I agree about the possible overflowing of FE's with gifts but don't think we will have a problem with our FE, we got so engrossed with making them that we didn't even think about the size
My husband even asked what on earth were we expecting from the FE exchange TV's and laptops
Anyway we will give ours on 1st full day at sea and 2nd smaller something for the children on the pirates evening afternoon, if that makes sense.
I have seen a 'conversation' about FE exchange dates that got quite heated after a lady said her small child was quite disappointed when there wasn't a goodie to collect on some days. I can see that could happen if your child is young and someone did suggest that you could always take an extra FE for your own child, which I thought was quite useful.
Must stress though not my comments and as mentioned the discussion got very heated/rude!
I do agree that everyone does it at their own leisurely pace
But being a slightly neurotic OCD mother who itineraries & lists everything we 'have a plan'