Fantasy Holiday Cruise 12/21/13

[parkinfamily]

We just finished our first DC in Alaska and booked our next one to Western Caribbean on Dec. 21, 2013. We have a (will be almost 11 when we sail) daughter and would love to find out who else we will see on this Christmas Cruise? Excited to meet other fellow DCL friends.

 

[parkinfamily]

We have confirmed our reservations for the December 21-28, 2013! We are so excited...this will be mine and hubby's 3rd cruise, and our darling daughter's second.

I have been reading about fish extenders and hope others may be interested???


Gansle Clan

I am absolutely interested in FE for this cruise...will be even more exciting since we will be on the cruise for Christmas!

 

[Kez250]

we're in - actually my step-son and his fiancé are scheduled to be getting married at Castaway Cay on this cruise so there will be a few of us on board - but in our cabin: me, DH, DD who will be 10 and DS who will be 12

 

[parkinfamily]

Wow! A wedding on board! So exciting! What a great way to make it official! Can't wait!

 

[Gansleclan]

Wow, this is shaping up...our daughter will be 12, so it appears we have the tweens represented. Our family number has changed however, as my mom will be traveling with us on her first cruise.

 

[Gansleclan]

There are alot of wonderful ideas on the Facebook FE page...

 

[shushh]

Hello All!

We're a family of 5 from Sydney and this will be our 3rd Disney cruise. We're super excited to be onboard over Christmas and our DS will be celebrating his 11th birthday on boxing day! We also have an 8 year old daughter and 5 yr old son. We will be traveling with a whole bunch of other Australian families.

How awesome to have a wedding on Castaway Cay!!!

 

[parkinfamily]

I really want to do FE but I don't know how to arrange it and/or what is expected with the activity? Anyone?

 

[cardidog]

This cruise is going to be Great!

I am Susan (and my husband Tom---both 45 right now) 1 dog 1 cat and we are totally addicted to cruising with the Mouse!

We were with a HUGE group on the 2011 January Panama Canal cruise---that was so much fun! We did not split up the FE group---I understand that many people now find the new ships so large that they split up the cabins. Sigh. I've made FE gifts for over 120 cabins and Tom and I made hundreds of name tags (so we could tell who we are to each other) for the PC cruise.

I don't know how to run a FE exchange---I know that it involves a spreadsheet (kept by a very organized individual) with Dis names, first names, ages, cabin numbers and if anyone is celebrating a birthday or anniversary during the cruie.

Other items/events I have done on Disney cruises with Disboarders:

secret Mickey gift exchange (I'll volunteer to run this if people are interested)

a special cruise logo (and nametags)

special lanyards (usually given as a gift by a group of people in lieu of FE gift)

special rubber bracelets with the dates of the cruise

Dis-meet pre-cruise and onboard

linked tables for dining

Champagne Girls champagne/wine tasting

group photograph

CC cabana sharing

special room in Palo brunch

I can't think of anything else right now. I'm sure there is more!

I'm really looking forward to meeting you all! And also re-meeting some Australians from the PC cruise---I remember giving Annabelle and Kate birthday cards---and meeting some husbands at the Whiskey tasting.

 

[parkinfamily]

Hello! So glad someone else is as excited as we are! We DEFINITELY want to do FE, but this will be our 2nd DC and we didn't know about FE last time *sigh*. I love the linked dining tables idea and the rubber bracelets...I will be glad to check that option out. Nametags sound fun, too, and I would be willing to help make them. We are Tonja (40 when we sail) and DH Rob (37th birthday on the day the ship sails!)and and DD (10 when we sail) Excited to meet many others also. Where are you coming from? We are in Southern California.

 

[cmcadoo66]

I'm definitely interested in the FE for our cruise too! DH and I took our first Disney cruise last year and saw all of the FE's hanging but has no clue what it was all about. Since we are taking the kids this trip I think they would get a kick out of it all. I realize they will be 16 and 14 at the time we sail but I have done a fantastic job of raising true Disney fans!!

From what I have been reading, someone usually volunteers to keep track of all who wish to participate. They gather the names, stateroom #s and childrens ages and keep a running list. Usually there is a cut-off date to join in so that the person gathering the information can then send the list to everyone participating. It also seems, from what I have read, a schedule is made up by the same volunteer as to what day each family will deliver their surprises. I think this is done to ensure that everyone receives a treat each day making it more fun for everyone.

For this cruise, it will be like Christmas everyday!!

 

[Gansleclan]

Hi All,

This will be our first cruise with FE's but 3rd Disney Cruise overall. My DH Brian and I are good with spreadsheets just coming off of a 30th high school reunion, and years of GS Troop organizing. So I guess, what I am saying is we can keep the spreasheet for those interested in participating. Though we are good at sharing jobs, as I noticed someone added specific events a couple of posts back.

My thoughts were to start now, and keep it going since there are those knowing they want to participate and keep it going until 9/2013 or so?? What is everyone else's thoughts??

