Disney Dream Bahamian Cruise January 25-29, 2016

[psutrain]

It's our first disney cruise. We will have our kids 12 and 9 at the time of sailing. This is going to be their surprise gift on Christmas Morning!

 

[sistert]

Hi everyone!!

This will be my 7th Disney cruise! I've been on all the wonderful ships and every time it's as exciting as the first time.

There will be 6 in our party, all adults. Lots of celebrating on this cruise. 4 birthdays (my husband, my brother, my mom and one of her friends) plus a first time cruiser who is a big Disney fan (another of mom's friends). Me? I'm celebrating being on another Disney cruise!!!

 

[Roadweaver]

Hello everyone, I am SisterT's mom and will be in the adjoining room with my two good friends. I am a fulltime RVer and travel with a group of other single RVers. I have talked two of them to come with me and my family on this cruise. This is my 7th cruise and I will be celebrating my birthday, my other friend will be celebrating her birthday, and the gentleman in our room will be on his first cruise which happens to be a Disney cruise. My daughter and I have been talking about doing the FE this year, we started out doing it but stopped.

Hope we can arrange a group meet, I have enjoyed seeing the faces to the post .

 

[traceee]

Hello! We're really excited for our first cruise. My boys (6, 8) are interested in joining the FE and have been looking for ideas. How many cabins are usually involved?

 

[sistert]

How many cabins are usually involved?

It really depends on how many sign up. I've been in a FE of just 8 cabins but I've also been in one that had about 30+. For that one, we split the group into 2 smaller groups so that it wasn't so overwhelming.

 

[Rebeca19us]

Hi everybody! This is our second cruise, but first time on a Disney cruise. I've been trying to find out as much information as I can and I would like to join the FE group...
Please E-mail me at. Rebeca19us@gmail.com

 

[disney4me31]

Hello Everyone! I am sorry I have been away this summer and I have not had time to read the DisBoards. Well, I am back!!! Please email me to join the FE group. I will look at the numbers and split the groups accordingly. Last time I cruised we had 30 FE families and it was fun, BUT overwhelming. I would like to keep it to groups of 20 or less. I would also like to include everyone. This is just as much fun for adults as it is for kids!!! My email is disney4me31@gmail.com

 

[disney4me31]

Hi everybody! This is our second cruise, but first time on a Disney cruise. I've been trying to find out as much information as I can and I would like to join the FE group...
Please E-mail me at. Rebeca19us@gmail.com

I sent you an email!!

 

[disney4me31]

Hello everyone, I am SisterT's mom and will be in the adjoining room with my two good friends. I am a fulltime RVer and travel with a group of other single RVers. I have talked two of them to come with me and my family on this cruise. This is my 7th cruise and I will be celebrating my birthday, my other friend will be celebrating her birthday, and the gentleman in our room will be on his first cruise which happens to be a Disney cruise. My daughter and I have been talking about doing the FE this year, we started out doing it but stopped.

Hope we can arrange a group meet, I have enjoyed seeing the faces to the post .

Have a nice trip.

 

[disney4me31]

Hello! We're really excited for our first cruise. My boys (6, 8) are interested in joining the FE and have been looking for ideas. How many cabins are usually involved?

HAve a nice trip.

 

[disney4me31]

Hi all!! Just booked our first Disney cruise! My husband and I will be surprising the kids (now 11, 5, and 3) with a call from Mickey and Minnie on Christmas morning to let them know about the trip!! It'll be hard to keep the secret for 7 months.

I am a complete over-researcher/over planner, and while I feel like I know tons about park trips (we've been to the World many, many times), I am feeling a little behind the eight ball as far as cruising goes. I definitely plan on reading the general cruise info threads here, but please feel free to let this first timer know any of your tips and tricks.

Can't wait to cruise with you all!!

Welcome aboard!!! What a GREAT gift. Please feel free to email me with any questions. Although this is only my second cruise I will be happy to share with you what worked and what didn't. One day i want to be a seasoned pro!!

 

[disney4me31]

Hi everyone! I'm booking this cruise this week -- as soon as my new Disney Visa arrives in the mail! It is my family's 3rd Disney cruise, and we are bringing the grandparents along this time too. My older daughter will be almost 5, and my younger daughter turns 3 on the last day of the cruise. It will be our second time on the Dream. I'm looking forward to movies at the pool, family dance parties, and mixology class! I'm definitely interested in doing the FE this time. It was a lot of fun on my last cruise.

HI!!! The mixology class is sooo much fun & the martini tasting!

 

[Maxwell Family]

Hello All! This will be our first Disney cruise and I am super excited about it. My husband and I are surprising our children with this cruise. I am hoping we can keep it a secret until Christmas because that is when we will be telling them about the cruise. I am really interested in wanting to participate in the fish extenders program, but I don't know much about it. I found this post very helpful, but how do I get my children involved too?

