Did you ever surprise anyone with a cruise?

Nobody knew I was going on a cruise (except NCL). I had booked a cruise to Alaska for August 2008, but ran into a schedule conflict and had to cancel. So when I started researching options for a replacement vacation I initially was looking at a condo in Daytona Beach. But I stopped in a travel agent's office on a whim and asked about the Pride of America cruises. I took the brochure home and kept pouring through it. I finally decided that nothing could replace a cancelled cruise, except another cruise. So I booked it. But I was facing a series of outpatient surgeries and I wasn't sure if I would really be physically up to the cruise when it rolled around, so I didn't tell anyone -- not even my teenager daughter who would be going along. I was so afraid that I would have to cancel this one too, and I didn't want to have to tell people my second cruise was a bust too. Well, the surgeries went fine and by 6 weeks from sail date, I knew I would be fully recovered. By that time I decided it would be fun to surprise my DD, so I kept it a secret. Everytime anyone asked about my travel plans, I would say "I found a condo in Daytona Beach." Of course I never said I booked the condo -- I just let them think what they wanted. When they'd start to ask for details, I'd give a few general things like surfing lessons planned for the DD and note that Orlando is really close to Daytona, then I'd redirect the conversation to another topic. It got to be pretty fun.

I waited till the final night to tell my DD. I came home from work and told her I had a surprise. "Honey, I never booked the condo. I booked a cruise." She was so pumped . She started bouncing around. She went and dragged the recently packed suitcase back into her room and the first thing she added was her formal. It was about 10 minutes before she started to come down off her high long enough to ask what islands we were going to. That's when I told her it was Hawaii. Wow! You should have seen the reaction. She called it her dream vacation. She was so excited.

And the trip was wonderful. Certainly more expensive than Daytona would have been, but I certainly got what I paid for.

Thank you to everyone in the islands and everyone on the ship who made this such a special trip for us to remember forever.

That is an outstanding story. I'm glad your health is well and that you had such a great time.

I surprised my wife on our first cruise to Bermuda. She thought we were going to AC for the weekend!;)

I surprised my mom with her first cruise which we went on in December. I called her work to make sure she could get the week off before I booked, and when everything was all set up I asked her to look through the cruise docs.. she thought I was going with my boyfriend until she looked closely and saw her name on there. Needless to say she was shocked. I knew she would never book a cruise on her own and I wanted to share my addiction with her. She did make the mistake of paying for our onboard acct. on her credit card which ended up being around the same I paid for the cruise and air ;) Of course we had an amazing time! And I know she will go on more in the future.

I surprised by wife with a cruise. I had proposed to her on our first cruise, so 10 years later I surprised her with another so that I could propose to her again.

Just a point of clarity: We were and still are married, but I thought it would be a cool way to celebrate having proposed 10 years prior. I don't want anyone to think it didn't work out the first time and that I had to do it all over again :) And for those who are wondering, yes diamonds were involved both times.

I have - We have a S.America cruise booked for November but nothing before then.

My husband came back from a particularly stressful day a few weeks ago and said that he wished we could go on a cruise sooner.

The following day I received a brochure from NCL advertising their UK mini-cruises. I booked a Dover - Amsterdam cruise for the 9th of August and suprised my husband by giving him the e-docs for his birthday last week.

Our first cruise was a weekend to the Bahamas and I surprised my family including my husband with it for Christmas. His work new so he had the time off but that s all. It was a Huge success, I gave them little clues wrapped up under the tree as that was there gift. Like sand, shell toy boat, plane etc. It was a wonderful surprise and the tradition had continued. We frequent Bermuda , we don't like to fly, but we will to go to the cool places.

JKRSILC----Way to go how romantic...;)

My husband surprised me for our very first cruise on our anniversary. We went on the Carnival Fantasy about 2 months later. As this was our first one, we didn't know what to expect. We were hooked from that point on!

Made me think of a surprise cruise for my DW for a birthday some time ago.

During dinner on a tall ship docked at Philly's waterfront and I gave her a wrapped Jimmy Buffett CD and said "happy birthday." She unwrapped it then squealed with delight when she saw a copy of our cruise itinerary taped to the cover.

