Ideas for a surprise bday?

[Rosered]

I'm treating my husband to a cruise for his bday Jan 9th on the Conquest. He knows about the cruise but not that his family & friends are also going on this cruise! Any ideas on a surprise bday party on board for him? This is the first cruise for us, I just can't wait! Thanks in advance

[Boo's Mom]

Rosered....

 

How fun! :D

 

Party thoughts: You could have a surprise party....invite only the folks who are coming on the cruise with you......invite them to show up at your house 15 minutes apart...with a suitcase in hand.....

 

When the first guest(s) arrive.....he will not know that others are coming. Surprise him...and tell him that Joe & Sally are coming on the cruise, too!

 

Then...15 minutes later...here comes Mom!...and she has a suitcase, too!

 

Pretty soon...he will be looking out the window....for whoever else is coming!

 

I think the suitcases (big suitcases!) in hand would be really cute.

 

Have the party time....not at a meal time...so you do not have to prepare real food....so as to not give away how many folks you are expecting!

 

Gifts for him?: Have your guests each bring a travel book (from Barnes & Noble, etc)...on the different ports you will be visiting. You could coordinate this ahead of time with them...of course. The bookstores even sell really nice, laminated maps of the Caribbean, etc.. Cabin credit is a nice gift, too...and you can make your own little gift certificate to present to him at the party.

 

When is the birthday?...and when is the party?

 

If you hold the party months before his actual birthday...you will really throw him off.

 

Can you tell that I am having fun? :D Good luck!

[Boo's Mom]

OOppss... I just reread your original post...and you were wanting to do a party onboard.

 

Sorry!

 

That would be a hard one....are you wanting to keep their identity a secret until you get onboard?

[CaptData]

Are you going a day early? If so have the group can meet at one place for breakfast with happy b-day banner on his chair. If you are going to meet at the cruise terminal, arrange for everyone to be there by 12:00. Walk in at 12:15 and everyone can sign "Happy Birthday".

 

There is a package you can buy for this type of celeibration as well. Tell the waiter when the party is and they will come and sign with everyone at the table.

 

You can also arrange to have wine in the room when you arrive.

 

If everyone is coming when ever have everyone meet at a per-determined lounge after the muster drill for cocktails (you can per-arrange some orderbs (sp). By a pool is usually fun plus you can watch sailaway too. Have your guess bring bubbles (you can get these anywhere). Blow bubbles when the horn blow and sign happy birthday. Watch the fun happing all around you.

[JanetMarie]

I know that CC has "CC parties" onboard because we have participated in the gathering. Maybe check with the cruise line and see if there is a small conference room, or area of one of the lounges wherein you can decorate the area and have your gathering. Maybe your TA can call them and help with those arrangements. Hope you have fun! :)

[Rosered]

Thanks for the great tips everyone!

[mbp]

Hi,

 

I am bringing my husband on a birthday cruise too! His 50th is in Jan. He didn't want a party (I did that for the 40th) so I decided a surprise trip would be great. He knows we are going somewhere but doesn't know where.

 

When I called Celebrity (we are going on the summit and this is our first too)

they said they will have a cake etc, I choose the day/evening.We want 11 days without kids, phones etc. We have 4 kids, ages 14-23.

 

Surprising him might be tricky. Depending on when you wanted to surprise him (on formal night?) The ships are large enough for you to have a day on board without him knowing, they would have to eat at different times etc.If it were me I would surprise him on the second night. I would have everyone go down 15 minutes before the dining room opens and then you follow. The ship will help with the frills. (I would bring $$ for a thank you....)

I wish you good luck and a happy and healthy cruise. When do you leave? We fly our 11/25 and sail the 26th.

 

mbp

[SxyEbnyFem]

I'm treating my husband to a cruise for his bday Jan 9th on the Conquest. He knows about the cruise but not that his family & friends are also going on this cruise! Any ideas on a surprise bday party on board for him? This is the first cruise for us, I just can't wait! Thanks in advance

HA! We're going on this cruise, too, and it's my bf's bday on the 9th! How fun!! :D Your hubby is very blessed to have you do such a wonderful thing for him by not only taking him on a cruise, but having family & friends join in as well!

