My husband wants to "surprise" our kids...

[desamnik]

the morning we leave for Port Canaveral, (the day before the actual cruise). I would like to tell them be our 75 day window opens to book excursions.

They are 10 and 7. What are your thoughts on this? We are going April of this year, so that 75 day mark is coming up soon!!!

To Surprise or not???

Donna

 

[kimmcbee]

surprise them!!!!! We did this withour kids the last 2 cruises 13,10,6. at last cruise. they found out as we were driving to the port. flew in day prior and spent night in port canaveral. they had no idea till that day. it was great. sailing 10/3/09 and they have no clue

 

[desamnik]

Did you book your excursions ahead of time? And they were OK with your plans?

We have surprised them a couple of times for our WDW trips, and it really is fun, but for some reason this time I want to tell them!!!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

[mommasita]

I would definitely surprise them, if you can manage They would be so thrilled. I have thought of it many times, but can never make it to that point.

 

[Mickey moos]

We are surprising our two with a 3-day in April. Our eldest,DD 19, is taking her first WDW trip without us ,during her spring break.So we offered to take DD14 AND DS8 to the mountains for their spring break.They are not to excited since that is an"old people's trip". I am wanting to see how long it will take her to realize we are headed the wrong way. When she finally asks I'll have the cd with the ship's horns in the cd player and hit play.I know I'm evil that way

 

[Brooklyn]

We surprised our girls last summer. They share the same birthday, June 13th and the cruise left on the 15th. We took them to DL on the 13th and just had a fun birthday day. Then the 14th we took them to the fair. Still just saying that these were all their birthday gifts. Then on the morning of the 15th we drove to the ship. My mom came with us so we told them that we were taking grandma to the airport. We drove right up to the ship. Right as we were pulling in I handed them each a gift bag. In the bag were shirts that I made saying "Surprise, you are going on a Disney Cruise"

They FREAKED! I cried. It was the best thing ever!!!!

I say surprise them!!!!!

I can't seem to find the cruise design I did for the t-shirts but it looked a lot like this...

 

[TinkTatoo]

We did our first Disney cruise last year and DS (11) & DD (10) loved it. They really want to go again but we've told them that we can't afford to go until 2010. We plan on telling them (or they'll probably work it out) on the way to the port

Did you book your excursions ahead of time? And they were OK with your plans?......

I'd just go ahead and book what you'd like to do and what you think would suit everyone, you're the one paying for the cruise so the kids should fit in with your plans.

 

[itutorfortravel]

the morning we leave for Port Canaveral, (the day before the actual cruise). I would like to tell them be our 75 day window opens to book excursions.

They are 10 and 7. What are your thoughts on this? We are going April of this year, so that 75 day mark is coming up soon!!!

To Surprise or not???

Donna

Hey Donna, which cruise are you on? We are on the April 11th Magic cruise and we are surprising DD who will be 7. I have kept this secret now for over a year!!! DD's 7th bday is just a couple weeks before we go, so that's when we are going to tell her. Though I think it's really cool to wait till you get there, too! Good luck keeping the secret...it sure hasn't been easy for us

 

[26555]

I'll go the other way. You've already said you want to tell them at the 75 day mark. Do you do all the planning? Does hubby like to sit down and talk about DCL details and get excited or prefer not to hear details or tune you out?

If you do most of the planning and think it would be fun to be talking to the kids about it for those 75 days, I'd do that. If it's fun for you and hubby to plan together and plan the surprise together, then it could be a lot of fun to wait and surprise them. You know your family best.

 

[scootch]

For me one of the funnest parts of the trip is the anticipation! The cruise will go by so quickly, I always tell my kids to let them soak up the pretrip excitement. They are the same age as yours. just my opinion!

