July 8, 2012 5 Night Bahamian Cruise

[2012partyof5]

A FE group should be formed soon don't you think? So that we know how many adults/children we need to buy for.

 

[Beckyc75]

This will be our 4th Disney Cruise! We are excited about seeing the Dream! My husband and I got married on the Disney Wonder in 2005 on Castaway Kay! My kids are: DS12, DS6, DD4.

 

[RJMOLS]

Our family of five is looking forward to our first cruise on the Dream. We've done three cruises on the Magic.

Our children are DS 14, DD12, DD 10.

Hi, this too will be our first Dream, been on 2 cruises on Magic and have DD14, DS 13 and DD 12 - our kids are almost the same age. I am sooo excited about this cruise. Newby here on this site, so a question - what is FE?????

 

[H2OMama]

FE is short for "fish extender". I am a newbie too and this will be my first Disney cruise, but I have been reading on the boards for a while. Basically each cabin has a fish shaped hanger outside the door with your cabin # on it and people use this to pass messages back and forth. DISers use it to place pretty little hanging pocket things they make and call "fish extenders". Then usually a group of people on this forum all going on the same cruise form a FE group and exchange little random surprise gifts with each other via the fish extender pockets. I have made gifts for this, but it seems there are no experienced DISers on this cruise or something b/c nobody with any experience has come along yet to form a group.
I am still keeping my fingers crossed it will happen!! If you search FE on the cruise boards you will find pictures of the extenders and past gifts that have been given to give you an idea of what to expect and if you want to participate or not. It looks like lots of fun and something to make the vacation extra special and memorable.

 

[H2OMama]

Anybody else staying the night before the cruise at the Hyatt inside the airport?
I would love to meet up with others and let our kids meet. I figure this will help when they go to the kids club if they feel like there are other familiar faces there too and they already know a "friend".

 

[Crazybusy1]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

When can we expect the FE group to form?? I am very excited to plan for it. Would one of our more experienced cruisers mind setting it up?

PLEEEESE??
(insert puppy dog eyes and pouty lips here)

 

[lilosurf11]

Whoop! My family and I will be on this cruise!

I'm so excited because for me, my brothers, and my nephew, this will be our first time on the Dream; so exciting!!

 

[RainyJ]

Anybody else staying the night before the cruise at the Hyatt inside the airport?
I would love to meet up with others and let our kids meet. I figure this will help when they go to the kids club if they feel like there are other familiar faces there too and they already know a "friend".

We are staying at the Hyatt MCO the night before

I am so excited!! We just did the Magic 5-night to Key West (which we missed due to weather), but we loved Castaway Cay so much that I started looking at the double dips and I found a VGT rate for this sailing! We jumped on it this morning. Can't believe we are doing another cruise so soon, but I am so pumped.

BTW I am Ranee, and will be with DH, DS6 and DS3.

 

[H2OMama]

We are staying at the Hyatt MCO the night before

I am so excited!! We just did the Magic 5-night to Key West (which we missed due to weather), but we loved Castaway Cay so much that I started looking at the double dips and I found a VGT rate for this sailing! We jumped on it this morning. Can't believe we are doing another cruise so soon, but I am so pumped.

BTW I am Ranee, and will be with DH, DS6 and DS3.

Wow, It must be great to book back again so fast!! I am pumped too! Lets plan a meet up for all the family's that want to join at MCO the night before maybe dinner somewhere? Have you been to this hotel before to know what there is?

 

[RainyJ]

We stayed there--it's really nice. Actually, it's one of the nicer, standard hotel rooms I've stayed in. We arrived pretty late--8:30 p.m. arrival--so we ate at McCoy's Bar & Grill. It was good food but it is pricey. I was expecting casual bar food but they had a nice menu. We had breakfast the next morning at Hemisphere. Both restaurants are in the hotel.

Did you purchase the DCL transfers? If you did, the process is very smooth.

 

[H2OMama]

We stayed there--it's really nice. Actually, it's one of the nicer, standard hotel rooms I've stayed in. We arrived pretty late--8:30 p.m. arrival--so we ate at McCoy's Bar & Grill. It was good food but it is pricey. I was expecting casual bar food but they had a nice menu. We had breakfast the next morning at Hemisphere. Both restaurants are in the hotel.

Did you purchase the DCL transfers? If you did, the process is very smooth.

This is my son's Make A Wish trip. I know everything was booked thru Disney (air, hotel, transfers, cruise). So I think we will be good there. What is the difference? What do they do to make it smooth? First timer here, so no experience. Thanks! Great that there are good restaurants inside the hotel, that makes things easy.

 

[RJMOLS]

Hi, I notice there are quite a few "tweens" on this board, will they be going to Vibe or Edge on first night? My kids 14,13,12 will be split between the 2 groups so it would be nice to know if there would be others their age on the first night? My 12 year old daughter is quite shy till she gets to know people, but my 14 girl is very confident. My 13 year old son will probably want to bump upto the older age group, leaving my 12 year old on her own, she will be too young to move up. We are all sooo excited about this cruise, it's getting nearer.

