Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - PART II

[VMinick]

We're hoping to see Tangled and Tron onboard! The trick will be getting my kids to put off seeing Tangled for a couple weeks

 

[tinkmischief]

Hi All,
I have not seen much feedback on making two groups of FE exchanges of about 20 cabins each rather than one big group. I did read further on other FE threads that 20 seems to be the magic number. From what I am seeing since post #300, it looks like we are up to 31 cabins. Any other opinions?? I know many of you want to get organized so if we can get some feedback by the weekend that would be great. You know my vote.

I do have a question that could be addressed now or later, for those of you occupying 2/3 cabins with relatives, will you be exchanging as one big happy family or for example grandma has her own Fe and kids their own FE. Another example, on our last cruise there were 3 friends/family in one cabin that EACH gave out their own gift to our family, we only had one gift for their cabin thinking they were a family. I would have loved to have brought them each a package.

Tinkmischief(Melissa) It looks like you are super mom and super busy! Let me hear from you on this and help in any way!

I am fine with splitting the groups up by groups of 20 or so not a problem I love excel spreadsheets

In the past if a group had several cabins I usually planned for a gift per cabin unless it was clearly just one family (adults in one cabin kids in another.) I plan for grandparents to have their own as a general rule

It just occurred to me that by the time we board the ship, we'll have already seen the next Harry Potter movie.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!


Caryn

Man! So hard to keep up with this board I see I have several fishy PMs and I will be getting to those soon!
I can't remember names to save my life and didn't quote them all so one big to all the new faces!

 

[3princessMommy]

I hate to be the one voice of dissent, but I am concerned about splitting the FE list.

First -we're one big happy group. If you split the FE into those that came first and those who add later, that segregates us. Also, one group could have fabulous gifts and the other average and folks will feel left out. I don't want anyone to feel left out - it's Disney afterall and it's supposed to be magical for everyone. (Okay I'm naive and childish, but it's part of what makes my vacation exciting.)

Second - if we don't reach 40-50 cabins, then you don't really have enough to have lots of fun with it if it's split. It's a 11 night cruise. Part of the reason I love the FE exchange is the excitement that comes with running back to the cabin to see what surprises await. On the longer cruises, these tend to dwindle toward the end anyway - with fewer cabins participating, it might get boring. (Selfish thought - a couple nights of no surprises and the thought of FE surprises won't get my kids out of the club for bed! )

I agree that 50 cabins is a LOT, so if we reach that number, I would definitely support splitting. But right now we're just at 31. That's less than 20 cabins each, which I think is too few for such a long cruise. I definitely could be wrong, but I don't see us reaching 50 - we might make 40, but not much over.

The deadline for signing up isn't until November. Why don't we wait and see how many sign up by then and then decide if it's reached that critical mass to require a split? My line would be 50 cabins.

 

[colkath2005]

I am happy with either 2 smaller groups or one large i do agree that at the moment it is slightly too small to split tho (maybe im just greedy too). Also my parents have thier own gifts and fish extender so take part as a seperate stateroom. I have spent the day working on my gifts (quiet day at work) so much fun i dont mind if i have to add a few more.

 

[Ramzmich]

Greetings all - I received a number of requests for access to the Facebook page. I am doing my best to only accept people who are actually going on this cruise to help minimize folks posting too much personal/sensitive info on a public page.

I have requests for the following people. Please either post on this thread, or send me a private message matching your disboard name with who you are:
Kathy G. B.
Jeanne O.
Mary M.
Chris C.
Eve H. A.
Joan S.
Pamela S.J.
Richard B.

Right now, there is not a lot of activity on the FB page, and I think that is best. I think it is good to keep all the shipboard activities and excursions discussions at the disboards so no one gets excluded inadvertently.

HI Would like to be add to FB

Thanks Mary M

 

[itutorfortravel]

I agree with waiting to see the size of the group before we make a decision on splitting the group, too. I hope no one feels like they have to go over the top to make the FE fun...really it's just the excitement of finding a remembrance, no matter how small, when you return to the cabin...at least that is how our family looks @ it! My DD could not wait to get back to the cabin to see what was waiting for us...we were on the 7 night cruise last Christmas and had about 21 people in our group. It worked great for us, but I do see how a small group may fizzle out on an 11 night cruise...we're flexible, but I personally would rather not see the group grow to over 50 for the sake of packing space and cost.

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

I agree that we should wait until Nov to determine how many groups. Right now I would lean toward one group unless we have over 50. I have started making my FEs and plan 35-40. A few more won't be a problem for me. On the June Baltic cruise (12 days), we didn't really start passing out things until almost half way into the cruise. We had 2 sea days at the end and it was fun to finish the FEs on those days. We tried to do one deck per day but others started earlier and did the entire ship on one day. Really fun! Getting excited

 

[eve adkins]

Hello!! I did a request on FB and we are all paid up on the cruise!!
I am very interested in doing the FE but still not sure how it works. If there are 30 cabins would you bring 30 items for each day of the cruise? Or individual items for each family member in the cabin for each day of the cruise? Also we have older kids that will be in the room next to us and smaller in the room with us so would you recommend two fish extenders? In the past is this something teen boys would enjoy? Sorry for so many questions I just don't want to commit to doing it until I"m sure i understand it.
Also could you please add DH Ryan to our family on the list...poor guy was left out when I listed all the kids. LOL
Thanks and can't wait to go on our first Disney cruise!!!!
Eve

 

[disneycruising]

eve adkins I just noticed that you are on both threads for the New Years Cruise & the Christmas Cruise. Are you still doing both? We are going to be doing both also.

