11/14/09 - Special Western - 2 CC stops

[binky1]

I also spent the day on FE gifts. My DH and DDs are away for the weekend so I managed to get them almost all finished. I'll steal MSTXMOM's idea and put them in a ziplock by cabin# - what an awesome idea.

Next up, door signs. If anyone needs any help, just PM me. NCMonkey - yours are all done (with a few extra surprises).

My mom made me my FE and called to tell me that she shipped it out yesterday. I can't wait for it to arrive - I'll try and post a picture.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
Lisa

 

[LindaBabe]

I worked on my fe gifts today, too. I thought I was done, but we keep adding cabins so i'd rather be safe and have a few extra.

Today, I read my membership papers from the Arboreteum and discovered we can get into the QEII botanical garden on GC for free, so we might try to go there, just to say we did - B thought I was crazy to buy it but we've actually been to 5 or 6 that we wouldn't have otherwise gone to and enjoyed them all.

My dh is watching foot ball too - I assume Notre Dame because he is yelling at the tv.

 

[sharen24]

I also slaved over FE gifts today (well actually Amazon delivered them today and I crammed them all into my fabulous new packing cube from ebags), but I am still proud of myself! Now if only my FE would arrive from gradysmommy....

 

[mrp4352]

Hi all!

Mom (mstxmom) got a lot done on her FEs yesterday. I didn't make near the progress she did, but I'm slowly working towards finishing them. The rain helps. You just want to stay inside and do fun projects!

Have a great day!!

 

[sharen24]

Was a cut-off date ever chosen for the FE exchange? I'm trying to figure out if I will have enough gifts.

 

[Lyrah]

Hi Everyone,
I was thinking about participating in the FE but I need a little more info. Can you please give me some ideas about what people put in them? And how and when do you put the items in the FE's?
Thanks for your help,
Charyl Lee

 

[mousemom11]

Hi Everyone,
I was thinking about participating in the FE but I need a little more info. Can you please give me some ideas about what people put in them? And how and when do you put the items in the FE's?
Thanks for your help,
Charyl Lee

FE gifts are little trinkets. Many people make their own, others buy them. Since I'm not the crafty type, I'll order some things from Oriental Trading and also shop my local Dollar Store.

You deliver your gifts whenever you want during the week. That's the fun of FE gifts, you never know when something will show up in your FE. In the workbook is a list of those participating in the FE and their stateroom numbers. So just arrange your gifts by deck and stateroom numbers, and then walk around and deliver them all.

Sharen, the last I remember hearing about the cutoff is September 30th.

 

[xxcell]

Ok, so how far are we behind. Just to give you an idea of our hectic life.



FE- Not Done
FE gifts- not done
Secret Mickey-Not done


OMG, I think we are done for

 

[xxcell]

Door signs-not done
Magnets-not done


Thank God the cruise is still a year away

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

Families

Fish Exchange
Total Cabins = 36
Adults = 56
Kids = 41
Teens= 7
Cabins with no adult/kid listings yet = 0
(WHATEVER WAS LEFT, I WENT AHEAD AND CHANGED IT TO ZERO. IF YOU WANT TO PARTICPATE IN THE FE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT MARKINGS ON THE SPREADSHEET)

Yikes! The more the merrier!!! But I only ordered enough supplies for 110. I think we're going to be above that mark in 2 weeks! I guess I'll wait and order more after Sept 30th. I can't wait though... 2 months!!! Yippee
-Virginia

 

[sharen24]

Yes - I will be the one with a giant letter "L" for LOSER on my forehead. We will not have any signs or magnets on our door. It was a miracle that I even ordered a FE! (and I only work about 6 hours a week so I have no excuse)

 

[mousemom11]

Ok, so how far are we behind. Just to give you an idea of our hectic life.



FE- Not Done
FE gifts- not done
Secret Mickey-Not done


OMG, I think we are done for

Door signs-not done
Magnets-not done


Thank God the cruise is still a year away

Yes - I will be the one with a giant letter "L" for LOSER on my forehead. We will not have any signs or magnets on our door. It was a miracle that I even ordered a FE! (and I only work about 6 hours a week so I have no excuse)

FE gifts - not done
Secret Mickey - 2/3 done
Door magnets - not done
Packing list - not done
Trip binder - not started
Mild anxiety - In the midst (OK, see I can accomplish something!)
Panic attack - not started yet

You know, I get this exact feeling every year about April 1st. It's when I have my panic day that there is no way I'm ever going to be able to get all the tax returns done by the 15th. And every year I'm done by the 13th or 14th. Must....reassure....myself....all.....will.....get.....done.

 

[glindamood]

Ok, so how far are we behind. Just to give you an idea of our hectic life.



FE- Not Done
FE gifts- not done
Secret Mickey-Not done


OMG, I think we are done for

Door signs-not done
Magnets-not done


Thank God the cruise is still a year away

Yes - I will be the one with a giant letter "L" for LOSER on my forehead. We will not have any signs or magnets on our door. It was a miracle that I even ordered a FE! (and I only work about 6 hours a week so I have no excuse)

FE gifts - not done
Secret Mickey - 2/3 done
Door magnets - not done
Packing list - not done
Trip binder - not started
Mild anxiety - In the midst (OK, see I can accomplish something!)
Panic attack - not started yet

You know, I get this exact feeling every year about April 1st. It's when I have my panic day that there is no way I'm ever going to be able to get all the tax returns done by the 15th. And every year I'm done by the 13th or 14th. Must....reassure....myself....all.....will.....get.....done.

