Surprising someone with the gift of a cruise

[Buddy L]

What about non-cruise surprises?

For my wife's 30th birthday I hired a suit of armour and a horse, which sounded great in theory...unfortunately I'd never ridden a horse in my life, and I was carrying a bloody great sword whilst wearing a helmet with the tiniest slits for eyeholes. Didn't have a clue where I was going, but at least my wife didn't recognise me until I actually spoke!!

There are sometimes in life where you think `what the hell am I doing??`LOL

[catfcp]

I couldn't keep the secret any more. It was about to pop out of me so I told him. Now our best friends are also going with us! (Royal Clipper - Jan 8)

 

Cat

[salemsm]

I'm hoping to keep a lid on the surprize but it's not going to be easy...

 

For our honeymoon, we had a magical journey through the Greek Isles on the Windstar. This also happened to coincide with a birthday ending in a "0" (she would kill me if I told you what number ;) ). We've been wanting to cruise again with Windstar but life seem to always get in the way. Well, Windstar is offering a package to Cozumel/Hondouras (sp?)/Belize that I just couldn't pass up since both of us are divers. I've told her that we are spending a week in Cozumel at an all-inclusive resort. I've warned her not to web-surf trying to find the resort as that will spoil my surprize.

 

I just booked our cabin today on the Windsurf and I'm hoping to keep Miss-Noisy from finding out about it. I'm still trying to come up with a unique way of letting her in on it. My current plan is as follows:

 

Arrive in Cozumel and stay in a great hotel for 1 night. Tell her that the airfare was much cheaper arriving 1 day early hence the need to stay in a hotel.

 

Check out of the hotel and take a taxi to our "resort".

 

Take pictures of her face when we stop off at the Windsurf...

 

I'm open to any other suggestions/story-lines

 

p.s. The cruise isn't until May 20th of next year. That's a lot of time plan (good) :D but a lot of time for her to find out (bad) :eek:

[miss gail]

Wouldn't you know it!! Now we are thinking about moving. We've seen 2 real estate agents in the last two weeks and another scheduled for Saturday. DH keeps telling them that our ideal time to settle would be the last 2 weeks of June. The kids will be out of school and I wont be working so moving would be easier. Of course he doesn't know about the 10 day Alaskan cruise I have planned starting on June 13. Why do these things always happen to me? Now how am I gonna keep this secret and have a great reveal too!?!?

[jillybean2]

HI! MY husband, two kids and myself suprised both sets of parents and an aunt who was like a second mom with a cruise . We had our kids really young and really relied on our family for emotionl support and lots of babysitting while we finished our undergraduate degrees. This last year my husband started his own engineering firm and it took off a little more then we expected so we decided to give our support network a well deserved thank you. We are leaving from New orleans so I planned a creole menu on mothers day and then the kids made them cards that gave them their confirmation numbers, room numbers and the itenerary. It was a day I will ALWAYS remember. The looks on all of their faces when they realized what we had given them still brings me to tears. Our cruise is in December and we have had just a great time planning everything. I'm sure it will be a vacation that we and our children will always remember.

[CACREW]

:o I'm planning a surprise cruise for my DH 50th Birthday 3/17/2005 on the Carnival Spirit to Mexico. We have cruised once before, but this time my 9 yr old daughter and I are planning the "surprise" event. I plan to call his work to be sure he will have the 7 days off, but not quite sure how I will keep it a secret up until the time we will be packing and heading to the airport. This is the first cruise for my daughter and she's having a tough time keeping quiet. Everytime a Carnival commerical comes on TV, we're both singing "Girls just a wanta have fun...oh girls just a wanta have fun--and then we look at each other and smirk.

It's been so much fun so far!

 

The messages on this board have been awesome, keep them coming!!

[Beezer]

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

 

 

 

CARNIVAL DESTINY~

Then what happened!? :eek:

[smiggy]

Oh, this should throw her off. I booked a cruise on the Star for my husband birthday this March (one also ending in -0- that he's a bit freaked out about). To throw him off I called a Villa in Cabo and asked them to send me more information. He "accidently" saw the information when it came in the mail but didn't tell me that he saw it.

 

I talked to one of his friends (I've told no one that I've done this) and he mentioned that my husband was talking about taking a dive trip in Cabo. He's completely off track and thinks that he knows my little secret!

 

I'm the one suffering keeping the secret from him!

 

I'm hoping to keep a lid on the surprize but it's not going to be easy...

 

For our honeymoon, we had a magical journey through the Greek Isles on the Windstar. This also happened to coincide with a birthday ending in a "0" (she would kill me if I told you what number ;) ). We've been wanting to cruise again with Windstar but life seem to always get in the way. Well, Windstar is offering a package to Cozumel/Hondouras (sp?)/Belize that I just couldn't pass up since both of us are divers. I've told her that we are spending a week in Cozumel at an all-inclusive resort. I've warned her not to web-surf trying to find the resort as that will spoil my surprize.