I did this about three weeks before the cruise as I wanted to give her time to prepare but boy howdy, it's hard to keep such a secret for months. You just have to smile to yourself and bite your lip when you see a cruise commercial on Tv! :D

I tried to surprise my husband in 2003 with a cruise. I had gotten him the time off from work and everything was all set.

Around one to two weeks before the cruise, the phone rang and he answered it. "Hello, Mr. xxxx, this is "Mary" from NCL calling about a change to your 12/7 cruise itinerary." He said, "I think you should talk to my wife." He then practically SKIPPED, singing, "I'm going on a cruise, I'm going on a cruise."

It was pretty comical that I had kept it a secret for so long. I wanted to wait until we got to the ship - driving from Massachusetts to NY, but hadn't figured exactly how to do it.

I love these stories :D

I surprised our grown daughter when she graduated from Nursing school with a cruise for her and her friend on the Fantasy.

I made up a scrapbook with pictures and parts of the brochure, prepaid her tips and excursions and taped her documents inside the cover. She was very happy when she unwrapped the present.

When my wife was turning 38(for the 12th time:rolleyes: ). I surprised her with a cruise. Had called her boss & arrainged vacation time. Her birthday was on a Wed. & we left that Sat.

I wish someone surprised me(or will SOMEDAY)!!!!:)

I am the cruiser planner in our family. I always book about 12 months ahead because there are some limits to when we can cruise. We gave our kids a cruise for christmas(2006). We did not sail until August 2007 but we were in a suite for the first time and they were very excited and surprised. That same day my wife give me a card and she booked the 2 of us a CTN as a surprise for me. I was shocked and we had a great time.

It's soooooooo funny that i came across this post today. I'm going to call my travel agent today and book a cruise for my hubby. We will be married 25 years next June but since my hubby booked a cruise in May of 09 i figured i would have to wait a while in between cruises so i am going to book for next Oct. I got a good deal for an aft AE Penthouse on the NCL Dawn. Our first i might add. The only thing i'm wondering is how the heck can i keep it from him until next year? Any suggestions???? Since he does all the bills how am i gonna swing this one? I'm going to have the cabin decorated for him also. I sure hope he likes his surprise. It was really nice to hear all the other stories about how you surprised your family members. How Sweet :)

Happy Cruising,

~~Debbie~~

The only thing i'm wondering is how the heck can i keep it from him until next year? Any suggestions???? Since he does all the bills how am i gonna swing this one? :)

 

Happy Cruising,

 

~~Debbie~~

Keeping it a secret from a 14-yr-old was easier than from an adult. They are so totally engrossed in their own world. I would be sitting in the same room as my DD, both of us on our respective computers. You would think she would be wondering why I was on the cruisecritic web site so much, since we hadn't cruised in 2 years!

Actually not much comes in the mail, but I got a slew of confirming emails ... especially in the week before we left. The topper had to be the reminder from Continental airlines that came the day before we left. She was having problems with her computer that day, so she sat down at mine to use Outlook. There, in my inbox, was the email from Continental with the subject line reminding me to check in on-line for my flight tomorrow to Honolulu. She never saw it. She just used Outlook to start a few new messages and send them off.

Special note to jkrislc ... marriages are like gardens -- they have to be tended. It sounds like yours will flourish forever. Special blessings to you both.

I love the stories of the people who even arrange for someone's vacation to fully surprise them. In my case, nobody knew. My co-workers, my friends, even my adult children and their families ... everybody thought we were going to Daytona Beach. Because I once heard that the definition of a secret is a piece of information known to only one person. Because once you share a secret, there is the risk that they will share it with someone else.

Will You adopt me ? I would love to go to Hawaii , either cruise or fly . Doesn't matter to me.

Sandy

OP - Loved your story.

Reminds me of the time my bro-in-law "suprised" my sis with a tropical vacation. Prob is he packed for her and whisked her off. He packed (for the beach) 12 pairs of socks, no shoes, and a vintage beaded dress that my granmother had made decades before that was like 6 sizes too small for my sister. It was hilarious. Needless to say my sister got to do some impromptu shopping that trip.

