closer. We'll have a long summer to get through and i may crack. Right now, it's just fun to think about the possibility of an awesome reaction when we get on the ship. They'll be thrilled either way!

 

Don't let anybody rain on your parade. You know your kids best and if your family culture includes fun surprises, then go for it. I'm surprised at the number of people that aren't very supportive. I liken the whole concept to wrapping up a present ... you don't share with your kids what you're going to be putting under the Christmas tree!

 

Historically, I have a struggle getting my DD to share in all the fun of planning a cruise ... she's off in her own world of friends and activities. Four years ago, I had to cancel an Alaskan cruise we were to take due to the fact that it conflicted with band camp (I hadn't known she was going to stick with band at the time I booked it). So we spent a couple months debating alternatives for our summer. Eventually we settled on a condo we found online in Daytona. But we really weren't very excited about it. As I mulled it over, I finally decided that the only thing that really replaces a cruise is another cruise, so I booked a Hawaii cruise. But I didn't tell her ... in fact, I told no one. I was facing a series of outpatient surgeries on my legs and I really wasn't sure that the stars were going to align so we could take a trip that involved such a long flight. I didn't want to have to tell her we were cancelling another cruise, too. By the time I was sure we'd be able to go, there was only another month, so I just kept waiting to see when she would start to really ask some questions about the trip. Anyone who asked where we were going got my stock response, "I found this condo in Daytona." I never said I booked it. DD never really asked any questions until about 6 days before we left ... "Did you book a luau?" I answered "Yes" ... and let her assume it was the one that I had gone to at the Polynesian Hotel sometime earlier when visiting Disney World. Then 2 days before, "What time are we leaving on Wednesday?" I told her 4 a.m. and let her get all pissed off that I was going to get her up so early. She was working with the initial info that we were driving to Daytona and she kept asserting she was going to just crawl in the back seat and go to sleep. "Oh no ... you'll be too excited," I told her. She told me how wrong I was and I countered that we'll wait till Wednesday moring and see who wins this one.

 

Well 4 pm Tuesday I called her into the living room and fessed up, "Honey I never booked that condo ... I booked a cruise!" She was so excited! Neither of us will ever forget how wired she was. She was bouncing around for 10 minutes before she even asked "So what islands are we going to visit?" She was totally unpepared for the response, "Maui, Kauaii ..." "OMG ... This is my dream vacation!"

 

She still tells everyone how much fun the surprise was and asserts that there isn't anything I can ever do that will top that one. And for the record ... she was WAY too excited Wednesday morning to do so sleep. I have a favorite picture of her sitting at the gate with her boarding pass in hand and a huge smile on her face.

[slvrbllt]

We punked our kids 2 years ago by taking them to Disney. Yes, I'm mean like that.

 

Dad and I had been "fighting" over who was going to be the first to take the kids to Disney. I told him, in front of the kids, that if he took them without me, I was going to be IRATE.

 

They go with Gramma and Grampa every year for a couple weeks during the summer for "vacation". Grampa said they were going to the beach, and they did.. just on the east coast of Florida. So then they said they were going to go pick up some bowling balls for Grampa which led them through Orlando. Dad says "hey, let's go to Disney!" Of course the kids were worried about pissing mom off ;) Little did they know that we'd packed special luggage for them and us and sent it along with them in the back part of the truck (Gramma and Grampa were driving).

 

Hubby and I flew in and timed it so that we met them at the hotel. They called us on the way and my dad was all "oh we're just driving around Florida trying to find something to do". They were kinda freaked when Gramma was going to see if "there were any rooms open".

 

The funniest part EVER was them coming out of the bathroom and seeing hubby and they were all confused "that looks like dad, but it can't be... but it looks like him!" Then they see me and freaked!

 

They later said that it was the BEST SURPRISE EVER! and they loved it. But I knew my kids would react that way, so I wasn't worried about them. If either of my kids would have had issues, I definitely would have thought twice about it. But that's the thing, they're my kids and I know what they can and can't take.

 

Next year we're taking them on their first cruise and haven't told them yet. We said maybe next year. We'll end up having to tell them beforehand because we're getting them passports and such and both sets of grandparents are going, and they want to plan things with the kids.

 

I wish I could pull this one off though... it was so much fun when we did Disney.

[powelweb]

We took my DD on the 3 night disney cruise for her 6th birthday, and we didn't tell her until the day we left- we actually managed to keep it a secret.

