10/19/2013 An Eastern Fantasy

[meplus3]

Hi everyone! DH, DD(11), DS(7) and I are booked this cruise as our very first (hopefully not the last) cruise, room 9510. I'm so excited (I've convinced DH that he is excited too,lol). Haven't told the kids yet that we are going. Although they see me researching every day lol, so they will probably figure it out before I can surprise them!

It seems sooooo far away though!! I think I'll go crazy waiting! Hoping to add our 2nd visit to WDW either before or after. Haven't made up my mind on the timing of that one yet? Any advice?

 

[meplus3]

Hi everyone! We just booked this cruise as our very first cruise ever!! So excited! DH, DD(11), DS(7) and me! Seems sooooo far away though.

Opps, sorry for the double posting. I'm fairly new at this. I ws looking for my post and couldn't find it so I posted again!

 

[CariLL]

Hi everyone! DH, DD(11), DS(7) and I are booked this cruise as our very first (hopefully not the last) cruise, room 9510. I'm so excited (I've convinced DH that he is excited too,lol). Haven't told the kids yet that we are going. Although they see me researching every day lol, so they will probably figure it out before I can surprise them!

It seems sooooo far away though!! I think I'll go crazy waiting! Hoping to add our 2nd visit to WDW either before or after. Haven't made up my mind on the timing of that one yet? Any advice?

Welcome! We too will be adding a stay at WDW to our cruise. We will plan on staying the week before the cruise (Oct.12-19). We did this in Jan.2012 when we went on our first cruise (Disney Western Caribbean). It was an absolutely wonderful vacation! I liked doing WDW first since we could relax a little on the cruise after running around the week before at WDW, though with 4 kiddos it is hard to relax at all And I agree it does seem so far away, After being to WDW 3 times since our first trip in Oct. 2010, I don't know if I can wait but I know it will definitely be worth the wait, the Fantasy looks absolutely beautiful!

 

[CariLL]

I'm not gonna lie - most all of yesterday (while at work, no doubt) I was "cruising"! I was searching the Homeade FE thread for ideas (got quite a few good ones), looking at the Creative DISigns for door decorations/FE gifts (got a TON saved!) and also looking at all the different pictures of the ship sailing into PC. 19 months seems like forever!!!!

Me too! I usually check these boards at least once a day and am already thinking about what I want to do this time for the FE. Last time I procrastinated and was so busy I switched from my original idea to something a bit easier. But this time I have 1 1/2 years to plan and create!

 

[ratt1345]

meplus3, I will guarantee this will not be your last. If you're like most people, including myself, you will be hooked on cruising for life!!!!

Charlie

 

[Fastpaks]

I'm not gonna lie - most all of yesterday (while at work, no doubt) I was "cruising"! .... 19 months seems like forever!!!!

I seem to be doing this on a daily basis. My wife and I are already trying to find a way to "squeeze" another cruise in. I don't care what cruise line anymore, just so I can go some where and relax! Until then, I'll keep sailing in my head!

 

[kellyb2000]

DW and I just booked this cruise less than an hour ago. We will be celebrating our 4th anniversary during the cruise....

Our 13th anniversary is 12 days before we cruise, but I WILL be celebrating! My mom's birthday is during the cruise and I can't wait to make her door decorations!

Hi everyone! DH, DD(11), DS(7) and I are booked this cruise as our very first (hopefully not the last)

Hoping to add our 2nd visit to WDW either before or after. Haven't made up my mind on the timing of that one yet? Any advice?

meplus3, I will guarantee this will not be your last. If you're like most people, including myself, you will be hooked on cruising for life!!!!

I was hooked after my first. This will be my 6th, and I'm also one of those too scared to check any other line for fear of being disappointed!
I would do WDW before the cruise - my husband says WDW is too much like work with all the walking around. That way you can have time to relax afterwards on the cruise.

Last time I procrastinated and was so busy I switched from my original idea to something a bit easier. But this time I have 1 1/2 years to plan and create!

Last time I was working on mine the night before we left! I SWEAR this time, I'm not gonna do that again! Actually, I went and bought some stuff yesterday!

I seem to be doing this on a daily basis. My wife and I are already trying to find a way to "squeeze" another cruise in. I don't care what cruise line anymore, just so I can go some where and relax! Until then, I'll keep sailing in my head!