 

I just booked our cabin today on the Windsurf and I'm hoping to keep Miss-Noisy from finding out about it. I'm still trying to come up with a unique way of letting her in on it. My current plan is as follows:

 

Arrive in Cozumel and stay in a great hotel for 1 night. Tell her that the airfare was much cheaper arriving 1 day early hence the need to stay in a hotel.

 

Check out of the hotel and take a taxi to our "resort".

 

Take pictures of her face when we stop off at the Windsurf...

 

I'm open to any other suggestions/story-lines

 

p.s. The cruise isn't until May 20th of next year. That's a lot of time plan (good) :D but a lot of time for her to find out (bad) :eek:

[Beezer]

What if he wants the dive trip more than the cruise?

[smiggy]

We can plan diving excursions during the cruise. He thinks he's being all smart because he saw the villa information come in and now he can plan a couple of days. He's a workaholic who wouldn't plan to take a couple of weeks off on his own.

 

I like taking him on a cruise because he will actually relax and after a couple of days actually enjoy the down time.

[salemsm]

Oh, this should throw her off. I booked a cruise on the Star for my husband birthday this March (one also ending in -0- that he's a bit freaked out about). To throw him off I called a Villa in Cabo and asked them to send me more information. He "accidently" saw the information when it came in the mail but didn't tell me that he saw it.

 

I talked to one of his friends (I've told no one that I've done this) and he mentioned that my husband was talking about taking a dive trip in Cabo. He's completely off track and thinks that he knows my little secret!

 

I'm the one suffering keeping the secret from him!

Thanks for the input. I'll email for some info on an all-inclusive resort in Cozumel and see if she takes the bait...:rolleyes:

[loopylou]

Hi all! I surprised my husband last year for his 50th birthday! It was easy, cause we live near Tampa. We told him we were going to a food tasting at a hotel near the cruise terminal. My daughter drove and he sat in the back seat with my granddaughter. He had no clue! We pulled up to the terminal and still had no idea, even though we were grinning from ear to ear. When he finally realized, he was amazed. Wanted to know where his clothes were? I told him they were in the trunk of course! It was great!:D

[waterbound]

In April I surprised my boyfriend with a cruise.. I had come up with the idea that we were gonna get away just me and him so I told him to take the days off work and that it was a surprise where we were going.. I told him I would do everything.. I made all the arrangments, I did all the packing and just before we were headed out I told him where we were going.. If I knew how to drive to New Orleans I would have drived us there and the entire thing would have been a surprise, but he always drives us to the ports so I had to tell him.. But until then he had no clue!! It was the best getaway yet....

[Deb in Cali]

Miss Gail,

 

I have an idea, how about renting a movie like "North to Alaska" (old old John Wayne movie) or some other movie having to do with Alaska? Have a movie night, with all of your friends over. Then have lobster, salmon or some other type of Alaskian type food. He might think that you are losing your mind, which should add to the fun.

 

BTW what ship what date. Hubby and I are going on the Regal to Alaska on June 7th.

 

I am also working on the passport issue. I'm not sure that we need a passport since we are only going into Canada on a tour or so and into Victoria for part of a day, which someone can do from Seattle by ferry boat.

 

Deb

[Buddy L]

Well, contrary to my previous post, my wife didn't have a clue about her `surprise`. Here is how it panned out: (Sorry if its a bit long!!)

Fri: Booked a stretch Limo - arranged for 6 of our friends to be in it...with champers...went to nice restaurant. Gave her printed photo clues, one at a time, to guess the flight details, hotel (pre-cruise), and finally a full page of Penelope CRUZ pictures. (That was just for the lads really) Then clues to our ports of call.

Sat: Flew Manchester to London then London to Miami. Booked in at the MARRIOT Biscayne Bay, asked for a high floor to watch the ship arrive in the morning (30th floor, totally stunning) Went to Bayside market place where DW allowed me to dribble for an hour in `HOOTERS`

Sun: Up at 5:30, sun rising, ship just arriving, can't think of a better start really. Went to the port at 10:30...at 11:00 breezed through check in and we were in our state room by 12:00 (This was the only downer on the whole trip, 6th deck balcony room, steel outlook, not glass as informed)

Cruise for 1 week

Sat: We arrive in Nassau...Tell DW we'll watch the ship dock, and arrange to meet her on the top deck. Meanwhile I rushed to the pool bar and grabbed 2 glasses of champagne and sneaked up behind her. Now was the time to tell her our 2nd week destination...I turned her round, and pointed to ATLANTIS...Missus gives me big hugs and smiles all round.

 

Sun: Leave cruise (Been absolutely fantastic) fly back to Nassau for 8 nights in Atlantis.

