2/15/2013 - 8 Night Western Cruise, Galveston, TX

[FloridaFun]

Beth- My 5 year old is only in preschool, so my mom and I are taking off with him the week before the cruise and driving to Texas so we can visit one of my mom's high school friends who lives near San Antonio. So, we will have my minivan to pick up the rest of our crew from the airport Thursday night. Before deciding to drive down we looked in the Super Shuttle as car rental and dropping it off in Galveston seemed to be really expensive.

Hi Laura, we were also trying to keep the cruise a secret from our boys, but spending several nights on the Disney Cruise site got them asking too many questions and I already spilled the beans.

Gina had mentioned doing an FE exchange, so I thought I would post exactly what the Fish Extender Exchange is for those that may not be familiar with it:

To understand this, you have to know what the fish are. On Disney cruise ships, there is a mail holder outside of each door in the shape of a fish, starfish, or seahorse. Disney uses this as your "mailbox" to put items on. The Disney community came up with fish extenders, which is essentially fabric with pockets on it that you hang from your fish mail holder.

Some people make a fish extender or you can buy one off Etsy (lots of cool handmade items in general on Etsy) or get one from eBay.

Some people do one gift for each cabin, others for each person in the cabins. Some people hand make special gifts, some buy gifts, items specific to where where an FE exchanger lives are always fun, and others give candy. These are just a few of the options for FE exchanges... the ideas are as limitless. The budget is really what ever a person is comfortable spending.

The person organizing the FE exchange will provide a list of everyone in your group's staterooms. I would be glad to help with this for our cruise. Then the gift giving begins! Hang your fish extender on your fish, and wait to see what surprises show up. You also get to give other people gifts! It's great fun, and it can really make a Disney Cruise magical.

I have a Pinterest Board with FE exchange ideas and a few pictures of Fish Extenders. you can see the board at this link: http://pinterest.com/off2wdw/fe-disney-gifts/

I will continue to pin FE exchange ideas that I think are cool, so if you want to follow my board you will see anything new that I pin too.

Beth

 

[the great cornholeo]

We are in for the Fe. I can't believe that you have a pin board in this. That is an awesome idea. I always have a hard time coming up with ideas. I'll have to check it out

 

[Kimbo71]

I am so excited!!! We have always told the kids "No Way!" But free kids sailing?!!? Couldn't pass it up!

We spent our honeymoon on the Magic on it's Innagural Year, & our 10th anniversary on the Wonder. This time, my birthday is while we are cruising!!!

We have an 11 YO DD, a 6 YO DD & a 5 YO DS.

We are cruising w/ his dad & step-mom.

Just wanted to introduce ourselves.

I do have one question-I have tried to upload an new avatar, & re-sized the pic & everything, but it won't upload. Anything else I should try?

 

[SnipsNSnails]

Hi everyone, I'm Stephanne. My dad saw the KSF offer and said that now was the time. My DH doesn't get to come since he started a new job in July, so it will be my parents, me and my two boys - 6 and 3. We will be driving from MI to TX unless some amazing airfare comes out. My DS is in Kindergarten but will only miss 5 days since he has the 15th and 18th off already. I'm the planner so I was thrown for a loop as this wasn't something we were planning at all! But in a good way. Now I'm playing catch up trying to get everything organized. We've cruised many times before but this will be our first with DCL. The boys don't know yet but will be so excited!

 

[I❤MICKEY]

Still sitting here in shock...

We have been to DL a bunch of times in the past year because we are AP's. We had planned to go to WDW at the end of February. I wanted to do a trip while DS2 is still free. I had been pricing out renting DVC points and buying the meal plan. Then I saw the kids sail free offer and thought... an R&R vacation w/ Disney - No brainer! All our last vacations have been go, go, go. This would allow us to relax and even enjoy some alone time with my hubby which we never get.

We have never cruised before. A little nervous about the assigned dining. I would much rather be just my family of four but that doesn't seem likely.

Question -- are you buying the insurance from Disney? I was looking at pricing out elsewhere.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

Guess I need to update my signature.

 

[Kimbo71]

I do have one question-I have tried to upload an new avatar, & re-sized the pic & everything, but it won't upload. Anything else I should try?

Solved my problem, I think!

 

[FloridaFun]

Laura - I think I have over 300 items of my Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) Pinterest board and add new ones each week. The FEE should be a lot of fun, so I am glad you are in.

Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) - For those first time Disney cruisers, I hope you will join in the fun too. I will start a spread sheet for those that are planning to do the FEE on our cruise. I posted a little about what an FEE is in post 41, but you can also google it to read more about it and get ideas.

