Feb 23 2013 - MAGICal 6 Night Western Cruise, Galveston, TX

[MaryHelen]

We just booked and I am so excited. This will be our first Disney Cruise so I need to be educated. I had no idea what a Fish Extender was until this afternoon. I happened to see one on Etsy and thought, "what the heck is that?" I did a google search and landed here. Amazing!

I will be traveling with my DH, DS who is 5 1/2 and DD who will have just turned 3 when we depart. My kids both have serious food allergies (including one to artificial dye), so the idea of food gifts in the FE kind of scares me... what sort of stuff do people leave for others? The kids can't use those temporary tatoos (dye allergy) either.

I'd love everyone's advice on this. Should I make our FE and put their allergies on there so people will know? I'd hate to have to pull their stuff out only to say, "so sorry you can't have that..." Bummer.

[kelis]

Originally Posted by MaryHelen

We just booked and I am so excited. This will be our first Disney Cruise so I need to be educated. I had no idea what a Fish Extender was until this afternoon. I happened to see one on Etsy and thought, "what the heck is that?" I did a google search and landed here. Amazing!

I will be traveling with my DH, DS who is 5 1/2 and DD who will have just turned 3 when we depart. My kids both have serious food allergies (including one to artificial dye), so the idea of food gifts in the FE kind of scares me... what sort of stuff do people leave for others? The kids can't use those temporary tatoos (dye allergy) either.

I'd love everyone's advice on this. Should I make our FE and put their allergies on there so people will know? I'd hate to have to pull their stuff out only to say, "so sorry you can't have that..." Bummer.

I am the one that is keeping the Fish Extender list so I can notate that no one put food or candy gifts in your FE. I am very sensitive to food allergies. My kids have food allergies, no top 8s though. When my twins were infants, me and a group of mothers of other babies/toddlers with varying degrees of food allergies started an online support and education community for kids with allergies, intolerance and GERD. One of the moms has a son with EoE. He's 3 and still drinks elecare and has 4 safe foods.

Anyways, off that soap box.

Glad to have you as part of our group. There are lots of kiddos the same ages as yours.

[MaryHelen]

Love it that you did that with the allergy group. And thanks for putting no food gifts on there. Just so you know, the allergies we have are basically anything artificial (dye, flavorings, preservatives), dairy and strawberries. Thanks for making the note!

[kelis]

Also, to answer about what people DO give as FE gifts....

Anything, really. If you are crafty, make something. If not, buy something. If you are lazy (like me) you can do a combo. haha. There are no rules about what to give and to whom and how often. You can find a ton of stuff on Etsy or ideas on many threads in this board.

Some give a gift every day, to each person
Some give every day, one gift per stateroom
Some give 1 gift for adults and 1 gift for the kids
Some give 1 gift per person total
Some give 1 gift per room total
Some give to only the kids
Some give to only the adults

[kelis]

Originally Posted by MaryHelen

Love it that you did that with the allergy group. And thanks for putting no food gifts on there. Just so you know, the allergies we have are basically anything artificial (dye, flavorings, preservatives), dairy and strawberries. Thanks for making the note!

All 3 of mine were MSPI as babies but thankfully grew out of it. Now their reactions are blueberries, grapes/raisins and cranberries. We've never given the twins raspberries or blackberries because we don't buy them or eat them but they do well with strawberries. Mine is corn and all corn products.

[tammyh14]

Yay! Thanks Kelis, for referring me to this site. We are so excited to be going on a Disney cruise. We have been on Princess and Carnival before but never with our kids. Now, we are bringing the kids along for a surprise B-day present and they are going to be so excited! On this cruise, it will be my husband and I and our two girls who will be turning 10(a week before the cruise) and 7( on Feb. 27th)!

[kelis]

Originally Posted by tammyh14

Yay! Thanks Kelis, for referring me to this site. We are so excited to be going on a Disney cruise. We have been on Princess and Carnival before but never with our kids. Now, we are bringing the kids along for a surprise B-day present and they are going to be so excited! On this cruise, it will be my husband and I and our two girls who will be turning 10(a week before the cruise) and 7( on Feb. 27th)!

Yay! You found us! This is a great site for finding more specific Disney cruise info.

How exciting for your daughters! We have another girl in the group celebrating a 10th birthday. Another 7 year old girl too.

Not sure if you saw that we also have a facebook group but feel free to join us there too. It's a closed group so it's much more private for anyone that might not want to share many details here.

Do you think your family will want to participate in the FE group?

[Kencad MOM]

My DS will be turning 7 on February 26th!! Lots of celebrations onboard I see

[jal417]

Hey everyone! Thanks for telling me about this board Kelis. I am going on this cruise with my husband and our 4 year old boy/girl twins. We can't wait! Eager to meet you all and talk about our cruise (that is a long 4 months away)

[jal417]

Oh and I just sent a request to join the facebook group

[kelis]

Originally Posted by Kencad MOM

My DS will be turning 7 on February 26th!! Lots of celebrations onboard I see

The 26th is a good day. Tell your son that we get a very special Pirate Birthday party on our birthday!

Originally Posted by jal417

Hey everyone! Thanks for telling me about this board Kelis. I am going on this cruise with my husband and our 4 year old boy/girl twins. We can't wait! Eager to meet you all and talk about our cruise (that is a long 4 months away)

Welcome from cruisecritic! Glad you found us....and joined the facebook group!

[tammyh14]

Kelis,
I don't think I will be able to do the Fish Extender exchange. It sounds like so much fun, but I think we will have to skip it. If I change my mind, I will let you know for sure. I am concerned with the kid's clubs. Have any of you past cruisers had good luck with your kids wanting to go to the clubs? My girls will be 10 and 7 on the cruise. I am hoping they will make some new friends in the clubs so that they will be more excited to go. Thanks for the feedback.

[kelis]

Originally Posted by tammyh14

Kelis,
I don't think I will be able to do the Fish Extender exchange. It sounds like so much fun, but I think we will have to skip it. If I change my mind, I will let you know for sure. I am concerned with the kid's clubs. Have any of you past cruisers had good luck with your kids wanting to go to the clubs? My girls will be 10 and 7 on the cruise. I am hoping they will make some new friend's in the clubs so that they will be more excited to go. Thanks for the feedback.

No problem about the FE! It's still nice to be able to chat with people and get to know fellow cruisers.

Within this meet group, CeCe has a 7 year old daughter, Becky has a 7 year old son, "KencadMOM" has a 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy, "Avas" has a 10 year old girl (who is also celebrating a birthday on board). Those are just the kiddos that are the same ages as yours. We have a few that are within a year or two in either direction. I think it would be great to plan a meet up on the first afternoon, especially for the kids - that way all of them have a kids club buddy before they even go.

[TookTheRedOne]

Looking forward to our first Disney Cruise! We've been on a few other lines but we finally are taking the DCL experience. This is a first time cruise for our 11yo daughter. She's celebrating her 11th b-day (a few weeks late).

I just ping'd the facebook group too.

Can't wait!

-RG

[kelis]

I added you on facebook. Glad you found the group!