I am going to go ahead and start a Fish Extenders List. This will be my first time starting a list and my second time participating. First off I found a post that explains the Fish Extender perfectly. So I copied it

The Fish Extender
What is a Fish Extender? Where did it come from? What does it mean to me? What if I am terrified of fishes? All these questions and more answered in this episode of SOAP.

Background
A fish extender is a “secret Santa” of sorts. The idea is that a group of DISers exchange gifts during a cruise. The first Fish Extender Exchange is said to have been started during a Panama Canal repositioning cruise. It is called a “Fish Extender” because outside of every stateroom there is a fish mounted on the wall. It was put there by DCL as a way to deliver notes without entering your room. Now DISers use it to hang their Fish Extenders. The actual extender is like increasing the size of your mailbox, if you will.

The idea behind fish extenders is: Share some magic with your fellow DISers.Also known as, its better to give that to receive.

Tell Me More
Fish Extenders have all sorts of looks to them, depending on the cruisers tastes, size of family, specific event, and character.

Important Details
Requirements for your Fish Extender are:
•you are able to hang it from the Fish in the hallway (size requirements and zip ties later)
•it has a pocket or pouch to hold the gifts you will receive
That’s it. Breathe. Relax.

Where Do I Get a Fish Extender?
Some folks make their own Fish Extenders.
Some buy Fish Extenders from places like e-bay.
Others find creative things to use as Fish Extenders.

Here are some instructions for sewing your own 'traditional' Fish Extender: Sew it yourself Fish Extender.
Here are some instructions for people that don't/can't sew so well: No-sew Fish Extender

Specifications
The wall that the fish extender is hung on is roughly 8” wide. If you make your extender much wider, it will stick out into the hallway and/or hit your stateroom door.
The fish to hang your extender from is about 5’3” off the floor. When deciding upon a length for your extender, be sure you keep in mind that you will hang it from the fish, which will add overall length to your extender.

What’s With This Zip Tie Business
A zip tie (or cable tie) is a handy piece of equipment to secure your fish extender. We don’t want any fish extender nappings. Let’s face it, even on a Disney Cruise; there are people out there that have deviousness running in their veins. The zip tie helps to deter this. This is an explanation from a fellow DISer:
“If you look at the ribbon on any fish extender (that is what you place over the fish) that is how the "extender" hangs on the fish. It is very easy to just remove the extender by just un-hooking it from the fish. So, you take your zip tie and cinch it around both of the ribbons that are hanging from the fish on both sides... and you cinch the zip tie so that the two ribbons squeeze around the fish making it impossible to remove the extender.”
“The zip-tie goes around the ribbon or string that attaches to the fish... and you place it just under the fish... it actually scoots itself up to the fish as you tighten it... the trick is to leave it NOT so tight so that you can get your scissors or nail clippers thru it when you are ready to take it down.”

Think about it like a Club except instead of securing your cars steering wheel, it holds the strap your fish extender hangs from securely to the fish.

The Magic of Fish Extender Gifts
So what do people put in the Fish Extenders? How often do you deliver gifts? What about kids?
People give all sorts of stuff. Here are some pics of Fish Extender bootie.

Gifts can be regional in theme.
Gifts can be Disney related.
Gifts can be event specific.
Gifts can represent you.
Gifts can be almost anything.

Delivering your gifts can be a daunting task. The other people that signed up for the Fish Extender exchange will be all over the ship. Walking the ship isn’t too very tough. Walking the ship, carrying your gifts, trying to find specific staterooms—that’s a different story.

Gifts are delivered throughout the day and night, totally dependent upon your schedule. It did seem that there were a lot of deliveries on the first full day aboard the ship.

Some instances a gift is given to each individual. Sometimes it is given to the entire the cabin. Quite often children get special gifts just for them. If your cabin has a roommate situation, where you both are participating in the Fish Extender Exchange, but do not reside together in real life, please state that when you sign up. Each person would then be listed and each person would receive gifts of their own.

Some important things to remember about gifts:
•Some people have food allergies. (i.e. cinnamon, peanuts, coconut, etc.). If you do, please mention that when you sign up for the Fish Extender list.
•Be aware of how much space will be needed to transport your gifts to the ship (and then home again). I ended up shipping a box (15”x15”x15”) full of FE Stuff home.

Groups
Does the thought of purchasing, assembling, transporting and delivering a massive amount of Fish Extender gifts worry or frighten you? Joining a group may be just the solution to your concerns.

A Fish Extender Group is a group of DISers that pool their resources (money, time, creativity) toward a fish extender gift.

