June 11 cruise

[Fab5Family]

We hope to be at port by around 11:00 a.m. and board as soon as possible. ... On our first cruise we took DCL bus to get to port and it didn't arrive until 2:00 p.m.

I am hoping we will be there between 11:00 and 12:00. It just depends on how quickly breakfast at Boma goes. Even though we are coming from WDW, we are not taking the DCL bus so we should have a little more control over our arrival time.

This cruise we have main dining at 5:15 p.m. On this cruise I think the only show we plan on seeing is the Toy Story show.

What time is your dining?

We are doing second dining. Since it is our first cruise there are so many things we want to do/see -- including all the shows. I promised my husband that I would try to not be "Go!Go!Go!" the whole time and actaully find some time to just relax. I just don't want to miss anything. (I guess that's why we have to cruise more than once.)

Holly

 

[Fab5Family]

I'm thinking of booking this cruise, depends on when/if surgery is scheduled for our 4 yo ds. We find out Wednesday when he goes to the doctor if this is the summer for surgery.

I hope all goes well with the appointment on Wednesday.

It will just be myself and our oldest daughter- who will turn 15 on the cruise. My husband returned from a year deployment to Afghanistan a little over a month ago and the cruise will be my reward for making it through the year alone with the four kids and not running off. Oldest dd is coming because she was such a huge help to me.

Hoping we'll be joining you.

Julie

It certainly sounds like you (and oldest DD) could use this reward. I hope everything works out so that you both can join us.

Holly

 

[zoom8942]

Today is 1 month till we sail!I am soooo excited!I havent received my cruise documents yet. I called AAA today and they said that they would be directly mailed to them, and they havent received them either. anyone else?? cruise must be filling up, when I checked this morning there were no cat 9 rooms available. They could move me up to a 6 if they wanted to open my cat9 for someone else jst kidding I will be happy with what I got. Im just one of those people that get a charge out of getting the best deal for my money.

DD16 is convinced there will not be any boys(cute ones anyway) that are her age. I told her everyone loves disney and cruises even cute teen boys!! lol teen girls are so funny.

 

[Fab5Family]

This seemed early to me based on what I have read here -- but four weeks before our sail date we got our luggage tags, etc, in the mail TODAY!!!

 

[4KsLUVDisney]

Our passports arrived on Monday of this week and today we got our cruise documents. Now I just need time to fly by so we can start our vacation on June 8.

 

[Fab5Family]

Krissy,

Have you had many repsonses about the FE exchange? Just wondering if I should go ahead and make one and be looking for some cute gifts.

If we only have a couple of families maybe we could each do two rounds of gifts so that there are more "surprises" for the kids (?) Has anyone done this before? I really don't know what to plan exactly.

Holly

 

[4KsLUVDisney]

As of right now the only person who has responded about the FE is you. Doesn't look like we have a group really at all. I am still going to make my FE as I have wanted one just for the decoration. Our first cruise I didn't know about them and all we had was all kinds of door decorations on our door. That was fun doing that everyday and I plan on doing that again along with the FE. I plan on still making gifts for your family. I got you email and I am going to respond to it.

I am hoping we get a few more people on the boards before the cruise. I am going to do a search on the boards just to make sure there isn't another thread out there about our cruise date.

Got our cruise documents yesterday. I am getting our box all packed so I can send it down to the ship on June 1.

 

[SSR65203]

Family of 4: DD 18, DS 14

Pre-cruise stay at WDW - Pop Century nights of 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th - AKV nights of 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th

 

[Fab5Family]

It will be here soon.

I just scrolled back through our thread and it looks like we have five families for sure and one "maybe" that have posted. I know at least two of us were planning to do a FE gift exchange, but we would love to have more of us in on the fun.

Please send a PM to 4KsLUVDisney if you are interested -- or if you just want to know more about it just post your questions here in this thread.

Looking forward to the fun!

Holly

 

[hokie1218]

Hello,

My family is going on the June 11th, 2009 Disney cruise, and it's our (my daughter and I) first one We actually live in Orlando and go to the parks all the time, but wanted to try the cruise as well. I keep reading about this "Fish Exchange" but have no idea what it is. Could someone please explain? I will be traveling with my mom (60), Sister (32), Niece (5) and Daughter (3)...all the girls Seems like most of you have older kids, so I don't know if that keeps us out of the Exchange, but wanted to get more info anyway.

Also, any fun tips to make it a really fun and special vacation for the kids?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Holli

 

[natcam1996]

I don't know what the FE is either so I can't help there. Since this will be my daughter's first cruise and our first Disney cruise we're probably not going to do much in the way of excursions but instead chill out on the ship a good bit. Right after we get off the cruise we're checking in to BCV for 12 nights and my daughter and I hit the parks pretty hard the first week. So I guess the cruise is the relaxing first part of our vacation.

 

[4KsLUVDisney]

Here are the instructions for a "Fish Extender". The picture would not come over but if you search the boards for "fish extender" or ebay "Disney Fish Extender" you will see a picture.

A fish extender is to hang outside your stateroom to leave notes and/or gifts for your family or fellow cruisers (when you have a fish extender gift exchange".

