4/24/2010 Med cruise: Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your Ears

[auntlynne]

...So Lynne, count me in for FE.

...So add me and my family to the list.

...We will be willing to do the FE if it is not as big as the TA....

I was planning on keeping my FEs hanging anyways, so count us in unless it ends up being one huge group. Small is good ...

FE is fish extender which is a wall hanging that has pockets in it for people to put small gifts in. The link to more information is:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2068966

(I hope I did that right. It lists many common abbreviations)

TA I think means transatlantic.

Please correct me if I'm wrong

FE = Fish Extenders
TA = Trans Atlantic or Travel Agent depending on how it's being used in the sentence

Fish Extenders are the name of a holder that is hung from a metal fish outside of your stateroom door. Many DISers and other groups use the Fish Extenders to exchange gifts, notes, etc during the cruise.

Here are some links re: Fish Extenders Fish Extender basics Fish Extender Info and lastly...How to make a no sew FE

Thanks for the links. That no-sew can come in handy for many.

Here are pictures of the 2 FEs we used on our last cruise (and will use again):

You can see how it hangs from the FISH, on which DCL places messages for you, and how the space is extended to allow for collecting additional items.

 

[auntlynne]

If anyone wants to purchase a FE (not the gifts, the holder), check out eBay; there's a top-rated seller listing them just search for "fish extender." I'm not listing her name (for commercial limitations on the boards), you'll figure it out when you look at her samples.

Right now there's a really cute Mickey and Minnie with white, red, and yellow fabric backgrounds (looks really Mickey-esque).

Don't forget you can be creative and make something that hangs - it doesn't have to be the typical hanging pockets.

 

[cam71099]

Hi there!

Just wanted to chime in. My husband and I are booked on this sailing, just did it last week! We are leaving our 3 little ones at home with family (AHHHHHH), still can't believe I am doing that! I really did want to take at least two of them but the airfare just makes it a little out of reach. I don't post much but I love to read what everyone has to say. This is my first time anywhere like this (only have been to the Caribbean) and my husbands first leisure trip anywhere like this (he is Military). I look forward to getting to know all of you! Happy planning!

Alyson and Chris
New York

 

[Happy Goofy]

Pete -My husband and I would love to join a party.

Lynne- whatever you decide for the Med. landyard is fine with us-

 

[carpenta]

Hi there!

Just wanted to chime in. My husband and I are booked on this sailing, just did it last week! We are leaving our 3 little ones at home with family (AHHHHHH), still can't believe I am doing that! I really did want to take at least two of them but the airfare just makes it a little out of reach. I don't post much but I love to read what everyone has to say. This is my first time anywhere like this (only have been to the Caribbean) and my husbands first leisure trip anywhere like this (he is Military). I look forward to getting to know all of you! Happy planning!

Alyson and Chris
New York

WELCOME ALYSON and CHRIS! and thanks for your husband's service to our wonderful country as well as your patience for his absence due to that service. We (myself Joseph, wife Mary and 9 yr. old daughter Nora) will be on our second cruise on the Magic in the Med. having been in 2007 ignaugral cruise. Disney did everything first class on that trip and will again.Hope to join everyone at the party depending on the time

 

[auntlynne]

I just got off the phone with Disney who claim that it is only necessary that the passports not expire until 3 months after you return. Yay!!!! One less thing to do.

I got a packet in the mail yesterday from DCL for this cruise. Under documents, it states that your passport should have 6 months remaining on it.

When all is said and done, the written word wins out over any verbal claim.

You've still got time (if not the money you're blowing on this cruise) to get new ones.

 

[NC_Tink]

Hi there!

Just wanted to chime in. My husband and I are booked on this sailing, just did it last week! We are leaving our 3 little ones at home with family (AHHHHHH), still can't believe I am doing that! I really did want to take at least two of them but the airfare just makes it a little out of reach. I don't post much but I love to read what everyone has to say. This is my first time anywhere like this (only have been to the Caribbean) and my husbands first leisure trip anywhere like this (he is Military). I look forward to getting to know all of you! Happy planning!

Alyson and Chris
New York

Alyson and Chris!

This will be our first time in the Mediterranean! My DH has been to Paris on business and I've been to Austria and Slovakia (although many, many years ago) - we're so excited to see all these countries! Hard to believe that it's less than 2 1/2 months away!!

 

[Michelle2]

We sent in DH's passport to get renewed just in case. But his expires in June so we would have had to anyways even with 3 months.

 

[auntlynne]

Whichever way the name tag goes (rainbow or Mickey Mouse as DaVinci's Vitruvian Man), I'll have to make a magnet out of this for my niece Karen:

Yep, she's a Star Wars, Star Trek, Galaxy Quest fan.

 

[auntlynne]

Here's a (very unclear) picture of a new Navigator front page (when they were still doing Golden Mickeys):

The Navigator is a 4-page information sheet placed in your cabin each evening by your room steward. My memory is that it is done during the night's show/ dining period. Your steward makes your bed in the morning after you go out for activities. While you are out to dinner, he (sometimes she) will remove the bedspread, fold down the sheets, place chocolates and the next day's navigator on the bed, and set the lights on low, so you don't enter a darkened room. (Does this sound right to the rest of you repeaters?)

Anyway, it contains information as to docking time, aboard time, sunrise, sunset, menu theme & dress for dinner, activities, movies, character viewings, specials in the gift shops, alcohol shop & spa.

Check it out further by clicking on Disney Cruise Line Info at the top of the page, left, in the blue strip.

