Need help being sneaky. Booked a GS, but don't want DW to know

[crusinthrough]

I think the only people who know the gold card is for a suite are those that cruise regularly or in a suite. You can always say the card color changed or as previously suggested that the gold card is for gold members. I was with some people who were upgraded to a suite (2nd cruise) and they had no idea why their card was gold until I told them.

 

As for the suite section in the terminal, I would just go to the section and see what she says. Maybe she will not realize it. If she ask any questions just say you did not realize you were in the wrong section but if no one stops you at this point just keep keep quite and go with the flow.

[frenchrci]

As for the suite section in the terminal, I would just go to the section and see what she says. Maybe she will not realize it. If she ask any questions just say you did not realize you were in the wrong section but if no one stops you at this point just keep keep quite and go with the flow.

 

Haha ! I like it !! :p

[MOSusan]

All great ideas! Thanks.

 

Just for further clarification:

She has cruised with me on all 5 of the cruises in my signature, so she knows "cruising". She just doesn't know "planning", because I do all of that.

 

She will not even see the set sail documents. I print them out for everyone, and keep them in my binder.

She never logs into the RCI website - ever. I do all of the data entry for the pre-cruise.

The only time she touches anything to do with the cruise is when I hand out the cards after checking in.

 

But... some of you make a GREAT point... if I try and hide it all until we enter the cabin, we cannot share in the perks at check in. Also, she might get even more excited about the cabin if I tell her - but perhaps not until the night before. Hmm... gotta think about that one. If there are people who will be looking at our docs, and trying to guide us towards the suite lines, it might be too hard to hide. Plus, if I can get on the ship 30 mins earlier because of a shorter check in - that might be a better approach too.

 

I will say this.. if the risk is "significant" (whatever that means), that she will clue in before we get to the cabin.. I will likely just tell just before we get there..

 

Maybe as we're walking up to the first person who checks our docs... "Oh btw, we're in a suite, so let's get into this line here...." And leave it at that.. :)

 

got lots to consider.

 

Todd, I say tell her the night before. You may be in for some "Sweet Perks" of your own. ;):D

[ND Cruisers too]

Wow how suite (couldn't resist ;) )

 

I'm the planner and my dh sounds like your wife. He's cruised with me, he loves to cruise but never goes on-line to check anything & has never been here on CC.

He would have absolutely NO idea what a gold card would mean. I could tell him it's because we're gold level and he'd be like Ok, and he probably wouldn't even ask.

 

I do like some of the ideas/ways to surprise her ahead of time. I'd probably have to do one of them because I'm terrible at keeping secrets.

 

Whatever you decide hope you have a great time.

 

Totally agree with you!!! My DH would not have a clue...I on the other hand would have the hardest time keeping this secret....love love love that there are people that can.

Cannot wait to hear how it all turns out....

 

If I was you I would once you were at the Port go with the last minute upgrade to Junior Suite just to enjoy the checkin perks but totally down play the advantages of the cabin...and then when you open that door...she will be Wowed!!!!

Good luck and Happy Cruising!!!!

[paylady]

I changed our regular balcony cabin to a suite on our last cruise to surprise my husband for our 45th anniversary. He lets me do all the planning, etc. I print up everything, make the luggage tags, yadda, yadda, yadda. Guess what, he walked in the room and all he noticed was "it's laid out a little different". He didn't even realize we had a grand suite until I told him. Hopefully your wife is a lot more observant!!

 

Hah!! So I don't have the only husband who is not observant. The same thing happened to me. He never had a clue before we walked into the Suite. We usually stay in a JS so he's used to the doorbell. He walks into the GS and I ask him what he thinks about the cabin. I get the same response you did, basically. "It's nice, it looks a little different." Geez!! That's all?? It looks a little different?? It spoils all the fun. :D

Edited October 10, 2013 by paylady

[Hoppy2cruise]

What a sweet husband you are! Keep in mind that One of the benefits of being in a GS is that the luggage tags are mailed to you. If she opens the mail, she will know.

 

Rather than lie to her, I would tell her you have a "sweet" surprise for her that you will reveal once you step into the terminal. Ask her to not open any mail from RCL and ruin the surprise.

 

After being on 5 cruises and walking past all the "gold card only" signs, I would think she will be wise enough to figure out the surprise well before you reach the GS. By telling her the surprise as you step into the terminal, she can enjoy the perks from that moment on.

 

Hoppy

[Blue Darter]

I had a D2 booked, on our upcoming Liberty cruise, but I just cancelled it, and grabbed a GS. My wife thinks we still have "a balcony" cabin.