 

Tues: Book a table at `Fathoms` restaurant making sure we have a close up view of the `fishes`. Present her with my final surprise...a day at DOLPHIN ENCOUNTERS, and a `swim with the Dolphins` trip...cue more hugs.

 

Wed: Dolphin swim...awesome!!!

 

Mon: Fly back to Miami...Miami to London...London to Manchester.

 

We had an amazing 15 days. It took several months of internet work to bring it all together and every flight was on time, every hotel room was spot on, and the only blip was the balcony on the ship...nonetheless, having said that, the ship was fantastic.

Love the planning, and when it all comes together its just damn groovy.

Happy cruising to surprise planners everywhere...one of the nicest feelings going is when it all works out!!! :D :D

[WeatherGeek]

My boyfriend surprised me with a cruise for Christmas this year. He couldn't keep the secret until Christmas and was just bursting to tell me so he told me about 2 weeks ago. He'd never been on a cruise before so not only was he excited for himself but was excited to see the look on my face when he whipped out the brochure and showed us where our BALCONY room was. He knew I couldn't wait to go on a cruise where I could afford a balcony cabin (I'm one of those cruisers on a budget).

He didn't want to tell me outright, so he dropped hints:

1. Something he found online but bought in the local area

2. Had something to do with a song we had heard that morning

He didn't want to give any more hints because it would give it away but I was completely clueless. Finally he told me that the song was part of a TV show, and the only TV show we'd watched at that point in the day was that ridiculous new reality show The Real Gilligan's Island.

So I asked if we were going to an island and he said we were going to three islands and pulled out the Carnival brochure and turned to the page with the Carnival Valor. Though it was my Christmas present, he also cleverly planned it for the week of Valentine's Day. I was so excited and happy that I cried! We'll be spending Valentine's Day in the Bahamas!! I can't wait :)

[Honor]

I wanted to surprise my husband for his 50th birthday in December, 2004 with a cruise he had been lusting about for several months -- Celebrity Xpedition to the Galapagos Islands. I kept telling him since we were already booked and paid for a Canada-New England cruise in September, I couldn't get more time off from work that soon. I finaggled some more time off, unbeknownest to my husband, and booked the last suite on the ship.

 

Our anniversary was a few months before his birthday and I was planning on springing the surprise over a wonderful, romantic dinner (making for an exciting anniversary and birthday). However, on the day of our anniversary, I was stuck in a trial and the jury did not return its verdict until after 11 pm. I never expected the trial to last that long. By the time I got home, he was already in bed. I woke him up, gave him the card and revealed the surprise --he was thrilled (sleepy but thrilled). And the cruise was absolutely wonderful.

[KTsMom]

OK, Here's my story...

 

Since our land trip to Cancun a couple of years ago, DH had been saying how he'd like to get away and Mexico sure would be nice. My good friend took a Thanksgiving cruise and with her details, I knew what I had to do. So I went to our TA and layed out the plan. They were great, always called my cell phone and sent e-mails to my private account. I planned a Christmas surprise. I got this HUGE box, kept looking for other boxes in cascading size, to no avail. So I gave up and wrapped 10 boxes individually and just put them all in the HUGE box. The last box was a larger box with two more boxes inside. One with the dress I bought for the trip and the other with the tickets and brochure. I was totally bummed when he opened the dress and said, "we're going on a cruise, aren't we?" :o He was shocked that I could pull off such a surprise. He got his vacation and we leave in 2 weeks.

[megr1125]

Last year I surprised my mom with our first cruise...mainly to celebrate our b-days..mine was a -0-. YUCK! The year before the cruise I surprised her with a trip to Aruba..in the car on the way to the airport.....She was mad, but had a blast and made me promise not to do that again..on the day we left.

 

OK....so I didn;t.....for the cruise, I bought little airplane, boat and sun & palm tree stickers at party city and stuck them on the calendar on the proper dates....(plane for travel day, etc.) She found out 3 days before....she flipped, thought it was too much money (but i got a deal at a travel show last spring...go figure) and hollered that i promised not to tell her at the last minute.

 

I said I didn't this time-you have 3 days.....everything else (stop the mail, etc) was done....you just have to pack.

 

She had a blast.......next up a surprise -0- cruise this fall for her...maybe i will con some family members into joining us.......

 

 

I am such a bad daughter......! ;-)

[cruiselife4me]

I just have one thing to say:

 

IF ANY OF Y'ALL FEEL LIKE GIVING AWAY A CRUISE...PICK ME! PICK ME!

 

I'd prolly drop over dead if anyone did that!

