Cruise Facebook Groups

[DLM1980]

You would think that those that "will never participate again" because they received "tacky" gifts when they gave such "great" gifts, would sort of make the FE go back to the old days, because the "great gifters" are done, gone, finished. But sadly people are not doing what they say.

 

[cmph]

I wonder how many of the long-timers here still participate in FE? As I've read through this thread, it's left me wondering if one reason people are using facebook for FE exchanges/meet groups is just that they're newer sailing families, very used to facebook, and either unaware of disboards or rare participants here... while the long-timers who would be inclined to use/prefer disboards just aren't doing FE anymore or are otherwise long done with group activities, leading to quiet cruise-meet threads here. I would have preferred to converse through disboards, but our meet thread for our cruise almost 2 months ago was dead. I posted a question, got zero response. I'll bet the Panama Canal ones are more active!! But for a lot of others, it seems like you almost have no choice but to turn to facebook.

I was intimidated by some of the very elaborate and fancy FE gifts, I have to say! It made me disinclined to formally participate. I originally decided to just put little things in our extender for my kids on my own. Then our facebook-based group ended up doing a pixie dust list that was very informal, just listing the family members' names/ages and stateroom number; no guarantees you'd get anything, just a big list. That worked out very nicely. Mostly, the gifts were smaller items, but it made my kids so happy. The things I had ordered to put in our own extender were sold in large sets, so I had plenty of extra stuff to dust others, and my daughter in particular enjoyed joining me in the dusting. It ended up being very fun and added to the cruise magic, without feeling such pressure to come up with awesome gifts. Perhaps formalized pixie-dusting like that is simply reminiscent of the "old" way of doing FE.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I wonder how many of the long-timers here still participate in FE? As I've read through this thread, it's left me wondering if one reason people are using facebook for FE exchanges/meet groups is just that they're newer sailing families, very used to facebook, and either unaware of disboards or rare participants here... while the long-timers who would be inclined to use/prefer disboards just aren't doing FE anymore or are otherwise long done with group activities, leading to quiet cruise-meet threads here. I would have preferred to converse through disboards, but our meet thread for our cruise almost 2 months ago was dead. I posted a question, got zero response. I'll bet the Panama Canal ones are more active!! But for a lot of others, it seems like you almost have no choice but to turn to facebook.

I was intimidated by some of the very elaborate and fancy FE gifts, I have to say! It made me disinclined to formally participate. I originally decided to just put little things in our extender for my kids on my own. Then our facebook-based group ended up doing a pixie dust list that was very informal, just listing the family members' names/ages and stateroom number; no guarantees you'd get anything, just a big list. That worked out very nicely. Mostly, the gifts were smaller items, but it made my kids so happy. The things I had ordered to put in our own extender were sold in large sets, so I had plenty of extra stuff to dust others, and my daughter in particular enjoyed joining me in the dusting. It ended up being very fun and added to the cruise magic, without feeling such pressure to come up with awesome gifts. Perhaps formalized pixie-dusting like that is simply reminiscent of the "old" way of doing FE.

Sounds very much like it.

 

[Dug720]

I agree with PrincessSmoo. There was a day when that didn't matter. But I've come home from cruises and the same people I bonded with pre cruise are complaining about what they got. I've actually started avoiding the whole deal by going rouge and pixie dusting. That way I don't have to worry about getting anything.

There was someone on here who confessed to keeping a spreadsheet of who gave what and adjusting her pretty-much last-minute giving out accordingly. As in if it was something from Oriental Trading (or the like) that person got nothing or something very little.

Seems totally antithetical to the whole idea if you ask me.

 

[dragynally]

There was someone on here who confessed to keeping a spreadsheet of who gave what and adjusting her pretty-much last-minute giving out accordingly. As in if it was something from Oriental Trading (or the like) that person got nothing or something very little.

Seems totally antithetical to the whole idea if you ask me.

That makes me sad but I'm not surprised.

 

[cmph]

There was someone on here who confessed to keeping a spreadsheet of who gave what and adjusting her pretty-much last-minute giving out accordingly. As in if it was something from Oriental Trading (or the like) that person got nothing or something very little.

Seems totally antithetical to the whole idea if you ask me.

Geez. I don't even know what to say about that. Especially to admit to doing that. Sad is right! I didn't even keep track of which staterooms pixie-dusted us, and not everyone identified themselves anyway. If I gave something to someone who gave us nothing, I'm totally cool with that. I'm grateful that the only post-cruise facebook posts in our group were generic thank yous to everyone, no complaining about chintzy gifts! In the future, I can't say I will ever participate in any exchanges that require more info than stateroom numbers and family member names/ages.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

There was someone on here who confessed to keeping a spreadsheet of who gave what and adjusting her pretty-much last-minute giving out accordingly. As in if it was something from Oriental Trading (or the like) that person got nothing or something very little.