The Gansle's and Grandma


Upcoming:Fantasy 12/2013
Past Cruises: Wonder-3 night 2000, Wonder -4 night 5/2010

 

[parkinfamily]

Thank you! I would love for you to take charge of the FE exchange for this cruise! Are you ok with it? There are 3 of us...DH's bday is the day we sail...turning 37. I will be 40 when we sail, and our DD will be 10 when we sail. I don't have our room # right now but can get it to you. What kind of schedule or rotation are you envisioning?

 

[cmcadoo66]

Hi All,

This will be our first cruise with FE's but 3rd Disney Cruise overall. My DH Brian and I are good with spreadsheets just coming off of a 30th high school reunion, and years of GS Troop organizing. So I guess, what I am saying is we can keep the spreasheet for those interested in participating. Though we are good at sharing jobs, as I noticed someone added specific events a couple of posts back.

My thoughts were to start now, and keep it going since there are those knowing they want to participate and keep it going until 9/2013 or so?? What is everyone else's thoughts??

The Gansle's and Grandma


Upcoming:Fantasy 12/2013
Past Cruises: Wonder-3 night 2000, Wonder -4 night 5/2010

Thank you! That sounds great to me. And I think a 9/2013 cut-off would be perfect. There are many people who like to craft their gifts and that would give them plenty of time to complete them before the cruise.

Please add me to the list. There will be my DH (47 at cruise time), DD (16 at cruise time), DS (14 at cruise time) and myself (I'll be 40 at cruise time). We are in stateroom 8520.

Looking forward to the list growing! Working on my gift ideas already. Oh yeah, and I have to make my FE.....that could take some time so I had better get started soon. I am definitely not proficient with sewing but I am willing to give it a go. Wish me luck!!

 

[beezerdave]

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary (12/24) on the cruise. We'd enjoy participating in some of the activities. We did FE last time out. I'll have to get back to you on cabin.

David and Jenny

 

[Gansleclan]

Hi All,

As I mentioned I am new to this board and all of its nuances. I have attempted to set up a new thread, for our FE, however it is not allowing me to do so. It is telling me this is because I have only posted 5 times previously. If anyone knows how to do this, or can offer any assistance please let me know!

 

[gumbo1009]

Hi All,
As I mentioned I am new to this board and all of its nuances. I have attempted to set up a new thread, for our FE, however it is not allowing me to do so. It is telling me this is because I have only posted 5 times previously. If anyone knows how to do this, or can offer any assistance please let me know!

Hi! I bet one of the "long timers" can tell you how to solve this, but in the mean-time, if you tell me what post title you'd like, I can post it to get things started. (By the way, my DD and I would love to participate in the FEs, and I can help out if things start to get too crazy for you - I wonder whether a holiday sailing increases the # of folks who want to do FEs? There are two in our cabin: Me-Pam;Age=40-ish DD-Anna;Age=8 when we sail - we'll be in cabin 2023.) Amazing how far away this is! Very excited to head out on our first cruise!!!

 

[Gansleclan]

Hi! I bet one of the "long timers" can tell you how to solve this, but in the mean-time, if you tell me what post title you'd like, I can post it to get things started. (By the way, my DD and I would love to participate in the FEs, and I can help out if things start to get too crazy for you - I wonder whether a holiday sailing increases the # of folks who want to do FEs? There are two in our cabin: Me-Pam;Age=40-ish DD-Anna;Age=8 when we sail - we'll be in cabin 2023.) Amazing how far away this is! Very excited to head out on our first cruise!!!

That would be great...thanks for your offer and we will definitely be calling on your assistance! My thought is if we could get families to help with different aspects of the process.

Regarding the title, we were thinking we would use is "December 21, 2013--Fantasy--FE" or something like this. I am sure that having a holiday sailing would increase the number of people wanting to participate in an FE. I have already heard from a friend who tried to book the cruise that some categories have already been filled up. However we are at 4D, and there are openings.

We would need to figure out how big we would want this number to get, as I have read some horror stories of really large groups and delivering large numbers of gifts.

 

[gumbo1009]

OK, new thread now created (within the Cruise Meets folder). Called "December 21, 2013--Fantasy--FE Business!"

Yes, I (personally) agree we'll want to create subgroups if things get too big - don't think anyone would want to worry about 100 cabins during such a busy holiday time!! Seems like 15-30 cabins could be "manageable" ??

 

[cardidog]

Hi!

I posted here already (I think) I just went to the last page---anyway--as far as the FE goes, for our upcoming October 7 night cruise we capped each FE group at 20 cabins for the FE but some people, including me are giving FE gifts to all of the cabins! I don't mind---I've delivered to over 120 cabins and made nametags for hundreds of DISers I just want everyone to have fun! Our cut-off date for signing up is August 6th for the October 6th cruise---so 2 months before the cruise for a cut-off would work I think so that would put us at October 21st. How does that sound?

Also, would there be any interest in having a Secret Mickey exchange? I wouldn't mind running it.

Susan