August 24th 2012 Cruise to the Bahamas!!!!

[dizneeat]

I'm still trying to get my head around the whole FE exchange thing. So, basically, you leave a little something for EVERY person/stateroom who agrees to do this? That's potentially a very large number though, isn't it? Or does the "keeper of the list" assign you a certain number of people to leave gifts for?

It depends on the number of people who sign up for the FE. On our last cruises we had about 15 - 20 cabins for each FE exchange. It depends on you if you want to give a "cabin" gift, or a gift for every person in the stateroom. Your gifts do not have to be big or expensive. There are loads of wonderful homemade gifts, which are inexpensive and fun.

Here are some examples of what we gave last summer

Last year I went to the tourist office and picked up english brochures about my home town and handed those out together with some Austrian candy.

But apart from what you give and receive, it is so much fun to sneak around the ship and hand out the gifts, trying not to be caught!

 

[mcd2745]

I'm not really as concerned with it getting too expensive as I am with not being the idiot who doesn't do it right and ruins the whole thing for some other family. Anyway, is it something you do one night of the cruise, or is it an every night thing?

I've read about how a lot of people try to give out little things from their home town. Problem I (and many others) would have, is that I think half the ship is going to be from NY!

 

[dizneeat]

I'm not really as concerned with it getting too expensive as I am with not being the idiot who doesn't do it right and ruins the whole thing for some other family. Anyway, is it something you do one night of the cruise, or is it an every night thing?

Remember, this is a FUN thing you do, and you should not worry about spoiling it. There are no rules apart from the one that you sign up and sneak around handing out your gift.
It completely depends on you if you hand out several small gifts (like we do) every night of the cruise, or if you give one gift one time during your cruise. To be honest on our last cruise this summer we ended up handing out three days's worth of presents in one go, as we just didn't find enough time to do it every day.
If you ask me - IF you want to participate, do it once in your cruise. Not only will you receive an array of very thoughtful gifts, but you will be the envy of many other cruisers. More than once we were asked why we had all those presents and where you got a FE and how to participate.

 

[mcd2745]

It completely depends on you if you hand out several small gifts (like we do) every night of the cruise, or if you give one gift one time during your cruise. To be honest on our last cruise this summer we ended up handing out three days's worth of presents in one go, as we just didn't find enough time to do it every day.

That was my other concern. It's only a 5-night cruise, so time is precious. I didn't want to spend 2 hours a night running around the ship. One or two nights I'm sure would be fine, but more than that I fear it would become somewhat of a "chore".

 

[michelle9343]

so, can i count you in for this one?

absolutely!!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

absolutely!!!!!

I am so glad, this is happening!

So here is the first attempt at a ..............

FE participants list!

michelle9343
dizneeat​

 

[princess81499]

Yeah. Booked our DVC stay for the week before this cruise! Getting excited planning out our days at Universal Studios/Sea World. No Disney parks this trip.

 

[templed]

We just booked our FIRST!!! DVC stay for the week before the cruise. Just became a DVC owner last week. We're planning about 3 days of parks.

Re: FE exchange... Hmmmmm I'll have to think about that one. I can't really imagine handing out tourism information about Staten Island???? lol Maybe images from space showing the size of the massive landfill... or... "The History of the Staten Island Mafia...."

Gotta think that one over and I'll let you know if we'll participate.

 

[bambilin]

Hello all. Last Disney Cruise our group we all agreed to buy for the children in each cabin and only one night each. The person who coordinated assigned us each a date for delivery. I snuck around that night with my little guys, one in a stroller. They thought it was so much fun and both boys loved seeing their little surprises each morning.

Some surprises were "very little" and others over the top. The kids did not care.

We already have such a large group I was considering doing it just with the kids in my own group. I am a little concerned it might be too time consuming to do it for everyone in the gang.

Still want to meet up with everybodyand hope you all have fun with your FE project!!!

 

[michelle9343]

Just dropping by to say HELLO..............
I have been reading the cruise boards so much my family thinks I'm nuts!!!!

