April 20th 2013 Fantasy

[TiggerBouncy]

Looks like my wife and I will be seeing you all on the fantasy in just about 1.5 months!

It will be our second cruise. Our first was also on the fantasy almost the exact same date last year (and same room, too!).

We'll be in 10004.
Jill (40) and Alex (40).

[Edit] Oops. See I missed the date for the FE list. Oh well. Maybe next cruise. In any case, we'll still be seeing you all on the cruise, and might drop a gift in a door or two!
Please also put us on the FE list. I have never heard of FE until today. I am a bit nervous since I don't know what to put in people's boxes, but it sounds like fun - so what the heck! We'll try it out. I would appreciate any tips on FE though since I still don't know much about it.

See you all there! You'll find me during the see days in the adult only pool chilling in the water.

 

[shmelmcc]

Welcome, Alex and Jill!

If you are on Facebook, you should check out our cruise page.



Can you let me know where your cabin is, for the FE? As in, port/starboard/midship and forward/aft.

In case your new to FE's, here's some info to help you out.

So what exactly is a "FE"? Well FE stands for Fish Exchange. It's essentially a gift exchange. You sign up to be on a master list that gets sent to all the participants. Once on the cruise you leave the present at the recipient’s door with a note identifying who you are. Easy right? Don’t worry, I know you still have questions. Hopefully I can answer some of these for you.[/B]



Q. Why is it called FE (Fish Exchange)?



A. Well when you’re on the cruise you’ll notice there is a metal clip in the shape of a fish right next to your cabin door. This is used by Guest Services to leave you messages.





Q. How do I make or get a Fish Extender?



A. Well keep in mind a fish extender is just an overly Disney decorated pocket organizer. They are fairly easy to make and you can find many tutorials on the disboards. Here are some links. Mine shown above was homemade.



No Sew FE Instructions



http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2325613



http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30302583&postcount=609



You can also purchase them online. The best places are probably ebay or etsy. Just make sure you search under “fish extender”. Prices can range from appx $10 to $40



Q. What are the gift giving rules?



A. Hmmm … “Gift Giving Rules”; This question comes up so often in so many forms. "I don’t want to spend a lot of money; What do I give? Do I have to give everyone in the same room a gift? Do I give a gift everyday?" The answer is simply do what you are comfortable with. The general rule is at least one gift per room and something extra for any kids in the room.



Q. What do I give out?

A. Anything you want. Some people make or buy items related to Disney, the cruise location, or something that represents their home state or country. Below is a link to a lot of great ideas



Homemade FE Gift Thread



http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1980639



I hope this answered some of your questions. If you have any more please ask and I’ll do my best to answer.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Welcome, Alex and Jill!

Can you let me know where your cabin is, for the FE? As in, port/starboard/midship and forward/aft.

I hope this answered some of your questions. If you have any more please ask and I’ll do my best to answer.[/I]

Yay!!!! We made the list! I thought we were too late.

So, I am not great at shipboard directions, but we are in room 10004. So, Deck10 forward, on the left side (Port as I seem to recall from the old sailing days). Did I get that right?

As for FE itself, I think I have most of the concept down. We did some reading on it before we volunteered. However, I do have one thing I am not sure about:

I understand that it's up to us if we give one gift per room or per person, and one every day or only one day, etc.

The question I have is: Do we bring a gift for every room, or are we assigned a particular room or group of rooms? I.E. do I bring things for 31 different rooms, or just for 1 room or 5 rooms or some random selection of my choice?

Looking forward to cruisin' with my new friends!

 

[Billinaz]

Yes, spending 4 days at Disney World after the cruise.

If you are staying on property, drop it off and then pick it up when you leave. You would save $$ that way....

 

[seacruise]

If you are staying on property, drop it off and then pick it up when you leave. You would save $$ that way....

True, but it's worth the extra $150 for the convenience of hanging onto it for our stay and not having to deal with dropping it off and picking up another rental. Plus it gives us the flexibility to drive to the parks or to the store or whatever.

