We brought our family on a surprise cruise for our daughter 40th and our sons 50th birthday which falls in 2015. We didn't tell the family what we were doing just to bring their passports to Dublin Airport.
There was eight of us going from Dublin. When we told our son in Australia what we were doing, he insisted on coming over with his wife and three children. When i contacted the travel agent in Dublin he said,the cruise was sold out.
We contacted a Stuart Chaimers in MSC London. We were boarding in Barcelona so got them on in Genoa two days later.