Parents anniversary please help!

[beachprincess]

Ok fellow cruising friends, I need some help. It is my parents 20th Anniversary and so they booked on the Zui in March. After some persistance , my Aunt and I got them to let us come along as well! (I have the coolest parents in the world) So in gratitude and celebration of such a wonderful time in their lives, I would like to do something special for them while sailing. Here's where it gets tricky- I am a poor college freshman with very little to spend (hopefully this surprise won't exceed $100). I have read about the "anniversary" packages that the ship offers, but my parents aren't really the "wine & cheese" type. (They both just turned 40, and are very young at heart.) Family photo is out, because we are goign to get one this summer with the extended fam. Pinnacle reservations seemed perfect, but my Aunt stole that idea and has us booked already! I really want to do something they will remember, even though I don't have a lot of money to do it. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time and help. I really appreciate it. :)

[doone]

My suggestion was going to be the Pinnacle Grill as well, but since your Aunt already did that, how about a nice bottle of wine and some chocolate dipped strawberries in their cabin when they arrive. It won't cost you much and I think that would be nice.

Let's see what others come up with, but that's one suggestion.

[Sea Island Lady]

How about a $100 gift certificate to the spa. It will cost more than that for the two of them to do anything, but they will have that $100 to go towards the cost.:)

[dakrewser]

I like Doone's idea of the champagne & strawberries, but arrange to have them delivered to your cabin. Bring a "Happy Anniversary" banner aboard with you as well as any other decorations that might be appropriate to your parents.

Get them out of the cabin late in the afternoon on some pretext then go in and decorate the place, leave the champagne (on ice) with glasses ready and strategically place the berries. When they come back to the room to dress for dinner - it should be a very pleasant surprise! (Don't do it on the night their going to the Pinnacle, though - they might be so "surprised" that they forget about dinner! :o )

[jhannah]

You could go online and purchase a shore excursion for them. They have some in the $39-49 each range. Or, you could just make a deposit to their shipboard account so they may use it as they wish.

[lipoppop]

Bring a decoration to hang on the door in the passageway.

[sail7seas]

You can arrange to have balloons and streamers from the ship to decorate their cabin with.


How about presenting them with an album while aboard with promises to fill it loads of photos of your cruise when the pics are developed.

Maybe you could be sure your TA lets HAL know it is their 20th Anniversary. Often the Captain will send a card with Congratulations and Good Wishes.

[jhannah]

How about presenting them with an album while aboard with promises to fill it loads of photos of your cruise when the pics are developed.
That's a fabulous idea! It will be within your budget and priceless at the same time.

[bepsf]

I like the Champagne and chocolates idea - decorating the door to their stateroom is cool too!

- If they're the playful type, why not get a kiddy sandpail play kit & "borrow" some flag toothpics and wooden stirrers from the bar so when they go to HMC they can make sandcastles together all day? Then you can take pix, have them developed w/ other pix you've taken of them together and present them to your parents in a nice little album during your last dinner aboard ship...

(...those types of things always make mothers cry);)

[Mary Ellen]

There have beeen some great ideas here. I can vouch for the chocolate covered strawberries - the BEST we've ever had. Not being drinkers, our TA gave us those (with other things) a few cruises back.

I'd also check out HAL's Gifts and Special Occasions (http://www.hollandamerica.com/onboard/gifts.do), in addition to the packages there are flowers and other gifts. Maybe one will 'speak' to you.

[Sea Island Lady]

Originally Posted by sail7seas
How about presenting them with an album while aboard with promises to fill it loads of photos of your cruise when the pics are developed.


I like that idea also, along with informing the TA and decorating the door. You will not have that much invested. You can make a magnetic door hanger on your computer/printer. The sheets come in the same size as paper.

but my parents aren't really the "wine & cheese" type.
By that remark, I don't think her parents would be the "strawberries and champagne" type either.

[KSCnCA]

We made door signs for our last cruise for all 5 cabins in our party. We used foamcore to mount the computer printout on and attached it with 3M Mounting Squares. It helped make the room easier to find and at the end of the week we took them down and built a ship and won the ship building contest! (One of our party is in the Coast Guard so we had our own captain!)

I also like flowers in the cabin but check with your dad - he may want to order them for your mom instead!

[dakrewser]

I like that idea also, along with informing the TA and decorating the door. You will not have that much invested. You can make a magnetic door hanger on your computer/printer. The sheets come in the same size as paper.


Neither the door, the frame or the wall is magnetic. So the mounting strips (or something similar) suggested by KSCnCA will be necessary...

