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

[tink&cinderella]

We're from CT. Thinking about moving to FL just so we can take advantage of the deals on the cruise prices.

OK.. Eileen... When you get your place, please make sure you have enough room for your Canadian Friends as we will be 'moving in'

 

[tink&cinderella]

Denise, both Joann (3princessMommy) and I do cross stitch and I will probably have something to work on with me. I am currently working on a piece that I might use for secret santa/mickey if I can get it finished.

Lois

I too will be bringing my cross stich with me... but I am wondering how I can get a pair of scissors on board the airplane... I am sure scissors are on the prohibited list and before I meet all of you I have the transatlantic ahead of me in two weeks, so I wanted to do some work on the airplane on my way to Barcelona... They have some strange rules ... like you can bring knitting needles but only if you have yarn to go with it.. go figure.

Denise

 

[tink&cinderella]

Does anyone know if either of the Disney ships have ever been to Barbados???

 

[Bakerteam]

OK.. Eileen... When you get your place, please make sure you have enough room for your Canadian Friends as we will be 'moving in'

How many DVC points do you think we'll need to get residency in FL?

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

I too will be bringing my cross stich with me... but I am wondering how I can get a pair of scissors on board the airplane... I am sure scissors are on the prohibited list and before I meet all of you I have the transatlantic ahead of me in two weeks, so I wanted to do some work on the airplane on my way to Barcelona... They have some strange rules ... like you can bring knitting needles but only if you have yarn to go with it.. go figure.

Denise

Trick - bring an empty (or full) dental floss and use the cutter to cut your thread. I pack my scissors in my checked luggage to use once I arrive. There are also several types of "thread cutters" you can get from some of the "hobby" sites.

Lois

 

[Marcy Mouse]

This is our sixth cruise - first time we are going to do the fish extender exchange.

Not sure about our room number yet - In the room there is me DW 36, DH 38, and DS 16 will be 17 on the cruise!

Just wondering where I sign up?

I was wondering how many rooms are Canadian?
I have an idea of what I'm gonna give (something that is specific to Canada - can't get it in the states) so I would give this item to the rooms that are not Canadian and give something else to the Canadian rooms. It wouldn't really be a treat to the Canadians because they could get it any time they want.

Marcy

 

[ISCHARCM]

We are now booked onto this cruise as well as the 7 day Western

We are : Kitster2 - Vicki ; Corwin17 - Stephen....no kiddies

Thanks to the new FL resident rates, we booked a Cat 9 for not much more than a Cat 12 would have cost us, so SCORE !!!!!!!!

We're cruisin', we're crusin', we're crusin', we're crusin', we're crusin'....LOL

Welcome Aboard!!!!!!

 

[3princessMommy]

Trick - bring an empty (or full) dental floss and use the cutter to cut your thread. I pack my scissors in my checked luggage to use once I arrive. There are also several types of "thread cutters" you can get from some of the "hobby" sites.

Lois

You can also use fingernail clippers. I've never had problem with these on all the flights I've been on.

 

[3princessMommy]

This is our sixth cruise - first time we are going to do the fish extender exchange.

Not sure about our room number yet - In the room there is me DW 36, DH 38, and DS 16 will be 17 on the cruise!

Just wondering where I sign up?

I was wondering how many rooms are Canadian?
I have an idea of what I'm gonna give (something that is specific to Canada - can't get it in the states) so I would give this item to the rooms that are not Canadian and give something else to the Canadian rooms. It wouldn't really be a treat to the Canadians because they could get it any time they want.

Marcy

Send a PM to Tinkmischief.

All the instructions for signing up for any of our group activities are on the first page of this thread. Check it out! There's lots of fun stuff going on!

 

[Kitster]

Does anyone know if either of the Disney ships have ever been to Barbados???

Yes, the Wonder has been to Barbados twice, in 2006 for the 10 and 11 Nights in Paradise cruise, 9/17/06 - 9/28/06. It was our honeymoon cruise and we had a ball.....jammie breakfast in Triton's, Pirate's night photo in the atrium, Bubba Keg photo with the Ariel statue, the Grass skirt fraternity at the Sail-away party, the crew talent show in Diversions............................

 

[Corwin17]

Barbados! Yes! Probably the best snorkeling experience on that 11-night trip 4 years ago, IMHO.

BTW, an introduction, I'm Corwin17, Kitster's husband.

Looking forward to sharing our wedding anniversary with a bunch of friends we've never met!

 

[3princessMommy]

Barbados! Yes! Probably the best snorkeling experience on that 11-night trip 4 years ago, IMHO.

BTW, an introduction, I'm Corwin17, Kitster's husband.

Looking forward to sharing our wedding anniversary with a bunch of friends we've never met!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the snorkeling excursion we want in Barbados is still available when we can book... Hoping to take DD9 to swim with sea turtles.

 

[jgura]

Hi All,

We will also be participating in the FE Jill, Rob, Jenna & Brook (will both be 8) I wanted to get any feedback on having 2 FE groups so it is not too large of a group and cutting it off at the first 15-20 cabins in one group and the last few and new people in a second group. I am sure more will be signing up as things get closer. This way we can have nicer items and less gifts to fit in our luggage. Not to mention the actual distribution. On our summer cruise we had 19 cabins and it was a good amount, but any more would have broke the bank and required another suitcase. I will try to attach some pictures of our exchange...if I can figure it out. Either way, looking forward to the fun!

