Is It Dumb?

[Jfultz81]

DH and I are disagreeing over how to invite someone to cruise with us. I want to make nifty little invitations, he says we just ask them (I think just asking is boooring).

 

My only thing is...I always put so much effort into planning, making sure everything is perfect (or nearly) and that everyone has a great time, but alas, not everyone is a cruise junkie so they aren't as thrilled about getting weeklyl emails with info, pics, etc or making cds of vacation music (and on and on..). Should I just suck it up and just ask or make spiffy invites even though I may be the only one excited about them??

 

I know, so trivial.. but I know I'm not the only cruise junkie and I have no one else that gets that here. Just need some moral support from other junkies, thanks!

[kidless]

Do it by email and include links to the sihp and pictures then it is kind of a invitation .....

[Jfultz81]

I guess I should expand a bit.. its for my in-law's 30th anniversary.

[dna1990]

A fancy invite sounds like a fine idea, even if in the end - you are the only one really 'into it'. But I would bet they will be grateful for the effort.

 

I would perhaps go easy on the weekly/monthly countdown and 'info sharing'. Some folks would rather experience the cruise 'live' and with some surprises.

 

A silly example, that while I do alot of research on a ship/cabin selection - I will not look at any photos of the ship's interior before hand. I don't want it to be like I have been there before I actually have.

[jmf123]

I guess I should expand a bit.. its for my in-law's 30th anniversary.

 

I'm sure most people still enjoy getting a 'snail mail' letter or invitation in the mail. (Environmental issues aside, I was dismayed to read recently that some brides have gone to sending e-vites for their wedding!). A 30th anniversary is certainly special (you're not just inviting friends to join you on vacation). I think using your talent and interest in sending out a cruise-themed invitation would be great! :)

[Azure Moon]

I've toyed with the idea of mailing out invitations, so I think you should go for it. Especially since you have an excellent event to celebrate.

 

I agree with dna1990's comments.

 

Maybe you could include an insert to the invitation, that way you could provide additional information that wouldn't look so nice on the invitation itself and it would give you a place to ask the invitee if they would be interested in discussing the cruise before hand, how often (daily :D , weekly, monthly, only if needed, or not at all:eek: ), and which areas (excursions, tee shirts or other group merchandise, fashions, ship, pre or post cruise stays, door decorations, etc. or everything :D ), and how they prefer to communicate (phone, website, e-mail, snail-mail).

Have fun, celebrating anniversaries and cruising are happy things, a cute upbeat invite to something like this beats the heck out of receiving bills in the mail :p .

[rclcruzer]

If you are as close to your in-laws as I am, and obviously you are since you will be cruising with them, I would for sure make the invitation for them!! You sound a lot like me.....I am a "party planner extroardinare" !! (lol)

I hope they apprectiate it :D

Have fun on your cruise:)

[lexisnana]

DH and I are disagreeing over how to invite someone to cruise with us. I want to make nifty little invitations, he says we just ask them (I think just asking is boooring).

 

My only thing is...I always put so much effort into planning, making sure everything is perfect (or nearly) and that everyone has a great time, but alas, not everyone is a cruise junkie so they aren't as thrilled about getting weeklyl emails with info, pics, etc or making cds of vacation music (and on and on..). Should I just suck it up and just ask or make spiffy invites even though I may be the only one excited about them??

 

I know, so trivial.. but I know I'm not the only cruise junkie and I have no one else that gets that here. Just need some moral support from other junkies, thanks!

 

 

Jen:

 

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary by taking our kids and grandkids on a cruise next April. Can you let me know what you do weekly, monthly, etc. to get everyone jazzed up for it? It's obvious to me that I don't have your imagination, so any suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks so much. :D

 

Cindy

[Darkwolfe]

When I was telling a friend of mine about the Serenade cruise we're taking in January, he said he'd really like to take his wife on a cruise. I said, "Ya got a year, book it and go with us." End result, the four of us are all going. It'll be a blast!

[LaShoe]

Jen, Yes, yes yes....I am a secret party/travel planner at heart too. I am obcessed with CC and by the time we leave for our cruises I've whipped myself into somewhat frenzy. I have traveled with a group of 20 somethings and brought all sorts of pirate outfits and water guns and glow necklaces for each night not to mention the scavenger hunts I've planned.The weird part is they LOVE IT and participate. We have also traveled with friends and tucked an invitation into their menus at a resturant. That way we could see their reaction and discuss the upcoming cruise ideas.

 

In August we are having a pirate bar-b-que with those 20 somethings to relive our past cruises and start gearing up for our next one to be planned for April.