Kimbo71 - Super excited to have someone else from my hometown on the cruise! How are you getting to Galveston? Your DD falls right in the middle of my two older DS's, so they should have a great time together... especially with the hometown connection. Glad to see you got your new avatar to work.

Stephanne (SnipsNSnails) - Glad to have more grandparents joining the cruise. We will have my mom and step-dad along with us as well. I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI and lived there until college. Then married a career Air Force office which too us all over the US. It will be fun to hear about where you live. I have been back in Ann Arbor this weekend for the Michigan vs. Illinois football game.

I heart Mickey - I am sure you will love cruising and DCL is the way to go for relaxing with the hubby. Not sure yet what we will do for insurance either, so I am looking forward to seeing what others here are doing as well. We only purchased it once in the past during hurricane season and did not have to use it.

Beth

 

[Kimbo71]

Kimbo71 - Super excited to have someone else from my hometown on the cruise! How are you getting to Galveston? Your DD falls right in the middle of my two older DS's, so they should have a great time together... especially with the hometown connection. Glad to see you got your new avatar to work.

I noticed this yesterday-that you were from C/S, too. I almost said something, but wasn't able to right then. Have to watch how much time I'm on these boards-since we are trying to keep this a secret until Christmas-& DD 11 is pretty smart!

We are flying to Houston the day before. DH has ariline miles to use!! Woot Woo!!!

Which DD are you talking about? Your DH is Air Force? Where is he stationed? My DH is an Army contractor working on Pete. Sorry for all the questions. I woke up at 3:15 & can't go back to sleep cause I am so excited about this.....ha! Ha!! Over 120 days still to go, & I can't sleep! (naw, I'm not excited to go at all-)

 

[dismom73]

Wow, we made it to page 4...this thread is really picking up!

We are in for the FE also, my kids LOVE coming back to the cabin and checking the pockets!

SnipsNSnails, I know what you mean. I'm a huge planner myself and we just booked last week. It's stressful and exciting at the same time to have so little time left.

IheartMickey, Don't stress about the dining, you can always request a table to yourselves. They usually do a great job trying to fulfill requests. In the past we have gone to insure my trip dot com and purchased insure from there. You can compare a bunch of different insurance companies and pick one you like. The biggest thing to look for is a large amount for "evacuation insurance", should be at least $50,000. This is our 6th Disney cruise, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. Although, it is our first time sailing out of Galveston on DCL so I feel a bit like a fish out of water planning pre-cruise stuff.

 

[the great cornholeo]

Wow, we made it to page 4...this thread is really picking up!

We are in for the FE also, my kids LOVE coming back to the cabin and checking the pockets!

SnipsNSnails, I know what you mean. I'm a huge planner myself and we just booked last week. It's stressful and exciting at the same time to have so little time left.

IheartMickey, Don't stress about the dining, you can always request a table to yourselves. They usually do a great job trying to fulfill requests. In the past we have gone to insure my trip dot com and purchased insure from there. You can compare a bunch of different insurance companies and pick one you like. The biggest thing to look for is a large amount for "evacuation insurance", should be at least $50,000. This is our 6th Disney cruise, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. Although, it is our first time sailing out of Galveston on DCL so I feel a bit like a fish out of water planning pre-cruise stuff.

 

[FloridaFun]

Hi Everyone!

I am working on the Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) list. So far I have me (FloridaFun), The Great Cornholeo, and DisMom73 confirmed to participate. Gina and Kpetty also mentioned the FEE in their posts, so I am planning to count you in unless you tell me not too. Can all of you and anyone else that is already here on the cruise board that wants to participate PM me you cabin number, family last name or names, kids names and ages, where you are from, and if you have any special celebrations while on the cruise. If you give me the dates of those special celebrations, that would be great too.

This is my first time helping to organize the FEE, so if there is any information that I should also be gathering, please let me know.

Thanks,
Beth

 

[Kimbo71]

Hi Everyone!

I am working on the Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) list. So far I have me (FloridaFun), The Great Cornholeo, and DisMom73 confirmed to participate. Gina and Kpetty also mentioned the FEE in their posts, so I am planning to count you in unless you tell me not too. Can all of you and anyone else that is already here on the cruise board that wants to participate PM me you cabin number, family last name or names, kids names and ages, where you are from, and if you have any special celebrations while on the cruise. If you give me the dates of those special celebrations, that would be great too.

This is my first time helping to organize the FEE, so if there is any information that I should also be gathering, please let me know.