 

We had cruised before and she was at the perfect age and was in love with the princesses, so we thought this would be a big hit.

 

When we told her, Her first reaction was, I can't leave the pets at home with big teary eyes (and we reassured her that we had our neighbors coming over to stay with the pets like they always did) and then I haven't packed, so we showed her all her favorite stuffed animals in her backpack.

 

Her second reaction was, Can we go to disney world instead?

 

now she loves to help me plan all the cruises.

 

And yes, we've since gone to WDW proper, too.

 

I wasn't expecting that reaction, but now I'm more aware of how she processes things differently than how I do.

[waterbug123]

I'm trying to figure this out? :confused: I've been reading this thread for a while, and I'm frankly a little shocked at the level of ruse that goes on here.

 

I'm not trying to judge anyone's parenting.....is it really ok to manipulate young children's emotions?

 

it's just that I have an understanding of child development and I'm trying to see it from the kids perspective.

 

Give. Me. A. Break. :rolleyes:

 

You say you aren't trying to judge anyone's parenting, and yet.... you are.

 

Are you seriously trying to imply that telling the kids they're going to the beach or to Grandma's or the races in order to surprise them with a trip to Disney is going to scar them for life?!?! Get real. Your "understanding" of child development is obviously very limited.

[Cruisin' Again 86]

We did this for our kids, before YouTube. Plain,simple, and worked great >>>

 

Tell them you need to visit someone for a business meeting, fly down night prior, go to terminal a little early to avoid big crowds, and as your getting luggage out of taxi hand them their luggage tags and have them put on their luggage. Amazing reaction !!!

[spcopps]

My mother lives in Florida, so we can always tell them that we are going down to see her as an excuse as to why we are packing. I love the idea of making it a pirate theme, since I think we are doing the pirate ship tour in Jamaica.

We'll see how it goes as we get closer. We'll have a long summer to get through and i may crack. Right now, it's just fun to think about the possibility of an awesome reaction when we get on the ship. They'll be thrilled either way!

 

Be VERY careful with this idea...We used this same excuse to go to Disneyworld as a surprise for my daughter 2 years ago. We told the kids we were going to see their grandparent's in Ft. Lauderdale and we stopped at a rest area just before disneyworld. My husband took out the video camera while she and I went to the restroom then he was sitting at a picnic table just waiting to give the kids their "going to disneyworld" t-shirts and video tape her excitement...well didn't go as planned. My daughter (who was 6 at the time) started crying saying she wanted to go see grandma and grandpa :eek:. She got over the disappointment when we told her that her grandparents knew we were not coming and they were in on the surprise with us. We never imagined she would be so upset about going to DisneyWorld:p

 

I do like the idea of a business trip though, that way they aren't excited about going to see their grandparents then have a change of plans. At least with a business trip they really won't be looking forward to anything.

[spcopps]

We took my DD on the 3 night disney cruise for her 6th birthday, and we didn't tell her until the day we left- we actually managed to keep it a secret.

 

We had cruised before and she was at the perfect age and was in love with the princesses, so we thought this would be a big hit.

 

When we told her, Her first reaction was, I can't leave the pets at home with big teary eyes (and we reassured her that we had our neighbors coming over to stay with the pets like they always did) and then I haven't packed, so we showed her all her favorite stuffed animals in her backpack.

 

Her second reaction was, Can we go to disney world instead?

 

now she loves to help me plan all the cruises.

 

And yes, we've since gone to WDW proper, too.

 

I wasn't expecting that reaction, but now I'm more aware of how she processes things differently than how I do.

 

I agree with this completely, read my above post. My husband was so excited to see her reaction to going to WDW only to get tears of disappointment.

[Ren1216]

Don't let anybody rain on your parade...

 

I totally agree. Obviously, we all have our opinions, but c'mon, no one is talking about disappointing the kids or toying with their emotions. We aren't talking about them coming home to find that the family dog has been put down. There is no let-down in any of the ideas or stories here, with the exception of the one little boy who wanted to see his grandparents and that turned out ok because the grandparents were there too.

