FE disapointment?

[lauritagoddess]

Some people put names/room number on their gifts. Others do not. Originally it was an anonymous gift exchange, but not so much now.

I have never put my name on my FE gifts, but maybe I should. I recall one poster saying they wanted to keep a log of who had given them what.

I always thought that they should be anonymous, that it was like having a secret Santa. Why do people keep logs of who gives them what?

 

[Dug720]

I always thought that they should be anonymous, that it was like having a secret Santa. Why do people keep logs of who gives them what?

In the mentioned post, it was pretty clear it was so the poster could keep track of who gave what and NOT give to those who she felt gave less than they should.

 

[TinkRose]

In the mentioned post, it was pretty clear it was so the poster could keep track of who gave what and NOT give to those who she felt gave less than they should.

That's just sad. Some people go all out and some do just a little bit of fun stuff. Some people that do a little bit of fun stuff give out things more than once during the cruise. There will be people that appreciate each and/or both types of gifts. Something simple but fun could be your favorite gift!

 

[lauritagoddess]

In the mentioned post, it was pretty clear it was so the poster could keep track of who gave what and NOT give to those who she felt gave less than they should.

So this person waited to see if they received a gift and what it was before giving out anything to that cabin's FE? Who even has the time to keep track of all that while you're on a cruise?

The last time we cruised it was on a panama canal crossing and it was a huge FE group so we wound up with a ton of gifts. I still have some of the magnets we got on our fridge but I don't remember what most of the other stuff we got was, well except for a small package of chocolate necco wafers which was my DS' favorite gift. He was so amazed that they came in chocolate, lol.

 

[FantasySurprise]

I am actually fairly stressed out about the FE exchange. This is my first time with it and I already feel pressure being worried that my gift won't be good enough. I am also stressed that it won't be fun for my kids, if they get a ton of candy it will just cause arguments since they will want to eat it all and we won't let them have it considering I expect them to be eating dessert, Popsicles and ice cream way too much.

 

[Dug720]

So this person waited to see if they received a gift and what it was before giving out anything to that cabin's FE? Who even has the time to keep track of all that while you're on a cruise?

The last time we cruised it was on a panama canal crossing and it was a huge FE group so we wound up with a ton of gifts. I still have some of the magnets we got on our fridge but I don't remember what most of the other stuff we got was, well except for a small package of chocolate necco wafers which was my DS' favorite gift. He was so amazed that they came in chocolate, lol.

Not only wanted to see if they got something but WHAT they got. And indicated that if it was something like penny candy they would not be giving that cabin a gift. I can't find the thread right now, but someone had quoted her so that even when she edited her original post you could still see what she'd said.

 

[SirDuff]

In the mentioned post, it was pretty clear it was so the poster could keep track of who gave what and NOT give to those who she felt gave less than they should.

So, if you have two (or more) cabins doing that, they'd never get their gifts (as they'd both be waiting to see what the other gave them first). So weird.

 

[Dug720]

So, if you have two (or more) cabins doing that, they'd never get their gifts (as they'd both be waiting to see what the other gave them first). So weird.

Yep. Seems there are some people who want to play the game, but with their own rules while everyone else follows the group rules.

 

[IAMASTITCHER]

One thing I have found with participants identifying their FE gifts, is that I can thank them. On our first cruise, we were celebrating an anniversary and one of the FE gifts included a card wishing us well. I was able to thank them later for it. In other cases I have seen recipients contact the giver to request another of the items received (paying for the costs) as they really enjoyed the item.

 

[JenPinks]

Some people go totally overboard on FE. But I think that most people have reasonable expectations. I bought most of my items at Dollar Tree and Target's dollar area. We did a couple of cabin gifts (cute magnetic photo frames and mickey q-tips) and then individual gifts for the kids of a few items each. My gifts were individualized and I tried to take into account character preferences, but that was not always possible. If they liked Minnie or Frozen, that was easy. But for some of the others (boys usually), they got avengers, monsters, or Disney jr stuff, depending on their ages.

I figured that my even though my kiddo has her favorite characters (Elsa, Minnie and Princesses), she likes pretty much all toys. Hopefully the kids in my FE group feel the same way. But if they didn't, then that's their loss. I may not have spent $50 per cabin or made hand crafted items (I have no creative genes), but I did put thought into what I bought people. And its the thought that counts.

