January 3, 2011 - 5 night Bahamas Sailing

[Silverfox97]

So please include us on the fish extender. IDK who I need to give my info to please PM me & i'll give it to you. Thanks. I CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can PM Ssanders79 or me (I am his spouse) and you will be added to the list!

if you pm ssanders79 they will add you to the list

we seem to have 8 rooms now (not inc our own) can i kindly suggest that if we get two more to this list then we split it into two groups of 5? it would make it easier as there would be less to buy for and to pack, i really struggled last time packing i think i ended up with 26 individual bags to deliver as i did the childrens gifts seperate from the adults

Well............We are happy to deliver to everyone I think that 12 staterooms participating is a good number to set the limit at, personally. However, we are driving from Tampa, and we do not have to worry about packing stuff for a flight, so we have lots of room!

You could always scale back your gifts. On our last 5-night cruise, there were 12 participating staterooms (13 including ours), and it was awesome to see the look and excitement on my DD's face when there was something in the FE, which was about twice a day! A lot of the FE participants did a stateroom gift vs having gifts for adults and different ones for children.

Anyone else want to weight in? That is just our family's 2 cents!

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

I tend to go a little overboard on the shopping. I like that my FE gifts take up alot of room on the way down because then I have that room for all stuff I purchased.

We could go 2 groups. Say, oh, 8-10 rooms in each group (if we get that many) and give everyone the option to participate in both groups. ??? So if you only want 8 staterooms, participate in group 1. If you want 16 staterooms, participate in groups 1 and 2. That's just an example-- hopefully I explained it right

How many more days????

 

[Silverfox97]

I tend to go a little overboard on the shopping.

ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!

We could go 2 groups. Say, oh, 8-10 rooms in each group (if we get that many) and give everyone the option to participate in both groups. ??? So if you only want 8 staterooms, participate in group 1. If you want 16 staterooms, participate in groups 1 and 2. That's just an example-- hopefully I explained it right

How many more days????

Good idea mommyofthreeboys!!!

 

[AnnOminous]

We're finalizing everything for our reservation. This will be our second Disney cruise, just DH and I. I'm pretty sure we'll end up with the later dinner seating (and we'd prefer it). CC was our favorite spot, so we wanted to do a double dip.

 

[mazz1]

You can PM Ssanders79 or me (I am his spouse) and you will be added to the list!



Well............We are happy to deliver to everyone I think that 12 staterooms participating is a good number to set the limit at, personally. However, we are driving from Tampa, and we do not have to worry about packing stuff for a flight, so we have lots of room!

You could always scale back your gifts. On our last 5-night cruise, there were 12 participating staterooms (13 including ours), and it was awesome to see the look and excitement on my DD's face when there was something in the FE, which was about twice a day! A lot of the FE participants did a stateroom gift vs having gifts for adults and different ones for children.

Anyone else want to weight in? That is just our family's 2 cents!

i am happy to deliver to everyone just a little worried about packing for the flight over i never thought about one stateroom gift, i suppose i could do one bag per stateroom and then add some candy into the kids pockets on the extenders too?, this way it would be less to pack (hopefully) i think i went a bit OTT last time with my shopping too

we have one medium sized case each and dh has already said he hopes we, meaning me!!! will pack light for this next trip

 

[lakehead92]

Since this is our first time...can anyone give us some clues and or pointers as to what kind of things people usually leave in FE's. What did you receive from people on your last trip. Just so our group can know and come up with ideas, and so we can know what what people normally spend?

 

[PrincessMer]

I think 8-10 rooms in a group sounds like a good number, but then again, I've never done this before so I really am basing my opinion on a gut feeling

 

[ebony]

.

We could go 2 groups. Say, oh, 8-10 rooms in each group (if we get that many) and give everyone the option to participate in both groups. ??? So if you only want 8 staterooms, participate in group 1. If you want 16 staterooms, participate in groups 1 and 2. That's just an example-- hopefully I explained it right

This sounds a good idea. To be honest this trip is one, we are trying to keep to a budget. The cruise is a last minute add on.

Since this is our first time...can anyone give us some clues and or pointers as to what kind of things people usually leave in FE's. What did you receive from people on your last trip. Just so our group can know and come up with ideas, and so we can know what what people normally spend?

