Surprise Travel For Parents and Grandparents

[Rancher Dave]

Today there are many adults who do very well, in fact better than their parents and grandparents did. Also, with two incomes and sometimes no kids left in the house, none had or they grew up and moved out already. With the extra disposable income some folks are now taking along their parents and grandparents.
I am in the early planning stages for a surprise birthday party for a relative. Looking at a cruise and inviting about 30 family members along. For the record I am only paying my own way, not for the whole group… The birthday girl will be in for a big surprise…of course we have a lot of leg work to get done before…probably the biggest issue is making sure the passport is good long enough to take the cruise. We are looking likely at going out of Galveston…sadly at the time of the actual birthday we are stuck on CCL…hopefully we can defer a few weeks until after the RCCL Voyager of the Seas arrives.
I will keep this story going with generic updates so as not to have the true identity revealed in case they decide to check out this site.
Share your similar experiences & any thoughts/suggestions about how to best pull off a surprise like this.

[DiveSquire]

Funny you are choosing a cruise for a loved one's surprise party because DH and I along with his mother just decided to do the same thing when we were together over the holidays for my FIL's 70th Birthday. We have 2-3 years to plan (which will take that long as not everyone has the income to just pay for a cruise like the one we want to take).

We decided to surprise him with a 14 day cruise to Alaska. Leaving and returning to Vancouver. We thought Europe and other destinations, but FIL loves the outdoors, loves to backpack in the wilderness and go on really long hikes. So this seemed the best idea. Plus not too expensive for those with tight budgets. Also, Alaska and Hawaii have been the only cruises that I have ever been on that I would love to do over and over again.

Biggest problem I am having is that the cruise ship that is beautifully designed for Alaska is CCL as well and so I am trying to do research to find if there is a comparable ship to the Spirit. We have sworn off CCL if we are taking kids. Long story short, we don't trust camp carnival.

Good luck with your surprise Dave!

[Rancher Dave]

DiveSquire-

Try checking out the Celebrity Ships. (I forget when they are there or not there...I know RCCL and X were cutting back on AK Sailings.) They have very nice ships as does Princess.

You may want to go to CruiseCritic.com and check out some of the Alaska cruising info there...and get specific feedback on specific ships. The one I was on is repo to Southern Carib and not doing AK at least for the next year or two...

Sadly we are only on a 6 month plan with final payments due ahead of the cruise etc...and many in DWs family would have restriced income, so it will be interesting to see if it comes together. When I price it out the week DW wants it to be we are at $1K per pax if 2 to a cabin...not much less for 3/4th since out of Galveston that week not much of a break. That is before those who go and can afford to pay split the cost of taking along some who need to be there but could never pay for the cruise. DW and I have very different views on just who should get taken along at our cost...

I am pushing another idea...one that actually would likely be easier to pull off and would cost much less thus likely all 38 folks could be there at least some of the time. No flying, well other than for the Eskimo SIL, and mabye that whole family would come down if it were just fly down and visit. They already know in November they won't melt in Texas...August maybe.

Off to search out my other idea more...also trying to figure out aeroponics growing systems for a veggie garden.

[DiveSquire]

Dave,

Good luck with the new idea. I did go to cruise critic (same name for me over there too). Anyway was bummed to see so many ships pulling out. So we are also looking into alternatives because I am afraid that with so many pulling out that the prices are going to increase due to more demand for what remains.

Who knows we may just end up doing WDW for a week. Don't know about some of the family but I know I could be happy there for a week in Feb. plus FIL loves roller coasters (and yes he still gets on them at 67 and has a blast). I had no clue he was close to turning 70, thought he was in his early 60's and that was only cause MIL kept talking about senior discounts. Oh well. Now I know why DH has so much energy.

[Rancher Dave]

You are right...the cruise lines are pushing for higher prices. Same reason we don't see six ships in Galveston like back 3 years ago if memory serves correctly. Technically it was 5 in Galveston and 1 from Houston, NCL.

You can always book a good deal when it first comes out and work on a back-up plan. If you do at leasat you can get a block of cabins together that way...and lock in a good price. You should have depending on the deal until 2-3 months out to make a final decision and pay or cancel without any cost, at least if you book direct or with a TA who doesn't charge cancel fees.

After MIL lost her sister today, there will be more push for folks to gather and celebrate the birthday, hence my thought we stay on land. Too many family members who alone could not pay for own fare let alone pay for their kids as well.

I am about to finally video the Christmas light display, as on Saturday after returning from AK, I was sick with penumonia and am just now up to spending 30 minutes outside, in this loverly sub freezing weather we have now. Then I must figure out if I will be on the Kenya trip, finish Spring Break Plans, put away the whole Chritsmas light show....and work on the suprise birthday for November...big weekend ahead.

[notentirelynormal]

Don't know if you're flying but if you are check with the airlines for group pricing. Any grop over etiher 8 or 10 (depending on airlines) can get you some benefits. For example, when we flew Air New Zealand we paid less for our premium economy seats then those in economy. For our flight from LAX to FLL last month we didn't get that big of a break but we got other benefits. First, I could lock in the price months in advance with only a deposit. Everyone was able to pay their own fares one month before the flight. BUT, I also got to choose seating for everyone. So our group was not only sitting together but in the order we wanted and the rows I wanted.