This will be our second
Disney Cruise, my wife is fired up! I guess I will have to figure out what an FE is and if its something she wants to do!
Quick course in Fish Extenders:
HOW DID THIS FISH EXTENDER IDEA GET STARTED?
The idea was the brainstorm of a woman named Debbie For the first Magical sailing through the Panama Canal back in 2005. Debbie thought it would be a fun way for others to exchange gifts.
WHAT IS A FISH EXTENDER? (FE)
Outside your room onboard is a message holder, in most cases it's shaped like a fish (but can be a starfish or sea horse):
The fish is there for Disney to place important communications to you such as excursion tickets and notes from the Cruise staff. It is like a mailbox for your room. A Fish Extender (FE) it is something that you hang off the fish, much like a pocketed organizer.
By hanging the Fish Extender off of the fish, the Cast Members can still use it for its original purpose.
Once a cruise meet thread is up and running, someone in the group will (should?) step up and say "I'll maintain the Fish Extender exchange list". That person is the center point for all those who want to participate in the exchange. The list can be as simple as DISnames/room number/number of guests or as involved as full names/room number/ages of guests/like & dislikes/allergies/favorite characters/whatever is deemed necessary to know assemble the gifts.
Then each room on the FE list (note this will
not be everyone on the Cruise Meet thread for your specific cruise), makes a Fish Extender holder.
THIS IS NOT A ONE ON ONE EXCHANGE, YOU ARE PART OF A GROUP. All the people in the exchange buy or make little items and place them in each other's fish extenders. It is great fun to come back and check the items you have received.
The most common Fish Extenders are ones that have a pocket for each person in that stateroom. Some are very fancy, some are very plain. Some are store bought, some are homemade. Search "Disney fish extender" and you will get options that range in price. You should make sure your Fish Extender is between 8" & 12"" wide. Otherwise it starts to get in the way of your stateroom door. It should not exceed 5 feet; otherwise it will hit the floor. If you are creating your own it is suggested you make the pockets a little deeper than normal too. It will keep items from falling out and keep curious hands from reaching in (average depth is 5-6 inches)but 8-11 is a better way to go if you are making it yourself
They also make up gifts (either individual gifts or room gifts - whatever is decided by your group) to be delivered during the cruise).
One note about the gifts, some groups set up specific delivery dates, and specify "each person gets a gift" or "only one gift per room" or (even) maximum/minimum price ranges for gifts. Other groups just say "whatever", so people can choose what/how many gifts to give. Some give individual gifts, others only one gift per room, while others might do one for the adults and separate gifts for kids. Or only gift the kids.
WHO CAN JOIN?
HOW MANY CABINS WILL BE IN MY FE GROUP? DO I NEED TO BUY FOR EVERYONE?
Anyone and everyone on your cruise may join. Whether you have 2 adults or a mix of adults and children, all are invited. The only requirement is that each room participating agrees to give AT LEAST one gift to each other room on their list.
Depending on how your FE group is set up, you may only have a few other rooms, or many. Some FE groups have separate lists for every XX number of rooms, but often allow participants to sign up on more than one list, if they want. Others just have one big list. Some just make one list with a specific number of rooms. That means that, if another FE group is needed someone else will need to set it up.
How many gifts? – It depends on what you want to do. Some people only give one gift per room. Others give one gift for the adults and separate gifts for children. Still others give individual gifts to each person. Some people deliver multiple times during the cruise. Others just deliver once. But, you cannot leave a room out if they are on your list. Some people are crafty and make gifts, and some are store bought. Some gifts are to be used on board and some are to be used at home.
This is typically a whole cabin event. You usually may not just sign up the kids. But, there are some cruise meet groups that have Adult Only groups, while some have kids only. Most are open to everyone. It’s up to each Fish Extender group/organizer to decide on the “rules”.
It's not about the gift it's about the thoughtfulness behind it.
WHEN LEAVING A GIFT, DO WE IDENTIFY WHO IT IS FROM?
Some people do put some kind of to/from tag on their items. Most want to know who it came from. Some do it because they don't want people to think they got shorted a gift or assumed theft of an item. Others go with the original intent and deliver anonymous gifts.
DO WE PUT GIFTS IN EVERY DAY OF THE CRUISE? WILL I HAVE TO WALK ALL OVER THE SHIP TO DELIVER?
That's up to you. Most deliver ONCE. You don’t want to spend your whole cruise delivering gifts. It can be time consuming. Most deliver over the whole length of the cruise. One morning you do all the cabins on decks 4-6 that are Forward. Another time you do all the mid cabins on decks 1-4. And so on. It’s suggested you break up your list by location: Forward, Mid and Aft before leaving home. Large zip locks are good for this. Start from your highest deck and work your way to your lowest.
*If you are on a longer cruise, consider delivering later in the week. Most deliver in the beginning and then there is nothing towards the end (and the kids like to find stuff in the holder).You don’t have to deliver all on the first day, especially on the longer cruises. On the reverse – don’t deliver the last night, as people will be packing up and putting their bags out for pick up.
Don’t deliver in the middle of the night, when no one is around, or when people are off the ship when sticky fingers are more likely.
I’M IN A CONCIERGE SUITE, OR HAVE A GTY RESERVATION , WOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM BEING PART OF THE FE?
No, there are fish message holders outside all rooms on board. Once a GTY reservation has a room assigned, it can be reported to the group. Typically a FE group will set up a meet on embarkation day (generally just prior to the muster is a good time). At this meet any room numbers not already on the list can be added. As well as any rooms that might change. Also, the FE organizer can post a list on their room door for changes.
MY GIFTS ARE TO BIG TO FIT IN THE POCKET, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?
1. You can lean it against the door
2. You can hang on door knob
3. You can leave it at guest services, marked for each stateroom and then notify each stateroom to go pick up.
4. You could try to ask the stateroom host out in the hallway to place it inside the cabin.
5. You can just hang it on the "fish.
DO PEOPLE CARRY ALL THEIR GIFTS IN THEIR SUITCASES?
Most do, however, you can ship your items down, if you are departing from a US port. They must arrive by the day before you sail and contain no food items (they will get snagged by the dogs and get held up). Make sure your package is addressed exactly how your name is in your reservation and it will be in your stateroom when you get there (even before your luggage!). You can also send to your hotel if you are staying at one before you sail. KEEP IN MIND... you can not ship home from the ships.
I HAVE TO DROP OUT.. HOW DO I DO THAT.
It’s
very important that if you have to drop out for any reason you notify the person running your FE. (They can be found on the cruise page you signed up on). It’s not fair to the group if you bow out without letting anyone know
ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW?
It has been pointed out that some Travel Agents are giving wrong info. They are saying you can hang a FE holder outside your door and expect gifts.
- Cast members are not walking around like Tinkerbelle handing out gifts.
- You cannot just show up on a cruise with gifts to randomly pass out (well you could but that would be “pixie dusting” not participating in a FE).
- You have to find your Cruise Meet group and join a FE group to know how many people are participating, how large your group will be and all other info.
- This is a voluntary program and is not sanctioned by Disney.
It lands on Mommy's Day this year 
I will be sailing with my 17 year old twins again
