How to Surprise Someone with a Cruise: 17 Creative Ideas to Elevate the Gift of Travel

Surprising someone with a cruise takes more than just booking the trip; the reveal is where the magic happens. We're walking you through 17 creative ways to announce a cruise, from low-effort tricks you can pull off in an afternoon to elaborate reveals that turn into an adventure of their own.

We cover memory books, jewelry ideas, scavenger hunts, custom puzzles, countdown calendars, and even a special call from Disney that is perfect for children and kids at heart. 

Some ideas stand on their own while others build on each other. We also share a family story of our own, including how a last-minute "whisked away" trip turned into a proposal.

Whether you want something you can pull together tonight or a surprise that takes days or weeks of planning, there's an idea for you. Grab our free downloadable PDF with all 17 ideas, plus links to everything we mention below:

• Get a personalized fish tank sign: https://sometimessailing.com/dm6n
• Buy a message in a bottle: https://sometimessailing.com/avd2 
• See our SHOP MY page for our OMEGA Sailing Bracelet & Wildwood Oyster Company Seaweed Bracelet: https://shopmy.us/collections/6212017
• Our favorite high-quality memory books: https://sometimessailing.com/867d (read why we love them here: https://sometimeshome.com/high-quality-photo-books-travel/ ) 
• Our Amazon List has great ideas to include in a cruise-themed gift basket: https://amzn.to/4xFmv0A

✨ Get the FREE DOWNLOADABLE PDF with all 17 ideas on this page: https://sometimessailing.com/surprise-cruise-reveal-ideas/ ✨

Transcript

Mikkel (00:37)

Today we are talking about Memorable Surprise Cruise Reveal Ideas. In other words, what's the best way to surprise somebody with a cruise? We have encountered people and family and friends and even other passengers on cruises that have surprised their partner or family member or even children with a cruise. 

So instead of just telling them what are creative ways to gift a cruise? We go over, you know, some ideas that are easier than others, some ideas that require a little more pre-planning or less pre-planning. The beauty of it is that you can choose your own adventure with how involved you want to get. So without further ado, Dan, let's get into it.

Dan (01:24)

So the first idea is to create a memory book of your past adventures to reveal your future adventures. So think of like a photo album of places you've been or places that you love. Or maybe even places that you want to go and giving that as a gift.

And that will really start to set the stage and get the imagination flowing about what is possible and what this trip could look like.

Mikkel (01:55)

And then on the last page, if you want to really commit to it, you can print in the book, with the publisher, where you're going next. Or if you don't want to commit to it that strongly, you can

Dan (02:06)

Yeah.

Mikkel (02:07)

include a card or a handwritten note in the back of the book that says where you're going. I do want to mention that we have linked

ways to purchase all these items in our notes. These are services we've used in the past or ones that we've heard about and are well reviewed. So definitely check out the show notes. When you click our links, it really helps support our show through affiliate income that doesn't cost you a dime, but really helps keep our content complimentary to you and keeps the ideas coming. And we really love being able to bring that to you.

Another idea

is that you can gift a charm that's nautical themed, for example, to tell somebody you're going on a cruise. So it could be as simple as a keychain or something like a Pandora charm for a bracelet, especially if you're going on like a sailboat or something, like the Maine Windjammer cruise or Windstar, both of which we've talked about in the past. It could be a nature charm, it could be something like a seashell, or  a beach ball. You know, something that really just implies that you're going on a cruise, you're going on the ocean. Etsy is another great place to look for this. We have an Omega, like Omega watches, an Omega sailing bracelet. We have an extensive review of that on our site. It is actually one of the first articles on SometimesSailing.com. It gets a lot of traction! It is a great bracelet. You can wear it in the water, you can wear it in the shower. It's great. So you can kinda take it from day to night.

So check out the Omega Sailing bracelet that is linked in the show notes as well. So again, just a charm or you know, a keychain or you know, a bracelet that harks back to the ocean to surprise them. Actually, we even have a Wildwood Oyster Company seaweed bracelet that's really cool and unique that supports independent artists, that I will link in the show notes as well.

Maine is really on our mind with the last two recordings we did for our Maine road trip and Maine Windjammer trip. Don't forget to check that out in our episodes. The third idea!

Dan (04:06)

This one I like because it involves well, it involves a lot of elaborate planning and also involves a little bit of work on the person's part that you're gonna surprise and that's...

Mikkel (04:16)

But it's very doable. It's very doable at home, right? So don't you think you could do this one — like you could spend a couple of hours planning it around your house and be successful?

Dan (04:26)

I didn't tell him what it is yet, but it's a scavenger hunt!

Mikkel (04:30)

Okay, that's fair. Sorry to flip it and reverse it, but I was excited about the accessibility of this.