 

[jrbdad]

Hi, I notice there are quite a few "tweens" on this board, will they be going to Vibe or Edge on first night? My kids 14,13,12 will be split between the 2 groups so it would be nice to know if there would be others their age on the first night? My 12 year old daughter is quite shy till she gets to know people, but my 14 girl is very confident. My 13 year old son will probably want to bump upto the older age group, leaving my 12 year old on her own, she will be too young to move up. We are all sooo excited about this cruise, it's getting nearer.

Last year my 13 year old was bored in the Edge (not sure he put forth much effort), so we asked to move him up to the Vibe with his older brother and they had a blast. This year they will both be in the Vibe and looking forward to it. Our daughter will be moving up to the Edge as an 11 year old and she's on the shy side too.

I'm going to make them go to the "mixers" that first night. We haven't done that in the past and I think it will help. Last year they finally met some other kids during the scavenger hunt and thats when things really got fun for them.

 

[RainyJ]

This is my son's Make A Wish trip. I know everything was booked thru Disney (air, hotel, transfers, cruise). So I think we will be good there. What is the difference? What do they do to make it smooth? First timer here, so no experience. Thanks! Great that there are good restaurants inside the hotel, that makes things easy.

They just have a pretty much seamless process. When you check in at the Hyatt you tell them you are sailing on DCL. They will give you an info sheet and instructions. Basically, you leave your luggage with the DCL tags in your hotel room, and they will pick them up and take care of transporting them for you--next time you'll see them is in your stateroom. You'll just want to keep your carry on bags with you.

Then you can head right to Magical Express, or eat breakfast. Disney's Magical Express desk is on the 1st level with the car rentals. You complete your entire cruise check-in there, receive your KTTW card, and the boarding pass for your bus. We were on the Pluto bus, and didn't have to wait more than 10-15 minutes. Then you board the bus and relax and watch fun Disney stuff on the TV screens. And being on the DCL transfers you don't have to stick to the port arrival time from your online check-in--since you came in on their bus you can board right away (assuming that they've begin the boarding process). You might have to wait a bit if you come in on the first bus.

 

[RJMOLS]

Last year my 13 year old was bored in the Edge (not sure he put forth much effort), so we asked to move him up to the Vibe with his older brother and they had a blast. This year they will both be in the Vibe and looking forward to it. Our daughter will be moving up to the Edge as an 11 year old and she's on the shy side too.

I'm going to make them go to the "mixers" that first night. We haven't done that in the past and I think it will help. Last year they finally met some other kids during the scavenger hunt and thats when things really got fun for them.

I think going to the Mixers is a great idea, our kids can meet up in the different clubs

 

[jrbdad]

I think going to the Mixers is a great idea, our kids can meet up in the different clubs

Two years ago, our daughter was the only one to enjoy the kid's club. The boys just hung out with themselves. Had a great time, but this last year we were like -- GET OUT OF THE STATEROOM!!! YOU HAVE A TV AT HOME! So second night we forced them to the Vibe for a scavenger hunt, while we went to Remy's. After dinner we were strolling around and saw a group of kids making a human pyramid and we were like, "oh, there's the boys." Later that night -- they actually thanked us. They kept in touch with several of their new friends for months after the cruise via text. Come to think of it -- all of the new friends were girls.

This year we will start out making them go to the mixer and I think it will be much better.

 

[RJMOLS]

Two years ago, our daughter was the only one to enjoy the kid's club. The boys just hung out with themselves. Had a great time, but this last year we were like -- GET OUT OF THE STATEROOM!!! YOU HAVE A TV AT HOME! So second night we forced them to the Vibe for a scavenger hunt, while we went to Remy's. After dinner we were strolling around and saw a group of kids making a human pyramid and we were like, "oh, there's the boys." Later that night -- they actually thanked us. They kept in touch with several of their new friends for months after the cruise via text. Come to think of it -- all of the new friends were girls.

This year we will start out making them go to the mixer and I think it will be much better.

Great, my kids will be there

 

[chipanddalerule]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

How do we start planning the gift exchang thing I have heard so much about. I have heard this is BLAST for everyone and would love to get involved this cruise (3rd Cruise).
Thanksa

 

[RainyJ]

How do we start planning the gift exchang thing I have heard so much about. I have heard this is BLAST for everyone and would love to get involved this cruise (3rd Cruise).
Thanksa

Someone will need to volunteer to organize it--keeping the list of participants and room assignments and all that good stuff.

We don't participate in FE, so I won't be volunteering

 

[RJMOLS]

Why doesn't everybody who is interested in the FE put their names down, lets see how many people want to be involved then see if somebody on the list wants to volunteer to organise it. I have never taken part in one so not sure what is needed but am happy to help out, or keep lists (i'm good at lists!)
Becky