Seems totally antithetical to the whole idea if you ask me.

The sad part of this is that it has been more than one that has admitted keeping track. I feel sorry for them. They certainly have missed the part where it is better to give than to receive.

 

[cyclenut]

Since I have some concerns that a few may have been offended by what I have written about FB being a better platform for meetups than FB, I thought it important that I clarify something.

First, and I'm dating myself here, I have used online forums since the early days of the bulletin board service (BBS) where each BBS had to have their own bank of modems, you paid a fee and dialed in. The discussion forum software has changed quite a bit since then but the basic format has remained largely the same. That's more than 25 years ago. The people who run the DIS and the moderators should be very proud of what they created and where it has gone. It's really an excellent source for information and I've found it very helpful over the past few years. I've always tried to be a contributor as well as a consumer of the information because that's how these things flourish. It's been that way since the very beginning.

I'm also an IT professional and I've watched companies create awesome products and then die a few years later when they failed to innovate. I love what the DIS represents and the people here are outstanding. I don't want to see that happen. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that is what we are all seeing and it is starting with the meet up threads. I'm not measuring traffic but it seems that even the general cruise forum is down overall. Many here that use FB, myself included, have suggested that the ease of use and adaptability to the mobile platform are key reasons. There are "new" people coming to learn of the helpfulness and hospitality that are hallmarks of the DIS family but they are doing so through FB. The idea of an online forum is not at all appealing to many of the new generation, much like the idea of going to FB just isn't appealing to many longtime users of the DIS.

I mean no disrespect to anyone here, least of all the great people that run the DIS and the moderators that spend countless hours managing the forums to ensure they are healthy and respectful places to talk about our passion for Disney. The issue is, the technology is changing and it is doing so very rapidly. Companies like FB are innovating like crazy to stay up with the curve and they are flourishing. It is simply unrealistic to expect the DIS to keep pace with the armies of people that FB has working on and supporting their operation and innovation.

The people here may be quite content with the shrinking audience. Content is king and the DIS clearly has the content. The concern is that I'm seeing that content being developed in FB groups of all types. How long before the DIS is no longer THE authority on all things Disney? I think it would be awesome to see the DIS adapt to these changes so that it may continue to offer so much to so many.

 

[JW9DVC]

Since I have some concerns that a few may have been offended by what I have written about FB being a better platform for meetups than FB, I thought it important that I clarify something.

First, and I'm dating myself here, I have used online forums since the early days of the bulletin board service (BBS) where each BBS had to have their own bank of modems, you paid a fee and dialed in. The discussion forum software has changed quite a bit since then but the basic format has remained largely the same. That's more than 25 years ago. The people who run the DIS and the moderators should be very proud of what they created and where it has gone. It's really an excellent source for information and I've found it very helpful over the past few years. I've always tried to be a contributor as well as a consumer of the information because that's how these things flourish. It's been that way since the very beginning.

I'm also an IT professional and I've watched companies create awesome products and then die a few years later when they failed to innovate. I love what the DIS represents and the people here are outstanding. I don't want to see that happen. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that is what we are all seeing and it is starting with the meet up threads. I'm not measuring traffic but it seems that even the general cruise forum is down overall. Many here that use FB, myself included, have suggested that the ease of use and adaptability to the mobile platform are key reasons. There are "new" people coming to learn of the helpfulness and hospitality that are hallmarks of the DIS family but they are doing so through FB. The idea of an online forum is not at all appealing to many of the new generation, much like the idea of going to FB just isn't appealing to many longtime users of the DIS.

I mean no disrespect to anyone here, least of all the great people that run the DIS and the moderators that spend countless hours managing the forums to ensure they are healthy and respectful places to talk about our passion for Disney. The issue is, the technology is changing and it is doing so very rapidly. Companies like FB are innovating like crazy to stay up with the curve and they are flourishing. It is simply unrealistic to expect the DIS to keep pace with the armies of people that FB has working on and supporting their operation and innovation.

The people here may be quite content with the shrinking audience. Content is king and the DIS clearly has the content. The concern is that I'm seeing that content being developed in FB groups of all types. How long before the DIS is no longer THE authority on all things Disney? I think it would be awesome to see the DIS adapt to these changes so that it may continue to offer so much to so many.

Just be aware that many scammers on FB. We had one on our cruise last year that always was looking for a pity party. Being in law I knew that tactics she was using. I called her out and everyone else protected her. I left that fb group. We found out latter what had happened, all I could tell people was. I told you so.

JW

 

[cyclenut]

Just be aware that many scammers on FB. We had one on our cruise last year that always was looking for a pity party. Being in law I knew that tactics she was using. I called her out and everyone else protected her. I left that fb group. We found out latter what had happened, all I could tell people was. I told you so.