Dan (04:37)

Right. So, like Mikkel said, you can plan around your apartment, around your house, around your neighborhood. Get as elaborate as you want with this, but you know, it's a fun... maybe small gifts like we said, like trinkets or nautical-themed socks or something — small gifts for your loved one to find and then reveal the entire trip along the way, and the reveal becomes a trip in of itself. Hmm.

Mikkel (05:03)

That's true. Alternatively, if you are coordinating this around your neighborhood and it's too difficult to give a gift or a little trinket, like you were saying, along the way, you can just have one final gift that's like a basket with cruise-themed items in it, right? So like, luggage tag holders or carabiners that help you kind of like store things in the room or a handheld fan if you're going somewhere warm. So things like that.

Check out our Amazon shopping list for conveniently placed ideas that we have for you about what to put in that basket. All right.

Another fun idea is to make a fish tank... stay with me, stay with me. ...that indicates you're going on a cruise, right? So like you add, if you already have a fish tank in your house, you add like, you know, a pirate ship to it or something. You don't want a sunken ship because I feel like that's bad karma or bad

Dan (05:59)

Yeah.

Mikkel (06:00)

omen. But maybe, you know, there's a seashell you put in there with a note or something. If you don't have a fish tank but you really like this idea, you can get a vase and add a goldfish to it, right? Like something simple. Think back to the carnival goldfish you used to get when you went to the local fair. So that's kind of

Dan (06:18)

Right.

Mikkel (06:18)

a fun one, right?

Dan (06:20)

Yeah. And then you can go to a pet supply store like Petco or or something like that, because they have there's a surprising amount of things you can get for your fish tank. So okay, you can really go creative and get wild there.

Mikkel (06:36)

I love it. All right. Coming

in at number five, you can create a gift basket or bag. And this could, like we said before, be at the end of the scavenger hunt or just be a standalone on its own. So maybe you have the ports of call that are themed, integrated in the basket, right? So like if you're going on a river cruise, maybe you include German pretzels or Viennese coffee mix or paprika from Hungary, right? Isn't that fun?

Dan (07:04)

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. or just all French wine.

Mikkel (07:08)

Also fun. Okay, let's keep go I love all these ideas. Are you gifting these to me?

Dan (07:12)

Maybe okay, maybe some cheese, some bread. But even if you're going if even if you're sailing in Canada, I think French wine should be in the basket either way.

Mikkel (07:26)

I like this Canadian, like all the ingredients for like poutine, I don't know how, but like French fries, cheese curds. How would we do that? I don't know, but I'm willing to find out. I like this. You know, another easier one in all seriousness, is nautical-themed, right? Like maybe you're going to St. Bart's on a cruise and you can include snorkel gear, coral reef-safe sunscreen, ocean-scented candles, like that kind of thing, right?

Dan (07:54)

So the sixth idea is surprise somebody with a message in a bottle.

Mikkel (08:02)

Hmm.

Dan (08:02)

Right? So I think I may have put a message in a bottle once in real life. I'm…I can't…yeah, no. No, I I don't even

Mikkel (08:08)

For an ex, not for moi.

Dan (08:12)

like when I was a kid, I don't even remember what it said on the paper.

Mikkel (08:15)

All right. Look, I was gonna support the romance, whether it was for an ex or not.

Dan (08:21)

yeah, no.

It definitely didn't say you're going on a cruise. So but you but you can

Mikkel (08:25)

That's fair. What did it say?

Dan (08:30)

do this, you could do this in your bathtub. You can do this in a sink, like it could be at the fountain at the local park, right?

Mikkel (08:38)

You

took it to another level because I was just envisioning a message in a bottle and you're handing the bottle to somebody with some sand in it, but you're saying go a step further, put it in an environment. Okay, I like it.

Dan (08:49)

Put it in, yeah. Set it to sail, yes. Yeah. It's yours to take wherever you want.

Mikkel (08:59)

Alright, if you don't want to make your own

people have made them for you on Etsy, of course. And then get a second bottle, aka some bubbly, to celebrate.

All right, whisk him or her away is number seven. Now, this is possible because my brother-in-law did this for my sister when he proposed. They were living in New York City, and he secretly asked her boss if he could whisk her away, which required a couple days off that she didn't know about.

He packed a bag for her, which is very risky because my sister's in fashion and packing is one of the things she loves doing for a cruise, but he did it. And they actually left from New York City to go on a cruise. So part of the proposal and the surprise of the cruise was that he whisked her away and got those days off. So

I think that's one of the most romantic things my brother-in-law has ever done for my sister. Not the only, but you know, since they've been together in fifteen or sixteen years, that was a winner.

Dan (10:01)

All right.