 

[jbcaraballo]

We will be joining you on this cruise! It is our first family cruise. I am Jolien, Ben and my 2 children Antonio 11 and Anaiah 2. My parents will also be joining us Maria and Ralph. 2034 and 2040 are our staterooms. We are very excited! I took a short cruise once on RCL with my husband and did not have a great experience. We love everything Disney and are hoping to change our minds about cruising after this one . I look forward to getting to know everyone and we will see you there!

 

[jbcaraballo]

There are only like 65 members on the FB page? What is the hold up friends?? Get over there & like it so we can chat! Lots of good info for those of us first timers!
(Personally I think it is easier to read than these forums!)
& I dont like that I cant message people until I have 10 posts! Silly.

Just asked to join can you please add me

 

[DisLyd1972]

I thought it might be nice to let everyone know who are doing the FE exchange that the staterooms for deck 2 can only be accessed by the mid or forward elevators and stairs. There are rounded passage ways, both starboard and port, by the mid elevators that take you to the staterooms. It can be a bit confusing if you don't know how to get to them. The passage ways are just a bit forward of the Enchanted Garden entrance.

We are looking forward to meeting everyone on the 21st! Has a meeting place been determined as yet?

 

[hux777]

Hi all - are we too late to join the FE list? Our family of four (DD-7, DS-9) will be on the April 20th sailing for our 4th Disney cruise. We just got our stateroom assignment (#8162) and were really hoping to be be able to do FE again on this cruise!

Just sent a request to join the FB page too.

Thanks!!

 

[Camp knapp]

The knapp family will be sailing April 20! DD, DM , DS Preston turns 12 on the cruise April 20, DD savannah turns 7 on April 16. This is our 6 th cruise and it is always so much fun! see you there, room 2044

 

[jbcaraballo]

The knapp family will be sailing April 20! DD, DM , DS Preston turns 12 on the cruise April 20, DD savannah turns 7 on April 16. This is our 6 th cruise and it is always so much fun! see you there, room 2044

Awesome see you there looks like we will be neighbors

 

[tootsiemr]

OK SO This is where I will post the info please either add it on here yourself or I can do it for you just gimme you info and I will add it ASAP =) OK THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL POST AS FOLLOW DISNAME: NAMES(AGE'S time of cruise), STATEROOM # (OR GTY) THIS IS THE OFFICIAL LIST PLEASE DO NOT TAMPER WITH UNLESS YOU ARE CHANGING IT FOR SPECIFIC REASONS. THIS IS FOR FE GIFT EXCHANGE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE =) IF YOUR CURIOUS TO WHAT ON DISNEY I AM TALKING ABOUT ASK AND I WILL FILL YOU IN ;-) DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS MARCH 1st!!!

TOOTSIEMR, Natasha (29), William (28), Room # 8662, Aft, Starboard

FIREFLY01, David (dh 31) Bobbie (dw36) Savannah (dd3)- Room 11002- deck 11 Forward, Portside

STAGEMASTER Kendra (33), Kelly (38) , Ryan (30)- Room 8164, Aft, Portside


KHARRIS702 Krista (26), Heather (30), Donna (60)- 7520, Foward, Starboard L

LUCYEM Emily, Scott, Colin (7), Brian celebrating 11th birthday on cruise Room 12518, Foward, Starboard

BECKIE W/AN IE, Beckie (45), Ed (49) & Sara (9). Room 7192, Aft

TheHarrisFamily, Ward (DH), Robyn (DW), Connor (DS 12), Tylor (DS- Turns 9 on board!), Room 10070, Midship, Portside

Sixpack, Lynn (DW), Rob (DH), Matt (DS 10), Ryan (DS 7), Jack (DS 5), Elle 5(DD)- Room 12008, Foward, Portside

karaintn, Kara (DW 36), Ty (DH 36), Harrison (DS 8), Jacqueline (DD 4), Susannah (DD 4)- Room 6586, Midship, Starboard

melwill530, Brandon (46), Melanie (44), Ryan (DS 6), Ava (DD 4)- Room 6582, Midship, Starboard

shmelmcc, Mark (40), Sarah (38), Hannah (12), Laura (10), Ella (7)- Room 10596, Midship, Starboard

