9/28/13. Disney Wonder 7 night Bahamian out of Galveston.

[sullins5]

We're now at 28 cabins in the FE list after adding a few people that have been participating here and on facebook but hadn't signed up yet.

2 more spots and Group A will be closed.

Ok, Ok...We're in... Pressure is a wonderful thing! LOL!

I'll fill out that 'form'..

Can you tell me if it worked? I clicked on the page, but don't see us listed! Thanks!

 

[sullins5]

Right now we have a 1 month deadline. I know some have already started personalized gifts for those on the current list, so I really don't want to split the current list apart. We are now at 25 cabins.

Is anyone opposed to splitting the list NOW at 25 cabins? 26 is likely, we have one long time poster on this thread that hasn't decided yet, so I'd like include her if she wants. (ETA-this could be true for more than this one person, she's just the one I am aware of. I'd give those already participating on the thread some time to decide. Not NOW as in today, urgently, lol).

Everyone likes different things, so I'd encourage everyone to give what they want and not stress too much about it. Just have fun. Some may not like tattoos, but my kids love them and I'll even wear the pirate ones on pirate night. We don't take toys on vacation so my DS' favorite item from our last FE was a cheap pirate rubber duck from Oriental Trading. Off course we love the bottlecap items and the magnets (that work) too.

On our cruise, we gave away the items we didn't like or want on the last day. The crew liked the candy, and some of the cheap toys were given to other children. My philosophy on FE is "share the magic."

We did that too Candice and absolutely loved it! Since we were flying there was NO way I could possibly take it all back, so we passed extras along the whole week. And if we got duplicates, we shared those. Fun, fun, fun! And my cabin steward was so gracious and thankful for the things I gave him. Said he hadn't seen his kids in almost 6 months, so he'd have stuff for them...And our cruisers besides us were "amazed" at all the stuff, so we loved sharing with their kids too... for all!

Thanks for all you've done!

 

[Aggiegrl]

29 cabins in Fish Extender Group A now.

 

[WenInTexas]

We did the FE in October. The list got large, also. It ended up being split into an A/B group so each had around 15-18 cabins depending on the number of occupants. Each group ended up with roughly 24 kids.
It was a lot of delivering and planning to make it special and not something someone would throw out before they left. Quality vs. quantity.

(Words of advice: I know people were well intentioned but I didn't keep homemade foods, things needing refrigeration, glass items, small candies, tattoos, things made with cheap magnets that fell off the door and wouldn't stay on even when the door wasn't even moving, oriental trading mass produced type crafts my child has to put together, cups from the dollar store with our names written sloppily on them in sharpie that the lids leaked... Etc)
I don't want to sound ungrateful but how many times have you came home with fast food kids meal toys, chuckee cheese prizes or goodie bags from birthday parties that break or lose interest in? I hate to see their money wasted.
The things that worked out the best were items from their hometown (bottled & sealed hot sauce, Canadian coins / sticker books about Canada), leather string necklaces made out of washers into Mickey icons, key chains with our sail date and character on it, strong magnets attached to decorated mini photo frames, cd with disney music, cd with surfer music, cd with popular music from that year, glow sticks, bottle cap necklaces with characters, bottle cap magnets, dry erase boards that had good magnets or could hang, reusable bags, earrings made with shrinky dunks (somehow) and a ship in a thick glass bottle that had little charms related to Disney and nautical items in the sand.
The lists were sent to everyone, so if you wanted to do both A/B cabins, blah blah blah...

I just reread my post from last night and I truly didn't mean to sound ungrateful, rude or mean.
We actually did give some items to our assistant waiter for his kids.
It was hard to have to leave something someone gave us. (I have this thing about unpackaged candy from an incident in my neighborhood on Halloween as a child.)
I hope it came off with better inflection than written text sometimes allows (especially when you're tired, it is suuuper late, make tons of grammar and spelling mistakes) because I loved the heart behind every gift. That is why it was hard to leave things behind.
Also, the Oriental trading items we got were prepackaged DIY crafts that I have seen scattered or broken too many times. We did get a super cute pirate duckie, too.

Anyway, excited to see list A closing and hope that more people sign up for list B! I love seeing all the unique FE's on the stateroom doors!

 

[Aggiegrl]

I just reread my post from last night and I truly didn't mean to sound ungrateful, rude or mean.
We actually did give some items to our assistant waiter for his kids.
It was hard to have to leave something someone gave us. (I have this thing about unpackaged candy from an incident in my neighborhood on Halloween as a child.)
I hope it came off with better inflection than written text sometimes allows (especially when you're tired, it is suuuper late, make tons of grammar and spelling mistakes) because I loved the heart behind every gift. That is why it was hard to leave things behind.
Also, the Oriental trading items we got were prepackaged DIY crafts that I have seen scattered or broken too many times. We did get a super cute pirate duckie, too.

Anyway, excited to see list A closing and hope that more people sign up for list B! I love seeing all the unique FE's on the stateroom doors!

No worries, I didn't take it that way. With so many new cruisers on this thread, there are bound to be people who need opinions on what works and what doesn't.

FE gifts seem to be easier for the crafty types, but a bit daunting for others. If you are crafty (and good at it), it's just easier to make a nice gift at a lower price point. The thread "FE gifts for the not-so-crafty" (or something like that) is a really good thread to look through. If anyone gets absolutely stuck, PM me. I have several ideas that I won't be using and I'm happy to share them.