Groups do not need any formal association. They can be random DISers that want to join a group. They can be people from a certain state or country. They can be from a demographic (Redheads, Firemen, Teachers, etc.)

One person should act as a group leader, collecting and distributing input from the rest of the group. It is a good idea to e-mail everyone in the group about the group’s gift.

Once a group’s gift is decided upon, the total cost (don’t forget shipping) is divided between the members of the group.
Onboard, it would be easiest to divide up the total number of staterooms participating in the fish extender exchange between members of the group. For example, if there were 180 staterooms participating, and 12 members in your group, each person would deliver 15 gifts.

Miscelaneous
Signing up for the Fish Extender on your cruise should be relatively easy. Whomever is going to head up the task should be able to keep track of the changes throughout the thread and keep record of them, updating the list as necessary.
From time to time, peoples cabin number changes. If this happens to you, please post a note on the thread so the list can be updated. One of the first few posts of the thread should contain the list of participants, their cabin number, number of adults, number (and age) of children, allergies, and special notes.

If for some reason you cabin number changes close to the sail date, or you upgrade your cabin at the port, that information needs to be shared with the rest of the Fish Extender group. The easiest way to do this is to have an update list posted. Someone who signed up for the Fish Extender Exchange should volunteer to do this.
Now here are a few tips:
1) If you can ship your gifts ahead of time, do it - saves so much room in your luggage. Make sure you allow enough time for your package to arrive prior to the start of the cruise. You don't want to get to the ship and discover that your package did not make it to meet you.
2) Be sure you have room in your luggage for the goodies you will receive. I thought I would have so much room in my suitcase since I had given away the goodies I brought; however, I had just as much to take home!
3) If you are talented and can make your gifts - they are so appreciated. All gifts are awesome, and homemade ones are like icing on the cake! ((or the meringue on the pie!!)
4) Deliver your gifts a floor at a time - maybe one floor a day.
5) Plan your delivery - either map them or organize by number.
6) Trip personalized gifts are awesome - some of the coolest gifts were items that were personalized with our cruise dates or motto (pens, notepads, etc)
7) Fasten your Fish Extender to the fish with a zip tie - there was a report of a near Fish Extender napping on our cruise thread - I think personalizing the Fish Extender helps, too.
8) Make delivering the gifts a family affair. At one point I could hear a cute family whispering outside my door as they had the kids put the goodies in the Fish Extender.

Remember, when you do a Fish Extender you will be the envy of many on the ship! I was stopped a couple of times asking how we got one of those and how could they participate! Of course, those folks have now been informed of the Disboards!

 

[Maxwell Family]

Hello All! I am super excited to be going on our first Disney Cruise!!! I am trying not to ruin the surprise for my children. My husband and I are planning to tell the boys on Christmas morning that we are going on a Disney Cruise. I can't wait. I was wanting to know how to join in on the fun as part of the Fish Extenders Group. I think my boys would love to come back to the room and find a surprise waiting for them.

 

[disney4me31]

Hi everyone!!

This will be my 7th Disney cruise! I've been on all the wonderful ships and every time it's as exciting as the first time.

There will be 6 in our party, all adults. Lots of celebrating on this cruise. 4 birthdays (my husband, my brother, my mom and one of her friends) plus a first time cruiser who is a big Disney fan (another of mom's friends). Me? I'm celebrating being on another Disney cruise!!!

Hi! Welcome Aboard!! This will be my second cruise and my Mom's 1st! I am taking her to fulfill he bucket list.

 

[disney4me31]

Hello All! This will be our first Disney cruise and I am super excited about it. My husband and I are surprising our children with this cruise. I am hoping we can keep it a secret until Christmas because that is when we will be telling them about the cruise. I am really interested in wanting to participate in the fish extenders program, but I don't know much about it. I found this post very helpful, but how do I get my children involved too?

I have sent you an email!!

 

[Maxwell Family]

I have sent you an email!!

Thanks for the email! I am so super excited about this cruise! I can't wait! I have been on 2 other cruises before, but not a Disney cruise. I do have one question that maybe you can help me with. The other cruises I have been on we had to dress up one night to eat in the dining area, is this true with a Disney cruise? And by dress up I mean suits and ties for the men and nice dresses for the women.

 

[tinker&belle]

We just booked! This is our first cruise ever and my birthday will be on the ship. So excited!

 

[wrldtrvlr]

There is an FE group already started for this cruise -- I am not allowed to post an external link, but it is on FB.

 

[RachelST]

Hi!
I emailed about the FE group. Never heard of it before but sounds right up my alley.
First cruise, almost 4 weeks after our 4th anniversay (12/27) and my hubby's bday (12/26).