 

[auntlynne]

Pardon the newbie questions. ..but I don't get all of these initials...
FE?
TA?

Now, are you wondering whether to do FE exchange?

This should be an easy one to get in on. We'll try to keep it low key, low price, small quantities and small sizes. If we get a lot of people (there are only 35 cabins in our DISboard group so far), I would suggest making multiple FE exchange groups. As it is, if everyone participated, I would say more than 1 group - probably 3. Right now, we are all in one gifting group. Our TA (transatlantic) group has over 140 people in 40+ cabins - ouch! Too big for me.

I'd tell you what I've gotten, but it would spoil the surprise. But I can say it is about 1" x 1" x 1" (so not much space in the suitcase for everyone). It is rainbow striped (I bought it because I had an idea for a rainbow name tag already, and then I saw this at Disneyland last month. I went around to every spot they had them in and pulled out all the rainbow ones. If you have been shopping at DL and know what it is, shhhh!) [Just realized that if I need more, I'll be in WDW in 3 weeks. Better start counting.]

Little gifts, reasonably priced, which you can drop off at any time during the cruise. People will have something hanging outside their door for receiving their gifts - it may be the traditional pocket-style FE or something new and inventive (see the website, Med FE page, for a picture of guynwdm's nifty Tigger FE). I have always identified the gift as being from me, so no one will wonder who gave that great gift or will keep from talking about that tacky thingamagig when I'm standing there.

I've made magnets (lots of them), given glow-in-the-dark necklaces/ bracelets ($1 ea at the Dollar Tree - sometimes contains multiple pieces which can be shared among a family), first-aid kit-in-a-water bottle (we only covered 12 cabins each and I gave one per family). Disney-themed hand sanitizer (w/D-ring), Disney trading pins in seasonal gift container. Received gifts representing / depicting the givers' hometown/state/country: playing cards, shortbread cookies. Crafty people (not me) make photo frames for the cruise .... are you getting the idea? I don't necessarily mean you in particular; this is written to anyone curious about FE and wants an idea of whether or not to participate.

Make FE fun. Not a chore. It can be quite fun trying to find a little something to share with others.

 

[shushh]

Welcome Alyson and Chris!

Lynne thank you for your generous gift of the lanyards. Also, I love the vitruvian Mickey! May I use the graphic in the middle to make magnets?

Just to echo Lynne's words of FE...mine is definitely very small, light and of very low cost. I just hope that I can find some more...

 

[auntlynne]

I looked up the image for the Vitruvian Mickey. The url was about 10 lines long when I pasted it. Instead, try a google image search for vitruvian mickey mouse. The website was for deviant art. Or pull it off mine if that is easier.

Would the Vitruvian Mickey be okay for kids' name tags? Or better to go with the rainbow?

 

[Becx N Gav]

Welcome, Newbies (and DISers who are new to this cruise thread)!

While you are working on getting that 10 post requirement for Private Messaging (PM), please post any of the following information that you would like the rest of us to know:

Real first name(s) of cruisers (and ages, if you want)
Hometown
Cabin # (or guaranty - GTY - status)
Main (early) or Late (second) dining

Hey there, I was a bit busy yesterday and didn't get the chance to post our details.

We are Becky (29) and Gavin or Gav (32)
We're from Northampton in the UK
We've booked a Cat 12 (I am waiting for my payment to go through)
We've chosen the late dinner

Here is a pic of us from last August

We are so excited to be able to go on this cruise and it will be lovely to meet some new people too - when we're not all out and about in an amazing array of citys
[/QUOTE]

Now, are you wondering whether to do FE exchange?

Make FE fun. Not a chore. It can be quite fun trying to find a little something to share with others.

I think we could join in with FE gifts - I'm totally up for low key and small in size (we're hoping to share one suitcase - fingers crossed )

I'm gradually reading through the rest of this thread (as well as looking at the ports and seeing what we can go and see) so I may quote some older posts

I'm so excited

 

[auntlynne]

A few minor tweaks (the colors at the top) and I think I'll really like this one:

 

[shushh]

Lynne, I like them both and would be happy with whichever one you end up choosing. I do have a slight leaning towards Vitruvian Mickeybut that's just me. I think its ok for kids.

I found one image but it seems alot brighter than yours, and its not quite the same. yours has a nice sepia and washed out tone which I like.

This is where I got it from but the url isn't that long!!
http://www.pictureplaneimaging.com/portfolio_recentwork_010.html

 

[shushh]

Becky and Gav welcome onboard!

 

[alltheparks]

Lynne -

I also picked up something small when we were at Hong Kong DL, so count us in for the FE.

Now I just have to get my grandma to make me a fish extender! Because I am not crafty. My mom is making our pillowcase to have signed. DS loves star wars and we found a great picture of all the characters during Star Wars weekend, that we are going to have signed.

 

[shushh]

Lara, is the rain like "crazy" out your way? DH has had to stop driving home because the water came up halfway up the wheels.

 

[RichC17]

We are the McNeese Family. This will be our first Disney Cruise and we can't wait. I'm Rich and 34, my wife Teresa is 30ish, my son Bryce will turn 6 in April and my daughter will turn 4 in May. I’m so happy that we can celebrate their birthdays on this cruise. Does anyone know what Disney will do for their birthdays? We are a military family station in Rota, Spain. I have been in for 15 years now. I’ve booked a Cat 5 room. I would like to do the FE but have no clue on how or what kind of gifts. Please help!!!