Mikkel (10:02)

And

what a great thing to be like, "When are we leaving?" "Right now," is the answer. How fun is that? Don't do this if people don't like surprises, right? But like a last-minute surprise. But it is a good surprise if you do.

Dan (10:14)

Right. Right.

So number eight, you could do it right at the airport. So same kind of thing. Pack the bags or at least, you know, say, "We have a flight tomorrow morning, and as soon as we get to the airport, I'll tell you where we're going."

Mikkel (10:30)

This

is actually especially great for kids that aren't really in control of their own schedule yet. You get to the airport and

Dan (10:35)

Right. Yeah.

Mikkel (10:36)

you tell them where you're going before they can read it on the sign for themselves, right?

Dan (10:40)

Right. But remember we ran into our friends at the Raleigh airport, and they were saying

Mikkel (10:45)

Yes.

Dan (10:46)

like, "We're going on a trip, but only one of us knows where we're going."

Mikkel (10:49)

We don't know where. Yeah, I think they ended up in Italy, right?

Dan (10:53)

I think so, yeah.

Mikkel (10:55)

Really fun. All right, number nine, the 'ole switcheroo. Right? The old switcheroo being we're going to the movies later or the beach, for example, and then you end up driving them to the port. Now, not to be confused with kidnapping.

Dan (11:14)

Yeah.

Mikkel (11:15)

Make sure you have a trustworthy relationship here. But that is kind of a nice way to surprise somebody.

Dan (11:22)

Yeah, and maybe, you know, maybe it's a little less of a switcheroo where it says, we're gonna go visit my parents in, you know, Michigan, but no, we're actually going on a cruise, you know. So something like that.

Mikkel (11:37)

And to your point, you can cruise from Michigan on a Great Lakes cruise, right?

Dan (11:40)

Right. Right. Yeah.

Mikkel (11:42)

Okay, so what else can you do to beef up this surprise? You know, this can stand on its own or be a part of the drive to Michigan in this case. Make a fun ocean or boat-themed playlist. Now, yacht rock — the genre yacht rock — has made this increasingly popular, but

if you're going to Key West, throw together some Jimmy Buffett tunes, right? We went on Margaritaville at Sea, and that is exactly what I put on the radio when we are on the way there. So, what other... what other... oh, Message in a Bottle was Sting, right? Was that with Sting or the police? Okay, the

Dan (12:16)

Mm-hmm. Right, right. The Police, I think, yeah.

Mikkel (12:20)

The Police. Under the Sea, very famous, you know, little Sebastian singing for Disney. Give me one more. Give me one more ocean-themed song. 

Come Sail Away.

Dan (12:33)

Well, there you go. All right.

Mikkel (12:37)

All right. So that was number ten. Dan hit us with number eleven.

Dan (12:42)

So if you're gonna do this over the holidays, maybe the idea is a ship or cruise-themed ornament to hang on the tree.

Mikkel (12:51)

I love it.

Dan (12:52)

So maybe if you do celebrate Christmas or whatever you celebrate around the holidays, integrate it into the decorations or the decor, and instead of putting it under the tree, you can put it on the tree or in the tree.

Mikkel (13:06)

Yeah, there's rarely been a place that we've gone that does not have some sort of ornament store or section of a store that has Christmas ornaments. If you are a family that likes to show off your ornaments, maybe you're having people over, maybe Christmas Eve, then this is a great thing to kind of hide in there.

And when your family or partner or whoever you're taking on the cruise is going through those ornaments, you could be like, "Oh, what's that one?" You know? And

Dan (13:37)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (13:38)

then you can combine all these, by the way, like have a playlist ready to go, have a gift basket there, have a scavenger hunt ready for the kids on Christmas morning. So get those creative juices flowing. I hope we're inspiring that here. All right, we're on number 12. We have 17 of these. Again, check out our show notes because we have this linked. 

Also, we have linked a PDF for a download of all of these ideas to make it really easy. So not only do we have the article on our website, but within that is a PDF. So you're definitely gonna want to sign up and download that. That is complimentary. You just have to put in your email and you will be emailed a link to the PDF.

Number 12 is to write a surprise cruise poem. So if you are feeling like a poet, write a poem that includes the surprise in it. I hate to say this, but if you are stumbling on your words, AI might be a good place to write.

Dan (14:35)

100%. Yeah.

Mikkel (14:39)

When we were on a cruise in Alaska years ago, Encanto, the Disney movie was popular, and just for fun, AI had just come out, and we had the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno," in our head.

And Dan, like you put in the funniest thing. You asked AI to write a song, "We Don't Talk About Juneau," Alaska, and

Dan (14:58)

Right. Yeah.

Mikkel (14:59)

it spit out a really good song in two minutes. It was amazing.

