How can I buy a cruise for my mother?

Question

Hi, I'm 14 years old. My mother is turning 57 on Feb 4th. She's been really stressed out, and I'd like to buy her a cruise to thank her. I have a budget of about $300, possibly more. I know this isn't much, but I know some cruiselines have last-minute or senior specials. If I buy it for mother's day instead, I'll have more of a budget, but I'd prefer it for the 4th. Three-nights is my absolute MINIMUM. Does anyone have any info on where I could get a cheapcheap cruise, and how I would go about buying it without her knowing? Thank you so much.

Answer 1

Your heart is in the right place, but I'm afraid your wallet is not.  First of all, the only way you could book the cruise without your mother knowing about it is to do it online, and you need a credit card for that (since there is no money slot in the computer).  If you walked into a agency, they would see you are under 18 and you would never be allowed to do what you want.

Of course one of your friend's parents could help you out here, either by using their credit card or by going with you to the travel agency.

Here are some more issues to consider.  1)  If you want this to be a surprise, you have to make sure your mother is able to take the cruise on the days you sign her up for.  2)  She is going to need a passport, and there is no way you can get her a passport without her knowing about it (unless of course she already has one).  

Now I don't know where you live, but unless you are near a port, you have to factor transportation costs in.  

Finally, there is the cost of the cruise itself.  Inexpensive three or four night cruises run $250 per person based on double occupancy.  In short, you have to purchase the cabin, and that is priced for two people.  So your inexpensive $250 cruise just became $500 (actually slightly less, since you only have to pay for one port fee).  If you put your mother in an inside cabin, some cruise lines only charge an extra 50% for that, so your $250 fare is now $375.  

I've got to be honest, I think the world of you for what you are doing, but unfortunately you have two things working against you.  1)  You are under 18.  2)  You don't really have the funds for this.  But lets look at some real world numbers ...

The cost for one person, on the Carnival Paradise (out of Long Beach), in a 1A cabin (the lowest category, but fine for a single person - it is an inside cabin, no windows) for April 14 - 18 (the least expensive early date I could find) is listed as $209 per person.  The cost for one person, after adding in the taxes, fuel surcharge and single supplement is $370.

Well, I found one offering a special rate, if you live in California ...

3 Night Baja California Cruise

Itinerary: Roundtrip Los Angeles

Ship Name: Monarch of the Seas

Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Int'l

Stateroom: K, Inside Stateroom 7541

The cost is $295.

If you live in Florida the best rates don't begin until September, and they run about $370 for a three night cruise on Carnival or $400 for a three night cruise on Royal Caribbean.

Personally I wish you could pull this off.  Unfortunately I don't think you can.  How about you treat her to a really nice dinner.  That will only set you back about $150 for the two of you.

Answer 2

Bless you!  You are a wonderful kid for wanting to send mom on a cruise.  But you need to save up a bit more money.  Figure on about $100 to $150 a day.  You are right, cruise lines are always trying to fill their ships and do have last minute cruise offers that sometimes are very reasonable.  Why not save up enough money and both of you go on the cruise on your nickel!  I bet mom would love for you to come with her.  Carnival is one of the cheaper cruise lines around, look at their web site and see what they have to offer.  Remember, don't cruise during hurricane season, though that is probably the cheapest time to cruise.

Answer 3

Its great that you want to send your mother on a cruise but you will need quite a bit more money for a cruise.  You see all of the cruise lines sell all of their cabins based on two people going and if only one person goes then you still have to pay for two people.  So for a three  night cruise you will likely need twice as much money as you have.

Now, there is another option and that is to book a shorter cruise and for you to go along.  One cruise line has one and two day cruises that it runs from certain cities on a pretty regular basis, Norwegian cruise line. They have cruises that they describe this way:

" Sail out to sea and back from New York, Miami, Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia for a quick getaway. These 1- and 2-day cruises are the perfect escape from the typical weekend. "

You will find these cruises listed on their web site at "weekend getaways" : http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruisesearch/c...

They are pretty reasonably priced, some under $100. per person for a one day cruise, depending upon what port you cruise out of. Remember you must have two people to a cabin  because they sell all cabins based on double occupancy. Also, there's parking right at the port that may be between $10 and $15 a day, depending on location.

So if you live in or near enough to any of the cities listed you can try going on one of them.  ALSO, you have have an adult book the cruise and use a credit card to pay for it.

That's the best option that I can think of for you.