JW

The online environment is a reflection of the real life environment. You'll have good eggs and bad eggs. Finding out which is which is sometimes difficult for the untrained. That is clearly a benefit of a controlled environment such as the DIS, although a FB group could be fine if there is an alert and informed administrator in charge.

 

[TestingH2O]

We are about to leave on our third cruise.

Cruise 1: I intentionally didn't join any groups because it was our first cruise and we had family celebrations.

Cruise 2: I was active in the group, attended the meet & greet, and did mixology. No FE though bevause it was only 4 days.

Cruise 3: I'm doing FE for the first time. I made a couple of the components of our gifts and I'm sure people will gripe about the fact that I'm not a professional seamstress. If even one family enjoys part, then I'm happy though. I'm excited to see how DD responds when we get things and I definitely don't care where the stuff comes from. One person in the group made a few noises early about expectations, and everyone else quickly agreed that the preference was to tell people to give gifts that made them happy instead of a bunch of rules.

Cruise 4: I just volunteered to organize the FE. Eeek! We are doing a secret Mickey group for people who want to guarantee higher $ gifts, but our rules clearly state that this is all fun and there should be no expectations about the regular groups. Hopefully it actually plays out like that.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are about to leave on our third cruise.

Cruise 1: I intentionally didn't join any groups because it was our first cruise and we had family celebrations.

Cruise 2: I was active in the group, attended the meet & greet, and did mixology. No FE though bevause it was only 4 days.

Cruise 3: I'm doing FE for the first time. I made a couple of the components of our gifts and I'm sure people will gripe about the fact that I'm not a professional seamstress. If even one family enjoys part, then I'm happy though. I'm excited to see how DD responds when we get things and I definitely don't care where the stuff comes from. One person in the group made a few noises early about expectations, and everyone else quickly agreed that the preference was to tell people to give gifts that made them happy instead of a bunch of rules.

Cruise 4: I just volunteered to organize the FE. Eeek! We are doing a secret Mickey group for people who want to guarantee higher $ gifts, but our rules clearly state that this is all fun and there should be no expectations about the regular groups. Hopefully it actually plays out like that.

Question - were/are these DISboards FE groups?

 

[TestingH2O]

Question - were/are these DISboards FE groups?

No. My DIS meets have never had enough activity to generate groups.

I always subscribe to the thread here, but let's just say it's always a surprise when I get a notification that someone posted on it.

 

[cmph]

I'm not measuring traffic but it seems that even the general cruise forum is down overall. Many here that use FB, myself included, have suggested that the ease of use and adaptability to the mobile platform are key reasons. There are "new" people coming to learn of the helpfulness and hospitality that are hallmarks of the DIS family

I can't speak to the traffic going down over the years, but I will add to this that Aulani is the only reason I actually joined the disboards... Every time I googled a question I had while planning for that trip ended up leading to an answer on the disboards! I utilized other sites' info for parks visits, and just had never found a reason to open my own account until the Aulani trip was booked. A short time after that, I talked DH into trying DCL. We had an amazing vacation, and now our kids are very firm that our Disney cruise was by far better than the parks (WDW or DL) and Aulani, so the placeholder was booked and I am here to stay. I have found much better information here for cruising, for the information I seek anyway, and I have already gotten to the point of trusting opinions and info provided by the members. But would I ever have happened upon the DCL board at all if not for that Aulani trip? I have to say no. I'm glad I did find my way here, though, and I sincerely appreciate all the help I've been given on all the boards! Some new people like me will find their way here, hopefully!

 

[tidefan]

Easy for me. I'm not on FB...

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

...

First, and I'm dating myself here, I have used online forums since the early days of the bulletin board service (BBS) where each BBS had to have their own bank of modems, you paid a fee and dialed in. The discussion forum software has changed quite a bit since then but the basic format has remained largely the same. That's more than 25 years ago. The people who run the DIS and the moderators should be very proud of what they created and where it has gone. It's really an excellent source for information and I've found it very helpful over the past few years. I've always tried to be a contributor as well as a consumer of the information because that's how these things flourish. It's been that way since the very beginning.

Lol - certainly brought back memories of BBS and such ... I still remember doing computer programming in my teens ... on punch cards !!


... The idea of an online forum is not at all appealing to many of the new generation, much like the idea of going to FB just isn't appealing to many longtime users of the DIS.

I found that when I mention forums to the younger generation I meet is like explaining to them what encyclopedias were all about - lol ...

...

The people here may be quite content with the shrinking audience. Content is king and the DIS clearly has the content. The concern is that I'm seeing that content being developed in FB groups of all types. How long before the DIS is no longer THE authority on all things Disney? I think it would be awesome to see the DIS adapt to these changes so that it may continue to offer so much to so many.

