March 28th 3 Day Cruise

[nonniemaria]

Looks like we are the first ones here--this is our second Disney Dream cruise.

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

 

[nonniemaria]

This is our second cruise--did this same 3 day in 2011. We will be traveling with 3 grandchildren (14/9/5) our son, daughter in law and her mom.
Hope to be able to share information here to others on the same cruise!

 

[moebear]

Hi Everyone,
We will be sailing on this cruise as well. We are actually doing a 4 and 3 day back to back on The Dream. It will be myself, DH, DD12, DD10 and my parents. This will be our 4th (and 5th) cruises.
We are really looking forward to the sailings!
Take care,
Bonnie

 

[job09]

Hello from Chicago. We are going me, DH, DS 13 (turning 14 on the cruise) DS 9 and DD 9. We went 1 time on the Magic in 06 now coming back to see the Dream. We are DVC members staying at VB after cruise. Can't wait.

 

[wisconsinmom]

Hi everyone! This will be our 4th cruise, two on the Wonder and this will be our second on the Dream.

My name is Kari and I'll be cruising with my DH, DS (10) and DD who will be 8.

We cruised on the Wonder 3 years ago right before Easter on the 3 night cruise, so similar timing to this one.

 

[luvmyboys89]

Hello fellow DCLers I can't believe that we'll be on the Disney Dream again in 8 short months! This will be our 3rd Disney cruise since May 2011 (that was when we drank the Mickey Kool-Aid and now we're TOTALLY hooked)
In fact, this time around we managed to convince our very good friends to take a sip of our favorite Kool-Aid and join us (their first Disney cruise!). Soooooo excited!
Question...Is it just me or does this thread seem rather short? I thought there would be more posts out here by now If the thread has been moved, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from everyone!

 

[nonniemaria]

Yes not much action yet but I am sure there will be.
Our first cruise it seemed there was more activity but the thread was already pretty long when I found it.

 

[HighCs]

Hello fellow DCLers I can't believe that we'll be on the Disney Dream again in 8 short months! This will be our 3rd Disney cruise since May 2011 (that was when we drank the Mickey Kool-Aid and now we're TOTALLY hooked)
In fact, this time around we managed to convince our very good friends to take a sip of our favorite Kool-Aid and join us (their first Disney cruise!). Soooooo excited!
Question...Is it just me or does this thread seem rather short? I thought there would be more posts out here by now If the thread has been moved, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Hi DCLers we just book our Dream Easter trip today. We'd love to get a fish extender group going if there are other fish in the sea? We did Disney Magic July 2012 and were hooked and joined the DVC so now we are awaiting the Dream trip. DDs are 11 and 14 and will probably spend all day on the AquaDuck!

 

[HighCs]

Hello from Chicago. We are going me, DH, DS 13 (turning 14 on the cruise) DS 9 and DD 9. We went 1 time on the Magic in 06 now coming back to see the Dream. We are DVC members staying at VB after cruise. Can't wait.

We sound like twins...DD will be 14 next wk when we sail on royal caribbean. We were just on the Magic and joined DVC. We will be staying at SS after the cruise. Also have DD 11. Glad to chat!

 

[luvmyboys89]

We are definitely interested in fish extenders and our friends are too!!

 

[bigAWL]

Ok, we're still up in the air about going on this cruise or not. Maybe you all can talk us into it. We're booked for this one and the 4-night before it for a back-to-back. These would be our 7th and 8th cruises on DCL, but our first time on the Dream (which is why we booked in the first place - we much prefer longer cruises).

We are DW (3princessMommy) and me (bigAWL) and 3 DDs ages 11, 9 and 6 at the time of cruising. I think I see a few other girls around the same ages. That's a big plus if anyone is interested in letting their kids "meet" ours via e-mail before the cruise.

Is anyone else doing back-to-back with this cruise? moebear?

We need to decide in the next week or so, so we can pay-in-full and still make the Gold reservation date.

-Aaron

 

[3princessMommy]

We've Paid in Full so are definitely going! Who's in for a fish extender and getting all these tween girls to chat via e-mail before the cruise??? BigAWL (Aaron) and I have three girls - 11, 9, & 6!

Joann

 

[moebear]

Hi Everyone,

BigAWL, sorry for not responding - didn't see your question. Yes we are doing a B2B.

We would love to participate in the fish extender and get the girl tweens to get to know each other. That is a great idea!

Time is flying and we will be on this ship before we know it!

Take care and happy holidays to all!

Bonnie

 

[3princessMommy]

Hi All!

Need to start thinking about getting organized.

Shall we start a FE List now?