 

[lbgraves]

I have to agree with scootch. There is no way that I could keep it quiet. One of the best things about the cruise for our kids has been getting to know their cruise buddies before the cruise through emails and phone calls. I had made it so much furn for them to have friends when they walk on the ship...especially on our last cruise when our friends we had cruised with three times were not there and they had to be convinced that they could make new pals. DH and I talk about the cruise and it is nice not having to worry about if the kids hear us. DD will have to start out being home schooled before the WBTA so she would know something was up.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We surprised our boys (ages 11 and 12) at Christmas -- we sailed December 20 - 27 and told them the morning of the 19th. Because our cruise was mostly about being on the ship, we didn't have to wonder much about whether they would want to do excursions or not -- we actually only booked one and it was with some other DISers at Chankanaab for the Dolphin Encounter. What was nice was that a friend of ours had been there in April and had shared her pictures with us -- we talked about it then that it looked like that might be fun and we should put it on our "some day" list. It was a huge hit when we did it - they were super excited about it.

For the reveal, I made them a secret code that had half our itinerary for one boy and the other half for the other boy - they had to solve the puzzle to know what we were doing. Here it is.

 

[Waltworshiper]

I have 3 boys 11, 10, and 7 at the time of our next cruise and they know we will be going on another cruise, but have no idea when. My husband and I don't plan on telling them until we pick them up from school to leave for the airport. The last cruise they had input on the excursions, and picked what I would have chosen for them. This time we are just doing beaches, since they love the water, we can't go wrong!

 

[itutorfortravel]

We surprised our boys (ages 11 and 12) at Christmas -- we sailed December 20 - 27 and told them the morning of the 19th. Because our cruise was mostly about being on the ship, we didn't have to wonder much about whether they would want to do excursions or not -- we actually only booked one and it was with some other DISers at Chankanaab for the Dolphin Encounter. What was nice was that a friend of ours had been there in April and had shared her pictures with us -- we talked about it then that it looked like that might be fun and we should put it on our "some day" list. It was a huge hit when we did it - they were super excited about it.

For the reveal, I made them a secret code that had half our itinerary for one boy and the other half for the other boy - they had to solve the puzzle to know what we were doing. Here it is.

I just bumped your thread on the BB where you posted your code. It is so cute and I think I might use this for our DD...

 

[crafty91]

Don't surprise!!! IMO part of the "magic" is the anticipation of going and soooo looking forward to going! Its like the gift that keeps on giving and you can all be excited to together as you discuss your up coming plans.

 

[CamColt]

We surprised our kids once (then 6 & 9), the morning we were leaving, and I will never do it again. One cried he didnt want to go, he had to go to soccer camp that day. He wasn't right for the whole trip. He actually seemed sick he was so upset and I was really worried they wouldnt let us on the ship...after a 24 hour drive.

 

[Hanover]

We surprised our now ds11 and ds7 with a cruise in May 2006 and it was so worth the wait. I will never forget the looks they gave us and their excitement. We got right up to the porter area when we told our DS who had turned 9 that day that we had one more gift for him-- it was the cruise documents wrapped up. Earlier that morning we told them we were driving to Port Canaveral and would check out the ships and watch the Magic leave. Little did they know they'd be on it! We had been at WDW a few days beforehand and they thought we were leaving the following day. Even though they've been on 7 DCL cruises, they still say that was their favorite and talk all the time how we should really surprise them again one of these days! We also had 3 of their grandparents join us and surprise them in the terminal which made it even more special.

Overall, I think it depends on how each kid reacts to surprises/changes and if they can go with the flow.

 

[Disney Princess Elli]

I'm 14 and I personally wouldn't want to be suprised on the way as I'd like to pack everything I want and tell my friends when I'm going on holiday and stuff.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

We surprised our girls (4 and 6) last summer with a 3 night Wonder. We told them on the way to the airport. My 4 year old was excited ... until she realized it wasn't the Nick cruise she'd seen advertised during Dora the Explorer. My 6 year old specifically requested not to be surprised on any future vacations.

We have a 7 night stay at WDW followed by a 4 night Wonder scheduled for this summer. I'm telling them about 1 month out so they have time to get excited and plan (LOL ... they won't really plan for excursions, but I'm sure they will want to get out their pictures of the Mickey slide, etc.).

I always wanted a surprise trip when I was a kid, so I figured my kids would love it ... guess not!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

We are suprising our DD's for our cruise in May. They turn 12 a week before the cruise. This will be their first cruise.