First signed onto the DIS boards almost 18 years ago. It was a great source of information for all things Disney and was helpful in planning for our cruises and trips to WDW. Learned about FE's about seven years ago when planning our first Disney cruise ... it was just another fun thing to do. As other posters have indicated, FE's sometimes seem to have become a bit too "complicated" nowadays ... whatever happened to the premise that "it's not the gift that counts, but the thought" ...

Then when social media came into play and things changed here re: meets, FE's etc. It then became more "complicated" (again) ... to the point where even long-term posters such as myself ran afoul of the restrictions. Then with the hyperbole being displayed by others if one didn't agree with the other ... it certainly became much less "fun".

Now ... with our last Disney cruise and our upcoming one ... activity for FE's and meets and such ... has swung the other way. Am not a fan of social media and find that Boards such as these still provide a great resource ... but one either changes with the times ... or gets "left behind" ... I still have my collection of HD-DVD's ... and VHS ... but now ...

Oops ... click on expand above for my other comments

 

[dragynally]

I consider myself FB savvy. The Disboards and FB are 2 very different things to me. I come here for information and opinions to help me plan my trips. FB is a great place to try and make online friends that may turn into real friends. With that said, that's only my experience with the disboards. Some people have great friendship stories from here. I do think FB lends itself to making FE and meets way more complicated. Here all you need for FE is my name an room number. On FB forms can be added and rules can be turned into documents.

 

[cyclenut]

I consider myself FB savvy. The Disboards and FB are 2 very different things to me. I come here for information and opinions to help me plan my trips. FB is a great place to try and make online friends that may turn into real friends. With that said, that's only my experience with the disboards. Some people have great friendship stories from here. I do think FB lends itself to making FE and meets way more complicated. Here all you need for FE is my name an room number. On FB forms can be added and rules can be turned into documents.

I think you've hit on an important difference. Most FB groups spawn from one person wanting to create a FB group to meet people on their cruise. They may have zero previous experience with how to organize such a group or what some of the things are that have worked (and have not worked) in the past. The beauty of the DIS is that there are a lot of very experienced people as well as many examples to look at that help someone get started and stay on track. FB fosters more innovation and with that comes some good and some bad.

I will also add that there are a number of FB groups that are not cruise specific and share much of the information as the DIS, but the very thing that makes FB powerful for cruise meet ups, hinders a more general FB group. The forum format is far superior at organizing large volumes of disparate information into easy to find topics and threads, predictably putting the most recent activity to the top of the forum. I much prefer the DIS to FB for these more general information sharing groups/forums.

 

[phinz]

I consider myself FB savvy. The Disboards and FB are 2 very different things to me. I come here for information and opinions to help me plan my trips. FB is a great place to try and make online friends that may turn into real friends. With that said, that's only my experience with the disboards. Some people have great friendship stories from here. I do think FB lends itself to making FE and meets way more complicated. Here all you need for FE is my name an room number. On FB forms can be added and rules can be turned into documents.

You, your husband and I would have never become FB friends had it not been for our cruise group. I enjoy keeping up with what's going on with you guys as your marriage grows.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I have to chime in here and say, first of all, these DIS Boards *are* social media; it's just the only type some are used to /comfortable with. And that's fine! I love these Boards and could never have enjoyed my sailings without them! I've been on FB for 8 yrs and here for 5 I think. They are completely different as has been discussed. People will stay where they feel comfortable and safe. However, i must point out, I diligently check my cruise meet up thread here for members organizing an FE group; we are less than 6 months out, and there is NONE! I even checked on FB and couldn't find one (I consider myself extremely FB savvy). Turns out, someone was cherrypicking anyone interested in FE groups here through the DIS meet link, and directing them to a FB group I couldn't even find. Sadly, there is still no FE group here! So really what are my options? My kids want to participate.

Except the mobile browser version still sucks. As I scroll the site bring up a quote button that's always in my way of reading so I have to scroll up and try to move that button pop up to another section and then scroll back to wear I was reading and hope my scrolling doesn't retrigger the pop up again

And to the point here, I am willing to bet those of us who are comfortable with FB use mobile phones /apps. That's what we are used to as technology advances, our own technology and thus expectations also advance. I really, really wish the DIS had an app, bc those who may not use their phones /tablets have no clue how frustratingly difficult it is to read and especially respond here. In writing this response alone, this page has frozen twice and taken me to an advertisement by my unintentionally "clicking" on something that popped into where I was typing (after the frozen screen came back). Anyhow long story short, as with anything here, everyone expects different things, has their own opinions, and will stay where they are most comfortable. I think what we are seeing here is a generational thing, honestly. And again, I think these Boards would benefit from having an app, which may make it user friendly for those who only use their phones /tablets (although it's not going to solve the problems we are discussing here).