10/17/2010 Wonder Cruise

[ScottishMummyof2]

Ok, I give up trying to work out what FE stands for. I know I am going to feel daft when someone tells me

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

Ok, I give up trying to work out what FE stands for. I know I am going to feel daft when someone tells me

Fish Extender...is an onboard gift exchange that people participate in.

 

[lornak]

Ok, I give up trying to work out what FE stands for. I know I am going to feel daft when someone tells me

Don't feel bad about not knowing what it is! I didn't know anything about it until I read about it on the boards. We have never participated but would love to try it! Basically, anyone who is interested from our meet group signs up. Each cabin puts out a little holder on the FISH outside of the staterooms (thus the name FISH extender----you can see many pictures of them on the boards if you do a search). Then, everyone who is participating takes a turn and delivers little gifts or treats to the other staterooms that are participating. You can also see samples of the huge variety of things people do as FE gift---again, just search for a few threads and you will find more than you want to know about FEs!!

My girls are really hoping to participate on this cruise so I hope we are able to get a group together! I have seen some groups that are only 5-6 cabins large and other that are 75 or more!! This isn't something that Disney runs---we as a meet group get to control it and run it. So it can be as large or as small as we would like.

But like I said, we have never done it before. So those of you who have please feel free to jump in and explain it better than I have!!!!

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

Don't feel bad about not knowing what it is! I didn't know anything about it until I read about it on the boards. We have never participated but would love to try it! Basically, anyone who is interested from our meet group signs up. Each cabin puts out a little holder on the FISH outside of the staterooms (thus the name FISH extender----you can see many pictures of them on the boards if you do a search). Then, everyone who is participating takes a turn and delivers little gifts or treats to the other staterooms that are participating. You can also see samples of the huge variety of things people do as FE gift---again, just search for a few threads and you will find more than you want to know about FEs!!

My girls are really hoping to participate on this cruise so I hope we are able to get a group together! I have seen some groups that are only 5-6 cabins large and other that are 75 or more!! This isn't something that Disney runs---we as a meet group get to control it and run it. So it can be as large or as small as we would like.

But like I said, we have never done it before. So those of you who have please feel free to jump in and explain it better than I have!!!!

Great in-depth explanation...I've never participated before, but would love to!

 

[lornak]

Well good! That makes at least 2 of us!! Hopefully there will be more!!

 

[Tiggerish]

You can count me in also.

 

[lornak]

You can count me in also.

Great! Have you ever done one before, Tiggerish?!? If so, do you have any insight for us? Do you want to coordinate it for us? Or I'm willing to do it but it's all new to me!!!!

 

[Tiggerish]

I have never done one before so why don't you go ahead and run with it. If you have any questions about what to do, just post it on the main cruise board and I am sure you will get a lot of help.

 

[lornak]

Ok! My DDs and I will try our best to organize this!! But if anyone reads this later on and feels their cruise experience will be incomplete without organizing the FE, please let me know and we will step aside!!!!

Looking forward to the fun!!!!!!

 

[lornak]

Fish Extender (FE) Gift Exchange​

What Is An FE Gift Exchange?
FE gift exchanges were created by fellow Dissers a number of years ago. Outside the stateroom doors there is metal FISH Hook for DCL or others to attach important notes or such for you. As part of a FE gift exchange, participants hang some type of hanging organizer, commonly known as a FISH EXTENDER. Some people make elaborate ones, others hang decorative bags ect. Participants in an FE gift exchange then secretly leave a small gift in the pockets of others Fish extenders. The gift exchange adds more magic to the cruise and it's a real treat to come back to your cabin to find a surprise in your FE! Never seen one before? Here’s a good thread with a description and pictures…
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33184281&postcount=2


How do I get a FE??
Here's a link to someone on ebay who creates these for people.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1311&_nkw=fish+extender&_sacat=See-All-Categories
(or look up the seller "gradysmommy" if the link doesn't work)

Here's a link on how to make a simple, no sew FE (with a picture)...
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30302583&postcount=609



What kinds of gifts go in a FE?
There are already lots of threads with ideas on what kinds of gifts you can give in an exchange. So I will just post some links here. But in general, any gift that you think others may like is acceptable. Some gifts are home made and others are store bought. Some people bring items from their home state (or country) and others bring cruise items, candy or little trinkets. The sky is the limit---check out some of these threads for ideas!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1522535&highlight=fish+extender+gifts

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1481047

And here’s a great one of home made gift ideas:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1980639

Or just do a search for “fish extenders” on the board---you will find TONS of threads!!



How do I sign up for our FE gift exchange?
If anyone would like to participate, just reply to this post or send me a pm, I will keep a master list and update it periodically. You don't have to have kids to participate!! Everyone is welcome! The rule for gifts is---give however you would like. In other words, if you'd like to give one gift per cabin, or gift to children only, or gift to adults only, or gift to each person individually, then that’s what you do. The gifts can be store bought or home made. We want this to be FUN and not something to feel pressured about! So do what works for you!!!

