8 Pre-Cruise Family Fun Ideas

You are down to the final countdown and the excitement is building. The cruise group for your sailing is buzzing with post of excitement. You have checked in online and you are all but ready to load the car. How do you past the time and extend the vacation fun? A fun filled Vacation Countdown!! Choose 1 or all 8.. No matter what you choose, it's family time well spent.

1. Door Decor Planning

• People decorate their cruise ship doors because sometimes you are staring down an endless hallway of identical doors which can be daunting. Tracking the room numbers as you glide down the hall behind the kids. If you have your door decorated in a unique way it will be easy to spot. No cabin number search required. It also avoids the inevitable run ahead, wrong door moment with the kiddos. Kids tend to run ahead of us.... down what looks to them like an open runway. They reach a door they have deemed their cabin with ZERO knowledge of the right cabin number and they ALWAYS try and open it... no key necessary in their world of imagination. Or they run 11 miles past the door and now you have to wait for them to make their way back. Or they aggressively lean onto the wrong door waiting as you catch up. Meanwhile, you are yelling down the hall "that's not our room Connor"

Side Note: Should Connor's Mom find this blog and read this.... we have all been there Sis and for those that haven't.. they will be

Super Side Note: This is a family friendly sight but Ummmmm, Mom and Dad like to have a little fun too.... Sometimes we travel alone! So this is also a great tip for the kid-less grown ups with the drink package........ DECORATE YOUR DOOR ..... By drink #5 every door is your door..... make yours stand out...

A uniquely decorated door avoids all of this and makes finding your cabin a breeze!!!

2. DUCK Tagging....

Are you planning to find and hide ducks on the ship? Buying and tagging the ducks is a fun activity for the littles. It is super easy and will make them feel like big helpers. On a not so windy day, pack up the duck supplies and have a Duck tagging picnic in the park.

*If you want to learn more about what the Duck Hunt is all about run over to our blog post What The Duck to learn more.

3. Sunglass Shopping

The pinnacle of any great vacation is The Perfect Pair of Sunglasses, right. Make a day of going to find everyone new sunglasses. Take silly picture's modeling all your choices.

*Bonus Tip- End the day with some Caffeine free Cotton Candy Frappuccino's from Starbucks! Throw on those new Sunglasses and take the perfect

"Cruise Loading" Pic!!

4. Cruise Day Countdown

*Make a countdown... anything inside of anything can be a visual and physical count down. Marbles In a Jar; 45 Marbles for 45 Days... everyday you can remove a marble.

Popsicle sticks in a cup....

*Create a routine with Alexa.... Have her announce to the household how many days you have left using one of the vacation countdown skills. You can have this be in the morning or have it be at a time everyone is typically home.

*A little chalk board in a common room that they can change the number on.

*Repurpose a Christmas Countdown

Check out the link to Our Favorite Countdown, Building A Road To Vacation.

5. Learn The Line Dances

Almost every Cruise ship invites you to do a line dance or 2 or 10. Learn a few so you join in on the fun. Teaching the kiddos will be hilarious.....

*If its a girls trip.... Grab some wine and make it a pre-cruise girls night.

*Date Night.... Again, Grab that wine, have some dinner and dance!!!

Our Carnival Line Dance Favs...

The Cha- Cha Slide

The Wobble

Thriller.

Learn All 3, thank me later!

*In case you have been living under a rock and don't already know the lyrics to Journeys, Don't Stop Believing.....

Learn Them Immediately. You don't want to miss that moment on the deck screaming that song at the top of your lungs with your fellow cruisers. It is truly unmatched! This is usually on 80s night, but if your sailing does not have it... you'll be richer none the less having learned a classic Rock song!

6. Pre-Cruise Gifts

A little cruise related prize countdown (this one can be pricey if not carefully thought out) I would do this one by the weeks instead of days unless you are living a life I simply can not afford. You can give a little brown bag surprise gift every week. If you have to travel a good distance, you can use these little gifts as road trip entertainment. Any gift that they can use for the trip that you would have likely purchased anyway is perfect..... Don't get too crazy.

Here are a few examples;

• Sunglasses

• Cool Swimming Trunks or a really adorable bathing suit

• Goggles

• Binoculars ..... Afterall you will be in the middle of the ocean.... It can possibly be one of the greatest sight seeing moments of your life.

• Collapsible travel cups so you can bring a drink back to the cabin.

• For older kids a Amazon or Target gift card of maybe $5 every week.... Over 5 weeks they will have $25 to buy there own gift for the trip, like a pair of shades or lip gloss or a cute hair tie.

7. Theme Night Shopping

Carnival has signature parties on most sailings;

The Sail Away Party: Right before pulling off the Cruise Director brings everyone onto the pool deck for a party.

The White Hot Night Party: Dress in All White

The 80s Theme Party

Formal Night

Mega Deck Party

Check into your sailing to see which theme your ship will have.

Xan @ 80s Night

8. Family Vacation Playlist

Get everyone together and create the ultimate vacation playlist.

Everyone Gets to add a favorite song or 2 or 3. This is a fun idea if you are planning to drive to the port. We toss on our sunglasses and hit play as we are backing out the driveway. It is a great way to get the Vacation Vibes Brewing!!!!

Check out the top 5 songs on our Vacation Playlist

1. Bruno Mars ~ Count On Me

2. Usher ~ Yeah

3. Bob Marley ~ Three Little Birds

4. Bruno Mars ~ The Lazy Song

5. Beyonce ~ Party