We got great gifts. Some of them nicer than what we gave and some comparable. We loved the fact that someone thought of us. As far as the sundae kits- that seems to be a popular choice of gift and I hear of people who get lots of them. We only got one actually. We ended up not using it, because it was a port day when we got it. I was planning on saving it for my birthday which was the last sea day, but we had Palo brunch so that did not happen. We took them home and will enjoy soon. Even if I had gotten 10 of them, I probably would have at least taken the toppings home.

ok fill me in on the mickey q-tips!!

 

[JenPinks]

I am fortunate enough to be traveling with a friend and her daughter, along with myself and my son. We are exchanging amongst ourselves and the time and money I have spent on making sure they get awesome gifts everyday is crazy! I cant imagine bringing and delivering to multiple cabins! To each their own though and I am not knocking it. Our second cruise will be just me and him so I will probably sign up for an FE group. But more power to those organizing and spending time doing it!!

 

[JenPinks]

I also wanted to know if there is a high rate of people taking gifts out of other FE's?

 

[jtba]

In the mentioned post, it was pretty clear it was so the poster could keep track of who gave what and NOT give to those who she felt gave less than they should.

this is the relevant thread: www.disboards.com/threads/fe-gift-log.3408958/

 

[Huskiesrule]

ok fill me in on the mickey q-tips!!

The only Mickey q-tips I have seen are at the Dollar Tree. It is a black metal container with Mickey and friends and has q-tips in it. Not sure if that is what they were talking about.

 

[jtba]

I am actually fairly stressed out about the FE exchange. This is my first time with it and I already feel pressure being worried that my gift won't be good enough. I am also stressed that it won't be fun for my kids, if they get a ton of candy it will just cause arguments since they will want to eat it all and we won't let them have it considering I expect them to be eating dessert, Popsicles and ice cream way too much.

please, pleeeeease don't stress! this really is intended to bring fun to your trip. some people may be all judge-y judge-y (if there's such a word), but just ignore them, really. they take it way too seriously.

do whatever you are able to do, and let the thought of giving brighten up your day.

having said that, i do understand your dilemma about candy, even though i personally don't mind getting candy at all.

 

[turtle27]

We are actually signed up for an adult only FE for the next cruise. We will, however, be bringing along some gifts for the younger crowd to pixie dust some of the rooms with kids. I just saw an option for adult only and thought, way less stress for me!

On an off note, I would really like a thread that listed out possible FE gifts for gender and age range. I have found some through searching, but everyone tries to be too nice about this stuff, anything we get is great, type of thing. I need cold hard ideas, lol. And what do you get for infants? I am not a crafty crafty person (no sewing), I can glue and cut. Oh and put together little bags of things.

 

[turtle27]

I do have a question (and perhaps this isn't the right place) I've heard of people giving alcohol to adults/parents which sounds great in theory but some people may not drink or drink in the presence of their children, etc. Is there a consensus on this? I wasn't planning on doing it this round but I would like to know for future reference.

We struggled with this too. Finally, we decided to heck with it and gave each adult in each room a little bottle of liquor. Plus one of those mini red solo cups (too cute), and felt if they did not want to drink in front of their kids, the bottle could go in the trash or be given away. No harm, no foul. I guess this could be asked in the planning stages of FE, alcohol/no alcohol. We were happy to get those little bottles of joy, fyi!

 

[dcassetta]

We are actually signed up for an adult only FE for the next cruise. We will, however, be bringing along some gifts for the younger crowd to pixie dust some of the rooms with kids. I just saw an option for adult only and thought, way less stress for me!

On an off note, I would really like a thread that listed out possible FE gifts for gender and age range. I have found some through searching, but everyone tries to be too nice about this stuff, anything we get is great, type of thing. I need cold hard ideas, lol. And what do you get for infants? I am not a crafty crafty person (no sewing), I can glue and cut. Oh and put together little bags of things.

I tend to give cabin gifts like frames or music, but would also like to see ideas for kids.

I don't worry about small infants (6 mos and younger), but for toddlers on cruises that include beach stops, I like to give sand toys. You can often find inexpensive sets, parents don't need to buy them at the beach stops, and they can leave them behind for others to use if they don't wish to bring them home.

 

[turtle27]

I don't worry about small infants (6 mos and younger), but for toddlers on cruises that include beach stops, I like to give sand toys. You can often find inexpensive sets, parents don't need to buy them at the beach stops, and they can leave them behind for others to use if they don't wish to bring them home.

How do you pack them? We were not stopping at Castaway the last cruise, but we kept seeing them, but did not know how to pack 15 sets of those suckers.

 

[dcassetta]

I guess I have never had 15 toddlers on my FE groups! That's a lot of little kids!