Have you been pranked on april fool's day?

[vanders]

There must have been some pranks pulled on ships over the years - the easiest one I recall is the "Day of the Week" mats in the elevators being changed around so each one had a different day.

Does anyone else know of any other pranks pulled by captains, cruise directors, staff, fellow passengers? Or, do you have any ideas?

Just asking out of interest's sake

[jhannah]

I've never sailed over April Fool's Day. I think the switched mat idea is cute. That had to shake up some brain cells!

I can't think of much else a ship captain or staff could do without risking lots of trouble. They could say a port was offering free excursions, or that Jay Leno was coming aboard at the next port to do a show ... but when some pax learned it was just a prank they might not find humor in it and scream bloody murder.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Believe it or not -- with all the cruises we have taken -- I can't remember ever having sailed around April Fool's day.

[michmike]

Don't know that it happened on April Fool's Day, but for anyone sailing this week and monitoring what is going on here at Cruise Critic, I'll share a story I enjoyed of pranksters.

A couple of years ago 2 teenage kids were bored on one of the HAL ships (don't remember which one) and so they liberated the future cruise consultant's desk and a couple of chairs and loaded them in an elevator and then rode up and down and when folks attempted to board, the boys would ask if they had a reservation.

Sounds like great fun to this 61 year old kid. *L*

[vanders]

Originally Posted by michmike

Don't know that it happened on April Fool's Day, but for anyone sailing this week and monitoring what is going on here at Cruise Critic, I'll share a story I enjoyed of pranksters.

A couple of years ago 2 teenage kids were bored on one of the HAL ships (don't remember which one) and so they liberated the future cruise consultant's desk and a couple of chairs and loaded them in an elevator and then rode up and down and when folks attempted to board, the boys would ask if they had a reservation.

Sounds like great fun to this 61 year old kid. *L*

this is the kind of thing I was after! Fun, mostly harmless pranks.
I remember one cruise (just a regular, not april fools or anything) a kid about 9 stood himself in an elevator and politely asked everyone who got in what deck they needed and pushed the button for them. With the tips he pulled in, he took a date (a girl from the kids program he'd met earlier in the cruise) to the Pinnacle, paid for the meal for 2, some soda etc... quite a smooth little operator.

Why did I never think of anything like that when I was 9 - let alone 16!

[Spinner2]

We were on the Amsterdam a couple of years ago, on the Hawai'i cruise, when there appeared in the Daily Program:

April 1
12 Noon
Dolphins Released for Showtime
Lower Prom Deck, Starboard


After thinking about what this might be, it dawned . . . April Fool's Day! When asked, the cruise director said that they had 3 dolphins somewhere below deck who would perform when released into the ocean. Everybody was out there at noon--those who fell for it and those who wanted pictures of those who fell for it.

Noon came and went--no dolphins of course; I don't remember what the Cruise Director actually said at noon. Everybody had a good laugh

[Fblack]

I have done two April fool cruises (both on RCCL). One scheduled event was for the guests to take a private tour of the ships dairy to see the cows. We were not fooled, but it was fun to watch people assemble in the lobby.

[Host Dan]

We were "pranked" a few years back on a Seabourn transatlantic repositioning cruise. The Capt. announced that we were stopping at the small Island of Lirpasnar. He indicated that at 1 PM, anyone wanting to go to the island would have to meet on deck with life jackets, as a zodiak would need to be used to get there. We knew it was a joke (Lirpasnar is "rans april" backwards). We went to the skybar and watched the poor fools who arrived with lifejackets!

Host Dan

[TedC]

I was brutally "pranked."

It wasn't on a ship but it is boat-related:

My wife woke me up one April 1 morning and said that Ray, vice commodore of our yacht club, had called to report my sailboat had fallen off its storage cradle.

I couldn't have jumped out of bed faster if I'd been shocked by electricity!

Fortunately, before I went into cardiac arrest, she laughed and said: "April Fool!"

I'm still getting revenge after all these years: I no longer have a boat but she still has to put up with me - and must rue the day!

[RuthC]

That's funny, Ted. And what's really funny is that of the two of you, I would have expected you to come up with the prank.
It's always the quiet ones, isn't it.

[TedC]

Hi Ruth,

I think Cathy was getting back at me for our first Xmas many years ago when I said we didn't need a tree because we were going to my folks Xmas Eve and her folks Xmas Day. But, bowing to her wishes, I went out and bought a tree.

The people downstairs had cut the top off their tree and left the cutting outside. I left our tree outside and took the 14-inch top from their tree up to our apartment - it was perfectly shaped.

Cathy burst into tears when she saw the tiny tree. I felt very guilty and assured her we had a regular tree and ran down to get it.

It was a Merry Christmas after all.

[swedish weave]

A prankster called the front desk and identified himself as a communications officer. He said he needed to blow some dust out of the phone line and asked the desk clerk if she would kindly hold the phone over the waste basket so the dust would not get on the counter. She complied and those of us at the counter got a big laugh. She was a good sport about it !!!