If this seems to be a good idea to most, I'd be happy to keep up with the FE2. Jill

(I have pm Tinkmischief)

 

[3princessMommy]

Hi All,

We will also be participating in the FE Jill, Rob, Jenna & Brook (will both be 8) I wanted to get any feedback on having 2 FE groups so it is not too large of a group and cutting it off at the first 15-20 cabins in one group and the last few and new people in a second group. I am sure more will be signing up as things get closer. This way we can have nicer items and less gifts to fit in our luggage. Not to mention the actual distribution. On our summer cruise we had 19 cabins and it was a good amount, but any more would have broke the bank and required another suitcase. I will try to attach some pictures of our exchange...if I can figure it out. Either way, looking forward to the fun!

If this seems to be a good idea to most, I'd be happy to keep up with the FE2. Jill

(I have pm Tinkmischief)

Hi Jill!

I definitely see the upside to this suggestion - particularly in terms of luggage and time.

The downsides I see are:
1) I've already purchased the materials I need to make at least 30 FE gifts - and I can't take them back. So limiting to 20, would mean a waste for me. (but that's just me being selfish)
2) On our last cruise, so many folks upgraded at the port that our FE list was basically useless. We attempted to update it, but in the end, I just ended up looking for the Fish Extenders instead of following the lists. If there were two groups, this wouldn't be possible. I don't anticipate that many upgrades this time, but there will undoubtedly be a few (including us if there are any connecting cabins available).
3) This is a longer cruise and we found on our last cruise, which was 12 nights, that the FE exchange peetered out towards the latter half of the cruise. With a larger group, this doesn't happen as much. Plus you have a lot more time to distribute to a larger group.

I would definitely support this idea if the numbers for the FE get up past 50 or 60, but below that I think it's manageable and more fun than a smaller group. Just my humble opinion though. I will look forward to participating regardless of what the larger group decides.

 

[itutorfortravel]

I just wanted to share a couple thoughts regarding the FE experience we had in case it may be helpful...

On our cruise last Christmas, the person who managed the FE list used google documents to keep the list current. Since the content was updated real-time whenever she made changes, when we clicked the original link she sent us it always displayed the most current information. She was able to add cabin numbers as people in gty status got their assignments so when we all left home we had cabin numbers for everyone. The exception was for some of us who were upgraded after we left for the cruise (we were one of those folks!), though if you had a laptop you could always check the list even in your hotel room the night before the cruise.

For those who chose to upgrade at the port we had another way to address that. We had a DIS meet the first day of the cruise and we updated any changes at that time. We had a small group so it was really done informally, but if the group is large, maybe Guest Services would make copies for everyone. Another idea our group had was to post the most current FE list outside the organizer's cabin door on the first day. Then we would make sure we took our list down to her cabin to update ours. You could just use DIS names so there really isn't any personal info for all the world to see.

There is one more reason that it may be helpful for people to have current FE lists that detail the cabin number and family. Some people chose gifts specifically based on age and gender, so for them it would not have worked to just put the gift in a cabin with an FE, they would need to know specific cabin numbers for each family.

Oh, just wanted to add that if you decide to do 2 FE groups due to size, maybe there could be 2 FE organizers that are assigned certain DISsers...then you can use the same strategy above, but it would be done with 2 groups vs. 1. Not saying you should do 2 groups, but I think it could still work if you did. Last Christmas we had about 20 in our group and it was a good size. It took my DD's and I about 45 minutes to distribute FE gifts, though we wouldn't have minded more either!

One last thing (sorry, don't mean to be butting in, but I learned alot on my last FE exchange and wanted to help w/ideas if you like them)...we made a rule last year that you could distribute your FE gifts whenever it was convenient for you and your family (so as not to interrupt something you really wanted to do onboard or in port), but we did say not to distribute gifts the first night or the last night...first night b/c not everyone will be totally unpacked and have their FE's up and last night b/c everyone will be packing.

Okay, I am done now Again, I hope y'all don't see me as butting in...just trying to help if I can!

 

[DVC4US]

Good Monday Morning/Afternoon Everyone!!!

103 days until we set sail!!!


Welcome Kitster and Corwin17!!

Whatever we decide to do about FEs works for me. I do think we should make a decision soon though just so we know if we need to make/buy things for a set number of cabins or plan on more.

Thanks for all the information on past FEs. Since FEs are new to us it really helps to hear other DISers experience.

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Barbados! Yes! Probably the best snorkeling experience on that 11-night trip 4 years ago, IMHO.

BTW, an introduction, I'm Corwin17, Kitster's husband.

Looking forward to sharing our wedding anniversary with a bunch of friends we've never met!

Can I ask where you went snorkelling? Do you remember what excursion you went on?

 

[BBQMommy]

Good Morning - Just back from an all day drive from NY to TN

I had 15 of one of my FE items and picked up 15 more on the drive home, but I am pretty sure I could return extra if we have two smaller groups. I could see maybe needing two FE groups if it hits 50 cabins.

This is my first DCL cruise and first FE -- happy to go with the flow.

Caryn

 

[Ramzmich]

Hello
1st time poster, have been watching the site for a long time. We are in 12 gty cabin. Our family is Me (Mary),DH(Rob),DS(Zac16),DD(Amanda9). This is our 3 disney Cruise(1st for the Holidays). We will be signing up for FE.

 

[BBQMommy]

Hello Mary! Welcome aboard!

Caryn


(I just discovered the handy button on the top left that you can click to read first unread post. Still learning! )