Ideas to get the family excited before the trip?

[SCUBA-IE DOO]

I am looking for a new idea to get my family extra excited about our cruise in February. On our last two cruises, one month before we left, I made a poster size calendar and put new post it notes on it each morning with "cruise news." These were little tidbits about topics that they didn't know.

 

I am wanting to try something different this year. Any ideas? It's almost time to begin...

[waterbound]

Not sure what the ages of your fellow cruisers are.. but my 3 are 7, 11 and 13.. I made a paper chain.. One chain for each day till our cruise.. On each chain I wrote a number and something to do with the cruise.. whether it be something about the ship, the excursions or activities.. For example.. One chain says dolphins, one says New Orleans, one says The Point, one says buffet.. etc.. I linked each of the chains and made a big chain.. every night before bed the kids take turns taking a chain off.. we are now down to 46!! woohoo.. The kids get excited every night and enjoy reading the different stuff I wrote on each chain.. I did this when we went to Disneyworld but I found a clipart website and printed them all out and put disney pictures on each chain..

[Lynne0713]

I have none but love reading these...keep them coming..:)

[Livonians]

This does not apply to your situation however I thought I would share it anyway.

 

We booked a NCL sailing on 2/20/05 from New Orleans. Word got out and we had a bunch of friends and family that wanted in. We now have (5) couples and (4) girls on this trip. Very few of the couples knew each other so my brilliant idea was to host monthly "cruies parties" at a different couples house once on month. We started planning in August and we are sailing in February. Each month we have had a "theme" the most recent being "Mexico" and we served fajitas, tacos and maybe, just maybe a margarita or two. This Saturday will be our fifth and final cruise party and from what I hear there are Pina Colodas on the menu. This way everyone has had an opportunity to get to know each other before we sail. It has worked out great. Also I have an 11 year old daughter that had a chalk board that counted down the days until Christmas. She has modified it to say X number of days until "Cruisemas".

[dosp]

Go ahead! Print a picture of the ship you are on, cut it into as many pieces as you have days remaining to a cruise (more than 30 it's just plain crazy). Leave the biggest piece for the last night and tape it on the fridge! Or the dog! Or your spouse!

 

Or just sign on to CC every day, read the posts, see who else is nuts.

 

Steve

[Times Prince]

Don't know what cruise line you're on but if it is Princess then checking out the bridge camera and location adds the excitement as your ship visits the ports you are going to. You can check out your excursion books and envision what you'll be doing in 1,2,3 or whatever weeks ahead. Planning is half the fun, and you might find that a family member really has their heart set on doing something you hadn't thought of or that needs advanced booking, like swimming with a dolpin.

 

Then there's that last week as the ship nears the home port... you can feel the excitement and tension build... My Ship is almost HERE !!! It really makes it real, and starts you thinking of something other than your daily job.

 

Works for me...:) ... Every time!

[Guest OBAYbee]

Haven't done any of the above but plan to now.

[waterbound]

Something else I just thought of after reading another post.. Awhile back I visited my local library and went to the travel section.. I found vcr tapes about different ports of call.. One was labeled Eastern Caribbean and one Western Caribbean.. I rented the Western since thats where we are going.. and it showed stuff about the different ports of call.. I remember seeing Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize and others.. It was a pretty neat video.. But thought it might get your family excited all over again if they were able to see some of the neat things about the different ports.. Your library might not have them, but its worth a shot for free.. Ive seen these same videos advertised in magazines for like $25 each.. I have even checked out books about the different ports before and also just cruising books in general..

[Speechless]

You can watch movies that are cruise related, or are filmed in the destination that you are heading to. That's what I plan to do. The big day is in 2 weeks.

 

There was a great thread here last year where people listed their favourite cruise related movies. Unfortunately, I cannot find the thread, and don't know what movies to rent. Maybe someone can help me.

 

(Oh, and preferrably ones where cruises are shown favourably, not like Titanic or the poseidon adventure).

[kcluvsdavid]

I have my TiVO taping cruise documentrys from the travel channel. I guess I need to look up my ports of call too!!

[morningglorymish]

Great ideas.Also check out the children's section of your library for a children's guide to.........your destination.How about a trivia sheet e.g. What language is spoken in Mexico??Famous people from that region.

Of course the books as well for us. I am first time cruising and brought home a pile of books that my family was laughing at me. Cruising 2004, Cruise ships 2004.I took out a book "How to Pack".Just.....How to Pack.

[sassystyxfan]

My aunt will be going on her first cruise with us to the Mexican Riviera. So every day I am sending her a "tidbit", which could be a packing tip, or info on planning, or info on the ports, via email. By the way, I got most of these from you guys and CruiseDiva. So I'm learning some stuff too and she can't wait to get her email every morning. I also had her get a box to start putting stuff in - she doesn't know it but I'm helping her put her carryon together! So far it has her birth certificate and a book to read on the ship in it. She's actually doing it, although I just started a couple of days ago!

[memer0951]

My husband and I are planning a bon voyage party for everyone in the family before we all cruise. We're having a Mexican buffet, karoake, and embarkation pictures when they walk in the door. And, there's some fun nautical party decorations available. Anything silly to get people in the mood!

[jcruise67]

What DW and I do following our booking:

 

We like to put together a vacation portfolio containing printouts of our eticket flight information, pre and post cruise pics of hotel property photos and amenity info, our cruise itinerary, pics and info concerning the various ports of call, and excursions offered through the cruise line or private tour agencies, and of course, our TA paperwork and confirmation/booking numbers. I've already put together a 45 page vacation portfolio. Once its completed, you can show it to friends and family, or refer to it when you or someone else has a question about it. I enjoy the planning . To me, its a great way to pass the time when your anticipating embarkation day. Once its finished, you can peruse all the material you placed in it.

 

John

 

Days left until we sail on the Golden

[SCUBA-IE DOO]

Thanks for all of your suggestions...only 12 more days to go!!!!

[thesaintjim]

Well, if you live up north, just open your window and point outside ;)

 

Then, open up a cruise packet and point to the people in the pool! That alone excites me

[momthecruisedirector]

We tried something new this year and I wish we would have started it a long time ago.

 

We put the names of each port city and pre-cruise, post-cruise days (day 1, day 2...) in a hat and everyone in the family had to draw one (no peeking!), husband included. We gave a deadline and everyone had to research their port/day and come up with an activity that would please everyone, figure out the admission price, transporation and costs, etc and do a presentation. It was great fun and gave them an opportunity to be more involved in the planning process. Whether they printed things out from the internet, wrote information they found from the library, made a poster - all were acceptable and I think, for the kids, a good education. I did, however, keep the power of veto!