I'm happy to keep track if folks are interested:

Just post:

Family Name:
Individual Names, Genders, & Ages:
Cabin Number:

Let's plan on making the cutoff date 30 days before the sail date - so Feb. 28 will be the last day to sign up. It's getting close!!!!

Here's ours:

Lockard (BigAWL & 3PrincessMommy)
Aaron, DH, 40
Joann, DW, 38
Filda, DFF, 38
Caitlin, DD, 11
Alex, DD, 9
Virginia, DD 6
7040 & 7042 (Combined - 1 FE)

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!
Joann

 

[speechbridge]

Could someone explain fish extenders to me? This is our very first cruise ever. We have 2 boys (8 and 3) and it is a surprise for them. We have done Disney parks before but we thought we try the cruise since we heard such good things about it. The boys love to trade pins, so I was thinking they would like the fish extender thing but I'm not sure how it goes.

Thanks for your help!
Ashley

 

[3princessMommy]

For all you first-timers (and those CC members who aren't sure) - here's the FE (Fish Extender) explanation:

Outside each cabin on the ship by the door is a pewter fish. The crew uses this to leave you messages and other things. For example, if you rebook onboard, they will send you the confirmation in an envelope and it will be placed on the fish.

So, many years ago, a creative DISer decided that they could improve on this concept and "extend" the fish by adding hanging pockets from it. Then they could play secret santa and run around and leave small surprises in everyone else's "fish extenders" too. And the Fish Extender was born.

A Fish Extender exchange is organized by someone on your cruise meets thread. That person (or team of people) volunteers to coordinate a list for everyone who wants to participate. Often they will also post cabin updates, etc. on their door in case something changes once onboard. I'm happy to do this.

So what do you give/get in a fish extender? Really, anything you want. Some people will buy FE gifts, things like candy, special cruise pens/pencils, pirate accessories, etc. Others get a bit more creative and make things like cruise music cd's or cruise survival kits with aloe, aspirin, kleenex, highlighters, etc. Still other crazy individuals will handmake their entire gift. I have seen things from cross-stitch bookmarks, individual oil paintings, keychains, and luggage tags, to personalized picture frames, door magnets, and Disney lithographs. There is no cost guideline - but I would say the average spent is about $5 on each FE gift. That said, there are no rules and it's the thought that counts.

FE gifts are generally delivered after dinner the first night until mid-day the last day. They are not delivered during the last evening because that's when everyone is packing and leaving. On a 3-day cruise, that does limit when they can be delivered. But the groups tend to be a lot smaller on 3-day cruises.

You can deliver one general gift to each participating cabin, or you can personalize them for each cabin - for example, something small picked out especially for each member of that family. For example, somthing appropriate for a young girl, a teenage boy, and two adults. Or something for two adults, or something for two young girls and one adult. It's entirely up to you! You can also put your name and contact info on the gift, or keep it anonymous. Many people like to thank folks for the gifts they receive, but others really like the "santaesque" quality in staying secret.

Pros:
- Get to see all over the ship!
- Can peek into most kinds of cabins while wandering and really get a feel of the different categories.
- Meet fun people
- A GREAT way to convince the kids to leave the clubs - they'll really want to see what surprises might await in their pockets.
- Get wonderful souvenirs of your Disney cruise that you couldn't buy anywhere.
- Get creative and have a ton of fun preparing for your cruise - it extends that vacation feeling

Cons:
- Are there any?
- Ok, yes a couple.
- if you have a big group, this can really take a toll on your baggage, particularly if you are flying. I had a FE group once that had 80 cabins - that's a LOT of stuff to haul with you! (And take home!)
- If you've got a lot planned for your cruise, this can add to your time schedule.

There are several DIS threads that go over FE's, just search for Fish Extender. Also, you can make your own FE. There are duct-tape FEs and pot-holder FE's or stocking FE's. Or you can buy them from artists on Etsy.com and Ebay.com. They tend to run $20-30 +shipping depending on how fancy you want to go. Here is a picture of ours:

So that's the story on FE's. I hope you all will sign up! It's really a lot of fun to have 10-20 cabins involved!!!

 

[3princessMommy]

If you're crafty, here's a great thread to follow on FE gift ideas!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2907032&page=53

 

[mickyminnie890]

Yay 1st time on any cruise ever and I'm looking forward to it!!! My mom & I are so very excited.

 

[luvmyboys89]

Please add us to the FE list...as well as our friends:
Cabin 8060
Mom - Yvette (41)
Dad - Ray (40)
Son - Ray (9)
Son - Erick (7)

Cabin 8062
Mom - Connie (39)
Dad - Will (40)
Daughter - Ariana (13)
Son - AJ (5)

Please let me know if you need anything else.
PS: Great FE explanation! I forwarded it to our friends that will be traveling with us