Fish Extender Etiquette

[ppiew]

Re: organizing the gifts. We were only on a 3 day, but I had stuff for each day and for each of the 6 cabins participating. I had sorted them at home and bagged them in a plastic bag - labeling with cabin # and with day to distribute. Much easier to haul around the ship that way too. On day 1 we were bringing the stuff to a couple of rooms b4 they were occupied, so it was easy to leave the entire bag on the fish then , other times we took the stuff out and put it in the individual pockets. I had put the stuff in small bags with label ie. girl 6 etc and then the bunch in a lgr bag with the date and cabin #. Sure was a big help!

 

[kcashner]

The rules for the fish extender exchanges are whatever YOUR individual group decides them to be. Most FEs have a pouch for each person on the cruise. I've seen one pouch pinned shut when the FE had 4 pockets and only 3 were sailing. They sometimes have names on them, sometimes not. We have received gift baggies with a first name on each and with no names, as well as some that say "adult" or "child." Some people give one gift per person sailing, others give one per cabin (usually something more involved or expensive). Some people choose to do one gift per cruise, some do a small thing several times during the cruise. Some groups put a maximum on the amount spent, some do not.

My thoughts--depending on the number of participating cabins, it can take serious time to deliver FE gifts. That is a big ship and if you have to walk the halls on decks 2,5,6,7, and 8 you can actually walk more than a mile in addition to shuffling thru your "stuff" outside the cabins. My first time, I did a small gift each day--NEVER again! Now, it's either one larger thing or a little bag of the smaller stuff delivered at once. Less fun in terms of coming home and finding goodies, but easier to deliver. It is easier if the number of FE pockets = the number of cruisers, but a safety pin can correct a "too large" FE.

We typically have a Dis-meet shortly after boarding (3 pm at either the Goofy Pool, Promenade Lounge, or outside Studio Sea seems to be standard) where we can meet all Dis-ers whether or not they are doing the FE and update the FE list in the event that anyone has upgraded. This is nice because you then recognize the people throughout the cruise.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

We typically have a Dis-meet shortly after boarding (3 pm at either the Goofy Pool, Promenade Lounge, or outside Studio Sea seems to be standard) where we can meet all Dis-ers whether or not they are doing the FE and update the FE list in the event that anyone has upgraded. This is nice because you then recognize the people throughout the cruise.

Thanks! I thought it would be a nice idea for everyone to meet before handing out gifts. It'll be nice to recognize people in our FE exchange throughout the cruise.

So, the Goofy pool is usually open at 3pm on the first day?? Or do they not open it until after the sail away party?

 

[kcashner]

Thanks! I thought it would be a nice idea for everyone to meet before handing out gifts. It'll be nice to recognize people in our FE exchange throughout the cruise.

So, the Goofy pool is usually open at 3pm on the first day?? Or do they not open it until after the sail away party?

Goofy pool is open till 3:30. It closes for the muster drill and sail away party and then re-opens immediately after sail away.

Advantages/dis of various sites:

Goofy pool--kids can play while parents meet. Bad--sitting difficult, hearing difficult, need to be more specific (like starboard side or whatever).

Studio Sea area --quiet, but basically NO seating. You're not IN Studio Sea, but in the hallway outside. Very few people boarding at this time, which is the one noise thing. Bad--kids don't want to get out of pool, so maybe dad stays with kids while mom comes to meet

Promenade Lounge--good seating, may be harder to hear. On 5/30 they let us use a microphone! (first time I've seen that). We had a huge meet! Bad--it's not the pool for the kids

The dis meet typically lasts 20-30 minutes...just enough time for introductions, announcements of any room changes, etc. It really helps to know who you've been writing to for months!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Goofy pool is open till 3:30. It closes for the muster drill and sail away party and then re-opens immediately after sail away.

Advantages/dis of various sites:

Goofy pool--kids can play while parents meet. Bad--sitting difficult, hearing difficult, need to be more specific (like starboard side or whatever).

Studio Sea area --quiet, but basically NO seating. You're not IN Studio Sea, but in the hallway outside. Very few people boarding at this time, which is the one noise thing. Bad--kids don't want to get out of pool, so maybe dad stays with kids while mom comes to meet

Promenade Lounge--good seating, may be harder to hear. On 5/30 they let us use a microphone! (first time I've seen that). We had a huge meet! Bad--it's not the pool for the kids

The dis meet typically lasts 20-30 minutes...just enough time for introductions, announcements of any room changes, etc. It really helps to know who you've been writing to for months!

Thank you so much for the info!! I'm going to copy/paste it on our meet thread.