As we each find out our cabin number as our cruise approaches, post or pm that info along with the deck number and prior to our travel time, I will get a list to each of you. If there is interest, we will also plan a quick meet up time on boarding day.



Who is participating so far?

Lornak
1 adult (Lorna)
2 DDs (Millie 11 and Olivia 12)
#6131
Motley, MN
staying at Pop Century for the night before the cruise and then spending 4 nights at Caribbean Beach Resort after the cruise

Rhode Island Quahog
2 adults (Valerie and Joe)
#7567
Boston, MA

Tiggerish 1
1 adult (Phyllis)
#5020
Southwest Michigan
1 night at All Star Music before the cruise and 3 nights at the Contemporary Resort after the cruise

Tiggerish 2
2 adults (Todd and Julie)
#5022
Southwest Michigan
1 night at All Star Music before the cruise and 3 nights at the Contemporary Resort after the cruise

Tiggerish 3
2 adults
2 kids (Clayton, 11 and Rachel, 7)
#5024
Southwest Michigan
1 night at All Star Music before the cruise and 3 nights at the Contemporary Resort after the cruise

MouseinMelbourne
2 adults (Tom and Carolyn)
1 DD (Sydney,10)
#8026
Melbourne, FL
Driving 20 minutes to the port before the cruise!!!
Celebrating their 20th anniversary!
**Please note, Sydney has a severe nut allergy!

lds0191
2 adults (Linda and Ted)
DD (Jessica, 9)
#2540
Louisville, KY
3 nights at Pop Century before the cruise

lundve 1
2 adults (Shawn and Erin)
Virginia
1 night at Wilderness Lodge post cruise

lundve 2
2 adults (steve and Heather)
Indiana
1 night at Wilderness Lodge post cruise

BethieTink
2 adults (Beth and Paul)
Boston, MA
Aruba before the cruise!

FigmentGal96
1 adult (Kerry)
1 DS (Cameron, 4)
#2602
Athens, GA
3 days at Sea World after the cruise...!

WhitneyDanielle
2 adults (Seth and Whitney)
#6087
celebrating their honeymoon!!!
Ashland, KY
post-cruise spending 3 nights at the all star movies resort

GratefulParrot
2 adults (Greg and Selena)
1 DD (Christina, 12)
#6011
Nashville, TN
All Stars after the cruise and doing EPCOT and Harry Potter (shhh..., don't tell the mouse!)

ScottishMummyof2
2 adults (Ross and Caryn)
2 DDs (Bethany 11 and Holly 7)
#5522
Scotland
8 nights at Saratoga Spring pre-cruise and 2 nights at WDW post-cruise

Lahmanfam05
2 adults, Brian and Christina (celebrating a birthday on the cruise )
2 DDs (Ella, 4 and Eva, 1--celebrating 1st birthday on the cruise! )
#7543
staying with family pre-cruise---Disney World after the cruise!

lakejewel
2 adults (Lynn and Greg)
2 DDs (Audrey, turning 3 on the ship! -- Sabrina, 1)
Abingdon, VA

Bronzalyn
1 adult (Melissa)
2 DD (Brianna, 16 and Kimberleigh, 16)
#6639
North Dakota
Staying at Cocoa Beach pre-cruise
All Star Movies post-cruise
Family wedding at Castaway Cay!!!

TheBeadPirate
2 adults (Lori and Rick)
#7584
Orlando, FL

langeveld
3 adults (Ediltrudis, 65, Angela, 30 --celebrating her b-day --we are going on cruise for her. She is handicap, deaf, mute, she loves Disney!!, Carolina, 28)
#7532
Orlando, FL
Driving ourselves to/from Orlando

**This is a last minute addition. Please include them if you can...if not, we all understand!!



Meet Up
We are planning a DIS meet up from 3:00-3:30 on boarding day in the Promenade Lounge. You don't have to be participating in the FE to stop by and say hello!! If you are participating in the FE please stop by at some point to pick up the final copy of the FE list!!

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

DH, DD10, and I will be joining you on this cruise! DH and I sailed 20 years ago on a small cruise line, so we are excited to try a "real" one. DD has never sailed and is beside herself with excitement!

DD10 has peanut allergy - anyone else on board with one? We're still deciding if we want to request a table alone or try to find a family with a peanut allergy too. Our comfort zone is pretty tight though, and we'd want a similar family.

Also, PLEASE count us in for the FE. DD is thrilled to get to do that. The kid is already printing up magnets for our door too!

 

[Tiggerish]

I will do the exchange for all three of our cabins so you can put me down for three different days if I am correctly understanding how it works. I am alone in mine, the second cabin has my brother and his wife and the third has my nephew, age 10 and my niece age 7 with their two grandparents. Yes, that is 5 adults for 2 children but what can I say, kids are in short supply in our family so we share.