[soccerfootballmom]

If you have access to Powerpoint, I like making slideshows for my parents...they luv it and it's free (well except for time). I also like putting the slideshows to music. So I would take a whole bunch of pics (hopefully, you have access to a digital camera so you don't have to pay for developing the pics) and then surprise them ;) Then they'll always have a reminder of their special cruise :)

[papadave]

Make sure the cruise line knows that they are celebrating their anniversary -- if they would enjoy having a cake with candles and the waitstaff singing Happy Anniversary. Otherwise, don't try to give them a cash equivalent, but do something that they will remember. Play a trivia game at the piano lounge in the evening as part of their team even if that isn't what you would do if you weren't travelling with them. Ask your mom to dance. That type of thing will be more memorable than putting some money into their shipboard account.

[Sea Island Lady]

Neither the door, the frame or the wall is magnetic. So the mounting strips (or something similar) suggested by KSCnCA will be necessary...

Really! I have never been on a ship that didn't have metal doors. What are they made of? I have hung Christmas wreaths and family reunion signs on stateroom doors in the past.

[dakrewser]

Really! I have never been on a ship that didn't have metal doors. What are they made of? I have hung Christmas wreaths and family reunion signs on stateroom doors in the past.

On the Vista-class ships they're metal but non-magnetic. We had to scramble around to borrow some tape for our decoration!

[Sea Island Lady]

Thanks! How is the insulation...noise proof?

[Orcrone]

We're celebrating my mom's 75th birthday on the Zuiderdam next month, and I've gotten some great suggestions.!!!

[NewportJulie]

We are leaving tomorrow on the Oosterdam for a celebratory cruise for my in-laws 40th anniversary. They are treating 12 of us to the cruise. We too wanted to do something special to commemorate their anniversary and to thank them for taking us. The gift baskets seemed really stale and not very special to me.

Instead, I contacted ship services and arranged a cocktail party in their honor. Ship services is handling everything, they are even printing up personalized invitations which will be waiting in our rooms upon arrival. We will have 1 hour of an open bar and hot appetizers at a window location in the Crow's Nest. It starts at the hour the ship departs, 5pm. We will be assigned waiters who will attend to our party, no need to run to the bar for a refill. Our dinner seating is 6:15 so it will be a nice prelude to the meal.

The cost was so cheap, it was a no-brainer to do this: under $20 per person.

[Time2sail]

My children write those beautiful letters or notes that tell us how much they love us and how special we are to them (with occasional details). These are keepers and are re-read many times--I am sure you have already thought of this but there is nothing better. You are very special to plan a "surprise" for them and they are lucky parents. Hope your trip is the best.

[sail7seas]

We are leaving tomorrow on the Oosterdam for a celebratory cruise for my in-laws 40th anniversary. They are treating 12 of us to the cruise. We too wanted to do something special to commemorate their anniversary and to thank them for taking us. The gift baskets seemed really stale and not very special to me.

Instead, I contacted ship services and arranged a cocktail party in their honor. Ship services is handling everything, they are even printing up personalized invitations which will be waiting in our rooms upon arrival. We will have 1 hour of an open bar and hot appetizers at a window location in the Crow's Nest. It starts at the hour the ship departs, 5pm. We will be assigned waiters who will attend to our party, no need to run to the bar for a refill. Our dinner seating is 6:15 so it will be a nice prelude to the meal.

The cost was so cheap, it was a no-brainer to do this: under $20 per person.







What a Wonderful idea. That will be such a good time. Perfect beginning to a happy family cruise. Enjoy. Congratulations to your in-laws.

[dakrewser]

Thanks! How is the insulation...noise proof?

Just fine.


NewportJulie: What a great idea!

[beachprincess]

thank you guys so much! what an outpouring of great ideas. i am definitly going to make some decorations for the door and a banner for our room. the champagne and strawberries sounds nice, but i might opt for purchasing a shore excursion- that seems more their taste. I also LOVED the powerpoint idea. I had asked my mom if i could make a scrapbook of all the past cruise pictures, but she doesn't want me cutting them, this way i can add my creative touch and still keep her beloved pictures intact! thank you so much for the great idea soccermom!

so many wonderful ideas, thank you so much!

happy cruisin'
Jen

[KSCnCA]

One more idea for room decorations: we brought christmas lights for our cabin and there is very little in a cabin to "attach" lights to. Fortunately I had accidentally brought removable hooks and they worked perfectly and came off at the end of the week without damaging anything.

[soccerfootballmom]

I also LOVED the powerpoint idea. I had asked my mom if i could make a scrapbook of all the past cruise pictures, but she doesn't want me cutting them, this way i can add my creative touch and still keep her beloved pictures intact! thank you so much for the great idea soccermom!



You're very welcome :) One word of caution however...once you start recording memories this way, you'll never stop!! I've moved on to making movies out of my pics now and am going to record them onto DVD so anyone will be able to see them :)