FE - purchased but not put together
SM - 1/3 done
Door Magnets - I cheat (are there rules??). I go to the party paper store and get things you would use to decorate for a themed party (flat), attach magnets and put that on my door. Much easier (and no where near as expensive as the magnetic paper plus the color cartridges for your printer. No stress there either. And, unless I see something else in my travels, done.
Packing list - done - again, maybe I cheated but it is just updated from prior cruises
Packing - well, the piles have started. Now that Drew has left for school, I can use his bed. DH's good shorts are in there, my bathing suits, door stuff and my outfit for the next wedding. Soon the madness for this trip is going to have to go on hold so I can get through this next event.

Stress - please don't stress out. I did that on one trip (to Hawaii) and I was sick for half of it. Never again. While there is still weeks to go, start hitting on the things you can do ahead of time, even if you only carve out an hour or so a week - you will be that much further ahead. I swore I would never get like that again and, knock on wood, I have not.

OK - I won't lecture anymore. And, I best listen to my own lecture and get those FE's tended to.

 

[mousemom11]

I just booked Emma's 11th birthday party at Skate King for October 24th. She actually turns 11 on the trip, so we're having the party before we leave. I feel much better now that I finally did that. Now I'm off to ebags to order some packing cubes.

 

[mousemom11]

Oh, hey, before I run off, here's something that's been running around in the back of my mind. Is it possible to link all our reservations so that we get the same dining rotations and sit by each other? I think I remember people talking about that on one of the repos. I'm assuming that we fax in a list that we want linked? And what about families who would like to share a table? Can we do that too?

Uh oh, I think I just heard myself volunteering for something. Actually, I'd be happy to coordinate this as long as we all behave like adults and no one takes offense or pouts because the family they want to sit with has already been taken. Be forewarned, if you do, I'll sic Denise on you.

 

[Bamfield]

Oh, hey, before I run off, here's something that's been running around in the back of my mind. Is it possible to link all our reservations so that we get the same dining rotations and sit by each other? I think I remember people talking about that on one of the repos. I'm assuming that we fax in a list that we want linked? And what about families who would like to share a table? Can we do that too?

We are definitely interested. In fact I printed out the spreadsheet today to try to begin thinking about organizing my FE strategy (cause you always have to have a plan) and was looking at all the folks with similar dining rotations and what the odds were to be close to anyone. Last cruise we were in a back corner with very nice tablemates. I am not sure how to get them linked do we contact our TAs?

 

[mousemom11]

We are definitely interested. In fact I printed out the spreadsheet today to try to begin thinking about organizing my FE strategy (cause you always have to have a plan) and was looking at all the folks with similar dining rotations and what the odds were to be close to anyone. Last cruise we were in a back corner with very nice tablemates. I am not sure how to get them linked do we contact our TAs?

Has anyone ever participated in this before and knows the drill? Let me know. Otherwise, I'll call DCL tomorrow and ask them what the procedure is to link a large group of dining ressies together. My guess is that I'll put together 2 lists, 1) those of us who want to be seated in an area together, and 2) to further refine this list to those who want to be tablemates. I believe that all I will need would be your reservation name, birthdate, and reservation #. But I'll check with DCL tomorrow and let you all know.

 

[LindaBabe]

Thanks for doing that, MouseMom! I don't think you need birth dates - just names and ressie numbers, to link people on the same rotation.

Cheryl Lee, I think there are a couple threads on the cruise forum with suggestions for what to put in fe's and how they work. You might want to look at those, rather than us paraphrasing them - just search FE or Fish Extender

In my house, FE is done- not particularly well, but done
fe gifts are 80% done - 1 per room, not per person
Packing list is regenerated from last cruise

my biggest problem right now is - I weigh 30 pounds less than I did in December, so a lot of my stuff has been outgrown (undergrown?), and the rest fits funny. I don't really want to invest much in smaller summer clothes because by next summer they're going to fit funny, too, or hopefully not at all. I did find a bathing suit on our trip that should last me for a few months.

Sleep well, and dream of calm seas and gentle breezes.

 

[Travelbee]

Yes - I will be the one with a giant letter "L" for LOSER on my forehead. We will not have any signs or magnets on our door. It was a miracle that I even ordered a FE! (and I only work about 6 hours a week so I have no excuse)

You won't be the only one!

Oh, hey, before I run off, here's something that's been running around in the back of my mind. Is it possible to link all our reservations so that we get the same dining rotations and sit by each other? I think I remember people talking about that on one of the repos. I'm assuming that we fax in a list that we want linked? And what about families who would like to share a table? Can we do that too?

Sounds like a good idea. We haven't had any luck the last two cruises. The first time we ended up with a family of 3 with a little girl the same age as DD, except they don't speak any English. The second time we sat with a family whose DD has severe autism. They were nice but DD was bored to death at dinnertime.

 

[glindamood]

Oh, hey, before I run off, here's something that's been running around in the back of my mind. Is it possible to link all our reservations so that we get the same dining rotations and sit by each other? I think I remember people talking about that on one of the repos. I'm assuming that we fax in a list that we want linked? And what about families who would like to share a table? Can we do that too?

Uh oh, I think I just heard myself volunteering for something. Actually, I'd be happy to coordinate this as long as we all behave like adults and no one takes offense or pouts because the family they want to sit with has already been taken. Be forewarned, if you do, I'll sic Denise on you.

We did this on the 11 night Southern and all I had to supply was our names and ressie numbers and could be cabin number. Would it work better if someone did early diners and another did late? I would be willing to do the late diners if that would help any. I think all you need to do is gather the list and DCL will put everyone together. We ended up at a table with all couples (like 5 or 6 couples) when we did the southern - and David ended up buying a Canon Rebel like one of our table mates had and he discovered what big figs were and we now have several of those as well. But, we had a blast and still communicate with some.