We'll have two beach trips to PCB, FL between now and then, but it just doesn't compare!

 

[koquinn]

How do you guys plan so far ahead for the FE gifts? I'm a planner, but I need a number in my head, or at least an idea, of how many I'm making before I could do it. I'm confused! But would love tips on how to pre-plan.

 

[kellyb2000]

How do you guys plan so far ahead for the FE gifts? I'm a planner, but I need a number in my head, or at least an idea, of how many I'm making before I could do it. I'm confused! But would love tips on how to pre-plan.

I'm totally winging it right now! Because I have some ideas in my head, I plan on doing something small for each person in a cabin (as opposed to last year when I just did one per room). This weekend I bought some things that I would put in a teenager's bag. Because they were so cheap, I bought 30 of them even though I don't think we'll have that many. If I have too many, it's something my own kids can use and if I'm wrong, I can easily get some more, or Heaven forbid I would vote to maybe split our list.

I also have an idea for the men that I can get at a store that I know they have plenty of and have had plenty of them since at least last year. Not that I've started on that or anything, but I'm thinking about it.

 

[koquinn]

Heaven forbid I would vote to maybe split our list.

Is this like taboo??? I would totally vote to split it too if it gets unruly. We did 18 last time and it was a lot, but I made several homemade things. I'd rather do something with some thought & time involved than do 50 gifts that are just junky. But that's just me, I know everyone seems to have a different opinion on it!

Can we make a date to close the list at some point though? On our last cruise, there was a date set, and then it ended up being that people ignored it and got added all the way up until a couple days before the cruise. I ended up doing a TON more work late at the end when I was already packed, and then had a few people I just couldn't include. It was frustrating after all the work I'd put in! Maybe a month before or something?

 

[kellyb2000]

I'd rather do something with some thought & time involved than do 50 gifts that are just junky.

I feel exactly the same!

We put an end date on our last one. I actually think it might have been a couple of months before. There were a couple of more people that came along afterwards. Some people added them, others didn't. I would assume we'll put a date on this one.

I think it's hilarious that we're already talking about this! Only DISers - no one else would understand!

 

[ratt1345]

I was hooked after my first. This will be my 6th, and I'm also one of those too scared to check any other line for fear of being disappointed!

I am with you on that!!!! I don't even think that I would enjoy myself on another cruiseline. I would be comparing it to Disney the whole time.

I would agree with koquinn. If the number gets too big, the gifts get junky.

Charlie

 

[ppartekim]

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[PaDisneyCouple]

Nice to see the thread is active and organized. We've been busy at work, but couldn't help think of the cruise, since the Fantasy arrived in PC last Tuesday. How is everyone?


And now, a getting to know you type question: (participation voluntary, of course)

What kind of pets do you have?

We have a retired racing greyhound. His name is Max. He's been part of some of our past trip reports.

 

[kellyb2000]

Hi All,

As the keeper of the list - If you look at the current List http://dcl.trapperhq.com/20131019/Oct19_List.htm there is a line is blue at the top of the list "Exchange Additions after Sep 1st (Official Tally) are labeled in Blue." That is the cutoff for the Official Tally.

After the Official Tally, I will still add new comers up until a couple of days before the cruise (when I fly out) as I will not discourage anyone who wants to join the fun but I caution the that they will not receive from everyone that used the Tally number for ordering.

Also, I do not /will not split the list (with one caveat listed below). The FE is a totally voluntary gift giving fun activity. Give to who ever you wish the whole list, your best buds, your deck only, etc. There should be no expectation of gift reception from everyone.

One Caveat, the only possible split would before people who will ONLY give to kids. On a previous cruise that alone caused some hard feelings.


Now FE Size varies from cruise to cruise. The longer the cruise the bigger the number. One 3day last year had 19 cabins (33 adults, 22 kids), the current Fantasy MV has 79 cabins (155 Adults, 57 kids). Other cruises have been in between.

Bottom line - This is all for FUN, and VOLUNTARY and to show off our FEs.

"CUTOFF" - I couldn't think of that word to save my life yesterday. That's why I kept saying "end day".