 

Over the years, I asked my kids several times if they liked being surprised by the trips I had planned, my reason for asking was that I wasn't sure if they would outgrow this concept at some point. I asked for their honesty so that I wasn't continuing to do something they did not like. They both said they LOVED the surprise trips. Furthermore.... as I mentioned before, my kids are in college now. For the past several years, including back into their high school years, we've been doing more of a grown-up Christmas. Less wrapped presents, more cash or specifically requested gifts. This year I went back to wrapping surprise gifts like we did when they were little. I didn't think they were going to like it, the not knowing for sure that they'd be getting things they had actually asked for and wanted. To my surprise... they were up bright and early, pestering me to get up so we could start Christmas. When I got downstairs, there they sat like little kids, anxious to see what "Santa" had brought. My boys are 18 and 20! They LOVED the revisit to a Christmas of days gone by.

 

Therefore, as a parent with some experience in this area, it is my opinion that children will not be permanently traumatized by a *fun* surprise. We've mentioned giving them the opportunity to plan and research along with you, how much fun that will also be for them.... but there will be many years ahead to do just that. For their first cruise, I say go for it! Knock their socks off. Trust me, they'll never forget it..... in a GOOD way :D

[Familygoboston]

Give. Me. A. Break. :rolleyes:

 

You say you aren't trying to judge anyone's parenting, and yet.... you are.

 

Are you seriously trying to imply that telling the kids they're going to the beach or to Grandma's or the races in order to surprise them with a trip to Disney is going to scar them for life?!?! Get real. Your "understanding" of child development is obviously very limited.

 

I never said theyd be scared for life. :rolleyes: I asked questions for parents to consider where their child is with development. Young children (like the little one who didn't want to leave her pets, or was afraid of not having what she needed packed) need time to process new emotions for new experiences. Most are resilient enough to " live " through it, but why as a parent would you want to put a child through that if you don't need to? Aren't there enough "surprises" in their lives already? I know quite a bit about child development and when you look around you are starting to see much of what's being done with children is not being done because its in the best interest if the children.

[MavisMarie]

My dear mother and I took my 7 year old grandsonS on the Disney Wonder. We told them we were going for 1 night only. They didn't now the difference. They were so over the moon excited when we didn't get off the ship the 2nd day. It was a cherished 4 day vacation with them, during a time when they both didn't complain about getting goodnight kisses and hugs....it wasn't until the 10 hour drive home that we got in trouble.

There was a slight discipline problem going on in the back seat and I was attending to that by using a fly swatter. I didn't care what I swatted as long as I made contact. This went on long enough that I missed my turn north to Alabama. We ended up in Georgia. My mother said, "Mavis-Marie, dear, we're in Georgia." I said, "Oh @#$$%" Then the little boys got worried that we were lost and wanted to know if we were actually IN Georgia. At that point I just lied. "No...we're not in Georgia...the sign said we are WELCOME to go to GEORGiIA." Turn the van around and backtrack 45 miles to get on the correct Interstate...Added another hour to our long day but I will never forget it.

It was a perfect cruise. Darling grandsons spending precious time with their adoring grandmothers. We loved ever minute of it. They even tolerated wearing tuxedos at night and switching dates, too. thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite times.

[DarthGrady]

My parents did the same thing for me when I was a kid. My mom said we were going out of town so she could attend a conference. I never suspected that we were doing anything else. It wasn't until we pulled up at the pier and I saw the ship that I figured out that something great was about to happen.

 

I'm not sure if you could get them through check in and on the ship without them getting wise, but good luck!

[Wilda]

Several years ago we took our then 6-year old grandson to WDW in December. His birthday is in September so one of his gifts was a suitcase. Well you can just imagine how excited a 6 year old is looking a a piece of luggage (right up there with a box that says The Gap on it...they don't even open it cause they know it's not a toy:D) We told him to look inside where of course we had mock tickets, a book on Disney, a DVD, etc. We wanted to prepare him for it (he has Aspergers) and give him time to process.

 

I love your positive intent...but I do believe that trying to get them through the luggage service, check-in, and especially the wrist band at the muster station is unrealistic. It's somewhat chaotic and people all along the way will be wishing you a great trip which will only add to their confusion.

 

As others have said you know your kids best...a huge part of our enjoyment is talking about what we'll do and all of the planning ahead of time. It's possible that they would enjoy the anticipation too!

[sg1phileshipper]

Interesting topic, since I just booked a short cruise as a surprise for my god daughter's 12 birthday next year. I don't plan on telling her anything either. Since we'll probably take the Eurostar to London and next the train to Southampton, I'm gonna tell her that we are going to Chester Zoo (she wants to go there). She won't know the difference between that and Southampton.