To al you suprisers out there... keep it up... you are special people!!!

I really surprised my hubby with cruise!! We had discussed going away for a week. I asked him "where do you want to go?" he just said "go ahead an book anything".

Well....hehehehe

I booked a cruise. Never told him a thing. No hints, no clues NOTHING

We got to the airport, we had to fill out the US customs form. I had to put our flight. He just about puked when it said "Orlando" and thought I was taking him Disney (I would rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty knife)....I then had to tell him that we were going on a cruise that left from Port Canaveral. He just laughed and so did the people at the airline counter!!!

He had NO idea at all til that moment. I packed the bags, had his tux altered, arranged everything.

We went on the Zaadam (boring ship, terrible food, the worst cabin steward EVER, had a cabin with no a/c) and had a fantastic time. We met fun people, did the western Caribbean. It was great!

I will do that again - the surprised look on his face was priceless!

It's soooooooo funny that i came across this The only thing i'm wondering is how the heck can i keep it from him until next year? Any suggestions???? Since he does all the bills how am i gonna swing this one?

 

~~Debbie~~

I surprised my husband, who also did all the bills, with a cruise to Bermuda this past May. He knew he was going somewhere, but thought he was just going to some resort or hotel. I booked in Dec and kept it a secret until the day before we left, showing him our passports and telling him we needed them for our trip! That blew his mind...he knew is was going someplace that required a passport!!! I then placed the cruise tickets in his hands and he was just so excited - gave me such pleasure to be able to do that for him!

Anyway, to keep it off the records, I used a pre-paid Visa gift card. That way he didn't notice any charges to our regular card. Plus, I instructed our TA ABSOLUTELY NO PHONE CALLS since it was a surprise - and they never did call. I did get the cruise docs in the mail, which my DH saw, but I easily dodged that one by saying "more junk mail." We had cruised before and every now and then we receive cruise mailings. It worked, and he never thought otherwise. I think the cruise suprise was a one time deal, don't think I can surprise him again....at least not with a cruise! ;)

Good luck with your surpise, it's just as much fun to be on the surprising end than to be the one surprised!!! :eek: :D

My husband surprised me on my 50th birthday with a Mexican Riviera cruise on board the Oosterdam (HAL). It was our first experience in a suite and also on the aft balcony of a ship.......and to think I thought we were going to Disney World....He planned everything with our travel agent months ahead and kept it quiet. I usually do all of the cruise planning so that made it even more special. I had no idea! We had a wonderful time and it was so romantic to have the large balcony and larger room. It was the best birthday ever! To throw me off all my presents from everyone were wrapped in Disney paper...ha

I waited till the final night to tell my DD. I came home from work and told her I had a surprise. "Honey, I never booked the condo. I booked a cruise." She was so pumped . She started bouncing around. She went and dragged the recently packed suitcase back into her room and the first thing she added was her formal. It was about 10 minutes before she started to come down off her high long enough to ask what islands we were going to. That's when I told her it was Hawaii. Wow! You should have seen the reaction. She called it her dream vacation. She was so excited.

 

We've given cruises as a gift twice (once to DIL's and once to BFF's). During the planning and execution phase I was BESIDE myself with excitement. Since they were both first-timers I took the liberty of putting everything in place (flights, shore excursions, OBC's) and what a JOY it was researching and choosing things I just knew they'd LOVE.

It was the "vacation of a lifetime" for both of them, and now several years later we still talk about the happy memories. Funny how my "favorite" cruises were ones I was never even on...:D :D

Happy Sails,

Annette

We've given cruises as a gift twice (once to DIL's and once to BFF's). During the planning and execution phase I was BESIDE myself with excitement. Since they were both first-timers I took the liberty of putting everything in place (flights, shore excursions, OBC's) and what a JOY it was researching and choosing things I just knew they'd LOVE.

 

It was the "vacation of a lifetime" for both of them, and now several years later we still talk about the happy memories. Funny how my "favorite" cruises were ones I was never even on...:D :D

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

What a marvelous sentiment. You must be a very special person to take such pleasure in the happiness of those close to you.

--For those who are interested, I am posting my cruise journal on the Hawaii boards.--