We are spending two days/nights pre-cruise in New Orleans. I have planned activites for both days/nights and will be part of his bday present. On the ship, he will have the birthday cabin decorations waiting on him. Also, that night at dinner, I have ordered the 9in vanilla w/ strawberry filling cake. If they don't sing to him, I am most certain our tablemate will since we are cruising with 8-10 other couples who are our friends. And, if they don't, I will all alone!! :cool:

I am also planning on getting him a special gift, too. Not quite sure what that will be - perhaps a pocket watch with some sort of cheesy engraving on the back? This is our first cruise ever, so I am sure I will make some reference to that. I sure hope he is feeeling like dancing that night because I am sure I will want to hit the night clubs on board!!

Everyone in our group is looking forward to this cruise!! I can hardly wait! I am ready to do the doc dance NOW!!! :rolleyes:

There is a roll call thread that has been started for our cruise. Come join us!! The link is: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44415

Happy sailing,

T.

[mamakaiz]

my b-day was last month, my dh took me on a 4 day cruise on the Sovereign. the cruise wasn't a surprise, but he had bought the "Classic Romance Package" w/o my knowledge.

when we took our luggage to our stateroom, there was champagne and appetizers:eek: waiting for us, also had b-day cake and singing by waiters at dinner one night (was supposed to be surprise for me, but they called my sr and asked me about the cake at dinner, i told him "just a minute, i think you want to talk to my husband:o ) also had pre dinner canape's and post dinner choc cov strawberries on formal night. there was a plate of brownies in our sr after one of our excursions. one morning for breakfast in our sr, we received a HUGE tray of food that included plates of cheese, fruit, danish, toast, dh had eggs benedict, i had ham & cheese omelette, sausage, bacon, oj, iced tea, hot tea:eek: and finally we received an 8 x 10 formal pic in a silver frame.

i was very surprised so have had so much attention:D

[IggleDoer]

When my wife turned 50 on a cruise, I asked the butler to spread the word and asked him to arrange that everyone would ask her if she was over 21! Every time she tried to ask for a drink, the waiters/bartenders carded her! It went on all day throughout the ship. She was very annoyed but appreciated the ship-wide effort;)

[kcluvsdavid]

Consider asking the family to scatter until dinner time. Have them arrive before you do and when they seat him, he'll be suprised at his table mates. Maybe even have them wear party hats. Have the cruiseline make a "birthday cake" and go with the presents relating to the cruise idea. That sounds wonderful. You might even have the airport transfer be in a limo (or even have the party in the limo!). There are a ton of ideas. I envy you! That sounds like a perfect birthday. Order the birthday decorations for your cabin. Get a wine package (or allow one of the guests to buy that as a gift). Get the help of the head waiter to guide you in without seeing the guests until the last minute.

 

Ohhh...Have him go on a mysterious scavenger hunt type thing with official paper from the cruiseline (get your steward's help) and at the end is the party!!

[dayna84]

I dont' know which lines you are cruise or when you are leaving but, we went on the Carnival Pride last year with a group of 26. Although the cruise and cruise mates weren't a suprise, this was...

 

It was our parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We had matching t-shirts made for each person in our party (including the 2 and 3 year old). On the front it said "50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration Cruise" and on the back it had a picture of mom and dad and said "We're with Barb and Gaylord..."

 

On mom's T-shirt it said "I am Barb" and dad's said "I am Gaylord"

 

Then we made door decorations with their picture too, for each of our cabins.

 

When we were waiting in line to board and then gathered together during bon voyage people would come up to my parents and congratulate them as if they knew them. "Hi Barb!" "Hi Gaylord!"...And, people later on in the cruise would recognize them and say hi! It was great fun for my parents and put that extra little pizzazz into the trip!

 

Also, just FYI...for a small fee Carnival reserved the Starry Night Lounge just for our party so we could have a small reception on the second to the last day of the cruise. We had a cake and champagnie. There were 3 servers who helped set things up, poured and served, lit candles, cut cake, cleaned up...I couldn't beleive how nice they were..Worth checking into if you have a big group and want to get together for an event.