Dan (15:04)

Yeah. Yeah. So when you're stuck, hitting your writer's block, just use your AI robot buddy to help you out.

Mikkel (15:12)

Yes.

Okay, a custom puzzle. Let's think about 2020 when puzzles were really popular. Puzzles never go out of style. So number 13: a custom puzzle for a surprise cruise reveal idea.

Dan (15:30)

Yeah, so if you're going to Alaska, maybe it's a puzzle with the Alaskan wilderness, or if you're going to, let's say, France or something like that. I guess I'm stuck on France this episode. I keep talking about that. So there... there's plenty of puzzles

Mikkel (15:44)

Oui.

Dan (15:44)

out there. You can delay the announcement until the puzzle's over, or else you

Mikkel (15:48)

Ooh.

Dan (15:48)

can give the surprise while you're working on the puzzle.

Mikkel (15:52)

All right, so keep in mind how many pieces the puzzle is. If you want to find out faster than a thousand pieces, perhaps buy one that's only three hundred pieces. I love your idea of getting a puzzle that's themed to the getaway, but also keep in mind you can get a custom puzzle made. So you can either buy a white puzzle that has very few pieces, so you can put it together like a blank canvas. 

A lot of the time they come put together, and then you use markers and stuff to, you know, write a message on it, and then you break up the puzzle, and you have your partner or your kids or your parents put it together and then reveal the message. Or you can get a puzzle printed, like with a message or a photo of you on a past cruise, or a mock-up of you on a future cruise, and that could be your surprise. So two great options Dan and I have given you for this. 

Even on Etsy, okay, there's sellers that laser print wood puzzles. So you can put a message on that like: We're going to the Bahamas. We're going to France. That's what I would get for you right now, Dan, 'cause you're stuck on France, which is fine with

Dan (16:57)

Yes. Yes.

Mikkel (16:58)

me, 'cause we are going in the fall.

Dan (17:01)

Right. So number 14: create a countdown calendar. So this can be as simple as just tear-off sheets, or else you can really dive into it and combine a couple of the other ideas and maybe do an advent calendar-type situation. However you want to start to click down those days.

Maybe it's four months from now, and you do a calendar that notes the weeks that go by. I don't know, it's all up to you, but having something to look forward to for me is always pretty important and I like to just get excited about my next trip.

Mikkel (17:38)

I love that approach. So you're saying that you know where you're going and there's cool things along the way to count down. Another approach is also that you're surprising somebody and they don't know where they're going. So each reveal is another

Dan (17:52)

Right. Right.

Mikkel (17:53)

clue. So again, like you said, combining it with like the scavenger hunt kind of idea, right? So like

Dan (17:58)

Right, right.

Mikkel (18:00)

Look at us being so imaginative.

Dan (18:02)

Right.

So number fifteen, this is for the kiddos out there, or maybe the adult kiddos: if you're going on a Disney cruise, you can schedule a call with the characters. And parlay that into the announcement. Give it an immersive experience of "Hey, why is Chip and Dale calling me right now? I think there's something about a Disney cruise coming up!"

Mikkel (18:24)

And don't forget, you don't have to be on a Disney cruise to get Disney merchandise. So how fun would it be to be able to hand your kids right after that call a Disney Cruise Line T-shirt or something? Check out the show notes. We have some ideas for you.

In the vein of puzzles, going back to that, number sixteen, create a word search or a special crossword puzzle. This is great if you do New York Times puzzles or something in the morning anyway. 

There are programs online — just Google — that you can put in words and stuff, and it'll scramble it or like help you make one of those crosswords. So you can include the countries you're gonna visit, the ports of call, some items you have to pack, the cruise ship name, the cruise line, which are two great things to include if you want to reveal exactly the trip you're going on. You can include what day of the week if you're leaving on a Wednesday. So I think that's really fun. You can include every name of the people that are going, if your whole family is going.

So that brings us home to number 17. Dan, take it away.

Dan (19:21)

Yeah, so thinking back to when we're creating a playlist of songs, you can create a playlist of videos. So maybe it's videos of ship tours or videos of the destinations and the ports that you're going to, but creating that playlist of what you're gonna experience on the cruise and then at the very end, insert your own video, and that's the big reveal.

Mikkel (19:47)

I love it. All right, if you want more ideas and tips like this from us, Dan and Mikkel, your small ship cruise talk co-hosts, then be sure to hit that subscribe or follow button. We are @sometimes-sailing on YouTube. We are SmallShipCruiseTalk.com. Don't keep us to yourselves. Share with a friend. We are so grateful for you. If you have an idea that we didn't think of, reach out to us. We are easy to get a hold of — and let us know.

Dan (20:14)

So until next time, keep cruising.