Hello again,
To answer nrexxma44's concerns about the FE program, my goal is to create smaller FE trading groups of 10-15 cabins max. Although that might mean fewer surprises per stateroom, I think that it'll be much less of a hassle to make 10 gifts and find the corresponding staterooms. I will get confirmation of participation from each cabin before releasing their info to trading groups about a month or so out, so I'd like to think that if you commit in December, you're not going to flake for the sailing. Also, I think it's good to make a disclaimer that each cabin participating only needs to provide 1 gift per cabin (vs per person), but how many items you want to include is totally up to you.
As a reminder, if your family would like to participate, please PM me or post to this thread with a contact name for each cabin participating, names/ages in the cabin(optional), and any extra info you'd like to share, like allergies, favorite Disney characters, etc (optional). As soon as I have this info, I'll add it to FE spreadsheet. As soon as I reach 10-15 staterooms participating, I'll close the first group and send out info to those cabins. Then, I'll continue filling groups in a similar way. Make sense?
For those new to Fish Extenders, here's a brief summary:
The Fish Extender (FE) program is a fun, totally unofficial way of spreading a little extra Disney magic and pixie dust on fellow
DCL families. Those participating create little mailboxes that hang from your stateroom door number starfish/seahorse where DCL tucks official messages (Get it? It extends your fish....) You can make your own, buy one from Etsy, eBay, or any number of vendors, or just google Fish Extenders and see what comes up. Many families make/buy one that includes a small pocket for each family member. If you sign up for a FE program for a cruise, you'll receive a list of names/cabin numbers before your cruise-- this is your chance to deliver a small surprise to each cabin at some point during the cruise. Some families like to share small gifts/postcards/magnets from their hometown, I've seen pictures of homemade ornaments, notebooks, water bottles, even slippers! The sky is the limit! Many participating also like to include small toys/stickers etc for the younger FE cruisers. There's really no rules when it comes to what to deliver to your fellow cruises, but do consider the golden rule-- What would you be surprised and excited to receive? Examples of really practical but great gifts are highlighters for marking up your daily Navigator, lanyards for your keycard, or even handiwipes for staying healthy
For this cruise, because the FE groups will be smaller, I think there will be a greater opportunity for slightly more personal FE gifts-- hopefully that will reduce fears of teenagers receiving coloring books, adults receiving temporary tattoos, and your toddler from getting a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels...
Because our cruise has plenty of at sea time, we could even plan a FE Meetup if there is enough interest, but we can deal with that later.
Hope this helps anyone who is hesitant to join in for this cruise. Looking forward to further corresponding, and hopefully meeting you all!
~Kathleen
Thanks for starting this thread and the FE group.