 

[3princessMommy]

Hello!! I did a request on FB and we are all paid up on the cruise!!
I am very interested in doing the FE but still not sure how it works. If there are 30 cabins would you bring 30 items for each day of the cruise? Or individual items for each family member in the cabin for each day of the cruise? Also we have older kids that will be in the room next to us and smaller in the room with us so would you recommend two fish extenders? In the past is this something teen boys would enjoy? Sorry for so many questions I just don't want to commit to doing it until I"m sure i understand it.
Also could you please add DH Ryan to our family on the list...poor guy was left out when I listed all the kids. LOL
Thanks and can't wait to go on our first Disney cruise!!!!
Eve

Fish Extender Exchanges can be very flexible. But generally-speaking you do one or two gifts per stateroom participating over the course of the cruise. (I always do one, but I have seen others make several drop-offs, so it's really up to you.) You do not need to give out gifts every day!

The gifts are generally small, inexpensive, and related to the cruise or where you are from. So you'll see people hand out stuff for pirate night, or homemade scrapbook stuff to commemorate the cruise, or Disney stickers/tattoos. I have seen some folks do special cruise survival kits with little items that could be useful during the cruise such as a sewing kit, highlighters for the Navigator, and chocolate for those late night cravings. Others bring keychains, postcards, or specialty treats from where they are from. Really, it's up to you to put your special mark on your gift. Some choose to be anonymous about their gifts, and others put tags on telling you who delivered it. Again - entirely up to you. (Although, I do really like to know who gave me what. But that's just me.)

Some folks will personalize the gift for each cabin, which is why the list will include who is in each cabin (with ages of the kids). Kids particularly like to get something specially for them. Others will bring general gifts and each cabin gets the same. This second option is much easier to distribute since you don't have to worry about getting the right gift to the right cabin. But this is also entirely up to you.

If you have two cabins for your family, again, it's up to you if you want to do one or two FE. We only do one. But if your teenagers are old enough and want to do their own (meaning they distribute to everyone else as well), that's perfectly fine. Just add their names and cabin number separately to the FE list. Otherwise, their names/ages should be included under your name & cabin on the list.

Ultimately, it's not about the size or number of the gifts, but whether you have fun doing it. So make it your own and let it work for you to make your vacation that much more magical.

Today is Eid - the end of Ramadan - so I have the day off! Yeah!!!! Guess I'll work on some more FE gifts!

 

[bigAWL]

Hello!! I did a request on FB and we are all paid up on the cruise!!
I am very interested in doing the FE but still not sure how it works. If there are 30 cabins would you bring 30 items for each day of the cruise? Or individual items for each family member in the cabin for each day of the cruise? Also we have older kids that will be in the room next to us and smaller in the room with us so would you recommend two fish extenders? In the past is this something teen boys would enjoy? Sorry for so many questions I just don't want to commit to doing it until I"m sure i understand it.
Also could you please add DH Ryan to our family on the list...poor guy was left out when I listed all the kids. LOL
Thanks and can't wait to go on our first Disney cruise!!!!
Eve

Roll Call updated.

 

[HFC1969]

98

 

[bigAWL]

98

Hey I know this song...

98 bottles of beer on the wall.
98 bottles of beer.
Take one down, pass it around....

 

[HFC1969]

Hey I know this song...

98 bottles of beer on the wall.
98 bottles of beer.
Take one down, pass it around....

I think I know that song to..



.

 

[DVC4US]

You guys are too funny! Mike I think you and my dad would get along great! He always brings his rolling suitcase packed with beer on every cruise.

 

[thegales]

I have been known to have a rolling cooler of beer when boarding the ship. We generally go to deck 9 to the pools. I stop by the drink station to get cups of ice to fill the cooler; a CM will see me, and bring out a big bucket of ice from behind the wall. We will find a table by the pools as our base until we can get into the room.

DW and I will then go through Topsiders/BBB to get food, and we sit out by the pools enjoying lunch and the newly chilled beverages. DD's will be swimming.

We have done some informal DIS meets at this location, where I am always happy to share. Heck, I have been known to share with random people walking by who have made the comment that they didn't know you could bring beer on board.

 

[BBQMommy]

Speaking of beverages ... do any of you seasoned veterans know if the mixmasters know how to prepare a proper daiquiri? Not a frozen daiquiri, not a strawberry/peach/boysenberry fruit daiquiri -- just a daiquiri.

It is my favorite drink, rarely found. I get blank stares and then a 'we can't do that, we don't have a blender'.

•1 1/2 oz light rum
•3/4 oz lime juice
•1/4 oz sugar syrup

No sour mix, no crushed ice, just three simple ingredients and a shaker ...

Caryn

 

[BBQMommy]

I must say that the folks at Narcoossee's hit one out of the park at my birthday dinner this last February - one of the best daiquiris I have ever had, and no pleading or explaining.

 

[DVC4US]

We have done some informal DIS meets at this location, where I am always happy to share. Heck, I have been known to share with random people walking by who have made the comment that they didn't know you could bring beer on board.

David - we might look for you on deck 9 so dad can share a cold one with you. He usually just brings it in a suitcase and then uses a collapsible cooler to keep them cold. One of the first things he has to do once he is in the cabin is track down the stateroom host(ess) to make sure he gets plenty of ice on a daily basis. We start out embarkation day with mimosas in the limo so I usually have to take a break between then and the sail away party.

It is my favorite drink, rarely found. I get blank stares and then a 'we can't do that, we don't have a blender'.

•1 1/2 oz light rum
•3/4 oz lime juice
•1/4 oz sugar syrup

No sour mix, no crushed ice, just three simple ingredients and a shaker ...

Caryn

Yum! Never heard of this but it sounds good. Might have to give it a try! You will probably have to explain what you want, but most of the bartenders will make whatever you want as long as they have the ingredients.

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

.