 

[Nina88eve]

Not wanting to sound like an alcoholic but I did read that we can take our own un opened bottles to drink just to keep it in the room... Tho I read somewhere online a man took his beer by the pool and the cast members offered him ice to keep it cool... Has anyone had a problem drinking there own liquor by the pool?

 

[ChloroFiend]

You'll hardly sound like an alcoholic; the wife and I filled up the better part of a small wheeled suitcase with booze on our last cruise.

We didn't try bringing beers out to the pool, but we did bring mixed drinks out. Those plastic tumblers with the screw on lids and plastic straws work wonders.

 

[Nina88eve]

You'll hardly sound like an alcoholic; the wife and I filled up the better part of a small wheeled suitcase with booze on our last cruise.

We didn't try bringing beers out to the pool, but we did bring mixed drinks out. Those plastic tumblers with the screw on lids and plastic straws work wonders.

Oh that's perfect didn't think of the tumblers. we love mixed drinks by the pool... Thanks

 

[Mommy2Emmy]

Not wanting to sound like an alcoholic but I did read that we can take our own un opened bottles to drink just to keep it in the room... Tho I read somewhere online a man took his beer by the pool and the cast members offered him ice to keep it cool... Has anyone had a problem drinking there own liquor by the pool?

We brought a bottle of wine and a bottle of whiskey! DH would just mix his drink up in his Tervis and was good to go! He wasn't obvious about it to warrant any attention from CMs. I'd think they'd notice beer bottles, etc. and say something though.

 

[ukintheus]

You'll hardly sound like an alcoholic; the wife and I filled up the better part of a small wheeled suitcase with booze on our last cruise.

We didn't try bringing beers out to the pool, but we did bring mixed drinks out. Those plastic tumblers with the screw on lids and plastic straws work wonders.

We do too. I think we had 6 bottles of wine, a small bottle of Scotch, and a small bottle of Malibu in our rolling carry on. It was for 8 nights, the only thing that made it back home still sealed was the Malibu.

 

[Aggiegrl]

We do too. I think we had 6 bottles of wine, a small bottle of Scotch, and a small bottle of Malibu in our rolling carry on. It was for 8 nights, the only thing that made it back home still sealed was the Malibu.

Question about taking sealed bottles back home...does it count towards your alcohol limit through customs? I'm afraid to take too much on board because of this.

 

[ukintheus]

Question about taking sealed bottles back home...does it count towards your alcohol limit through customs? I'm afraid to take too much on board because of this.

We didn't have any stops on that cruise where we bought alcohol so it wasn't an issue. We've bought all of our customs limit, PLUS bottles that we purchased before we left and never even been asked about it. I would think that if you have a receipt of proof that you bought and paid tax in the US on the stuff you carried on, then you could bring it in addition to the purchases with no tax. But "think" is the word there, I don't know for sure. We've never had an issue, to be honest, I've never even thought about it.

 

[Aggiegrl]

We have 30 cabins in the first FE group, so that list is officially closed and is called GROUP A.

I have set up a GROUP B for new participants and have set the cut off date to August 17. This is 6 weeks before the cruise, which I feel is a good balance between having enough time to prepare and allowing maximum participation. After this date, any new participants will be added at the sole discretion of the individual participants in GROUP B.

If you are in GROUP A and wish to also join GROUP B, you may do so. Please PM me or post here by August 17 and I will get your information copied over.

If you are in GROUP A and no longer would like to participate, please PM me.

Thank you!

 

[SZ2016]

New to this group/whole DIS Discussions actually. I'm the internet person for my family, so while I'm not the typical poster someone had to sign us up for FE! This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise went on a 7day on Magic in 2012, but we are not strangers to Disney(WDW and DL 3 times each). My parents, me (21), and brother (13) will be sailing, and we are very excited to participate in FE!

 

[Aggiegrl]

New to this group/whole DIS Discussions actually. I'm the internet person for my family, so while I'm not the typical poster someone had to sign us up for FE! This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise went on a 7day on Magic in 2012, but we are not strangers to Disney(WDW and DL 3 times each). My parents, me (21), and brother (13) will be sailing, and we are very excited to participate in FE!

Hello and welcome!!

 

[texaschic]

Welcome! and please check out our FB page

 

[sullins5]

New to this group/whole DIS Discussions actually. I'm the internet person for my family, so while I'm not the typical poster someone had to sign us up for FE! This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise went on a 7day on Magic in 2012, but we are not strangers to Disney(WDW and DL 3 times each). My parents, me (21), and brother (13) will be sailing, and we are very excited to participate in FE!

This is our second DCL cruise too after the Magic in 2011, and yep, it's addicting! And glad to have another 'young adult' as my 25dd will be on board as well as my 14dd. Dis is wonderful for lots of information and helps, so if you want any information, ask away!

 

[sullins5]

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! THANKFUL for those who have given their lives in honor of our country, for all of our veterans and those who continue to serve.

...and thankful for one more little thing.....

Months from today, and we are leaving on that jet plane for Galveston! Doing the happy dance!

 

[pllanez12]

Happy MEMORIAL DAY!!! Thanks to all in armed services and my fellow veterans and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. May God be with you and your families.

 

[pllanez12]

Does anyone know how to get a copy of Palo's 2013 Menu???