*SURPRISE* How have you surprised family/friends with a Disney Cruise?

[FloridaDisneyGirl]

We are taking both sets of our parents and our siblings on their first ever Disney Cruise in January. So far we've told them we want to fly home for a joint family vacation (they all live in FL) and to reserve those dates for a long weekend getaway to Marco Island, Destin or Cocoa Beach However, they weren't born yesterday (the youngest person is 23), and I'm worried they will figure it out before we can drive up to the ship!!!

Any ideas on how to surprise them before they figure it out for themselves? We thought about wrapping a note or picture and giving it to them for Christmas. Another thought was recruit the siblings to help throw the parents off course so we can still do the big reveal at the port. Most recent idea, since a couple suspect a cruise, was tell them we were leaving on a different ship that same day, then end up in front of DCL!

What have you done in the past? Any suggestions for us? TIA!

 

[tinkerone]

we will shortly be doing a b2b. i'm going to take both cc backpacks and fill them full of dcl items and give them these for xmas. it is two children and their families so it will work out fine.
in the packs they will each get a dcl vacation dvd (ordered free from the dcl site), a dcl book from a travel agent so they can see the layout and where their rooms will be, i plan to get extra navigators (we will be sailing the same week next year so its an idea for them), bottles of the shampoo and conditioner for each bag, and so on. i have made a list of items to pick up while on the ship, mostly freebie stuff.
i will present each family with this on xmas day. surprise!!
....and thats how i will be doing it.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

I had created a calendar with pictures from the Dream that I gave as a Christmas gift. The picture for September was a veranda stateroom with the caption "our stateroom". She started to turn to October when I asked her if she read what that said, and then it finally hit her!

 

[BDmom]

We just surprised our 2 girls (10 and 12) 2 weeks ago with our Fantasy Thanksgiving Cruise. We kept it secret for 18 months!

My husband and I made some T-shirts with some cute Disney Clip Art. He wrapped up a T-shirt for my birthday. I unwrapped the t-shirt which had a picture of Minnie on it and it said Disney Fantasy. When I unwrapped it, my kids started going a bit crazy, they started unwrapping all of the rest of my birthday gifts looking for additional clues. They unwrapped a pool float, my husband then announced that he got me a float for my day at CC. At this point the kids were really going crazy, my 12 year old started crying tears of joy, while the 10 year old ran circles around the dining room table. We announced the cruise and my 12 year old exclaimed, "Best birthday ever!" as she wept. We video taped it and have shared it with our cruise group. Good stuff.

 

[FloridaDisneyGirl]

Very cute! I want to keep hearing about how others have surprised their family/friends - keep posting please!!!!

 

[Joel0917]

For our two kids we had clues around the house and he found them informed of puzzle and had to figure out the we r going on the fantasy

 

[EPCOTatNight]

We are taking both sets of our parents and our siblings on their first ever Disney Cruise in January. So far we've told them we want to fly home for a joint family vacation (they all live in FL) and to reserve those dates for a long weekend getaway to Marco Island, Destin or Cocoa Beach However, they weren't born yesterday (the youngest person is 23), and I'm worried they will figure it out before we can drive up to the ship!!!

Any ideas on how to surprise them before they figure it out for themselves? We thought about wrapping a note or picture and giving it to them for Christmas. Another thought was recruit the siblings to help throw the parents off course so we can still do the big reveal at the port. Most recent idea, since a couple suspect a cruise, was tell them we were leaving on a different ship that same day, then end up in front of DCL!

What have you done in the past? Any suggestions for us? TIA!

We took a cruise on the Dream in January. We surprised my son 13 year old son 3 times with 1 cruise. First, we surprised him on Christmas morning with a birthday cruise on "Royal Caribbean". I had learned that Freedom of the Seas was leaving PC on the same day that we were, so that helped my plan. I even printed up phony documents. Secondly, we told him that we were leaving 1 week later than we were. So, the day before the cruise, we surprised him and announced that we were leaving NOW. And finally, the next day when we arrived at the port, we drove up to where DCL embarks to "check out" the Dream up close. That's when the 3rd surprise came. We then announced that it was time to unload the car because this, was the ship that we were sailing on.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

 

[Steve Dexter]

We secretly got on the same cruise with our friend Julie and her family. We ran quite a scam telling her we were in Las Vegas on vacation, even sent her some pictures from prior Las Vegas vacations from Orlando. It was quite a surprise when we found her on the ship. We planned it many months in advance, and it was a miracle that one of us didn't blow the secret!

 

[bumbershoot]

The main thing to work out is how to make sure they have proper ID for the cruise.

 

[californiamomofboys]

you can arrange to have Mickey or Donald Duck call them on their cell phones as you're driving to the port.....

 

[FloridaDisneyGirl]

The main thing to work out is how to make sure they have proper ID for the cruise.

