Book a surprise cruise?

[RanDe]

Has anyone booked a surprise cruise for their spouse or significant other? We are going on our second Caribbean cruise in February and my DH has always wanted to see Alaska. I'd like to book our 2007 Alaska cruise while we're on board to get the credit. DH's 50th birthday is in June of 2007 and I'd like to present him with a surprise cruise for his birthday. He loves to cruise, but hates doing too much planning and the money issue always bothers him. This way, I could book it and pay for before giving it to him. Anyone do anything like this???

 

De:)

[FunCruiser56]

YES! I booked a cruise about 2 months before my husband's 40th birthday. He never knew a thing. I bought him a new suit for his birthday and slipped the tickets in the inside pocket. He was very pleased and surprised, I even called his boss and arranged his vacation time off. We left 3 days later and had a great time.

 

Bev

[Jan_In_Maine]

I have booked a cruise (10/28/06 - Radiance of the Sea) and have not told DH about it yet. It is SOOOO difficult not to say anything - but I am the one that likes the planning and he just wants to go - I am going to do up a scrapbook of the cruise and tours, etc. and give it to him for his birthday or Christmas - It is driving me crazy not to tell him! But sometimes feeling guilty is fun also. Jan

[jenrie]

I booked a cruise for last xmas for hubby & myself and my niece and her 4 children. The children did not know anything about it we kept it very secret for 9 months it was very hard the suitcases had to be packed and brought along to my house during to day while the children were still at school all they were told on the morning when they were woken up early was that a taxi was picking them up at 6.30 am and bringing them to my house as I had arranged something for them.

we flew from the North East of England to London and stayed in a Hotel gave them a tour of London and the next morning they still did not know they were going on a cruise we did not tell them where they were going they kept quessing at the airport it wasn't until we landed at Miami that they quessed. It took a lot of planning and was very hard to keep it secret but the surprised look on there faces was worth it we all had a wonderful time

Jenrie

[RanDe]

Oh good! This sounds very doable and I love your ideas!

 

Bev, what a wonderful surprise for your husband's 40th birthday and I love how you slipped the tickets in his new suit. I bet he was so happy!

 

Jan, we can feel guilty together and have a blast doing so. :D It's really going to be hard for me to wait for two years, but at least hubby and I have our upcoming cruise to talk about. He knows that Alaska is going to cost a lot more and he's better off not having to fret over the money.

 

Jenrie, your post about brought tears to my eyes just imagining how happy those kids must of been and how much you went through to give them such a surprise. What a wonderful story!

 

De

[mumofsons]

I just booked a four night cruise over New Year's for 2006. DH and DS's will not know anything about it until I wake them up to get on the plane. I booked far enough in advance that DH won't wonder where the money is going! I can just pay a little at a time.

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

We are also surprising our kids with a cruise in September. They know that my in-laws are going on a cruise out of Boston (our home port), and we are all going to see them off. I can't wait until we tell the kids to go ahead and get on the ship also. DH and I have been talking about the best way to tell them. We have not figured out how to do it, but we want it to be extra special.

Your DH will be so happy!

Kim

[jbettlam]

I surprised my DW at Christmas 2000 w/ a RCCL brochure for the Caribbean w/ our tickets in there. It was wrapped; all 4 of the kids were there & knew about it. She opened the brochure & couldn't figure it out at first; told her it was late for our 25th (June 2000) anniversary. She loved it, but said that she'd rather go to Alaska, so we went on the Radiance instead & had a great time.

I agree w/ other posters: it sure was hard to keep from telling her what I'd gotten her

 

jim

[nurseteresa]

I booked a cruise on NOS for 11/5/05 in June of 2004 for DH 50th birthday. Have not told him yet! Will tell him 10/16---his birthday is 10/18. 14 months so far of keeping my mouth shut. :eek: It will be our 5th wedding anniversary on 10/30 so this is kind of a present for both of us ;)

[RanDe]

I am really enjoying reading about all of your surprise cruises and how you did or how you intend to "pull it off".

 

Mumofsons, what a surprise for your DH and DS to wake up and realize they are leaving for a cruise! That's going to be hard for you to do all of the last minute arrangements and packing for them, without them knowing about it. You go girl!

