kiwi mom--Thank you for your kind thoughts and response back---with both your post and mariaelenak's back to back it just felt like I was bothering someone with even asking a question. I guess I felt that way mostly because right off you were suggesting that I prepare gifts for my DD and then mariaelenak's first comment back was "excellent suggestion"--it really did make me feel as if I was asking something I shouldn't have. I am aware that preparing gifts is an option for me but is not as fun or surprising as the real FE so I was just asking if there were any other options and was totally OK with whatever the outcome because I knew that the list had just closed days before I posted.
---it's fine and maybe I took it the wrong way but if you go back and look at the posts you might be able to see what I was feeling because right after my post the next 2 new cruisers to post both got "Welcome to the Group!"--I think it was after I saw that, that I felt as if no one wanted to welcome me because of the question I asked( maybe assuming I was asking for too much) and because we didn't want to be involved with Facebook.
I was simply trying to express mine and many other dissers feelings here about not wanting the disboards to turn into facebook----I did put in my post that no one had to be right or wrong so I thought that would take care of that there were no hard feelings--- Thank you though again kiwimom and I didn't in any way feel you were being spiteful I probably as I said, took it the wrong way. We too can not wait for the day to come!!
Mariaelenak--why didn't I feel welcomed?? because simply as I stated above to kiwimom I wasn't and probably took it the wrong way but felt that maybe I wasn't because I didn't want to join you all on facebook and because of what I was inquiring about the FE's.
I have no doubt that you have probably worked very hard and then some to head everything up but, I was only inquiring about the FE because we typically dont do the Group meet---not because we dont' want to meet others but we simply never seem to have enough time to make it with all of the other things going on around sail off. I didn't ask for a Lanyard and don't think my post sounds assuming that we could be included in the FE--I was just inquiring and then did say if it was possible only for my DD.
Also, this is not fair--"its so off base"----I'm telling you exactly how not having things here on the disboards anymore affects not only me but many others that you may not know about or those who haven't spoken out about it---there are many posts of others who feel this same way.
Facebook is maybe a great option for some but not everyone feels safe with it and for good reason. I won't go into it here but I have very good personal first hand experience reasons for facebook NOT being safe---trust me if you had it happen to you, you would feel the exact same way--there is NO such thing as privacy on facebook or privacy in a closed group---its just what the world wants everyone to believe
---there are many ways and things that can happen to shatter that assumption trust me. I have no problems with respecting the fact that you have chosen to use it --if it's working for you great but I was just trying to get across that there are many people like me that are left out and its' too bad because this is the first cruise where we have'nt been able to get the info like we were used to on all of our past cruises.
You asked me just how much conversation I was expecting in the last few weeks before the cruise?-- but that is what I had come to expect from a disboard meet thread on all of our other cruises

---this is the first meet ever where no one talked much here---so how could I assume it would be any different?--there are other meet threads close to their cruises right now that are talking on the disboards so I'm confused as to why anyone would question the amount of talking here--I thought a cruise meet thread was for that intended purpose and have never encountered communicating elsewhere or having it moved to facebook--hence why I brought up that maybe some or many are being left out.
There really are no hard feelings---Lets just say its cleared up now.As I said I respect your decision to communicate that way but wont' do it after what I have been through and experienced.
A thank you to those who have offered to include our DD but I don't want anyone else to think we are asking for that so just disregard my original post and we will all enjoy and look forward to this cruise that is coming up sooo fast!! Time to get packing!!