Howto suprise someone with a cruise

[dawnie216]

So I posted before about suite size and the bathrooms on the carnival miracle. It looks like i will be booking for next August, however my boyfriends bday is in september and i know he'll be super excited when he sees i booked us a cruise as a gift even if it is a year away. My question is how do I go about delivering the suprise? I had a friend once whose dad gave her this big carnival poster board thing he got from his travel agent but im booking online and since its a year away I wont have any travel documents so does anyone have any ideas on how to present it in a fun way? I was thinking I could buy him a suitcase and stuff it with a bathing suit and some flip flops but that still doesnt scream carnival lol Any help would be great :p

[TakeMeAway1001]

So I posted before about suite size and the bathrooms on the carnival miracle. It looks like i will be booking for next August, however my boyfriends bday is in september and i know he'll be super excited when he sees i booked us a cruise as a gift even if it is a year away. My question is how do I go about delivering the suprise? I had a friend once whose dad gave her this big carnival poster board thing he got from his travel agent but im booking online and since its a year away I wont have any travel documents so does anyone have any ideas on how to present it in a fun way? I was thinking I could buy him a suitcase and stuff it with a bathing suit and some flip flops but that still doesnt scream carnival lol Any help would be great :p

 

I was recently in the same situation and had a few ideas I was tossing around. We were going to do the cruise themed gifts to open like snorkel, sunscreen, waterproof camera etc but I couldn't settle on one thing so I went with a card and filled it with the stuff in the picture below :) I just spread it out on paper so it could be seen better.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=815339&page=23

He was definitely surprised and a little miffed as he dumped out the card and started reading all the little tags. It wasn't overly creative but it sure worked. I could have held out a lot longer if it wasn't for DH's job, he was filling jobs into Sept as of last week so I had to spill the beans :) Good luck~

[paralegal]

I did the same thing for my boyfriend (now husband) back in 2003. I went to the store and bought a plastic ship/boat (think child's toy). Then I went to the website and printed a picture of the cruise ship on a piece of paper. Then I wrote a little invitation and printed that underneath the ship. I think the invitation said something like you are invited on a 4 day caribbean cruise onboard the Norweigen Majesty. The cruise will set sail on ______ and will sail to the following (put the destinations). I don't remember exactly what it said, but it was something similar to that wording. Then I wrapped the ship and invitation in a box and gave it to him. I gave it to him in December and we sailed in January. It was a birthday/christmas present. That way,he would have enough time to ask off, etc. He really liked the idea. Said it was creative.

[Shipshape7]

So I posted before about suite size and the bathrooms on the carnival miracle. It looks like i will be booking for next August, however my boyfriends bday is in september and i know he'll be super excited when he sees i booked us a cruise as a gift even if it is a year away. My question is how do I go about delivering the suprise? I had a friend once whose dad gave her this big carnival poster board thing he got from his travel agent but im booking online and since its a year away I wont have any travel documents so does anyone have any ideas on how to present it in a fun way? I was thinking I could buy him a suitcase and stuff it with a bathing suit and some flip flops but that still doesnt scream carnival lol Any help would be great :p

 

You could buy one of those toy inflatable ships (they sell them on Carnival's website) then make up something on your printer giving the cruise details - dates, ports etc. Roll that up in a scroll, blow up the toy ship and tie the scroll to the ship with a ribbon and bow. Then either put it in a box and wrap it with colorful paper shredding or (since it is light) tie enough "bon voyage" helium balloons to it to make it hover in mid air. If you got a REALLY big box, you could even do both and it would really be exciting to see the balloons lift it up out of the box when he opened it.

[LorrieB]

If you can hold out for a little while, send for the brochure / dvd from Carnival, include that in the gift so he can see the ship on the DVD. Then, go to a local TA and ask if you can either buy or have one of their vacation posters. Or, go online and purchase a poster. Try Ebay. Here is just one that I found:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Beautiful-CARNIVAL-Cruise-ship-POSTER-++-FREE-BONUSES++_W0QQitemZ360159718811QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090602?IMSfp=TL090602158003r5191

 

There are so many ways of getting cruise stuff such as posters, keychains, lanyards, etc. Get a cooler which is the size allowed 12 x 12 x 12 and fill it with a bunch of cruise stuff. You can even purchase one from the Carnival site:

 

http://carnival.victorydyo.com/

 

http://cruisediva.blogspot.com/2008/07/carnival-gifts-you-missed-out-on.html

 

Have fun and FILL THAT COOLER!!!!!!!