[Steamboatin]

Gave wife an adult wish after doctor's clearance to travel following surgery and chemo for rare form of cancer. Told her that ill childern get a "child's wish" when they are severely ill so I was giving her an "adult wish" following her cancer surgery and chemo treatments. She choose to take a cruise on the Delta Queen (Delta Queen Steamboat Company). We took the seven day cruise on the Illonios River from Chicago (Ottawa), IL to Saint Louis, MO. She never wore wigs and she made the cruise totally bald. We both enjoyed the cruise and it lifted her spirits tremenously. We were amazed about the number on the cruise who approached us telling us that they to were cancer survivors.

 

This was right after 9/11 and she was afraid to fly. Well we get in line at the airport and who does she see boarding our aircraft. Our local Catholic Archbishop was boarding our airplane. From than on she felt relaxed as the good Lord has given her the cruise of her life and he additionally sent a personal messenger (the Archbishop) to safely guide and take her on to her cruise.

 

Have now cruised 10 times with number 11 planned for April 05 on a HAL transalantic cruise to Italy where we will tour for a month. Sailed on Delta Queen Steam Boat Company's: Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen; Carnival, Holland America; Royal Caribbean and NCL.

[CACREW]

I stumbled across this board and was delighted to see what people had done to suprise people with cruises. My daughter and I have been planning this surprise cruise since last September---we sail in 28 days aboard the Spirit to Mexico. My DH has not a clue we're going, he thinks we're going to Ft Bragg camping for a whale festival--since this is the season they migrate south. We usually go their for his birthday, as it falls on the same weekend each year and we go out on a boat to whale watch. What a surprise he will have when we go on a ship the size of the Spirit and have the opportunity to see some whales.

 

Haven't really decided how we want to surprise him yet. We are debating about telling him the weekend before, as we will have to pack sometime. My daughter is convinced we shouldn't tell him at all...but I'm not sure if we can keep it a secret up until the day.

 

We sail of St Patty's Day, so maybe I can think of something that will tie into that.

 

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated:)

[Deb in Cali]

Cacrew,

 

How fun to plan a surprise cruise. My suggestion would be to make a card a day on your computer with hints about his birthday. On the first one tell him that he will be on a boat. He won't get suspecious with that comment at first. The second day tell him that he is going to see whales. Hmmm He "already" knows that due to his past celebrations. Then tell him that the boat is going to be a bit bigger. Perhaps he wil think that you have made other arrangements for a different whale trip or the group that you have been going with has bought a new boat. I would keep it up for a few days to catch his interest, but keep it to the "information" that applies to both adventures. Finally I would start dropping hints that perhaps this is not going to be the regular adventure like a sleeping bag and tent are not necessary for this trip. If he thinks that you are going to stay in a nice hotel perhaps you can pull it off with him finding out the day of the cruise. You can request that he pack some nice clothes for a dinner in a nice resturant.

 

Have fun.

Deb

[Dennislee2]

Well, mine doesn't compare to some of the ideas listed, but might be a easy way for some DH or DW to tell their spouse.

 

We took a cruise 4 years ago for our 10th wedding anniversary. I wanted to surprise my wife, but knew she would want to know ahead of time for packing and planning.

 

I took several of the cruise brochures, ports of call brochures and headed to the local Kinko's. I made 5-6 color copies, including the Victory, the ports of calls, Carnival logo, etc. Then I cut those into shapes, so they weren't just squares. I laminated those and put holes in the tops of each. I then bought a bunch of balloons with a flower for the base (could use anything) and on the ribbon hanging from the balloons, I hung the different pictures.

 

I delivered them to her office. She figured it out and was very excited. The people in her office thought it was very creative and romantic.

 

To say the least, we had an awesome trip and our going on another cruise on the Miracle next year for our 15th anniversary. My parents are going for their 50th anniversary and my BIL and sister and son are going. It's their 25th wedding anniversary next year.

 

The balloons and color copies aren't an expensive way to surprise someone.

 

Good Luck on whatever anyone decides to do!!!!!

[indianarev]

Surprising my Wife. First time cruisers, celebrating 5th anniversary May 6; leaving on 7 Day RCCL Vision Mexican Riviera May 1 (one week from today).

I booked it 4 months ago, and she still doesn't have a clue! :cool: The only thing she knows is that I have been setting aside a large amount of money for the past 8 months. She thinks I'm fixing up our bathroom.

I actually think I can pull off a complete surprise until we pull up to the boat. Her best friend who has cruised before and knows her style very well will be packing for her.

 

Granted, I have had to lie to her like a madman to hide it (quite the moral dilemma seeing as I am a Youth Minister).

I'm still a little nervous I'm going to forget something major for her, or that she will somehow be frustrated by the surprise.

She enjoys surprising... so I think I'm okay, but then again I'm pretty much at the point of no return!!!!:eek:

 

Any suggestions from the ladies out there on what I need to make sure to remember? (I feel fine on the toiletries and unmentionables)