I bought Tea towels of my home town, which is a large university city in Oxford UK. They cost £4, @ $6 and there are 14 people in our group which has worked out quite expensive. I also spent @ £3, $4.5, on each child, but there are only 3.
This is my first time doing the F.Extenders on the Transatlantic in sept '10.

 

[Silverfox97]

We're finalizing everything for our reservation. This will be our second Disney cruise, just DH and I. I'm pretty sure we'll end up with the later dinner seating (and we'd prefer it). CC was our favorite spot, so we wanted to do a double dip.

to our thread!

Since this is our first time...can anyone give us some clues and or pointers as to what kind of things people usually leave in FE's. What did you receive from people on your last trip. Just so our group can know and come up with ideas, and so we can know what what people normally spend?

Wow, it varies. Let's see...I don't want to say what we gave, but I can tell you what we got in our FE in Aug. Some people did one "goodie bag" per stateroom, for example, one had waterproof/kid bandaids, hand sanitizer, travel kleenex, stuff like that. Some people only gave to the kids, and DD got things like pens/pencils/crayons/glow sticks (REALLY fun for pirate night!), temporary tatoos, stuff like that. She got a Toy Story wipe off board, and we got these DELICIOUS cookies http://firecrackerbakery.blogspot.com/search/label/cruise/travel (this shows you what they looked like). She even got a little book and a couple of cups. There were some people that left candy, but not too much. It was a really really fun thing to do. Mostly, to see the utter excitement when DD found something in the FE.

 

[Silverfox97]

Ok everyone, they have realeased the "Kids Sail Free" promotion for our cruise for verandah cabins only - Cats 4-7A. So, if any of you are booked in one of these categories, the code is KFO. Contact your TAs to get your discount!

Unfortunately, this is our add-on "budget cruise" so since we are 11c GTY, we can't take advantage of it. Now, if they release Florida Resident Rates, we will jump on that and upgrade for sure!!!

Hope this helps someone

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

Ok everyone, they have realeased the "Kids Sail Free" promotion for our cruise for verandah cabins only - Cats 4-7A. So, if any of you are booked in one of these categories, the code is KFO. Contact your TAs to get your discount!

Unfortunately, this is our add-on "budget cruise" so since we are 11c GTY, we can't take advantage of it. Now, if they release Florida Resident Rates, we will jump on that and upgrade for sure!!!

Hope this helps someone

WOW!!! They must be having a really hard time filling this cruise!!

I'm still going without the kids though!

 

[Silverfox97]

WOW!!! They must be having a really hard time filling this cruise!!

They definitely are! There are staterooms available in EVERY category - from Concierge all the way down to 11c GTY. That is crazy this close to sailing!!!

 

[lakehead92]

How full does it need to be for them to sail?

I do not want them to cancel this one too.




Hmm... kids sail free. I wonder if that makes a verandah close in price to an outside cabin when you subtract the kids prices?

 

[Silverfox97]

How full does it need to be for them to sail? I do not want them to cancel this one too.

No idea. I doubt they will cancel it. I am hoping that they just keep releasing various discounts to get the ship filled.

Hmm... kids sail free. I wonder if that makes a verandah close in price to an outside cabin when you subtract the kids prices?

It might. Go to DCL's website and price it out - the promo code is KFO. You can stack it with the Cancadian discount, as well, which I think is 20 or 25% off. Call/e-mail your travel agent if you use one to run the numbers for you on the best deal. I am still holding out for Florida resident rates......

 

[aanderson5]

No idea. I doubt they will cancel it. I am hoping that they just keep releasing various discounts to get the ship filled.



It might. Go to DCL's website and price it out - the promo code is KFO. You can stack it with the Cancadian discount, as well, which I think is 20 or 25% off. Call/e-mail your travel agent if you use one to run the numbers for you on the best deal. I am still holding out for Florida resident rates......

The Canadian discount isn't available for this cruise is it? I thought it was for the 7 day Caribbean cruises. If I wasn't locked into flights I might have considered switching. JK

I have been watching our cruise since they opened it up and I can't believe how much is still available. I was a little worried about them canceling too, (I even posted a thread about it a while ago) but was assured that wasn't going to happen. They better not cancel, we are so excited.

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

to our thread!

