SURPRISE Cruise!

[LBroxon]

We are surprising our 13 year old daughter with a Carnival Cruise this Christmas. We sail on January 6. I am looking for a fun and creative way to surprise her with it on Christmas. This is our third year giving her a Christmas Cruise surprise, so we don't want to do what we have in the past. I will tell you, she is NOT expecting it at all (she is very gullible and we have made a big point to tell her that it is probably not happening this year). In the past, we have done a scavenger hunt with cruise related clues (gifts) and we also did a puzzle where we gave her the pieces and she had to put it together where she found a message stating that she was going on a cruise.

Let me know if you have any ideas! Thanks!

[craigtompkins]

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

[agreenway6]

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

 

I like this idea! Pure genius

[kcwingwalker]

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

 

 

Excellent idea!

[OCruisers]

Will she still be out of school and be able to go on a cruise that begins January 6th? :confused:

 

LuLu

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[LBroxon]

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

 

This is a good idea! Honestly, she doesn't really want toys, so she is mostly getting clothes and the like. Giving it to her late in the day, or the next day, would be fun because she is truly not expecting it.

I think it would be fun to keep it a secret until the day we leave, but my husband thinks we should give it to her on Christmas-- as it is the majority of her Christmas gifts.

[Cruising Golfer]

Send it to her in a Christmas card with no return address!!!:D

[LBroxon]

Will she still be out of school and be able to go on a cruise that begins January 6th? :confused:

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

Good question! We homeschool and follow a slightly different schedule than public schools. Yes, we will have that week off!

[LBroxon]

Send it to her in a Christmas card with no return address!!!:D

 

LOL! This is a cute idea.

 

Another idea I had was to wrap the boarding pass up in a tiny box and then place several boxes in a slightly bigger box that she must unwrap.

[AmberTeka]

Just a thought...the anticipation of a cruise is a part of the pleasure for me.

 

We sail in March..but already Christmas Gifts are built around the cruise..New Sports coat for the SIL..Passports for the family as the big gift..( 3 of them) and one excursion to see the Mayan Ruins at Anton Ha in Belize. The cruise is a Christmas Gift to them all.

 

Her birthday will two days after we are back...so I may give her another excursion for her birthday.

It is her first cruise. she is a mountain type of person. On her HoneyMoon...DD and my SIL flew to Colorado....rented a cabin in the State Park..and hiked for a week. She saw snow for the first time in her life. ( up on top of a mountain.) Generally they are in the Blue Ridge Mountains......or Savannah when they have time off.

I am hoping cruising becomes a favorite too.............

 

Hope your little one has a ball.

[LBroxon]

 

We sail in March..but already Christmas Gifts are built around the cruise..New Sports coat for the SIL..Passports for the family as the big gift..( 3 of them) and one excursion to see the Mayan Ruins at Anton Ha in Belize. The cruise is a Christmas Gift to them all.

 

Yes, we did something similar with a scavenger hunt a couple of years ago. New dresses, sunscreen, bathing suit, all leading up to the boarding pass and excursion. Hope you have a blast!

[Crazymasons]

Can you give her a "Tropical Box" and wrap it by size on the way down to a "ticket" you print out for the cruise.

 

For example, a giant box with a beach towel. Under the beach towel is another wrapped box.

In that wrapped box is a swimsuit. Under the swimsuit is another wrapped box.

Then Flip Flops

Then Sunglasses

Finally the ticket.

 

(I hope this made sense?)

[KPfromCT]

Good question! We homeschool and follow a slightly different schedule than public schools. Yes, we will have that week off!

 

Good for you!!!!!:D:D:D I SO wish I was not at the mercy of the town's schedule. It's just ridiculous, and then if you try to pull your kid out for a week, you are a bad parent. My feelings are, screw them, I pay your salary, and family time is more important than one week of classes missed. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad::mad::mad:

[KPfromCT]

Can you give her a "Tropical Box" and wrap it by size on the way down to a "ticket" you print out for the cruise.

 

For example, a giant box with a beach towel. Under the beach towel is another wrapped box.

In that wrapped box is a swimsuit. Under the swimsuit is another wrapped box.

Then Flip Flops

Then Sunglasses

Finally the ticket.

 

(I hope this made sense?)

