December 17, 2011 - Magic Cruisers?

[pennymike]

Just joining.....we were originally going on spring break, but moved it up to do a 3rd holiday cruise with Mickey! We DO love Christmas in the Caribbean. DH Mike and I (Penny) count this as our 11th Disney Cruise. Yes....we have a slight problem....we're ok with that! Looking forward to getting to know you all.

 

[pennymike]

Hi all just got off the dream and loved it.

Hmmmm.....you got off around the the 5th? We got ON on the 7th of August! Wasn't it fab???

 

[adamsclan]

Is anyone planning a FE exchange? 92 days and counting!!

 

[Wings27]

My DW, DD (10), and DS (8) and I are looking forward to the 12/17/11 cruise!!! We hope to see you guys there.


---wings27

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

Hi - My family should be joining this cruise. It will be my husband, daughter, son, mother, and father. Do we want to try to do a fish extender? This will be my kids first cruise and I would love for them to experience that.

 

[kcashner]

Well, got our cabin assignment. No pixie dust for this girl. Bummer, since they are still showing most categories available.

However, I have bigger issues to worry about...I'm going to have to fly in the morning of the cruise--which I always tell people to not do. DD has a M/W class that somehow got assigned the LAST finals slot at her university--Friday evening, 7-9 pm. So, we are on the first flight out in the morning. There are 2 later flights in the event that something happens. I hate doing this, especially in December...but I guess that's the only choice. Ah well....maybe there won't be snow!

 

[missyosmom]

My DH & DD (9) are taking this cruise and are so excited! I have lots of questions - like what is an FE?! And altho I know our DD will enjoy the kids events what is there for us to do during the day besides hanging out at the pool - which is great for me but DH isn't in to sun all that much. And how formal do we have to get for the formal/semi formal dinners? I've scoured hundreds of threads and gotten a lot of info from those but will take any other tips/hints I can get! Can't wait to meet some of you on the ship!

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

My DH & DD (9) are taking this cruise and are so excited! I have lots of questions - like what is an FE?! And altho I know our DD will enjoy the kids events what is there for us to do during the day besides hanging out at the pool - which is great for me but DH isn't in to sun all that much. And how formal do we have to get for the formal/semi formal dinners? I've scoured hundreds of threads and gotten a lot of info from those but will take any other tips/hints I can get! Can't wait to meet some of you on the ship!

Hi - The FE is a lot of fun. It is short for Fish Extender. There are several threads about them, but basically what they are is something you hang outside your room that can hold objects. Each person who is signed up for the FE Exchange brings on something small they can put in people's fish extenders. For example, it could be pencils that are passed out or candy. Each day, you see what people have put in your FE. We participated the last time and it was a blast to see what people gave out that was specific to their region of where they live or something they handmade.

No one has signed up to do one, so if anyone would like to participate, I do not mind organizing it. I just need to know your cabin number, the number of people in your party and age of children. The adults count, but age is not required!

In regards to different things to do for the adults, there are a ton of activities. I am not a pool person but loved the cruise I went on. They had seminars and movies and get togethers through out the day.

For formal night, it is really up to you. I am not much of a dress person, so I tend to stick to a fancy pants outfit. However, my newly adopted children want us to get very dressed up this time. Since this is their first criuse, I will be dressing up. My daughter is going to pick out my outfit, so not sure how fancy it will be yet. My son got his outfit yesterday and it is a nice pair of black dress pants, a vest, a red shirt and a tie. He is 8, so I think he will be pretty formal for an 8 year old. My husband will be wearing a suit, but not a tux like some people do.

Look forward to meeting you on the ship. If you would like to do a fish extender but do not know how to make one, my mom may be able to help you. Just let me know.

 

[missyosmom]

The FE exchange sounds like fun and we would participate if one is organized. Would need help with how to make an FE tho. Are there pictures of some anywhere? Our DD is adopted too - it would be fun if our kids could meet. I'm assuming that since the cruise is the week before Christmas that there will be special Christmas-y things going on. Thanks for the info!

 

[missyosmom]

Ok, I found the thread that had pics of the FEs and I'm excited about doing one for our first cruise! I already have some ideas on what to give so if some FE "pro" out there would organize it we'll join. I seriously think I'm more excited than our DD about our cruise! I also saw in the FE pics that people decorate their doors - do window clings work on the doors? I know DCL doesn't want us using tape but wouldn't think the gel clings would hurt the finish. And I have 2 more questions (for now) - we like to sleep with a fan on for the white noise - should we bring a little fan or is it possible to open the porthole and hear the water? Also, I've booked some some excursions but am now thinking that trying to just find a driver/taxi to take us to some of the places might be the way to go. Any feedback? Thanks!