I made our this weekend and it was really easy and if anything else I can't wait to just have it hang outside our room. We love everything Disney.

If you want to participate in the small gift exchange just send me a private message with your stateroom room, number of people, and ages. I will send out the information to everyone who wants to participate this Saturday, May 30.

Krissy

No-Sew FE

After several requests I have finally gotten around to writing the directions to how I did it. What I did is very similar to the directions on earlier posts so those provided great guidance.

Supplies:

2 yards of fabric (two colors – one yard each)
Double fold bias tape
Dowell Rod
Iron-On Patches
1 Package of Iron-On Interfacing
1 Package of Heat-n-Bond No Sew Ultra Hold 7/8 in. hem
1 Package of Heat-n-Bond No Sew 1 Yard
Various Colors of Ribbon

1. Cut fabric to be used as the body of the FE to be 8 in. wide by 58 in. in length. When folded the FE will be 29 in. in length.
2. Cut fabric for the three pockets, cut each pocket 11 in. wide by 12 in. in length. When folded each pocked will be 6 in. in length.
3. On the inside of the FE body piece and each pocket iron on the interfacing. Once cooled completely I ironed on the sheet of Heat-n-Bond cut 8 in. by 29 in. to the inside of the body of the FE.
4. On each of the 3 folded pockets I made pleats so that the pockets were 2 in.-pleat-4 in.-pleat 2 in. To secure the pleats I used the Heat-n-Bond Ultrahold hem. This was done on the cut side so that the top edge would be folded and clean.
5. Next I used the heat-n-bond hem to add 8 in. strips of the double fold bias tape to the bottom of each pocket.
6. Next I lined up the pockets on the body of the FE starting 8 in. from the top and then about 1 in. apart. I market the spots with a pencil and secured the bottom and sides of the pockets using the heat-n-bond hem.
7. Once all cooled. I used the double fold bias tape for the perimeter of the body of the FE which again was secured using the iron on hem.
8. Once cooled I ironed on the patches to each of the pockets.
9. I then folded down the top of the FE about 2 inches and secured to the back of the FE by the iron-on hem creating a little opening to insert the dowel rod.
10. Using the multicolored ribbon I made it long enough so that the FE would hang approximately 7-8 in. from a hanger.
11. For our names I bough iron-on computer paper and printed the names on the computer. Then I cut and surrounded the paper with double fold bias tape attached using the iron-on hem. Finally I ironed on the name piece.

I think that’s all. I’ve never tried to write directions for anything like this before. Everything I used I bought from either Wal-Mart, Michaels, or Joann’s Fabrics.

Here's the picture again of the final result.

__________________

 

[4KsLUVDisney]

I don't know what the FE is either so I can't help there. Since this will be my daughter's first cruise and our first Disney cruise we're probably not going to do much in the way of excursions but instead chill out on the ship a good bit. Right after we get off the cruise we're checking in to BCV for 12 nights and my daughter and I hit the parks pretty hard the first week. So I guess the cruise is the relaxing first part of our vacation.

How old is your daughter? My daughter is 17 and my son is 11. We are staying at BCV for 2 nights after the cruise also.

Krissy

 

[Fab5Family]

In case you think the FE exchange sounds like fun but too much work, I just thought I would throw a few ideas out there.

You do not have to buy or make a fancy Fish Extender. This is our first cruise so I don't know first-hand, but I have read on these boards about people that simply use a canvas tote bag or a Disney themed gift bag. As long as it has a long enough handle to reach over the fish to hang (thus the "fish EXTENDer"), I think you'll be good.

The gift exchange part is sort of like a secret-pal kind of thing. You bring a gift to place as a surprise in the FE of each of the other families participating. There are lots of threads if you search the boards for gift ideas. It seems that some people make small homemade gifts and others purchase fun trinket-type items (temporary tattoos, glow sticks, candy).

The more families that join, the more "surprises" we will each receive.

Holly

 

[hokie1218]

We are definitely interested in participating in the fish exchange. Please let me know what information you need. Hope we can get a bunch of people to join in. It's our first cruise and the FE sounds like fun!

 

[Fab5Family]

We are definitely interested in participating in the fish exchange. Please let me know what information you need. Hope we can get a bunch of people to join in. It's our first cruise and the FE sounds like fun!

4KsLUVDisney is coordinating for us. (You can see several posts from her in this thread.) She has asked us each to send our stateroom number, number of people, and ages of kids. I think you may need a minimum number of posts to the board before you can send a private message, but click on her name in one of her posts and see if it will let you send that information to her. If it won't let you do a PM, I think you need 10 posts -- so get busy posting (or just submit several right here on this thread) and see if it will let you through to her then.

So glad you're joining us.

 

[hokie1218]

Well, looks like I can't send a PM until I have at least 10 posts. So, I'm going to try very quickly to get this accomplished so we can be part of the Fish Exchange Please keep us included, and hopefully I'll get the PM done soon!

 

[natcam1996]

4KsLUVDisney,

Sorry for the delay in responding. My daughter is 13.

 

[m_kasch]

Hey -- I am watching you all on the ship!! My cruise is in 15 weeks -- and I am jealous of all of you on the ship today -- you will be leaving port soon!!