Fantasy Feb 25th 2017 Eastern Caribbean Sailing

[cdoc29]

Just wanted to get started a thread for this cruise as we booked opening day and want to see who else there will be sailing with us.

 

[5forDis]

We are booked on this cruise. It will likely be our last family cruise on DCL because my kids are getting older and will soon be heading off to college. This is our 4th Disney Cruise. 2017 seems so far away....

 

[cdoc29]

I have mixed feelings about how to cruise after kids. Ours are still very young but some of our favorite moments were when we are alone on the ship with them in activities. Maybe this is because we finally had a moment to ourselves and the place really didn’t matter but we did enjoy the adult areas of the ship. My Guess will be that we become more itinerary focused instead of cruise line focused when we are no longer with kids.

Anyway welcome to the thread and look forward to all the discussions about the upcoming trip, even though it is 16 months away,

 

[Katykins14]

Hi! We're booked on this as well! It's our second cruise - the first was a Western Caribbean in March of this year. Our daughter will turn 9 on embarkation day! We're counting down - only 500 days to go!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just wanted to get started a thread for this cruise as we booked opening day and want to see who else there will be sailing with us.

Good news! The "Find your 2017.....LINK here" threads are up!

Just copy the URL at the top of this thread and make a request on the "Find your 2017 Fantasy Cruise Meet LINK here" thread to have it added to the list in the first post there. Be sure to paste the copied URL into the request post.

 

[Scillycruisers]

We are booked on this cruise - we booked opening day too. This will be our 6th DCL cruise (our first as gold CC members). There are 3 of us, myself DH and DS (who will be 10). We are from the UK and are just about to set out on our 2016 adventure - a week at WDW, then a week on NCL Getaway, our first ever non DCL cruise!!

 

[Lauraleia]

We're booked. This will be our third Disney Cruise. There are 4 of us. My husband, dd (who will be 12) and my other dd (who will be 8). We're super excited!

 

[franandaj]

Yay! I'm so glad they finally got the 2017 meet links up and posted. We booked opening day as well! OK well silver opening day as we were still silver when we booked. This will be our 8th Disbey cruise. It's just two of us and always has been.

Since DCL started we haven't been on another cruise line. We're taking our first non Disney trip in 16 years next month on the American Queen which is a small river boat so it's a totally different animal!

This cruise will be our first on the Fantasy. I'm so glad the DIS thread is up and going as I've seen groups on other sites, but I much prefer the DIS community!

 

[Sir William]

Reporting aboard. Just DW and myself, as it usually is. This will be our 8th Disney cruise, second on the Fantasy. DW has a conference in Orlando starting the evening we disembark so the dates were very convenient for us.

 

[michdib99]

Excited for my DH and I's second DCL but first on Fantasy. This time we are bringing our twin daughters who will be 4 when we sail. We are celebrating their 5th birthday early and with some good friends of ours who also have twin 4 yr olds!!! Watch out Mickey cause here they come...

 

[Sir William]

Welcome!

 

[Doug Wells]

So excited for this cruise!! It will be our fourth, second on the Fantasy.

I've read that there is a Facebook page for each cruise sailing date. Does anyone know if the name of the page? I tried searching on "Disney Cruise February 25, 2015" and various forms of that phrase, but no luck.

Also, we saw a youtube video on "fish hooks" - group of passengers that do anonymous gift exchange - and we're interested in participating. But, we'd like more information. Can any provide advice on that too?

Thanks!
Doug and Pam

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So excited for this cruise!! It will be our fourth, second on the Fantasy.

I've read that there is a ******** and various forms of that phrase, but no luck.

Also, we saw a youtube video on "fish hooks" - group of passengers that do anonymous gift exchange - and we're interested in participating. But, we'd like more information. Can any provide advice on that too?

Thanks!
Doug and Pam

Links and search directions to other social media sites are not allowed on DISboards. You can read the policy here (from the stickys on the first page of cruise meet threads):
http://www.disboards.com/threads/im...uise-meet-and-fish-extender-programs.3353477/

As to the other question:
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.

Now that you have a Cruise Meet thread started, and some people who have expressed an interest in participating in a Fish Extender exchange, it's up to one of you to be the contact point.

 

[Sir William]

I've read that there is a ******** page for each cruise sailing date. Does anyone know if the name of the page? I tried searching on "Disney Cruise February 25, 2015" and various forms of that phrase, but no luck.

There may not be another forum for this cruise, and as PrincessSchmoo points out, they are not allowed to "advertise" here even if they do. Like any online search, try changing some of your search parameters to include other possible identifers and alternatives.

In the meantime, feel free to post any questions or plans you have here as there are several going on the cruise who monitor this page as well.

 

[franandaj]

I know that there are other social media places where one can have discussions about their cruises, but my favorite place is here on the DIS. I would encourage folks to post here because we have one basic conversation, and not a bunch of tangents. You don't have to respond to everything said here, but at least conversations are easy to follow and we can talk about things like possibly forming Mixology classes or other onboard activities and meets!

 

[lbolt123]

This will be our fifth, second on the Fantasy. I totally agree with all that's been said about other social media sites. I organized the Fish Extender list for a recent four-night Bahamas cruise on the Magic. Several folks expressed interest and then found other non-DisBoard threads. Not realizing the two were not connected, it was frustrating getting a few of these to commit.

That being said, if anyone wants to participate in an FE group, I'll be glad to collect names and keep the list. A very complete description of FE activities has been posted. But, if anyone has questions, post them. With the veteran cruisers already in this thread, I'm sure you'll get answers.

Welcome aboard to all! A late winter WC cruise is always fun. A Star Wars day will be a treat.

 

[Little Orange Bird]

So this will be my 7th cruise and 1st on the Dream class ships. How does the FE thing work? Ive never done one before but have seen them the past couple of cruises.

 

[lbolt123]

Welcome! There's a great overview of Fish Extenders from Princess Schmoo earlier in this thread. Give it a look; it's very comprehensive.

 

[Agosse]

First time cruisers here- myself and my little guy.... who happens to turn 8 while on the cruise!! He is a Star Wars freak (thanks to his much older brothers!!). Pretty nervous about doing this as a singleton.... any thoughts/hints/suggestions??

 

[Smileneyes]

Joining the thread. This will be our 15th cruise. Will be celebrating DS's 24th birthday (which is a couple of days before we set sail).