KDeans1010- Kim (32) and Jolyn (DM- birthday on ship)- 5028, Foward, Portside


couponclipping1 - Kristie (36), Wayne (37), Paul (7) and Madelyn (4) - Room 8112, Midship, Portside

Larkinfamily - Lynne (DW 39), Tom (DH 39 - 40th bday on board), Charlie (DS 3), Toby (DS 3) - Room 7634, midship, starboard

DisLyd1972 - DH (Chip) & DW (Kathy) - Room 2036, Midship, Portside

ShanVerdi - Sumit (DH), Shannon (DW), Chase (DS 17) & Chhaya (DD 10) - Room 10156, Aft, Portside

TheSpencers- Tracy (36), Chris (38), Colby (10), Travis (7), Room 10544, Foward, Starboard

JessRx - Jessica and Mark (38), Luke (6), Jack (4), 10510, Foward, Starboard

JHARRYMAN Jennifer (38), George (13), Brendan (9) Room 7501, Foward, Inside Starboard

Erinw Erin (29), Rick (34) , Pat (60), Room 7128, Midship, Portside

Famcruise- Rebecca (36) Scott (40) Ian (8) Brandon (6) Rm 9630, Aft, Starboard

Jfahome April (DW), Jeff (DH), Parker (2) Room 6514, Foward, Starboard

Jfahome Marcia (DMIL), Elizabeth (8) Room 6512, Foward, Starboard

Topelski4: Niki (DW), Jamie (DH), Kyliee (5), Kaiden (Turns 3 on the boat on April 23rd Room 9148 , Aft, Portside

Jenniferpfromkc: John, Jennifer, Josi (4) Room 6070, Midship, Portside

Mousers: Nancy (DW), Bob (DH), Sue (Dgrammy), Cameron (DB) 8 Room 5048, Foward, Portside

Spagnuolo (Jim and Kelly) DS-(JP) 10, DS- (Jacob) 9, DD-(Gabi)6. We are in cabin 9062 and 9064, Foward, Portside

The Boyers - Jeremy (DH 27) and Kristine (DW 26) - Room # 6680, Aft, Starboard

NoVaMommy: Liz (38), Rob(41), Isabel (5), Carolina (2) Room 7556 Midship, Starboard

KitchFam: Ray (DH) Joanna (DW) Teresa (DA (aunt) ), Lucas 8 (DS), Jacob 10 (DS) -Room 6086, Midship, Portside

Watfam: John (DH), Jodie (DW), Iain 8 (DS), Broedan 9 (DS) - Room 6538, Foward, Starboard

Alex and Jill both 40. Room 10004, Portside, forward

 

[SailingSeas]

Thanks Billinaz, for the suggestion for Budget. Have a great full size for $40 each way with the codes from Mousesavers.com.

 

[seacruise]

Hi guys, I have a question about the disembarkation process (not something anybody wants to think about I know). Had read in the past that Disney allows you to disembark at any time after the ship has cleared customs. Is that still the case or do they assign disembarkation groups?

Reason I ask is that we are heading to Disney World after the cruise and trying to "guestimate" what time we might be able to get to a park. Already have our tickets so planning on driving straight to a park and checking in at our resort later.

Any thoughts on which park would be best to do on a Sat. afternoon/evening?

 

[karaintn]

Hi guys, I have a question about the disembarkation process (not something anybody wants to think about I know). Had read in the past that Disney allows you to disembark at any time after the ship has cleared customs. Is that still the case or do they assign disembarkation groups?

Reason I ask is that we are heading to Disney World after the cruise and trying to "guestimate" what time we might be able to get to a park. Already have our tickets so planning on driving straight to a park and checking in at our resort later.

Any thoughts on which park would be best to do on a Sat. afternoon/evening?

I can't answer about the specific process, but I was told we'd be able to get to the airport around 10:00 or so, and that's without really rushing it, so I would think you could be at a park around that same time.