 

[adamsclan]

We'd be game for a FE exchange. It is short notice, especially since I have to get everything ready for Christmas for 5 kids and haven't bought the first thing.

We are wearing simple formals and my DH and DS's are renting tuxes. Just because I am going to try to get family portraits done. You see all kinds of dresses from church dress to party dress to formal and lots of guys just wear slacks and a button down.

Less than 40 days !!!

 

[pennymike]

Ok, I found the thread that had pics of the FEs and I'm excited about doing one for our first cruise! I already have some ideas on what to give so if some FE "pro" out there would organize it we'll join. I seriously think I'm more excited than our DD about our cruise! I also saw in the FE pics that people decorate their doors - do window clings work on the doors? I know DCL doesn't want us using tape but wouldn't think the gel clings would hurt the finish. And I have 2 more questions (for now) - we like to sleep with a fan on for the white noise - should we bring a little fan or is it possible to open the porthole and hear the water? Also, I've booked some some excursions but am now thinking that trying to just find a driver/taxi to take us to some of the places might be the way to go. Any feedback? Thanks!

Let's just say if your porthole window opens, you have bigger problems in your cabin than a need for white noise! Too bad, though....it would be lovely to have that access to fresh air and the fabulous sounds of the ocean! My DH and I always bring a fan for the same reason.

The decor on the doors can be done with magnets. If you check out an office supply store, you can buy sheets of magnet 'paper' on which you can print things to stick on, OR get the magnetic picture frames made for fridge/file cabinet use to put them up; They are fun....we can get a bit carried away sometimes. I can't say for sure if window clings would stick or not.....my GUESS would be the door might be to rough for them to stay, but I can't say I've ever tried them.

Keep the questions coming...and keep perusing the DIS boards.....you'll find out more than you really ever needed to know!

See you on board!

 

[missyosmom]

Too funny - we really are newbies at this!! We'll be bringing the fan then! Any advice on the shore excursions?

 

[pennymike]

Too funny - we really are newbies at this!! We'll be bringing the fan then! Any advice on the shore excursions?

We are not planning anything formal this time....just cabbing it to beaches.....so I really don't know what excursions they are offering this time. Our favorites at St Maarten so far have been the Mountain Bike adventure (rustic, SERIOUS workout!) and the America's Cup sailing adventure. (NO real skills needed...all 'on the job training') They use to do a hike up an old sugar plantation (Pic Paradis?) that was REALLY cool....I think they take you to the top and just hike you DOWN it now, but it was an AMAZING view!

St. Thomas/St John: We have snorkled in Honeymoon Bay and (maybe?) Turtle Bay? in St John. LOVE St John! It is much less "citified". St Thomas has nice beaches too. If you are into shopping, St Thomas is the best.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

Hi everyone. I will arrange the FE. Please send to me via the Private Message Link, your Email address, your Dis Board name, your room cabin assignment if you have it already, the number of adults, the number, age, and sex of children. Please also send any special celebrations or notes about the cruise. I am assuming that we will all be celebrating the holidays, so that one is a given!

 

[honeybubba]

Ready to go for our 3rd Mickey Boat. DW, DS (8) and DD (5). This will be cool with the boat in Xmas decorations.

Haven't told the kids, waiting unitl T-giving to surprise them.

We are going to a park to see fireworks as the kick-off. Granted it will be EPCOT since MK has a very merry party.

 

[joyjanet]

Do you know what the cut-off date will be so that people have time to get the gifts they are going to put in FE?

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

No mom, I do not. I think it depends on how many people we get to participate. I think maybe December 8?

 

[missyosmom]

Apparently I haven't posted enough to do a PM so I'll try to get up there with more questions/posts - please bear with me! Or let me know if there is another way to get you the info you need? And thank you for organizing the FE exchange! I bought some things today in hopes that someone would get it going! So we're in - my DH, our DD who is 9, and myself. Additional info to come when I can PM!

 

[missyosmom]

My last post of the night! Since I'm not big on sewing I was thinking of other options on how to do a FE and came up with my version - let me know if you think it will work. Since it's Christmas time I was originally thinking about hooking a couple of stockings together but sometimes they aren't very wide and might be too long. So I was in Dollar General today and found 2 felt "bags" about 8" x 8" with handles. One has a Santa face on it and the other has a teddy bear reindeer. They are really cute and I thought since we're going to (dare I say another resort?!) Universal on Christmas eve we can use our DD's bag for her stocking (she still believes!) I read of a few different FE's on that thread so thought I could improvise - I could go back to the drawing board if needed. Thanks!