Anyway...I will say again, I think it's hilarious that we're already having these discussions, but with all due respect your response seems a little harsh. But that's the biggest downfall with typing to have a conversation with someone - you don't know their real tone. Maybe you're saying that you, personally, would never split the list and would gift everyone, but the way I read it is, "I'm in charge of the list, and this is how we're going to do it." I love that someone came up with the idea of having a little gift exchange with fellow cruisers and it was one of the highlights of our cruise last year, but there's no way I am able to do a huge amount of gifts. 79 staterooms? I wouldn't be able to participate. I'm not sure I could do even half of that. It definitely wouldn't be FUN because I would be way too stressed out over it. But that's just me and there would be no hard feelings if the majority voted and I had to back out. That's just it though - I think we all should decide what to do. I do appreciate the awesome list you have created!

What kind of pets do you have?

We have a retired racing greyhound. His name is Max. He's been part of some of our past trip reports.

We have a dog named Sally. My son was 3 when he got to name her. His favorite movie was Cars and since the dog was female, she was going to be either Sally or Flo. She's a mut, but so smart and thinks we're so dumb. I can see her as I'm almost to my driveway and she knows it's one of our cars. She'll run out of the garage to the middle of the yard and chase a random bird or squirrel like she's really showing us she's doing her job of watching the house when in reality she's just been lazing around all day!

 

[JKMJ441724]

Hi all.

I've been keeping up with this thread. I'm on this boat too. I definately want to FE. We have 2 adults and a 12 year old girl and 9 year old boy. Had a blast doing this for our last cruise.

I would say if the list gets above 30, I would want to split the list. I could not afford to do more than that. I don't want to just leave someone out who may be planning to do something for me. I agree you should not be "expecting" to receive something, but we all know the generosity of the DCL cruisers/FE participants. It's logical to think that you will get quite a bit.

I would personally feel tacky to pick and choose. I would much rather do a complete list of 30 than randomly select 30 from a list of 79.

 

[CO_Mickey]

Nice to see the thread is active and organized. We've been busy at work, but couldn't help think of the cruise, since the Fantasy arrived in PC last Tuesday. How is everyone?


And now, a getting to know you type question: (participation voluntary, of course)

What kind of pets do you have?

We have a retired racing greyhound. His name is Max. He's been part of some of our past trip reports.

We have 2 chocolate labs named Sundae (13) and Maple (4). On our most recent cruise this past February, they even had their own magnet on our doors!

 

[kellyb2000]

http://portcanaveralwebcam.com/

 

[ratt1345]

DW and I have 3 cats. Don't even begin to ask me what the breeds are!!! I'm doing good knowing they are cats!!!! Their names are Scooter (12), Princess (2) and Zigzag (known as Ziggy) (2). We would love to bring them!!! They mean so much to us.

I can't wait for a year and a half!!!!! I want to go now!!!

Charlie

 

[koquinn]

Anyway...I will say again, I think it's hilarious that we're already having these discussions, but with all due respect your response seems a little harsh. But that's the biggest downfall with typing to have a conversation with someone - you don't know their real tone. Maybe you're saying that you, personally, would never split the list and would gift everyone, but the way I read it is, "I'm in charge of the list, and this is how we're going to do it." I love that someone came up with the idea of having a little gift exchange with fellow cruisers and it was one of the highlights of our cruise last year, but there's no way I am able to do a huge amount of gifts. 79 staterooms? I wouldn't be able to participate. I'm not sure I could do even half of that. It definitely wouldn't be FUN because I would be way too stressed out over it. But that's just me and there would be no hard feelings if the majority voted and I had to back out. That's just it though - I think we all should decide what to do. I do appreciate the awesome list you have created!

I'm glad you said this... I read the response too and was kind of like, wow, where's the democracy in all of this?? I'm not sure how one person gets to set the rules for all of us?? Anyway, it's sort of turned me off from doing the FEs at all. I guess I'm going to sit back and see what happens with this over the next year, since it's so darn far away, and then hopefully it becomes more fun and less serious by then! If it's not going to be fun, and one person is going to dictate how we do it, then I'll probably just back out altogether. Hopefully that's not the case, as we really enjoyed doing it for our first cruise in Jan. But these rules being set up so soon and by just one person seems much more intense than I'm prepared to deal with!