[solocanadian]

Originally Posted by Host Dan

We were "pranked" a few years back on a Seabourn transatlantic repositioning cruise. The Capt. announced that we were stopping at the small Island of Lirpasnar. He indicated that at 1 PM, anyone wanting to go to the island would have to meet on deck with life jackets, as a zodiak would need to be used to get there. We knew it was a joke (Lirpasnar is "rans april" backwards). We went to the skybar and watched the poor fools who arrived with lifejackets!

Host Dan

Love it!

[Cruise Belle]

This message was posted in the Daily Programme on April 1 last year on QE2: "During your stay onboard you may see one of your fellow guests with a rather large cat. The cat is called Snowball and it is one of the world's heaviest cats at just over 97 lbs. His owner, Egyptian born Mr. Itzerfake, is with Snowball and has said please feel free to take photos of his cat and stroke him as he is extremely loveable and friendly. Snowball will be on the open decks between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m." Of course I, along with many others, searched for the non-existent kitty. Finally caught on. The clue to the joke is the cat owner's name.

[bepsf]

I have been looking forward to booking the Queen Elizabeth Maiden Voyage for months now - I followed the PR, investigated the itineraries, lowered my expectations for an affordable cabin, put money aside for the flat 25% deposit that Cunard charge and directed my TA weeks ago to get on the phone and book me on April 1st as soon as Cunard started taking bookings...

...I came into my office this morning and saw an e-mail from my TA - so I picked up the phone and dialed her number as I started pulling out my credit card when she answered the phone by asking if I was sitting down. She then proceeded to tell me that when she called Cunard's offices in California as soon as they opened, they informed her that Queen Elizabeth sold out less than an hour after the offices in England started taking deposits this morning. So she inquired for the waitlist and was informed that my name was number 774 in line for a stateroom - any available category - and I'd keep that spot if I placed a $500 deposit today.

All I could do was laugh and cross that cruise off my list.

[esther e]

We were on a South American cruise in 2002 on the Ryndam and the captain announced we were lucky enough to see a rare eclipse at 1:00 PM. However, we must go to the front desk to get the proper equipment to view the eclipse. Such long lines! And everyone was on deck with cameras, small hand-held to large professional types. There were many phone calls back and forth from the crew to "Colorado" because there seemed to be a problem with viewing the eclipse. The phone calls were put on mikes so we could hear them talking with each other and sounding very confused as to what was happening. This prank went on for a good 1/2 hour before the CD and crew 'fessed up. Everyone roared laughing and had great fun!

[Boytjie]

Originally Posted by bepsf

...I came into my office this morning and saw an e-mail from my TA - so I picked up the phone and dialed her number as I started pulling out my credit card when she answered the phone by asking if I was sitting down. She then proceeded to tell me that when she called Cunard's offices in California as soon as they opened, they informed her that Queen Elizabeth sold out less than an hour after the offices in England started taking deposits this morning.

Queen Elizabeth Maiden Voyage Sells Out Faster than QE2 Final Voyage

Fastest Selling Voyage in Cunard Line History The October 2010 Maiden Voyage for Cunard’s new ocean liner Queen Elizabeth, which was placed on worldwide sale to past guests at 8:00 a.m. today, sold out in a record 29 minutes – easily making this the fastest selling voyage in Cunard’s 170-year history. In fact, this voyage sold out quicker involving more guests than QE2’s Final Voyage when it set a previous Cunard sell-out record of 36 minutes in June 2007.

More than half of Queen Elizabeth’s remaining Maiden Season, comprising six voyages from October to December 2010, was sold within the first two hours.

“This is an impressive record set by what will be an impressive ship and speaks volumes about the Cunard brand as well as for the resilience of the cruise sector as a whole in these challenging times,” said Carol Marlow, president and managing director of Cunard Line. “It is also very encouraging to see the level of interest in Queen Elizabeth coming from all our international markets, with bookings in the UK, US and Germany particularly strong. I urge our travel partners and those guests who have not yet booked to move fast in order to secure their place in history on Queen Elizabeth during her maiden season,” added Marlow.

http://www.cunard.com/news/default.a...31&Active=News

[FoxyTerrier]

My teenage son yelled BINGO on the 50th number for the Snowball Jackpot on April Fool's Day. He quickly then said April Fools - most of the poople laughed or clapped and were good sports, but some people got down right nasty towards him. Of course I was laughing so hard I almost feel out of my chair. The entertainment staff also thought it was funny and I'm sure DS was not the first to pull such a prank.

I think pranks that don't hurt peope are all in good fun.

Loved the story about the 9 year old getting tips to take someone to the PG - so cute.

[esther e]

That is funny! Too bad some people don't have a sense of humor, isn't it?

[wwinfl91]

No and I don't believe it is something that adults should do.

Have a great next cruise.