 

What ever you do, you should enjoy the planning and I think that makes the whole cruise sweeter since you have thought about it and anticipated all the fun to come.

[Crosboro]

I would agree with your hubby to keep it simple, but if my wife wanted to go all out, I'd tell her to go for it. And so should you if that's your desire. It's not like he's doing all the work!:)

 

ps. And I would lend some assistance to wifey if she needed it.

[Jfultz81]

Jen:

 

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary by taking our kids and grandkids on a cruise next April. Can you let me know what you do weekly, monthly, etc. to get everyone jazzed up for it? It's obvious to me that I don't have your imagination, so any suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks so much. :D

 

Cindy

 

Oh, gosh.. so many fun things you can do! I love making vacation music cd's (and letting everyone vote on which ones should make the cut) You can ask other people to "donate" cds or music files for this. Planning scavenger hunts for the cruise is fun too (if you don't want to make one, www.vacationscavengerhunt.com sells them cheaply!).

 

I also email weekly/bi-weekly about what excursions can be done, pictures of the ports/ship, reminders of what needs to be done (passport applications, setsail info filled out, final payment).

 

I also like trivia, so little trivia contests and have little stuff as prizes (travel sized toiletries, plastic leis, fun stuff from oriental trading company, etc.)

 

If everyone lives close, you could have little parties, like 100 days til sailing, or final payment. Just find some cruise ship menus and maybe make one or two simple recipes from them.

 

There are so many things you can do to have fun and get everyone excited! Happy 30th anniversary!! Hope you have a great time!

[Jfultz81]

I would agree with your hubby to keep it simple, but if my wife wanted to go all out, I'd tell her to go for it. And so should you if that's your desire. It's not like he's doing all the work!:)

 

ps. And I would lend some assistance to wifey if she needed it.

 

 

LOL, I do ALL the planning when it comes to vacations. Its fun, its something I enjoy, and having great people on CC to feed my addiction is half the fun of cruising! I love going all out (sometimes I go a bit overboard). I even tried to get him to help me leave little clues around for them, but he just rolled his eyes. Men. :rolleyes:

[JanineM]

I'd like to offer an opposing opinion ...

 

while I think it is great to go all out with the invitation, not everyone wants to know every single detail of the cruise in advance.

 

We are the types who want surprises, and when we took friends with us last September for their first cruise, they were grateful that we hadn't given them too much info in advance. For some of us, half of the fun is the exploration!!! If you know your in-laws want to know every detail, then great. Otherwise, you might want to lay back a bit on the weekly updates/details.

[Cruise_Couple]

I email a different picture of our ship, menus, food dishes, ports of call, or anything to do with our cruise each and every day to our family members and friends that are cruising with us! I do not care if they are thrilled to get them or not!!! I have fun coming up with a new picture every day!!! I started this when we booked and it was over one and a half years until our cruise! We are still over a year out and I am still going strong.

[n2cruzin1]

When you say invitation to go on cruise with you, are you paying the tab or just asking them to spend their own money to go on a cruise? If you are paying, then I'm ready to go, just say the word. If you are wanting to get a bunch of friends and family to go celebrate the in-law's anniversary, then I would just mention to them in an email or phone call what I was planning to do and see if they are interested. As you can probably tell, I am a boring man. LOL.

[cheaptravel]

We have flat out asked people to take one with us, but even tho they seem totally enthralled with our stories, they still don't quite know if they want to. One couple in particular goes to Vegas twice a year. They stay at the same hotel. They eat at the same places. Get my drift? I will cherish the day when someone says they'll go !

[amybear912]

Jen...

 

How timely...

 

I am currently in the final countdown to a party cruise that I planned with/for my family... Just about everyone going is celebrating something big this year so our family decided to do it on a cruise... (celebrations include: a wedding, a 60th birthday, 2 graduations, a 10th wedding anniversary, an engagement, and a 10 year cancer survivorship)... My family is having a great year!!!

 

Anyway... we started the planning back in January and we cruise in August... I was nominated the chief planner/researcher... Like you, I am obsessive about the planning but my family really isn't... they just want to pay for it and get on the ship, but they like that I am the one out there looking into excursions, I did all the research on what ship to pick, etc...

 

I did our initial invitation via email with a poll to find out when was best to go... Since then I send out an email every few weeks with a different topic... Lots of times it's tips I've learned on here about cruising, or places that look neat to go to when we are in port... One week I sent out a Top 10 Cruise Dos and Don'ts List with stuff like "no corny t-shirts" and "he who pukes pays for the beer", just crazy stuff like that... My sister wrote some crazy song and sent that out to all of us...