 

I hope I can get a room somewhere with a view of the ship and we wake up the day of the cruise I plan on opening the curtains, and.... tadata.... She's gonna go crazy, I have to remember to film it. She's crazy about the Freedom because of the double episode of her favorite Belgian show filmed on the freedom. It's only the Indy, but how close can you get :D

 

Cindy

[mdellea]

My mom and dad suprised my sister and I (I was 6 she was 3) with a trip to WDW. We lived in the north east at the time so we had to get on a plane. It was long before 9/11 so people were still allowed to go to the gate without having a ticket. Our parents told us that "daddy is going on a business trip and we are going to the gate to send him off!", now being that I was only 6 I can't remember how they checked our luggage etc. but I'm sure my dad had bags and I simply assumed they were all his, what else does a 6 yo think? When we were at the gate and my dad was about to board the plane he turned to my mom, sister and I and asked my sister and I if we wanted to come with him? Of course we were confused for a second, but said YES. Next thing we knew my mom was handing us disney world sweatshirts to put on and we were being told that we were going to WDW (and also visiting our grandparents). We were beyond excited at this point, by the time we got to the plane the captain greeted us and asked if we were going to WDW, we responded with YES, he could tell we were just a little bit excited, and asked us if we wanted to sit in the cockpit! Of course we did! He let us sit in the cockpit for about 5 minutes, (only looking no touching!). We did hit some turbulence on the way down, and my dad reminds us all the time that the people sitting around us had also seen my sister and I in the cockpit before takeoff and were giving him dirty looks, as if to say, what did they do to this plane? We all landed safely!

 

I am now almost 22 yo and to this day that trip is one of my favorites, and I've been on many wonderful vacations thanks to my amazing parents (even hawaii 3 times). But I will never forget what an awesome surprise it was, and it was our very first trip to WDW so that only helped matters - actually I think it was our first plane trip too!

 

OP - Keep the secret! You won't regret it! As far as check-in etc. goes, if you are already planning on telling the kids that you are allowed a "sneak peak" at the ship type of day, then I would elaborate on this! I would tell them they want to practice their boarding process and see if they can improve on anything, so they've asked all the people that they invited to this to bring luggage with them as well to get the full effect! The scavenger hunt sounds perfect! Definitly have them end at your cabin, maybe have one of you seperate and go to the cabin ahead of time to add some signs or decorations like "welcome to your room for the next 7 days" something along those lines! If the surprise gets spoiled along the way who cares! They will be ecstatic regardless, they are going on the best ship in the world!

 

As far as them missing out on all the planning, they won't even be thinking about that! What kid learns about this type of surprise and stops to say "Gee I wish I had known so I could plan what we could do every day!" NOT GONNA HAPPEN! They have plenty of years to have trips like that! Give them the surprise of a lifetime on this trip! I can promise you, they will never forget it! Good luck!

[BamaTraveler]

We just returned from our children's (7 & 10) first cruise....they had an absolute blast and your kids will, too!!! This is my opinion....your kids will go crazy with pure joy about a cruise whether you tell them on board the ship or weeks before. We told a few weeks before with a scavenger hunt around the house. Both kids went ballistic, and my 7 year old even started crying tears of joy! I would never trade the excitement they had over the next few weeks...they would tell everyone they met about the cruise, we looked online about the islands, we chatted about the kids club and shopped for new swim suits together. Telling them early added weeks of excitement and joy to the cruise. Now, this is only my opinion! Either way you decide to do it will be wonderful for your kids....they are so lucky to have this experience! I hope you have a great vacation!

[mivama]

Again, thanks for all the great stories and support!

We actually surprised my girls with a Disney trip a couple years ago. We had them do a scavenger hunt around the house that ended up with them spelling out that we were leaving in 3 days for Disney! They loved it and loved being surprised.

We've been lucky enough to travel with them quite a bit (even if it's just to Florida to see Granny), so they are very good with adapting to change and going with the flow. For this trip, I have the advantage of still being to do research and plan together since they think that we will be taking a cruise next year vs this summer. That way they will know what activities to expect and what sort of things they want to participate in.

I figure that childhood is so short and I will love to have them look back with happy memories of all our family adventures!

[princess5750]

Yeah... I would tell them in time to get used to the idea and perhaps plan a bit! Even at that age, I enjoyed finding out SOMETHING about where I was going, what books to bring (I was/am an avid reader!)....

