Surprising the kids

[my3boysmom]

okay, what a sap I am. Now I am tearing up! Must be the pollen...

 

I think i will tell them we are going to the beach since we are getting to Cocoa Beach the day before, it will be an easy story to pull off. And, then I am thinking of taking them to the terminal in the morning and telling them we are just going to look at the big ships since we have never seen one, etc. Would love to string them along with a "maybe they'll let us take a tour" kind of thing but since we have to check in luggage I'm not sure how to pull that off.

 

Get someone to call EARLY that morning "from the front desk" stating that there has been a mix up in the room and you will have to change rooms. :confused: Your new room won't be ready until later that afternoon. Be sure to act like you are really unhappy out about packing and loading up and waiting for several hours for your new room. :mad:

 

What WILL you do during that time while you wait? ;):cool:

[Cruisin9947]

I LOVE the idea of surprising the kids with a cruise! We were thinking about taking the family on a cruise next summer and now I know I want to surprise them. I did surprise my kids 7yo and 3yo (at the time) with a trip to Disney. We live about 2 hours away, so I just told them we were going on a car ride to explore places we have never been to. About 1.5 hours into the trip my oldest started complaining about how bored she was and what a boring idea this was. She complained all the way through the Disney gates and into the parking lot before she even realized where we were! :)

 

I can't wait to hear the story and see the video of the surprise. Good luck!!

[valsdancin]

When I was little my grandparents surprised my cousin and I with a trip to Disneyland. We lived about 6 1/2 hours away, maybe a little more. I don't remember much about getting there except we were clueless! We didn't figure it out until we pulled into the parking lot. It was one of the best vacations! I think we also went to Knott's Berry Farm on this trip. :p

[adschmad]

Tell the kids you don't want them to pack much, and that you will be doing laundry on this trip. Make a rule of only a backpack allowed for clothing, etc. due to airline charges for luggage and that you don't to risk the airline losing their luggage and not have any clothes for a couple days while the airline finds the luggage.

Pack the kids' cruise gear and clothes in one extra suitcase that you will pretend is an empty suitcase you are bringing to carry back souvenirs/items purchased shopping/etc. At LA hotel or friends/family home, because it is "empty" tell them you are leaving it in the car until you need it to put the purchased items in. Day of embarking, while kids are eating breakfast, have your spouse stay with them & distract them while you quickly pack up their items and load into the vehicle's trunk. Then drive over to the port because you heard that the ship you and your wife are going on later this year is in and you want to check it out. Drive around a couple times pointing out the size of ship, cool features, etc. Tell them you want to park and look at it closer. Park in the port parking and then proceed to start unloading the luggage from the trunk. Surprise! We're going cruising!!

 

If you want to have it on video, have one of your family members with a camera squeeze into the back seat with a digital camera with video capabilty. You can play off the camera easily with the 10 year old by suggesting the family member wants to take pics of the ship, etc. Pass the blame on the photographer for the short moment you need to keep them fooled. When you start to pull into port parking, have the family member start up the video camera and be ready to capture the reaction.

 

Have fun!!