Kara

 

[karaintn]

Yay!!!! We made the list! I thought we were too late.

So, I am not great at shipboard directions, but we are in room 10004. So, Deck10 forward, on the left side (Port as I seem to recall from the old sailing days). Did I get that right?

As for FE itself, I think I have most of the concept down. We did some reading on it before we volunteered. However, I do have one thing I am not sure about:

I understand that it's up to us if we give one gift per room or per person, and one every day or only one day, etc.

The question I have is: Do we bring a gift for every room, or are we assigned a particular room or group of rooms? I.E. do I bring things for 31 different rooms, or just for 1 room or 5 rooms or some random selection of my choice?

Looking forward to cruisin' with my new friends!

I wasn't sure if you had gotten an anwer to this yet - typically you would give a gift to each cabin. Some people give 1 "cabin gift" and some people give a gift to each person in each cabin. I'm giving one "couple gift" for the adults to share, and a gift for each child. It's totally up to you - don't stress about it, just have fun.

Kara

 

[SailingSeas]

Hi guys, I have a question about the disembarkation process (not something anybody wants to think about I know). Had read in the past that Disney allows you to disembark at any time after the ship has cleared customs. Is that still the case or do they assign disembarkation groups?

Reason I ask is that we are heading to Disney World after the cruise and trying to "guestimate" what time we might be able to get to a park. Already have our tickets so planning on driving straight to a park and checking in at our resort later.

Any thoughts on which park would be best to do on a Sat. afternoon/evening?

Ship clears customs fairly early, if everything is okay (like 7am early.) Depending on where your car is, it's an hour to an hour and a quarter over to Walt Disney World. Animal Kingdom is usually the quietest park on a Saturday, followed by HS. For that night, why not top it off with dinner and fireworks? What kind of tickets do you have, and which resort are you staying at?

 

[seacruise]

Ship clears customs fairly early, if everything is okay (like 7am early.) Depending on where your car is, it's an hour to an hour and a quarter over to Walt Disney World. Animal Kingdom is usually the quietest park on a Saturday, followed by HS. For that night, why not top it off with dinner and fireworks? What kind of tickets do you have, and which resort are you staying at?

Hi, thanks for the reply.

We have a rental car to pickup after disembarkation. Planning on at least an hour for the shuttle, rental car line, etc. before we can get underway.

We have 4 days and are planning on doing MK 2 days and AK and HS on the other two days. Skipping Epcot this time. Was kind of thinking of doing MK on Sat and Tue, AK on Sun, and HS on Mon.

Oh, you asked about tickets. We have 4 day regular (non-park hopper) tickets. We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort. We stayed there last year and can see parts of Wishes and IllumiNations from the resort. Kids are probably too young (3 and 6) to stay in the parks for the Fireworks which aren't until 10:00 if I remember right. We stayed for fireworks one night at Disneyland last Summer and we had to carry them both back to the hotel asleep. Well keep them up for Pirate night and the fireworks on the ship!

 

[SailingSeas]

that can work for you. Be aware that MK may be a zoo on Saturday with locals and new arrivals hitting the park. Sunday will be worse with the Extra Magic Hours, though, so you're good to head to AK that day.

Check TouringPlans.com for good park guides to make the most of your park time for MK, then take it easy on Tuesday, would be my suggestion. Your Saturday will be tiring, so if it were me, I would perhaps make it an early night, and wake fresh for a great Sunday.

 

[mommyto3princesses]

Ship clears customs fairly early, if everything is okay (like 7am early.) Depending on where your car is, it's an hour to an hour and a quarter over to Walt Disney World. Animal Kingdom is usually the quietest park on a Saturday, followed by HS. For that night, why not top it off with dinner and fireworks? What kind of tickets do you have, and which resort are you staying at?

Thanks for this info. We are also going to WDW and do not have plans yet. We've never been and only have one day. I was thinking AK. I have not bought our one day tickets yet. I guess I should work on that.

We were going to shuttle to the airport and drop our bags at the Hyatt and then shuttle to WDW. Perhaps we should just rent a car and head straight to WDW?