Suggestions on how to surprise somebody on cruise who doesn't know you're onboard

[heatherkristin]

that's so sweet of you! I had a similar situation happen to me, and it was the best surprise!

 

We had a group all sailing together (about 15 people), and one of my couple friends said they couldn't afford to go on the cruise, and would have to pass.

 

Little did I know that they drove in secret the 6 hours to the port, boarded the ship and hid from the entire group the whole day until dinner, when we were all seated, they walked up to our table and asked what was for dinner.

 

The Carnival staff was really accommodating in adding two seats to one of our group's tables. :)

[Love2Cruz2015]

Put on a mask, snatch their purse and run away....they'll be happy they weren't robbed when you come back with it.:D

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Have your TA or PVP or whomever you booked with link your booking numbers so you'll be seated together at dinner. Send them a gift with cryptic messages....FaceTime or Skype them as soon as you're on board.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[elainmir]

I still love your dinner idea if you can stay hidden!

[Zoey]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!! I will really have to think about it over the next several weeks before I make my final plan. When I return, I'll try and find this thread and let you know how it all went down.

[summersigh]

Maybe I'm a fuddy-duddy .... :D but I wouldn't like being surprised at the terminal or aboard the ship on sail-away day.

I would much prefer to know ahead of time as I enjoy the planning and logistics almost as much as I enjoy the cruise itself.

 

Also, when we're with the family they expect that if we're out we'll pick up any and all checks. A family night out at dinner in your hometown could be a lot cheaper that a week long cruise where they all figure you'll pick up the drinks at the pool and/or the dinner wine.

 

I know that's not everyone's way ... but knowing ahead is what I'd prefer and I doubt I'd be the only one.;)

[zirka]

I surprised my best friend on a cruise last March. I am platinum and got to board earlier and hid well at Port Orleans and then just patiently waited in the atrium until she boarded. She was surprised and no stress of hiding around the ship.

[littysmom]

Any suggestions on how to surprise somebody who doesn't know you're going to be onboard with them? It's my elderly parents. I thought of just showing up at their cabin door but afraid I will keep missing them, and I don't want to drag the surprise out any longer than before dinner. I also thought of putting a note under their door that they had been gifted a free dinner the first night in a specialty restaurant, make reservations, and then be sitting at the table when they arrived. Any better suggestions? Thanks.

 

My girlfriend and her husband surprised me this past May. My daughter and her had this planned for months. I was totally surprised. The way it happened for me, was that once we boarded I wanted to go to guest services to ask a question. The whole time they were texting each other., once I was in the guest service line and she knew they were there to surprise me.. my daughter said" hey mom ,let me get a picture of you". When I was looking at her , for the picture, they came up behind me. My daughter really was video taping it the whole time.. it was so funny. They really got me good. I can't believe how well they kept this from me.

[TrqoisWtrs]

I had a great surprise for my 50th. DH and I had already had a cruise booked a month before my bday. We boarded and were getting ready to go to dinner. Someone knocked at the door - I thought it was our room steward coming to introduce himself. I opened it and it was our two friends we always vacation with! Just a great gift - to fly from Chicago to cruise - how awesome. Completely unexpected. Kudos to hubby for keeping it a secret for 6 months. Plus I was driving him crazy because I kept switching our excursions and he would say, no just stick with this one - because I didn't know he was also having to pass the info onto our friends. lol

 

The surprise was even more hard to keep secret because we sailed out of San Juan and sailaway wasn't until 10pm. So in town we literally walked past the restaurant where our friends were having drinks; we were thisclose to going in ourselves. Don't really remember why we didn't, but thank god! :D

 

Have fun however you do it - our friends' cabin was literally down the hall from ours, so it was pure luck we didn't bump into them.

[golfb4cruzing]

Any suggestions on how to surprise somebody who doesn't know you're going to be onboard with them? It's my elderly parents. I thought of just showing up at their cabin door but afraid I will keep missing them, and I don't want to drag the surprise out any longer than before dinner. I also thought of putting a note under their door that they had been gifted a free dinner the first night in a specialty restaurant, make reservations, and then be sitting at the table when they arrived. Any better suggestions? Thanks.

 

Sounds like a great plan.

[love2cruiseforfree]

we always find someone that kinda looks like someone we know while cruising. of course we know....its not them.

this is what I would do....

I would just casually walk around in the area they are in...with sun glasses, hats etc and see if they actually will spot you or just think that you are someone else. or if you can keep a straight face...sit at a table near by...and talk in another language and see what they would do.

i wonder if they would come up to you or just kinda wonder....that would be fun to watch...

Edited August 16, 2016 by love2cruiseforfree

[love2cruiseforfree]

we always find someone that kinda looks like someone we know while cruising. of course we know....its not them.

this is what I would do....

I would just casually walk around in the area they are in...with sun glasses, hats etc and see if they actually will spot you or just think that you are someone else. or if you can keep a straight face...sit at a table near by...and talk in another language and see what they would do.

i wonder if they would come up to you or just kinda wonder....that would be fun to watch...

 

or better yet...get a stranger to go along with it. sit at a table nearby...they may think its you but...then would think its not because they wouldn't know the other person....