Thanks,
Beth

We might be interested in it. Let me talk to DH!

 

[dismom73]

Beth...thanks so much for taking on the FE...I sent you a PM with our info.

 

[betsy2010]

Hi Beth
we also have boys (11 & 7) and would love to do the FE. We did it on the Mexican Riviera last year and the boys loved both delivering and of course receiving the goodies! Thanks for organizing (did I get the right Beth?)

 

[Kimbo71]

Hi Everyone!

I am working on the Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) list. So far I have me (FloridaFun), The Great Cornholeo, and DisMom73 confirmed to participate. Gina and Kpetty also mentioned the FEE in their posts, so I am planning to count you in unless you tell me not too. Can all of you and anyone else that is already here on the cruise board that wants to participate PM me you cabin number, family last name or names, kids names and ages, where you are from, and if you have any special celebrations while on the cruise. If you give me the dates of those special celebrations, that would be great too.

This is my first time helping to organize the FEE, so if there is any information that I should also be gathering, please let me know.

Thanks,
Beth

Talked to DH. We're in!

 

[Kimbo71]

Hi Everyone!

I am working on the Fish Extender Exchange (FEE) list. So far I have me (FloridaFun), The Great Cornholeo, and DisMom73 confirmed to participate. Gina and Kpetty also mentioned the FEE in their posts, so I am planning to count you in unless you tell me not too. Can all of you and anyone else that is already here on the cruise board that wants to participate PM me you cabin number, family last name or names, kids names and ages, where you are from, and if you have any special celebrations while on the cruise. If you give me the dates of those special celebrations, that would be great too.

This is my first time helping to organize the FEE, so if there is any information that I should also be gathering, please let me know.

Thanks,
Beth

I have to get some of that info from DH. I don't know our stateroom # off-hand etc.

 

[Kimbo71]

We decided to surprise the kids at Christmas, but I think I might DIE trying to keep the secret from them!!!!

Our kids are DD-age 11, DD-age 6, & DS-age 5. We went on a WDW vacation two years ago, but we always told them that we weren't ever taking them on a cruise, lol!

Out 11 YO will LOVE all that goes into the planning-so I can hardly take it that I can't tell her!!!

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I have been back in Ann Arbor this weekend for the Michigan vs. Illinois football game.

Oh Beth, then you got to see them trounce IL What's even funnier is that my FIL went to IL so there's great rivalry there as my family is die hard UofM all the way. My cousing graduated from there this spring.

We live in the suburbs of Grand Rapids. I grew up in this area, we also lived up north of Saginaw for awhile and back and forth with IN. My DH just took a job here in July (thus why he doesn't have any vacation to come along). The house we're renting happened to be on the same road as my parents, less than a mile from them so they were super excited to have us back near them after living in Fort Wayne for a couple of years.

I'm not sure about the FE yet. I need to talk to my parents. I think I understand how it works but let me ask just to make sure I get the gist of it - We get a list of everyone else participating and get them each a little gift which we deliver at some point during the cruise. We all hang something on the fish to receive the gifts that the others leave for us. Or is it just a few of the other families and not everyone?

 

[jzandmeplus3]

We decided to surprise the kids at Christmas, but I think I might DIE trying to keep the secret from them!!!!

Our kids are DD-age 11, DD-age 6, & DS-age 5. We went on a WDW vacation two years ago, but we always told them that we weren't ever taking them on a cruise, lol!

Out 11 YO will LOVE all that goes into the planning-so I can hardly take it that I can't tell her!!!

I am terrible at keeping BIG secrets like this, but we did it last year with our kids. We surprised this with a DCL 8 night Mexican Riveria Christmas Cruise on the Wonder last year. It was a kids sail free we couldn't tune down especially cruising over Christmas. It was so hard to keep it a secret, especially when it came time to pack and my oldest DS kept asking questions as to why I was packing certain things like bio-bands and anti-motion sickness stuff. We flew in the night before the cruise and stayed overnight at Disney Land. They thought we were going to a resort in Mexico and stopped in CA because our flight to Mexico was the next day out of LA. The next morning we had a character brunch at DL, they still had no idea. Right before we got on the DCL bus for the transfer to the ship, we told them we were actually taking a Disney Cruise . My oldest DS did not like being surprised and was initially upset and nervous about cruising, but my other two DS were jumping up and down with excitement. Took my oldest DS a couple of days to get over his apprehension and worry about sea sickness while cruising, but by the end of the cruise he didn't want it to be over.