 

My ideal plan is to have her enter the cabin and be shocked, but there are a lot of obstacles in my way. I've never booked a suite before, and we are only Gold, so there will be several items that will tip her off that our cabin is not a D2 before we get onto the ship. I'm asking for any suggestions on how to be sneaky.

 

Now, what I have working for me is that I am the planner. She loves to cruise, but is perfectly fine with leaving all the planning up to me. So, I can get lots past her - simply because she doesn't know

 

As I understand it, here are the problems.

1. Luggage tags. They will have "GS" on them, I think. May not be a big issue, because she doesn't know what D2 or GS means.

2. Check in line. I think there is a seperate line for suites. I may have to just bite the bullet and line up in the regular line.. That, or if the line is too large - I may have to tell her we have a suite if she even notices we are lining up in the suite line. (Edit.. wait..can we only check in at the suite check in section - or do all check in booths have gold cards?)

3. Gold Card at check in. She knows that the normal cards are white. She doesn't know a gold card exists. Not sure what I can say to explain it.. maybe that after 10 cruise points (lol), you get a gold card. IS there anything else at check in that might tip her off?

4. Approaching the cabin. It's on deck 10. Our other cabin was deck 7. I told her about the "balcony cabin"(D2) location, but I suspect she will not clue if I say our cabin is deck 10.

5. The cabin outside. I understand GS have doorbells?? (um.. why?). Is there any other markings on the cabin to identify it as a GS? I hope not, I hope it just says the cabin number like all the other ones.

 

If all of this works out, I'll get her to open the door herself and walk in first.

 

Any thoughts, or suggestions, or glitches I don't know about?

 

Does your wife know you post on CC?

Would she recognize your user name?

Does she ever peruse the message boards?

 

If the answer is yes, then I can advise what NOT to do. Don't start on thread on CC about switching to a GS.

 

You're Welcome!

[North_Country_Cruiser]

Toddcan: Whatever you decide to do, please tell us! And let us know how it works out!

 

Even if she figures out ahead of time, I think the attempt is awesome (and fun!). And I'm guessing she'll agree.

[irishgal432]

Regarding the suit checking perks etc, tell her rcl is doing a test thing siliar to carnival where you pay to get on early. That could explain the suite checking line etc. if you check in the normal line, the agent has to go over to the suite area to get your cards, which caused a delay for us when we checked in with non suite guests.

[Toddcan]

They mail luggage tags to full suite occupants?? Niiiiiice. That might be a problem when the letter arrives.

 

My wife knows I get most my information from CC, but she does NOT ever come here. Why would she? I have given her nothing so suspect. As far as she knows, we're sailing in "a balcony" cabin. If someone told her that the category was "GS" - it would mean nothing to her.

 

If I told her JS - she would think the GS is a JS when she walked in. She has no idea what the larger cabins look like. We've only ever sailed E cabins on the Freedom Class.

 

I'm leaning towards telling her the night before our cruise. But, I really would LOVE to pull it off right up until the door.

 

Great suggestions and comments, all. thanks.

[yolanda1]

What a lovely surprise for her! I wonder if there might be a way the Concierge could help with the surprise aspect of it, if you emailed in advance to explain the situation? :confused: Just a thought....

 

Hope you both have a fantastic time :)

[DevonianCruiser]

Great idea, hope she loves the surprise

[dreamer976]

Wish I had some ideas that were not already mentioned here, but I do wish you luck! Just the fact that you're trying so hard to try to surprise her with such a wonderful and unexpected experience speaks volumes . . . I'm sure she already knows how lucky she is.

 

Please come back afterwards and let us know if/how you managed to pull it off.

 

My late husband booked a 50th birthday cruise as a surprise for me. Long story short, he was so excited he ended up telling me later that same day, but since I was always the planner in our marriage, just the fact that he actually took the step and secured the cruise and picked out a stateroom meant a lot to me.

[wolfcathorse]

I surprised my DH with the Royal Suite on Monarch's final sailing. Since the check-in line is the same for Diamond and above I had no problem. As soon as I got to the counter I told the agent that DH didn't know what cabin we had as it was a surprise. She proceeded to tell the officer that would escort us onboard not to reveal the secret and she passed that on to the Suite Ambassador. Anyway, like others have posted, get your luggage tags from the porter, tell her the gold cards are for gold memebers, and that you're on Deck 10 to meet a friend you met on CC.