[freddymale]

what I always wanted to do was this..

leave a not on the bed saying to look in the fridge..in the fridge ,on the milk would be another note to look in the microwave..and so on..till the final one I would have taped under the kitchen table a copy of the fun pass, or a picture of the ship with the words welcome aboard.

may sound corny, but I always wanted to do this..lol

 

:rolleyes:

[dawnie216]

Everyones ideas have been soooo great i feel like such an idiot now lol...Im gonna use them all somehow!!! Thanks so much

[KenMo]

This past Feb I surprised DH with a cruise for his birthday.

 

He had to work Friday and we were to fly out Saturday.

 

I printed out the FunPass and put it in a birthday card in his lunch box so he'd get it the night before we were to leave.

 

Not very creative, but he sure was surprised!!

[Disney Debbie]

I'm surprising my DH for his 50th birthday. We're going on the Carnival Imagination 12/31/09 - which is his actual birthday. We NEVER do anything for his birthday because it is on New Year's and we don't want to be out on the road with drunks - plus it's so much more expensive! But this year I'm biting the bullet and still getting a good deal.

 

Anyway - I called his boss before I booked and got the okay and a promise of secrecy! I plan on telling him the night before - pack your bags for someplace warm, and not telling him anything else! He'll know we're going to Miami, because we'll have to fly. He won't know about the cruise until we get there! I've also called his best friend and hopefully he and his wife will be coming as well. If so, I'm not going to tell him that either - he'll just see them the first night at dinner!

[Shipshape7]

what I always wanted to do was this..

leave a not on the bed saying to look in the fridge..in the fridge ,on the milk would be another note to look in the microwave..and so on..till the final one I would have taped under the kitchen table a copy of the fun pass, or a picture of the ship with the words welcome aboard.

may sound corny, but I always wanted to do this..lol

 

:rolleyes:

 

We used to do that with our kids' Easter baskets and any time where we had a present that was for all of them. They would even get DH to do one for no reason on a rainy Saturday morning once in awhile. They're mostly grown up now, but still talk about how much they enjoyed these little treasure hunts when they were all little together.

[robb01]

lots of great tips here, I planned to surprise my parents with a cruise next year :D

[2brattyboys]

I have pulled off a couple of suprises, the latest one was last week. We waited until exactly four months before we were to set sail to tell the kids. We started the night with a scavenger hunt. The hunt ended at a big presentation board (the tri-fold type that are used for science fair projects). Anyway, all the panels were covered and said "Open on June 10th", Open on June 11th" and so forth. When they removed the first one it told them they were sailing the Carnival Liberty. The subsequent days told them what we would be doing each day. I got sample menus and Capers and included activites. They were so excited to find out where we would be the next day and what we would be doing. They were so excited!

[back to the islands]

My husband surprised me a few years ago on my birthday. It was a combination birthday/anniversary gift and my dad had just passed away 2 weeks prior so I needed cheering up. He did it right! When I woke up he sent me to the bathroom with a cup of coffee and told me I couldn't come out until he said. When I opened the door he had 4 tiki torches crossed with leis hanging from then on the end of the bed, leis strung corner to corner on the ceiling, tiki torch lights hung and lit around the window, a Hawaiian shirt and Aloha sign. The ships deck plans hung on the wall and a tropical drink glass and the ship brochure in a cute basket. There may have been other stuff, but its been 4 years.He had gotten me a SF to Hawaii 10 day sailing on the Pride of America - its inaugural cruise. Oh, and a little metal sign on the door with our room # on it.

I was so surprised and left my bedroom decorated for months - until after the cruise. It was the BEST surprise! He's a keeper!

[Nunu]

Has he cruised before or shown any interest in it?

[valancy1]

You could buy one of those toy inflatable ships (they sell them on Carnival's website) then make up something on your printer giving the cruise details - dates, ports etc. Roll that up in a scroll, blow up the toy ship and tie the scroll to the ship with a ribbon and bow. Then either put it in a box and wrap it with colorful paper shredding or (since it is light) tie enough "bon voyage" helium balloons to it to make it hover in mid air. If you got a REALLY big box, you could even do both and it would really be exciting to see the balloons lift it up out of the box when he opened it.

 

Or put the UNinflated ship in a tube, have him blow it up so he doesn't know what it is until he inflates it???