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Celebrating Occasions
By Dave | June 10, 2008
Our cruise leaves on the 4th of July. It would be awesome (although highly unlikely) that we stuck around NYC long enough to see fireworks. If not that, then sailing down the coast close enough to see them at the passing cities. Both scenarios are unlikely I think, but it would be cool. After all, we are paying extra money to sail on the 4th of July. Has anyone else ever sailed on the 4th of July? What did the cruise line do, anything special?
If anything special does happen, I’ll be sure to update. If not, I’ll probably still update anyway.
Anyway, national holidays aren’t the only celebrations that can happen during the cruise. (Like the segue?) Anniversaries, birthdays, and even weddings take place on cruise ships all the time. It’s always nice to see the bride and groom entering the ship for their wedding. Of course, they get on before us, so it’s not quite as nice, but still…
I’d say birthday and anniversary cruises are some of the most popular reasons people cruise. Just about every night at dinner, you’ll hear at least one Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary song being sung by the waiters. You can also (optionally) buy a special occasion cake. For example, Carnival (I know, Carnival again…) sells special occasion cakes for about $10. They present it at dinner and then sing to the unlucky guest. And of course, you can then eat the cake.
I remember this happened to me several years ago. We went on a cruise right around my birthday, and I told everyone, “I don’t want a birthday cake!” Back then, the cakes were free. So my sister said she had to go to the bathroom, but instead went to tell our waiter it was my birthday. I was oblivious of what happened until dessert time, when our waiter came to our table — with a line of waiters behind him — with a birthday cake. They placed the cake in front of me and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday as loud as they could. Talk about embarrassment…
Anyway, dinner isn’t the only time you can celebrate an occasion onboard. You can order you stateroom to be decorated for when you board. Using RCI as an example this time, they sell complete room decorations for $31. Their packages include cascades, garlands, festive balls, and door signs. You can buy this stuff for just about any occasion too: birthdays, anniversaries, just married, and even just “bon voyage.”
For those newlyweds and other couples, romance packages are available as well. These packages can include champagne, rose petals, chocolate covered strawberries, breakfast in bed, and more. These packages can run anywhere form under $100 to several hundred dollars, depending on how much you want to add to the package.
This is all justa taste of what’s available for onboard celebrations. If you want to celebrate something onboard, visit your cruise line’s website and find the Gifts section. There’s a lot to choose from.
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Topics: Cruising |