[M&M Hayden]

About 6 years ago while on a cruise DH and I booked our 'next cruise'. We booked an ocean view even though I wanted the JS....well, a couple of days later I went back and 'upgraded' us to the JS. My DH isn't a computer person and doesn't really look at anything other than what excursions are being offered. He wasn't even paying attention when we got to port and I walked right into the 'suite' line, he just followed.

He finally realized something was up when I headed AFT and our original room was mid-ship port. He loved the room.

[Wilda]

Don't deny yourself the perks of check in, priority boarding, etc. Tell her when you get into the cruise terminal and allow both of you to enjoy the upgrade:D:D

[CAT GIRL]

We did this with our MIL and the Royal Suite one time. She was

oblivious through the whole check in period. We boarded early

and we told her we wanted to snoop around on the suite deck

before people arrived so we could see into the larger suites.

When we got to our suite we told her to try her key to see if

it fits. Much to her surprise, it opened the door to the Royal

Suite. She walked in saying "I don't think we should be in

here". And we yelled "Surprise ! This is our room!" I think she

cried.

[Toddcan]

Don't deny yourself the perks of check in, priority boarding, etc. Tell her when you get into the cruise terminal and allow both of you to enjoy the upgrade:D:D

 

Wait, Suites get their own check in line, AND priority boarding? How does priority boarding work? Does that mean that group is the first on the ship when the green light is given?

[emeraldcity]

My DD is not the observant type either. While the porters were busily trying to misdirect us, I assigned her to stay with the luggage when I walked over to the nearest RCI rep and said "We're suite passengers. Where do we check in?" She checked a clipboard behind a desk and verified my name was on it, then she walked back to my luggage with me, waved off the porters and marked "F" on the tags. DD didn't track on the fact that this meant "Forward", when she knew we'd booked a balcony aft. She also got a clear view of the set sail pass with "Suite" in the circle and she figured that was just the fancy name they give all the cabins now. We got the priority line anyway since we were Emerald at the start of the cruise, and I just distracted her during check-in by pointing out things of interest in the terminal. The gold cards meant nothing to her.

 

The funny thing is that she was checking out C&A levels before the cruise and she pointed out that it was a shame we wouldn't be in a suite, since the B2B we were going on would leave us one point short of Diamond. It was all I could do to keep a straight face that evening.

 

I still couldn't believe how oblivious she was as I headed for the cabin door off the forward elevators ... surely she'd realize this wasn't where our cabin was supposed to be ... but the surprise was 100% absolute. I walked into the cabin first and then turned around to watch her reaction. She stood just inside the open door looking confused. Finally she said "Whoa! We've never had one of these before" ... pointing to the room divider that separates the entryway from the sitting area. I had to clue her in "It's a Grand Suite! I upgraded us 3 months ago." She squealed with excitement, leaped over to the sectional couch and threw herself on it ... then jumped up and bounced over to the bed to repeat the process. I think it was 10 or 15 minutes before she calmed down long enough to think of putting away the stuff we brought on as carry-ons. And by nightfall, I think she'd told me at least 20 times how much she loved it and how excited she was to be in a real suite.

 

And the gold card has a place of honor in her treasure box ... I could never pull it off again, because she is now well aware of what color cards stand for what kind of accommodations.

[Clarea]

Wait, Suites get their own check in line, AND priority boarding? How does priority boarding work? Does that mean that group is the first on the ship when the green light is given?

Yes, suites normally have their own waiting area, and get to board first when boarding starts.

[Langley Cruisers]

Aww dude, you're awesome. Have a great cruise. :)

[Toddcan]

Amazing.. been on CC for 7 years, and I know nothing about suite perks. :)

 

Never applied to me, so I guess I never really paid attention.

 

Thanks for all the tips/pointers

[Clarea]

Amazing.. been on CC for 7 years, and I know nothing about suite perks. :)

 

Never applied to me, so I guess I never really paid attention.

 

Thanks for all the tips/pointers

Here's the list of suite perks:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithHero.do?pagename=enhanced_program_for_suite_guests

[VegasChic]

That is sooo sweet! What a lucky girl! I wish my husband would think of doing that - it's usually me doing all the surprising. Can't you tell her that you upgraded to a mini-suite (if there is such a thing!) and explain it's only a few sq. ft. bigger? Would she look into it? Then you don't have to worry about all the suite reference.

 

Good Luck, hope it all works out!

[mr walker]

Todd, for what it's worth, I think you should try and keep the surprise as long as you possibly can. I'm sure at whatever point she realises it will still be great, but just imagine how happy she, and you, will be if you got all the way thru the door.

 

My DW loves surprises, and I have managed a few, albeit not as good as this one, so I say go for it.

 

And please come back & let us know.

 

Happy cruising