Wow, it varies. Let's see...I don't want to say what we gave, but I can tell you what we got in our FE in Aug. Some people did one "goodie bag" per stateroom, for example, one had waterproof/kid bandaids, hand sanitizer, travel kleenex, stuff like that. Some people only gave to the kids, and DD got things like pens/pencils/crayons/glow sticks (REALLY fun for pirate night!), temporary tatoos, stuff like that. She got a Toy Story wipe off board, and we got these DELICIOUS cookies http://firecrackerbakery.blogspot.com/search/label/cruise/travel (this shows you what they looked like). She even got a little book and a couple of cups. There were some people that left candy, but not too much. It was a really really fun thing to do. Mostly, to see the utter excitement when DD found something in the FE.

Oh my gosh! Those cookies are adorable!!! AND that place isn't too far from me! But I don't know how I could get that many cookies down with me without breaking. I wonder how the other person did it. Did she say?

As far as other ideas, someone just posted this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2544212

That might help as well.

In March, we got a lot of candy, pirate stuff and little things for the kids to play with. One of my favorite things was a set of handmade Disney cards. They were cute! (I think I might do something similar).
On the morning of our Castaway Cay day, we received a sand bucket and shovel. That was a HUGE hit with my boys! I like things from other peoples states and/or countries!

No matter what you decide, it will be appreciated and loved! It's meant to be fun and not stressful.

 

[mazz1]

i was going to try and make my fish extenders all edible or drinkable so that they do not have to be packed and taken home, i know i've said this before but my teenage son is really hopeful for american candy "hint hint"

i may also try to include something lightweight that is typically british as a keepsake in mine but i'm trying to think of something useful rather than just a novelty item

i live by the seaside and dh being ever so helpful suggested a stick of rock or a candy dummy and i suppose i have lost everyone completly with those suggestions

 

[Silverfox97]

Oh my gosh! Those cookies are adorable!!! AND that place isn't too far from me! But I don't know how I could get that many cookies down with me without breaking. I wonder how the other person did it. Did she say?

You know what, I am not sure, because I talked to her quite a bit at the DIS meet, then we ran the Castaway Cay 5K together (well, we met up at the end - I was a lot slower than her!) and she mentioned that they stayed at the Beach Club before the cruise, then went back to WDW after the cruise, so I don't know if they drove and brought them in the car, or got them shipped. She's super sweet - bkoehl on the boards if you wanted to PM her.

I have to say, I am a from-scratch cook/baker, and I have tasted a lot of food/baked goods, both from bakeries, store bought, home made and those are the absolute BEST cookies that I have ever eaten. Really. We got 3 of them - one for each of us.

We brought all of the edible items (those cookies, candy, etc.) home. We didn't eat anything from our FE on the ship - there was just no need to! Our FE gifts that we passed out filled a duffle bag. We came home with just a gift bag full, so we definitely gave out more than we recieved, which was perfectly fine with us.

 

[lakehead92]

Ok everyone, they have realeased the "Kids Sail Free" promotion for our cruise for verandah cabins only - Cats 4-7A. So, if any of you are booked in one of these categories, the code is KFO. Contact your TAs to get your discount!

Unfortunately, this is our add-on "budget cruise" so since we are 11c GTY, we can't take advantage of it. Now, if they release Florida Resident Rates, we will jump on that and upgrade for sure!!!

Hope this helps someone

Thank you thank you thank you.

You just saved all the members of our family, and helped others upgrade.
One of us was staying in an outside stateroom..and can now upgrade to a verandah for only $28.00. Thank you so much.. we are all in verandahs now.

 

[Silverfox97]

Thank you thank you thank you.

You just saved all the members of our family, and helped others upgrade.
One of us was staying in an outside stateroom..and can now upgrade to a verandah for only $28.00. Thank you so much.. we are all in verandahs now.

You are welcome - happy to help It was on our meet thread for the cruise we sailed on last month that someone posted about Florida resident rates. Saved us 60% and since we were paid in full already, it was a nice credit back onto our card! We had a verandah on our last cruise and loved it

For this cruise, it would cost us $1000 to upgrade from 11c GTY to even a 7a verandah, even with one "free" child, so we are staying put. I am hoping for some pixie dust for Florida Resident Rates It doesn't seem like our cruise is filling very fast, as there are rooms left in every category.