A little Texas Christmas Magic - 12/21/2012

[designertravels]

Just checking in to say hello. It does not look like the veranda sale has made this meet any more active. Our ocean view with obc still costs less than the promo. Hoping they will come out with something better.

We will certainly want to participate in an fish extender exchange. While we are at it, for all the early birds on here, what is your opinion on the max number of staterooms? Holiday fE can get big as it gets closer.

Jill

 

[Geekmommy4]

Hi, everyone! It's been hard to think about Christmas with summer being in full swing!

How does the FE Exchange work? Does each cabin give to every other person participating or do all 4 of you in your room each give to every person (4 x's as many gifts). We have a bunch in our group, so not sure if we should just do our own. This is our 2nd Disney cruise and I want to be more prepared this time with all of the fun stuff!

Our group is coming from all over. About 15 of us are coming from Texas, but we also have some from Charlotte, New York, and Southern California.

My kids would love to email any kids who might be around their ages. I have a daughter who is 13 and boys who will be 8, 10, and 12.

 

[dwcsk8]

I have encountered several different ways to have a FE. It just depends on group preference. I like it when we receive gifts all through the cruise, and not just at the beginning.

 

[Geekmommy4]

I can absolutely see that getting things throughout the cruise would be more fun!

Lisa

 

[dwcsk8]

We are an extended family as well, in three cabins. Usually each of our cabins signs up separately for FE giving.

 

[gizmoliz]

Hi Everyone

We are looking forward to spending Christmas with you all!

We have an 7 year old boy and a 4 year old girl and haven't told them of our plans for a big family adventure to the US over December/January. We were originally scheduled on the Wonder out of LA but our cruise was cancelled and we decided to move over to the Magic out of Galveston instead.

We haven't cruised previously so this will all be new to us, we'd love to join a FE group (as long as it doesn't get too big, we are fairly restricted luggage-wise!). I think the kids would really get a kick out of it.

Regards

Liz

 

[dwcsk8]

Hi GIZMOLIZ

Christmas on DCL is quite special. I especially liked the tree lighting on the first night, or was it the first sea day? Well anyway, all the characters are there. It really helps to set the atmosphere for the cruise.

Are you coming in to Dallas/Ft.Worth airport nonstop from Sydney? I was on that flight. It seemed to go on forever.

 

[gizmoliz]

Thanks for the welcome dwcsk8!!!

I do that flight to Dallas regularly (it is long but jetlag wise it is pretty good). The worst part is the flight home from Dallas as it stops in Brisbane, so I normally try to head home through LAX.

For this trip we are starting and ending in LA, we arrive on the 13th so hopefully will be over the jetlag and can really enjoy the cruise - we are going to fly into Hobby and then get a towncar to Galveston the night before.

I'm so excited about a Disney Christmas, I think it will be one to remember. We are going to Disney on Ice on the weekend which will give us a little taste of Disney magic.

I'm glad someone earlier mentioned the verandah offer, I took another look and gave my travel agent a hustle along and even though it says it applies to new bookings only and US residents we managed to rebook and save a rather nice chunk of USD - thanks for the tip!

Liz

 

[dwcsk8]

We are also driving to Galveston the day before the cruise departure. It is a long drive for us, about five hours. We plan to settle in at the Moody Gardens Hotel. It has a rate that includes car parking for the duration of the cruise. They have a nice parking garage.

If anyone else is staying there the night of the twentieth, we could have a get together in the lobby. There is plenty of space, kid-friendly, and also has a lobby bar.

 

[gizmoliz]

Snap dwcsk8! We are staying at Moody Gardens too, did you mention a bar?I'm there! It would be unAustralian to go past a bar and not help stimulate the local economy....

Liz

 

[dwcsk8]

Excellent, GIZMOLIZ!

Anyone in town the night before departure is welcome to the lobby of the Moody Gardens Hotel. We need to pick a time. The lobby is quite large with plenty of seating. At the rear of the seating area is a nice bar. My DH and I will be there, as is our custom. Everyone welcome. It will be great!

Diane

 

[Geekmommy4]

I wish that we could join you all the night before, but we will be driving in from San Antonio the morning of the cruise.

 

[mickeymo]

A Moody Gardens meet sounds like fun to us too - but our kids' will finish up their final exams Friday morning. So, we'll have to be making sure they keep focused on their last two exams instead of the cruise!

 

[dwcsk8]

We stay at Moody Gardens Hotel every summer and like the friendliness of everyone there.

I do not have the computer skills to be in charge of the FE exchange, but I will be happy to gopher for someone who can. This will probably be a full ship with lots of youngsters, so it will be a big job. Many hands make light work.

I have noticed there are several people who are on other cruises before this one (we are on the Canada cruise out of NYC), so I am thinking that this thread will get busier after school starts.

Diane

 

[nancyelew]

We haven't booked our hotel rooms yet, but we'll look into booking a Moody Gardens.

We just got back from a cruise on the Fantasy and our group created a facebook page. It was easier to keep up with signups for various activities that way. I would be willing to take charge of the FE list, if someone can help me (any if y'all will bear with me as I figure everything out!). We participated in the FE this last cruise and it was a lot of fun. It is a lot easier for people traveling together (but in different cabins) to sign up separately. The only exception being if parents are in one cabin and kids in another, then I can list them as one unit. We chose to give one big family gift, but some people gave something to the adults and something for the kids. My three year old had a lot of fun looking in our FE each day.

Two other things to think about:

1. We did a candy exchange as well. Most of the people that signed up gave candy that was from their town/area/state. For example, we are from Austin, Tx so we gave candy from Lammes Candy. Some people just chose to give a bag of ixed candy (think bite size halloween candy). Some people even gave personalized M & Ms! Is there any interest in this?

2. On formal night, we had a grown up princess night (think tiaras and gloves with your formal dress). Why should the little girls have all the fun?! We all gathered in the lobby and took a picture. It was a lot of fun and we even got some of the younger girls to join us. Any ladies out there want to do this?

I look forward to chatting with y'all and getting to know y'all before our cruise. And I can't wait to see how the ship is decorated for Christmas!

Nancy

 

[Zyla2000]

Good Morning All!

My name is Kayla, and my husband Jeff & I will be on your cruise. We are first time cruisers, & are so excited to be spending the holiday onboard! We don't have any children, so we'll be looking forward to the more adult-oriented things on the ship.

We'd love to participate in the gift exchanges that are being discussed.

We live in the DFW area, so we plan to drive down to the port the morning of.

Look forward to meeting everyone!

 

[Zyla2000]

What is an FE exchange?

 

[Zyla2000]

I can help out!

 

[cheesehead3]

I looked in the FAQ section of the boards to find a quick "real" explanation of FE and found these two links.
1. Short one: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33184281&postcount=2
2. Long one: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607
HTH
Charles

 

[dwcsk8]

Welcome Zyla2000