 

[templed]

Reading the boards is the only thing that keeps me sane throughout the wait.

 

[Boo99]

Hi. Testing to see if I can post. having trouble seeing posts

 

[templed]

I see it... that's really bizarre that you can't see all the others.

 

[mcd2745]

Reading the boards is the only thing that keeps me sane throughout the wait.

Still seems so far away doesn't it? I've been browsing the boards too, trying to gain as much info as possible. What I'd really like to find out is the dinner/nighttime schedule - such as, will there be a formal night (I hope not)? Which night would the pirate night be? Stuff like that.

I bought the Birnbaum "Official" DCL Guide Book, but it was generally a waste as the info was basic and didn't provide any real tips. Anyone ever buy the Passporter DCL book? If so, what did you think? It's really the only other guidebook out there.

 

[dizneeat]

Still seems so far away doesn't it? I've been browsing the boards too, trying to gain as much info as possible. What I'd really like to find out is the dinner/nighttime schedule - such as, will there be a formal night (I hope not)? Which night would the pirate night be? Stuff like that.

I bought the Birnbaum "Official" DCL Guide Book, but it was generally a waste as the info was basic and didn't provide any real tips. Anyone ever buy the Passporter DCL book? If so, what did you think? It's really the only other guidebook out there.

I bought the Birnbaum guide before we first cruised, but didn't find it very helpful. Borrowed a Passporter and it was the same thing. Guess I am not much help here!

You will only get to know your dinner rotation once you are onboard. The shows are usually "Golden Mickeys" on the first night, Villains on the second, third night is pirate night and last night is Believe.
this is the schedule for the 4 night cruises - don't know about the five night ones, but as soon as they start doing them, watch out for the personal navigators being posted here - they are VERY helpful.
I find MOST of the info I need here on this board. And believe me, we spent 11 nights on the DREAM this summer (3 back to back cruises) and we were not able to fit everything in we wanted to do ...... take it easy, you're on vacation!

 

[michelle9343]

Still seems so far away doesn't it? I've been browsing the boards too, trying to gain as much info as possible. What I'd really like to find out is the dinner/nighttime schedule - such as, will there be a formal night (I hope not)? Which night would the pirate night be? Stuff like that.

I bought the Birnbaum "Official" DCL Guide Book, but it was generally a waste as the info was basic and didn't provide any real tips. Anyone ever buy the Passporter DCL book? If so, what did you think? It's really the only other guidebook out there.

There is not a formal night on the shorter cruises, I think they call it "dress-up" or something like that .
The guide books to me are just fun to have you will always find more info here!!

 

[michelle9343]

I bought the Birnbaum guide before we first cruised, but didn't find it very helpful. Borrowed a Passporter and it was the same thing. Guess I am not much help here!

You will only get to know your dinner rotation once you are onboard. The shows are usually "Golden Mickeys" on the first night, Villains on the second, third night is pirate night and last night is Believe.
this is the schedule for the 4 night cruises - don't know about the five night ones, but as soon as they start doing them, watch out for the personal navigators being posted here - they are VERY helpful.
I find MOST of the info I need here on this board. And believe me, we spent 11 nights on the DREAM this summer (3 back to back cruises) and we were not able to fit everything in we wanted to do ...... take it easy, you're on vacation!

There was a 5 night navigator posted back in May, I have it saved in my favorites but have no idea how to post a link to it. I know things can change a lot by the time we set sail but at least they give us a good idea of what to expect.

 

[templed]

I've got a 5 night navigator that a friend of ours scanned in for us.... let me see if I can host it somewhere that I can link it here...

Print media is really going to be generally useless when it comes to really useful practical information. By the time the ink dries, I'd say that it's outdated.

It's been so crazy at work for the past month or so... so I'm really jones'in for a dose of cruise relaxation.

 

[livewgrumpy]

Dave,
I did what you said and now I can see everything. Don't know why boo99 is not working. Like my new name??

 

[templed]

Snicker...... I fixed boo99's display settings last night. Even though she went through the trouble of setting up a new id.