 

Kim, how exciting for your kids! I can't wait to hear what you and your DH come up with on how to tell them. I'm sure it'll be good!

 

Jim, that was such a sweet Christmas gift for your DW. It's even better that she got to pick where she wanted to go and you had a great time. I would think that it'd be harder for a man to keep something like this from his wife. Us women are use to keeping secrets. ;)

 

Nurseteresa, Wow that's a long time to keep a secret. What a wonderful present for both of you and I can't wait to hear about his response when he finds out in October! Good luck with keeping the secret for just a couple of months longer. Whew, this inspires me.:)

 

De

[kenandlaura06]

How nice! I would love to surprise my soon-to-be husband...maybe for a future anniversary or birthday!

[Philly Steve]

I have booked a cruise (10/28/06 - Radiance of the Sea) and have not told DH about it yet. It is SOOOO difficult not to say anything - but I am the one that likes the planning and he just wants to go - I am going to do up a scrapbook of the cruise and tours, etc. and give it to him for his birthday or Christmas - It is driving me crazy not to tell him! But sometimes feeling guilty is fun also. Jan

 

It's so hard not to spill the beans while shopping or viewing cruise ads on TV! :)

[Colts-Steelers]

RanDe,

 

I also surprised my hubby for his 50th bday. It was over 2 years in the planning, so it was exremely hard not to tell him. What helped me was I kept a journal to him on my office computer, so that was kind of like talking to him. I kept track of all the events in planning the cruise and surprise party. I did not tell him where we were going, he just knew we were flying and didn't know the destination until we got to the gate at the airport. He had ruled out a cruise because I packed so light and didn't take any of our formal clothes.

 

All of our kids and some of our family and friends all flew into Ft Lauderdale on his birthday and we had a surprise party for him that night at Beach Place. He was totally surprised and it really didn't register until the next morning that all of us were going on a cruise together...a bit of alcohol contributed to that though. :p

 

Our daughters brought our formal clothes with them, so that was a key factor in throwing him off the track. It was a wonderful time and I would do it again in a heartbeat! :D

[Murphy]

Most of my cruises start out as surprises for my husband! :) When I find a good deal or a new itinerary, I like to book it right away, but DH thinks I plan too far ahead and doesn't want to commit. I used to tell him we aren't really committing, since my TA doesn't charge a cancellation fee, we are just investing in a future possible trip, but he just didn't get it!

 

My TA is great about keeping my secret until DH is in vacation mode. She always asks me if she should mark the file "surprise for Ray" and then the rest of the office know not to send the invoice to our house or call me at home about it.

 

Fortunately about 6 months out DH starts wanting to book something at which time I suggest the cruise I already have booked! It's worked so far, so ssshhhh! Don't tell him what I've doing for the past 5 years!

[bobbie0253]

I have booked a cruise (10/28/06 - Radiance of the Sea) and have not told DH about it yet. It is SOOOO difficult not to say anything - but I am the one that likes the planning and he just wants to go - I am going to do up a scrapbook of the cruise and tours, etc. and give it to him for his birthday or Christmas - It is driving me crazy not to tell him! But sometimes feeling guilty is fun also. Jan

 

 

If you need pictures of the Voyager, feel free to use some I took....

 

http://public.fotki.com/bobbie0253/voyager_of_the_seas/

 

 

A lot are "ship only".

 

Bobbie

[Jan_In_Maine]

WOW - I really didn't think that there would be so many of us. I can't imagine going more than 4 months without telling - everyone except DH knows (not including my 14 year old - he can't keep a secret for 1 hour). Now I have people telling me that 10/28 will be in the middle of hurricane season - and all my planning for tours might end up going out the window! I've started a roll call thread and keep waiting for others to join as I would really like to talk with others on our cruise. Jan

[RanDe]

Laura (kenandlaura06), I take it from your name that you're getting married in 2006? Congrats on the upcoming wedding and I'm sure you'll be able to plan a surprise cruise in the future. Maybe for a one year anniversary! :)

 

Steve, I never thought about shopping or cruise ads on TV.:eek: We love to watch the Travel Channel whenever they have anything on about cruises or Alaska.

