Suggestions for surprising another guest onboard

[va2vegas]

Shhh!  I don't want to spoil the surprise!  My dad and step mom are taking a cruise this July for my dad's birthday.  As a surprise to my dad, my husband and I are taking the cruise too and plan on surprising him onboard.  Working with my stepmom, we have linked our reservations.  I am looking for suggestions as to how and when to surprise him.  I was thinking of making specialty dinner reservations for embarkation night and having a note sent to his room inviting him to dinner.  Have any of you seasoned cruisers out there ever surprised someone on board and how did you pull it off?

[sdnich]

 We just did this not on a cruise but we were down in Cabo a couple days before some cousins came in and were in a vip lounge we know that they were going to be walking into and didn’t say a thing . Took them a minute to register us and being there it was a fun moment of surprise and happiness . It would be fun if you’re at the Sunset bar and have your mom casually walking by 😁

[LorraineP]

5 minutes ago, va2vegas said:

Shhh!  I don't want to spoil the surprise!  My dad and step mom are taking a cruise this July for my dad's birthday.  As a surprise to my dad, my husband and I are taking the cruise too and plan on surprising him onboard.  Working with my stepmom, we have linked our reservations.  I am looking for suggestions as to how and when to surprise him.  I was thinking of making specialty dinner reservations for embarkation night and having a note sent to his room inviting him to dinner.  Have any of you seasoned cruisers out there ever surprised someone on board and how did you pull it off?

We did this a few years ago. Call your dad when you’re on the ship to wish him Bon Voyage then as you’re talking with him knock on his cabin door have your stepmom tell him to answer door. Did this & my husband was shocked. We all were teary-eyed. Have it on video. This way it’s more private. 

[TeeRick]

Unfortunately if your cabins are near each other your surprise meeting will be at the mandatory muster drill on the first afternoon.

[deepurple]

We did this to our friends on a cruise last year. They had moved to another country a few years prior and we had not seen them since before their move. They were traveling with 3 other couples they met in the new country, who we obviously did not know. We got onboard and simply started looking for them on a large NCL ship. We walked all over the ship in all of the public areas. It took us about an hour to find them. They were in line making dinner and show reservations. I got in line behind them and said nothing. She turned around at one point and then turned back to what she was doing. She quickly did a double take and we had the best reunion! The crew member saw this and simply changed all of their reservations from 8 to 10. It was a wonderful cruise and we now have some new friends too! Good luck!!! It was so much fun!!!

 

[LorraineP]

21 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Unfortunately if your cabins are near each other your surprise meeting will be at the mandatory muster drill on the first afternoon.

Have to do before drill. 

[helen haywood]

22 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Unfortunately if your cabins are near each other your surprise meeting will be at the mandatory muster drill on the first afternoon.

 

I agree with this.  I like the idea of your stepmother arranging for them to be in the cabin at some point before muster while still docked....like after lunch and they are checking out the cabin, seeing if luggage has been delivered, whatever, then you call your Dad on the phone and knock on the door and surprise him.

[JerseyGirlatHeart]

We did this for my husband's mom's 75th birthday, the only person that knew we (6 others) were on board was my husband's oldest brother.  Our reservations were connected before sailing so that we would all be seated together in the Main Dining Room.  We (all 6 of us) were sneaking around the ship the entire first day, every time we saw her, we went in the opposite direction (so much fun).  We coordinated with oldest brother to bring mom to dinner (i.e., delay a few minutes) until after we were all seated.  She came into the dining room, took her seat, glanced at the menu, then looked up to interduce herself.  The first person she saw was her older brother (almost 90 years old), she jumped up (as fast as a 75-year-old could do) went around the table, squealing, to give him a hug and kiss.  Then she turned to the table to explain that this was her older brother whom she had not seen in ages.  At that point, she realized that the entire table was there for her.  Lots and hugs, kisses and wonderful memories were made that night.  Sadly, her brother passed away about 6 months after that cruise and she still talks about (she just turned 87) how she cherishes that night/cruise and the time she got to spend with her brother … you see, he had gone off to war when she was very young, so she never really had not gotten to know him … the 10 days they spent together was the best gift we could have gotten her.  Not sure if the lifeboat drill will cause a problem, on our last cruise we were in the theater with many, many other folks … would be easy to "hide" if you chose to.     

Have fun/make memories!

[tutuwahineLV]

I'd have to second the dinner idea.  If your reservations are linked, and you have the same table..... either get to the dining room before them .....or better yet, wait till they are seated, then come to the table and have a seat. That's what I'd do.  

Enjoy the trip.  It will be quality time, and create such wonderful memories. 

[Orator]

They may know that you are of the cruise if they check their reservations in My Celebrity that you are linked to their reservation.  You could also run into them at the check in or Muster Drill. No matter what happens I'm certain that they will really appreciate your efforts. I might just knock on their door and say "room service" and present a bouquet of flowers. I love threads like this one!

[puppycanducruise]

I love this thread!

So many wonderful ideas.

Have a great cruise.

[wendyam76]

You’ll be able to check muster stations by looking at your express passes - they are listed on there now.

I think it is a lovely surprise - good luck! 

Wendy

[DebbieActon]

I did this last year on a Carnival out of Tampa Bay.  We had two cabins together, so I passed the counter agent a note with our boarding pass explaining that my son, who lived in a different province than us,  would be arriving separately and that he was a surprise to my husband.   She did not miss a beat and kept my secret.  It was a great reunion!

[hcat]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Unfortunately if your cabins are near each other your surprise meeting will be at the mandatory muster drill on the first afternoon.

Or even before that! 

 

Our dtr and sil coincidentally  booked Oasis  for the same week as we did... We agreed we would meet at times ( like a b day dinner for dh at Chops and at our Labadee Over water cabana)... but  the  gen plan was we would basically do our own thing..and even stayed at diff pre cruise hotels due to loyalty points,.  Right off the bat,  as we were checking in for AQ Class, I looked straight  across to the reg cabin lines and there they were!  We were all quite surprised!

 

Good luck with your surprise but it may be revealed at an earlier  time than planned!

[Fixit2010]

If you really want to surprise him, tell the guest relations desk to divert your bills to his account.... He won't see that coming 😀