 

It made perfect sense to me!!! I love this idea!!!:D:D

[2addicted2xmas]

you know how you go to different places and they have a raffle under the chair or plate? Why not tape a cruise ticket under her chair and at dinner tell everyone to look under their chair for a surprise?

[Love_to_cruise83]

Make a towel animal, wrap it, and give it to her the day after Christmas. :)

[Colorado Kat]

Play the Hot-cold game with her, leading to boarding pass. "You're getting warmer" "Oops - now pretty cold."

 

Boarding pass could be inside a plastic Xmas ornament. The kind meant for gift cards or photos.

[mandis]

If you open stockings first then presents

 

Fill her stocking with "carnival themed" items.. Just not carnival cruise. Things like bags of botton candy, clown nose, popcorn, and small animals to confuse her.

 

Then buy her a book on the places the cruise is going so she unwraps that with the other presents. I alway like to get books before we go on a cruise to read up on where we are going.

 

Make the last present a cruiser (toy car, I have seen generic ones at dollar tree that say cruiser) and tell her to cruise to her room or another room that has her boarding pass printed and waiting for her :)

[cruizinisthebest]

Yes, we did something similar with a scavenger hunt a couple of years ago. New dresses, sunscreen, bathing suit, all leading up to the boarding pass and excursion. Hope you have a blast!

 

This year we are doing a scavenger hunt for the kid's gifts. They will have to find each one. :)

 

If this is her main gift, I would give it to her on Christmas morning. Maybe you can order her a carnival gift card and put it in a card and then wrap it in a box. Or print out a pic of a Carnival ship and tape it to the inside of a gift box.

 

Whatever way, enjoy your trip!

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

No offence but I've always found it odd that folks give trips as gifts to their children. To me it's not a gift to your child it's a family vacation. Does that mean it's the main gift for mom and dad too?

Our friends did that multiple times while their children were growing up and there were definitely times that they took the kids places that they certainly would not have chosen. They would plan a trip for the family and then that became their kids' Christmas gift. We travel with our daughter every year, and it's never occurred to us that that should be our daughter's gift. Once the kids are grown up I get it.

 

I would wait until the day of the cruise to tell her.

[cxvillar]

I vote to tell her day of. I booked a cruise this Thurs for my hubby and I to celebrate our 25th anniversary which was 1 month ago. This will be a HUGE surprise for him! We own a flower shop, so I'm having him deliver flowers to an employee at the terminal (so he thinks). When he arrives, I will be there waiting with luggage and all!! SURPRISE and we're off for the weekend!!

[twinglemom]

We are surprising our kids with a cruise this Christmas as well... going Jan 25th. We ordered one of these for each of the kids and will set it with the countdown until we leave for the airport.

 

 

Then we will be wrapping up other stuff related to the vacation as well that will help them to figure out all of the details about the trip.

[Mysticks1]

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

 

I agree with this. I would at least wait until the night of the 25th to give it to her. Maybe you could start a scrapbook for her (if you like those sort of things). You could start the book by making the first couple of pages telling the basics of the cruise and put a picture of the ship. She could then finish it with photos and information after the cruise.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Mysticks1

[Athankfulheart]

My kids consider a vacation to be a gift and neither a mundane yearly experience nor an "entitlement", so a vacation as a Christmas gift would make perfect sense to them. Our good friends bought their children a cruise for Christmas and joining us on our January one. I'm so excited for them ! They have never been on a cruise and will be thrilled. The only "gifts" they will get on Christmas from their parents are cruise reveal and related items.

 

 

No offence but I've always found it odd that folks give trips as gifts to their children. To me it's not a gift to your child it's a family vacation. Does that mean it's the main gift for mom and dad too?

Our friends did that multiple times while their children were growing up and there were definitely times that they took the kids places that they certainly would not have chosen. They would plan a trip for the family and then that became their kids' Christmas gift. We travel with our daughter every year, and it's never occurred to us that that should be our daughter's gift. Once the kids are grown up I get it.

 

I would wait until the day of the cruise to tell her.

[AXiDMonica]

I saw an idea on Pinterest I really liked!

 

You can get a BIG box and put some red and blue balloons (filled with helium) inside, tie the boarding pass to the end of them. Stuff all of that into the box and wrap it up. This way when she opens the box the balloons will all float out of there with her gift on the end! :)

 

Obviously this is something you would have to do the next day since I doubt you can get balloons filled on Christmas morning.