 

Kathy, you also give me inspiration and I love your story on how you surprised your husband! Okay, so I'm telling myself, "it really can be done over a two year span and I CAN keep it a secret".:D

 

LOL Murphy, I love how you plan your cruises and it's definitely "what they don't know won't hurt them". My lips are sealed!;)

 

Jan, I think I'm going to have to keep it a secret from everyone for as long as I can. You just never know who's going to spill the beans. :) Hopefully by the end of October, hurricane season will be almost over. Keeping my fingers crossed for smooth sailing for you!

 

De

[IKE]

Thank You Bobbie for posting all those great photos on the "Voyager".

[IKE]

I suprised My Hubby with a 10 day Birthday Present Cruise on "Brillance of the Seas" 2 years ago. Since Hubby is retired and home now, My TA worked very hard with me to keep the trip a suprise. I had to tell him about a week before in case there was something He needed to buy for the Cruise. He loved the Suprise and the Cruise was beautiful. So it can be done!

[RanDe]

RanDe,

 

What helped me was I kept a journal to him on my office computer, so that was kind of like talking to him. I kept track of all the events in planning the cruise and surprise party.

 

Kathy, I forgot to thank you for this wonderful idea of yours! I have been printing off some of the things that I've been researching for the cruise to keep in a file, but your idea prompted me to start my own journal and it really does help. I just know that he'll get a kick out of reading about the things that I'd normally discuss with him. Thanks so much!:)

 

De

[Phamer55]

Yes, I surprised my wife with a 3-day repositioning cruise! Our adventure began when I plopped down my wife's suitcase on the bed early Friday morning and told her to start packing. She was confused at first, but she finally convinced herself that Iwas serious about taking her away for a surprise weekend getaway. After packing, we headed to San Francisco, where she thought she was staying for the weekend. It was not until she saw the Princess Cruises logo outside of Pier 35 that she realized she was about to board a 3-night cruise for British Columbia! She kept telling the porter "I just found out I'm going on this cruise!". It was a lot of fun.

[LBB]

I recently booked a surprise cruise....15 months from now!!! It's extremely tough to keep it a secret, but my SO is not a planner and would think I'm crazy if he knew. I figure it can be part of his Christmas present or his birthday present in April...then it will be just 6 months to go!

[vickie1ok]

Ran, I used to work with a lady and her husband gives her a surprise trip every year over New Years. They have been on cruises, to the Everglades, a Louisiana plantation tour, Europe, Caribbean islands, etc. He tells her nothing except what to pack; she's never sure where they are going until they get there. They have always had a grand time. We've always been jealous of her! If I were married and had the money to do it; I would do that every year as well. Go for it!!PS, be careful about charging things on joint credit cards. Kathy found the prepayment for the Everglades hotel on a credit card bill. (she pretended she knew nothing) So, if you use a credit card, make sure he has no access to the bill.

[tribefan]

A few years ago I surprised my DH with a weekend cruise for our anniversary. I made up "clues" to give him and he had to try to figure out what was going on. I took a brouchure and cut up different things from it, the first one I think was city that never sleeps (it was a Carnival cruise) and he thought we were going to Vegas since I had just been talking about it, then I know there was a roll of nickles for the slots. I think I had 6 clues and it took him till the last one to figure out what was going on. It was the week for the cruise and I had his vacation already scheduled at work. He really enjoyed the surprise!:D

[cpa2be]

My husband and I were on the Navigator in Oct 04. We booked on board for another cruise in Oct 05. On the last day, we decided to also add our sons 23 & 26, and their girlfriends to the cruise. We were sooo excited! We planned to give them the cruise as a Christmas gift.

 

Well, needless to say, we couldn't wait that long to tell them. A week after we returned home, we asked everyone over for dinner, served pina coladas and entertained them with pictures from the cruise. We had purchased souvenirs and had goody bags for each of them with some of the C & A gifts, drink glasses, etc. Also in their bag was a RCCL brochure and a certificate that I created announcing their cruise.

 

They were completely stunned!:eek: Oh, the hugs and smiles (and tears!)

We bought them luggage for Christmas gifts.

 

Now we are only 7 weeks away from the cruise and we talk about it non-stop !

 

We will have a wonderful time and create a lot of happy memories. My husband and I are already planning the next cruise so that we can book onboard again. (Of course I'll want to book the kids again as well! ):D

 

This makes my holiday shopping so simple - we'll give them passports for Christmas gifts.