[Muumuu]

In 2011 surprised grandsons, ages 14 and 9, with a cruise in Europe. Planned it for at least 18 months. Secretly! They knew I was going and was told they were going to their uncles with their mother. Night before flight out of Miami to Barcelona we all went to out favorite Cuban restaurant. Waitress delivered the bill holder to the boys and in it was their boarding pass. All I have to say is it was priceless their precious faces and the highlight of my trip

[kat2009]

I don't know that I would surprise them. They may be looking forward to 7 days of "rumpy-pumpy" as John Heald says. I spend so much time babysitting that I look forward to my vacations without kids/grandkids. I mean, seriously, did they invite you to go? I would let them know.

Edited August 16, 2016 by kat2009

[Zoey]

I don't know that I would surprise them. They may be looking forward to 7 days of "rumpy-pumpy" as John Heald says. I spend so much time babysitting that I look forward to my vacations without kids/grandkids. I mean, seriously, did they invite you to go? I would let them know.

 

Seriously. They're 80 years old, and they begged me to go. I just wasn't able to when they booked because of work, which I've since resolved. Married 60 years. I may be wrong but I don't think there's a lot of that going on. They don't babysit and rarely get to see their children or grandchildren.

[SMSACE6]

My parents did this a few years ago with a favorite nephew and his wife. They had cruised together before, and my cousin had asked them to join him and his wife, but my parents could not make up their mind. So when my parents later decided to go, they kept it a secret, and called them at their hotel in the port of departure to wish them a bon voyage. Cousin said that the only thing better would be if Mom and Dad were going to be on the same cruise. (Yes we/they are very close), and then Mom and Dad said..see you tomorrow on board!:D

[Zoey]

Welllll.....unfortunately my surprise on my parents will not happen on October 22nd. My mother fell and broke her hip yesterday and had to have surgery. Her surgeon has said she will absolutely not be traveling for quite a while.

 

Now I have an insurance question before I cancel MY own cruise. When I booked for them well before I booked for my surprise on the same sailing, I bought them good insurance from an outside company. When I booked mine later, I also bought a good insurance policy. Will MY cruise fare be refunded, with proper documentation of course, or should I plan on going without them?Am I, as an adult daughter, considered immediate family and covered for cancellation? I deleted my policy and the hard copy is at work in my desk drawer and I may not be able to get to the office over the next few days.

 

I have cruised solo several times, but booked this one just to spend some time with my parents, so I really would like to cancel if possible. I don't have the heart to tell her about the planned surprise until she's feeling better. I guess I have no choice but to tell her so she can get her doctor to complete the certification form for the insurance company. Otherwise I might save my surprise with hopes to use it in the future. Thanks!

[RuthlessBoss]

Is it by any chance a cancel for any reason policy?

[soccermommie]

Now I have an insurance question before I cancel MY own cruise. When I booked for them well before I booked for my surprise on the same sailing, I bought them good insurance from an outside company. When I booked mine later, I also bought a good insurance policy. Will MY cruise fare be refunded, with proper documentation of course, or should I plan on going without them?Am I, as an adult daughter, considered immediate family and covered for cancellation? I deleted my policy and the hard copy is at work in my desk drawer and I may not be able to get to the office over the next few days.

 

 

Before you cancel, check with the insurance company to see if this would be a covered reason to cancel, and then also check with the doctor to inquire whether she/he will provide the information required for the insurance company to approve your claim.

 

Several years ago, my father was diagnosed with cancer right before my husband and I were to scheduled to cruise. That early in the diagnosis, my father was scheduled to undergo evaluation and testing while we were traveling and would not be having treatment. He and my mom were the ones who were supposed to watch our children while we were away. We didn't want to put the additional stress of watching our children on my parents during that time and wanted to cancel. Our insurance company agreed that it would be a covered reason to cancel; however, my father's doctor refused to provide any documentation, essentially arguing it would be a HIPAA violation, even though my father was the one who asked the doctor to do so. In the end, my parents were more stressed about us canceling and losing the money than watching our children, so we did go on the cruise after all.

[ODECCIT]

So, I have to tell this story. We were on a 6 day out of Miami in 2008 and a wife surprised her husband (and his lover) by booking a trip with her sister-law! They ran into each other at sail away and boy were there fireworks! The husband and his boyfriend were seated with us at dinner (really lovely guys actually) and the whole thing just played out like an episode of Jerry Springer.

 

I guess they both were being dishonest about where they were going that week. Hubby said he was going to South America on business and wife said she was going on a mission trip with their church! She had booked a really expensive cabin I guess and he complained a lot about her spending and how this was a normal thing for her.

 

I'd love to know how the story played out after the cruise! Like I said, the hubby was really nice and I played BJ and poker with the wife a couple nights in the casino and she was a nice lady too. I just don't think they were meant to be.

 

Of course they weren't meant to be, if he was on the cruise with his boyfriend.

[Oppalopa]

Any suggestions on how to surprise somebody who doesn't know you're going to be onboard with them? It's my elderly parents. I thought of just showing up at their cabin door but afraid I will keep missing them, and I don't want to drag the surprise out any longer than before dinner. I also thought of putting a note under their door that they had been gifted a free dinner the first night in a specialty restaurant, make reservations, and then be sitting at the table when they arrived. Any better suggestions? Thanks.

That sounds wonderful. Have a nice cruise. :)

[BambiD]

If you haven't already sailed, consider photo bombing them at a photo opp on board. The crew would be happy to help. The photographer could seem disappointed that an obnoxious cruiser ruined the photo and offer to show them. Then when they look at the photo (either on their own phone or the crews camera ) they will see YOU!