 

Our cruise is pretty laid-back... we won't all be spending every second together and port days some of us want to do one thing and others want to do something else... the big thing for us was not to make everyone feel pressured to be in a group mentality... our ressies are linked so we are sitting together in the dining room and we are planning a family photo on formal night... but beyond that, it's pretty much do what you will...

 

My mom took the t-shirt joke a step further and found a place where you can get those beach wallets printed with whatever you want and she apparently has ordered some for everyone with something on it but she won't say what... She said they were less than $2 a piece at some online party supply type place that does that stuff in bulk... I'll look for the link...

 

My sis and I had a banner made for my uncle's room - he's the newlywed...

 

At first, I was the chief updater, sending out emails about stuff but as we get closer, everyone is really getting into it and contributing in their own way with notices about remembering documents, price drops, reserving Chops, etc...

 

So, the short answer to your question is no, it's not dumb... especially if you have people going who have never cruised and even the ones who have (my family are all seasoned cruisers), will enjoy fun stuff that you send along...

 

BTW, I love your idea about the music CD... that's a great one and I've put sis on the job... :)

[Mydnite]

The invitations sound lovely, esp. as it is for a special event. I think most people will like receiving them.

[NorbertsNiece]

What a wonderful idea. I remember the invite I got for my own 50th Birthday. It meant so much that my sis had gone to such trouble to make it a surprise. She had had fun creating it and then watching me unravel the clues, maps etc.

You go for it!!

My partner who is coming on this cruise with us doesn't want to know anything about what is in store.... he likes to see everything fresh and new and trusts me implicitly in the planning. However DD is covering all TV programmes mentioning ports visited on our route, catching cruise programmes featuring IOS and really enjoying this build up. Me too. Takes all sorts :D

[ronandannette]

When you say invitation to go on cruise with you, are you paying the tab or just asking them to spend their own money to go on a cruise? If you are paying, then I'm ready to go, just say the word. If you are wanting to get a bunch of friends and family to go celebrate the in-law's anniversary, then I would just mention to them in an email or phone call what I was planning to do and see if they are interested. As you can probably tell, I am a boring man. LOL.

 

I was wondering the same thing. An "invitation" definitely implies that you are asking someone to be your "guest". If this isn't your intention, I'd probably re-think it a little.

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

[Jfultz81]

When you say invitation to go on cruise with you, are you paying the tab or just asking them to spend their own money to go on a cruise? If you are paying, then I'm ready to go, just say the word. If you are wanting to get a bunch of friends and family to go celebrate the in-law's anniversary, then I would just mention to them in an email or phone call what I was planning to do and see if they are interested. As you can probably tell, I am a boring man. LOL.

 

Yes, we are paying the tab minus their souveniers and drinks. I want to do an invite because they will have to figure out if they can take the time (MIL is not retired, FIL is) and if its something they want to do. DH won't let me go any further until we do this.. so I want to do it now!!

 

What a wonderful idea. I remember the invite I got for my own 50th Birthday. It meant so much that my sis had gone to such trouble to make it a surprise. She had had fun creating it and then watching me unravel the clues, maps etc.

 

You go for it!!

 

My partner who is coming on this cruise with us doesn't want to know anything about what is in store.... he likes to see everything fresh and new and trusts me implicitly in the planning. However DD is covering all TV programmes mentioning ports visited on our route, catching cruise programmes featuring IOS and really enjoying this build up. Me too. Takes all sorts :D

 

Do you recall what kinds of things your sister did? I wanted to do something like this, but I can't figure out how. They live just down the street, so it would be easy enough to do something like clues on their car window... but I can't come up with anything!

 

I also record all the relevant shows, read tons of reviews, chat on roll calls, search the internet... I love learning everything about it, then instead of spending time figuring stuff out, I can spend more time enjoying the places I already know where to go to.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies... I started to sketch out ideas for the invitation last night and if it comes out good, I'll post a picture of it!

[linda_22003]

I even tried to get him to help me leave little clues around for them, but he just rolled his eyes. Men. :rolleyes:

 

Count mine as one BIG vote for your husband! :D

[terri23]

I email a different picture of our ship, menus, food dishes, ports of call, or anything to do with our cruise each and every day to our family members and friends that are cruising with us! I do not care if they are thrilled to get them or not!!! I have fun coming up with a new picture every day!!! I started this when we booked and it was over one and a half years until our cruise! We are still over a year out and I am still going strong.

 

:eek: that would be overkill for me and I am the cruise-junkie-planner in our group! sounds like you enjoy it, anyway!! :)