I will pm you with our cabin numbers because at some point we will need a list with cabin numbers.

 

[lornak]

I will do the exchange for all three of our cabins so you can put me down for three different days if I am correctly understanding how it works. I am alone in mine, the second cabin has my brother and his wife and the third has my nephew, age 10 and my niece age 7 with their two grandparents. Yes, that is 5 adults for 2 children but what can I say, kids are in short supply in our family so we share.

I will pm you with our cabin numbers because at some point we will need a list with cabin numbers.

Ok, I got it, Tiggerish! We can decide as a group how we want to handle deliveries. Everyone can deliver any time they want or, there are some groups who assign a day to each family so that the gifts are spread out during the cruise. I am open to either way of doing it.

Glad to see our group growing! It will be FUN!!

 

[lds0191]

We would like to participate!

Booked Cat12 gty so will post cabin # when assigned.

Myself and DH plus DD9....

 

[lundve]

Good afternoon all! We are joining you guys too!!

We have two category 11's for myself, DH, BIL and SIL. This is my DH and I's 3rd DCL voyage and BIL and SIL's 2nd one. This is an adults only trip for us as we have leaving our two sons ages 3 and 5 home with Grandma and BIL and SIL's children are all college aged and older. We are staying one night at AKV after the cruise to go to MNSSHP. We are hoping that our waitlist for BLT comes through though as that would be cool to be within walking distance.

I would be happy to do the fish exchange for both our staterooms. I am actually glad that there aren't many of us yet b/c we have never done it before and the thought of having 75+ gifts is daunting.

-Erin

 

[lornak]

We would like to participate!

Booked Cat12 gty so will post cabin # when assigned.

Myself and DH plus DD9....

Ok! I have you added! I am so glad you will be joining us! I think we have quite a few girls in the 7-12 age range. Hopefully they can enjoy some time together in the clubs!

Good afternoon all! We are joining you guys too!!

We have two category 11's for myself, DH, BIL and SIL. This is my DH and I's 3rd DCL voyage and BIL and SIL's 2nd one. This is an adults only trip for us as we have leaving our two sons ages 3 and 5 home with Grandma and BIL and SIL's children are all college aged and older. We are staying one night at AKV after the cruise to go to MNSSHP. We are hoping that our waitlist for BLT comes through though as that would be cool to be within walking distance.

I would be happy to do the fish exchange for both our staterooms. I am actually glad that there aren't many of us yet b/c we have never done it before and the thought of having 75+ gifts is daunting.

-Erin

I have added both cabins! Glad you are participating! I think it is the first FE for many of us!!! I agree---75 gifts would be a little overwhelming!!!

 

[lornak]

Fish Extender update---

I have been looking at some other FE lists and there is some information I would like to add to our list. This is totally optional and you can send only the information you are comfortable sharing. But I thought it might be fun to know a little more about our sailing mates!! Would you consider listing:

• first names
• where you are from
• pre/post cruise plans

You can PM me this information and I will update the list. If you would rather not have the information on the actual thread just let me know that and I will only use it for the master list I send out to group members!! I'll update my personal entry now to get things started!!

 

[aan1701]

I am so happy, I was able to book Brunch on the sea day. This is really cool because this day is our 10th Wedding aniversary. What a great way to spend a aniversary, at Palo brunch and their Chicken Parmesean. Yummmmm

 

[lds0191]

DH, DD10, and I will be joining you on this cruise! DH and I sailed 20 years ago on a small cruise line, so we are excited to try a "real" one. DD has never sailed and is beside herself with excitement!

DD10 has peanut allergy - anyone else on board with one? We're still deciding if we want to request a table alone or try to find a family with a peanut allergy too. Our comfort zone is pretty tight though, and we'd want a similar family.

Also, PLEASE count us in for the FE. DD is thrilled to get to do that. The kid is already printing up magnets for our door too!

No info on the peanut allergy but on our last cruise we (Myself, DH and DD7 at the time) were paired with a couple from TN; we are from KY. They had a DD13 and the 2 girls became fast friends. Myself and the other DW are even both in the IT field and both our daughters go to Christian schools. I know there is no way DCL knew THAT but we were just amazed at all the coincidences. I believe DCL does do some research but nothing is infalible (sp?). I have read where you can have your table assignment changed if you are not comfortable with your assigned tablemates. You can always request to dine alone although that is not guaranteed.

 

[BethieTink]

We are in Category 5. We would love to the FE, but not sure how to go about it. We are going to be coming from a week in Aruba before the cruise, so what we give away would have to travel well. The good thing is, I have time.

It is just me and DH (Beth and Paul). We are from Boston, MA. Will be in Aruba leading up to the Cruise and headed straight home (sadly) after the cruise.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!