 

I think surprises are ok, but sometimes, folks enjoy the anticipation! Give'em at least a week to prepare and be excited!

 

For Christmas 2010, we told our DD's (then 2 and 6) that we were doing a Disney World vacation followed by a Disney Cruise. I had disney themed boxes made up full of disney themed gifts. My cousin in FL even sent DW calendars andstickers so they could count down the days. Part of the excitement of the trip is the anticipation!!!

That being said, while onboard the AOS a few weeks ago, we booked another cruise to take our girls with (who will now be 4 and 8). We will be telling them at Christmas. I plan on getting them a new big suitcase (also, we need another one. lol) and on board, I bought them each a lanyard and royal caribbean barbie. I will also be purchasing each of them the pets at sea so they can do that while on board! I will wrap the gift for each girl and put them inside the wrapped suitcase! Then it will be time to start counting down! As for things to do on board, RELAX!!! Explore the ship with them....I wouldn't go too crazy trying to plan things for them to do, there is enough for them as it is!!!

[maalvarez18]

We are taking my DDs (ages 6 and 8) on the Allure for their first cruise this August and I want to keep it a surprise as long as possible. My goal is to have them board the ship without knowing we are going. Do you think this is possible? Since they've never cruised before, they won't know all the procedures and may be naive enough to think that we are just going on board to check out the ship.

 

I've already put together an Allure scavenger hunt to do while we're on the ship, but I'm trying to come up with fun ways to tell them we are staying on board. Any ideas? (My husband laughs at me for being so excited about this, but I just know they'll flip. They've watched us go on cruises for years and always ask when they will be old enough to come along.) Thanks!

 

Two years ago when I went on the Oasis, we did their scavenger hunt. I believe I still have the list at home. I'll post it later today. But I would love to have some more, so that I can do them in the upcoming cruise (7/27/13) with my 17 and 15 nieces.

[jpolm]

Love the idea of surprising. We leave in just over 2 mths. Kids do not know I'm dying to tell them. Intially we thought of just telling them we were going to Florida while eating breakfast at hotel look out at the ships and start discussing how nice it'd be etc. then bam show them the tickets. But I agree that the anticipating and planning is such a big part of it too. At least for me it is. I like to take them shopping for shoes, clothes, formal nights discuss dinners, and kids club and also the "rules". Etc. lol

But I'm thinking about 4 weeks before we either do a scavenger hint with a video of the ship after with popcorn lol or wrap a small boat in a box for all 3 to open and then wrap a cruise brochure. Just some ideas. Then we can watch the video on our tv with laptop hooked up of oasis and talk about it. Makes for a fun evening. Then they have a month to think be happy and tell their friends. Maybe make a countdown calendar for my 5 yr old as he doesn't understand time yet. The others are 10 and 12

[travelplus]

Here is an idea. Create homework assignments that pertain to the cruise. A Math worksheet can have them add up the expenses. Vocabulary would be Ship Terms like Stevedore Crew, Longshore Crew, Bos'un Chair, Fair Winds To You, Starboard Side, Port Side, Poop Deck , Capstain etc.

 

After this print out maps and have them locate the different ports you are going to.

 

The day before the cruise grade the assignments and tell them to pack their bags using the packing list in each of their respective suitcases. Once they are all packed(or after helping them) present them with their SeaPass Boarding Pass and tell them this is their reward for completing the assignments.

 

Good luck and please write a trip report about the surprise , kids reactions and the cruise with photos. Have fun.

[sunshine0503]

We surprised our kids on Easter morning a few years ago with a trip to Disneyland in CA. On Easter morning they woke up to find suitcases packed with embroidered Disney ears on top. When they asked what was going on - we simply told them that in just a few hours we would be on an airplane (their first ever!) and going to Disneyland in CA to see Mickey Mouse and meet up with their Aunt/Uncle/Cousins that live out there. They were beyond excited!!! Of course the joke was that we'd never be able to top those Easter "baskets". LOL

 

Fast Forward 2 more years to Christmas. We had planned a cruise for the end of January and planned on taking them, we just kept it a secret until Christmas. On Christmas Day they woke up to presents of new bathing suits, flip flops and some summer clothes along with a note that said "Bon Voyage" with a picture of the cruise ship. The countdown for that month was fun, too! We made paper rings and took one off every day until we left. It was fun. This next cruise, they know about it and are counting down.... and even saving up for it.