I had to tell my brother about a "Carnival cruise" we were planning bc I knew his passport was expiring - so he's in charge of grabbing everyone's day of. My husband has a plan for his family as well.

Any other surprise stories?

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

I have booked the New Year's Eve cruise on the Magic for my family, and have managed to keep it from ALL of them (even DH!!!).
So, for Christmas, I think I'm going to wrap up things that they will need (new pirate outfits, sunscreen, maybe new swimsuits). Since we've cruised before, I know my family will figure it out quickly, but I am so excited!
And then the biggest surprise for the kids will be once we are onboard, our friends will be there too!

 

[Four Swampers]

We went to the Kennedy Space Center. At 1:00, we left to go to "a restaurant I had heard about that was 20 minutes south of Kennedy." As we drove, we saw the Disney Wonder, and I suggested we drive by it for a closer look. Our girls, ages 11 and 9, did not know we were cruising even when we pulled up to the ship. They were pretty surprised when I told them to hop out of the car.

I doubt that approach would work for your older group, but it sure was fun!

 

[UCFGrad01]

It wasn't a DCL cruise, but my sister and I surprised my mother a few years ago with her first cruise. We told her we booked a cruise for she and our aunt (her sister), to make sure she was agreeable to cruising and would have a passport (she was on the fence about cruises, wasn't sure she'd like them, not be sick, etc). The surprise part was that my sister and I went too. I live out of state, so was in FL for about a week before that on vacation. I made sure to call my mom at "normal" times, even calling her Monday morning before we all left saying I was getting to work late because I had a dental appointment first thing. We did that to make sure they were getting to the port, we had it timed to where they were about 45 minutes ahead of us. Then we walked up to them while they were having lunch on the ship and asked if we could sit with them. The look on my mom's face was pretty priceless.

 

[kdeans1010]

I got home from the first Disney cruise and I was taking out the souvenirs for my sister and I pretended to get frustrated as I went through my suitcases. I was swearing and asking "where did I put that?" Handed my sister a friendship bracelet with her nickname ("Kelly Belly") and found her a necklace I got for her, and a cool day of the dead skull, and I was getting really frustrated myself asking my dad (who I had gone with) if he had seen it... Mind you it was 0300 in the morning, my dogs are acting crazy (I have a golden retriever, who was acting like I had come back from the dead. My cat was just all in my face... yeah), and "finally" I found the folder in my carry on and was like "I didn't get you a souvenir, because I figured you can get your own..." to my mom and handed her a pamphlet with our names and a dummy date. I told her she could pick anywhere anytime she wanted and I had it covered- everything: cruise, drinks, tips, transportation, flights, etc. So she picked her birthday on the Fantasy less than 9 months later.

 

[tweis]

We took a cruise on the Dream in January. We surprised my son 13 year old son 3 times with 1 cruise. First, we surprised him on Christmas morning with a birthday cruise on "Royal Caribbean". I had learned that Freedom of the Seas was leaving PC on the same day that we were, so that helped my plan. I even printed up phony documents. Secondly, we told him that we were leaving 1 week later than we were. So, the day before the cruise, we surprised him and announced that we were leaving NOW. And finally, the next day when we arrived at the port, we drove up to where DCL embarks to "check out" the Dream up close. That's when the 3rd surprise came. We then announced that it was time to unload the car because this, was the ship that we were sailing on.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

That's awesome.

 

[elbaseball212]

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[KansasFroggie]

We are taking my parents in May. We have ordered a fish extender to wrap up for them at Christmas. It has their names on it and we've signed them up for the FE group.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

how about blindfolds and a limo.

Since everyone's in Florida, meet one of the homes to meet at, load everyone and their luggage into a stretch limo or bus. Hand out the blindfolds and tell the driver to go!

 

[mynameisnobody]

I am working on surprising my daughters (18 & 20) with their second cruise on the Wonder this December. I had already booked a cruise on a Carnival ship for the same week. I decided just before final payment to book with DCL. I just told them I had changed the ships and port since Galveston is about 3 hours closer than NOLA. I haven't actually said what ship we are sailing. Just a vague reference that Royal also sailed out of Galveston but not ACTUALLY saying we were on a RC ship. I also used this to fabricate the idea that they have a Pirate themed night so the girls could get their pirate costumes prepped. Only other thing I need to do right before the cruise is find their pins and ears and pack them away so they'll be available. I would die a most horrible death if my DD 20 was on Disney property without her pins. She worked in the college program at WDW this spring and became a pin trading maniac. It didn't help that she work in merchandise in Downtown Disney. So far I'm not getting many questions. They've cruised enough that it isn't something new but they've been REALLY wanting another DCL cruise since our first 3 years ago. If all goes well they won't know we are sailing on the Wonder until we arrive at the pier to board on 12/14.