Nov,20th, 2011 Mexico

[mug318ca]

As one who is a noobee with FE's, can someone give me a brief explanation on what happens and potentially what will be expected of my party?

 

[been2marceline]

As one who is a noobee with FE's, can someone give me a brief explanation on what happens and potentially what will be expected of my party?

Forgive me for going into too much detail - but this thread needs some content...

The FE works as follows;

One goes nuts at your local craft store, buy a couple of yards of different fabric, a couple of pounds of beads, sequins, sea shells. green army men, plastic Disney characters ( wait they're ll plastic = sorry Mickey ) and four gallons of glue.

You then create from your previously acquired "treasures", a smallish pocket, string of pockets, purse, satchel or otherwise named container from 10% of the acquired supplies to hang from your "fish", which is DCLs equivalent of your normal Home Depot black steel mailbox ( sorry you Aussies - they call'em Pillar Boxes ) and hope to garner small gifts provided by other FE participants. which while fun and entertaining - never provide enough ( in the case of food based FE gifts protein and calories to allow one to for go those trips to the Galley) or (adult themed gifts - which are always stolen "borrowed" airline bottles of liquor) to prevent shopping trips to deck 3/5 to satisfy ones souvenir addictions....


It.s a lot of fun ( seeing that the Mrs & DD handle it ) .... except for the hot glue gun burns - and hopefully those will be healed before getting in the Goofy pool - else a gift certificate to the Medical center may may be a better FE gift

As far as my FE gifts - I will be upfront and tell you now what the best drink and bartender and place to drink on Castaway Key is and how many times they replay the same Jimmy Buffett tune - shoot - this s a Mexico trip - scratch that - the best place to get ceviche in Cabo is. (Hoteles Solmar). its a terrible burden, but someone has to do it.

There - I've doubled the number of meaningless/ambiguous/random items/statements/falsehoods/iotas of information this thread.

Your turn!

 

[been2marceline]

As one who is a noobee with FE's, can someone give me a brief explanation on what happens and potentially what will be expected of my party?

Actually - we all buy some small gifts and distribute them to each other by placing them in the FEs outside the cabins - it's not meant to be any big deal - but just fun!

The gifts can be anything ( think Halloween ) bit not too overboard - we all strive for uniqueness though... think funny / odd ( sticky frogs, candy bars, glitter combs, small animals (kidding) .....)

 

[mug318ca]

So is this distribution a one day/night distribution, every day/night, or up to you?

 

[been2marceline]

I think its been daily on the times we've done it - but we can all agree on what days we want to do.

Obviously embarkation & debarkation days are out - as there isn't enough time as it is ....

 

[Wests4Disney]

I know Mazatlan was canceled earlier this year for this cruise, does that raise any concerns for you as to what you will do if we do stop in Mazatlan? Will you still do excursions? Do you worry for your safety in cruise ports?

 

[mug318ca]

I wasn't aware of the trouble in Mazatlan until Disney cancelled their stop there. I feel that if it is safe enough for them to resume stopping there it is probably ok for me to do some excursions there too. I believe, however, if Mazatlan returns to the DCL itinerary, our cruise will will not be the first one stopping there.

On a more upbeat note... has anyone been on a DCL cruise during Thanksgiving?

 

[been2marceline]

The main reason that Mazatlan got canceled is that the Mexican state of Sinaloa is the home to one of the drug cartels causing all of the issues at the border.

Whether or not they have any dealings in Mazatlan ????

I personally wouldn't worry - the violence is the cartels shooting each other up - they have no interest in gringo tourists in the hotel districts / commercialized beach areas.

On the other hand - we're not really missing much if the ship doesn't stop there.

There is not a lot going on in the day time, it comes alive from midnight on.

Personally, I would rather that they spend the night in PV or Cabo so that more time could be had there. Lots of fun in Cabo day or night!

I've spent time at both DL & WDW over Thanksgiving - I've done New Years on DCL - but never spent Turkey day on board...
.

 

[mug318ca]

Found this posting discussing the cruise over Thanksgiving week. www dot disboards dot com/showthread.php?t=2697392

 

[Wests4Disney]

We have not done a DCL, but did a RCCL. We are looking forward to lobster and delicious food that we never afford at home.

 

[been2marceline]

Found this posting discussing the cruise over Thanksgiving week. www dot disboards dot com/showthread.php?t=2697392

Pretty sure we can use the normal URL as long as it's the disboards - let test!

www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2697392

 

[been2marceline]

Looks pretty good, don't they usually let you keep the menu?

 

[mug318ca]

I don't have enough posts to post URL's.

 

[been2marceline]

I don't have enough posts to post URL's.

Keep posting!

 

[MikeAndNick]

We just changed our sailing from December to Thanksgiving so my 14 year old son can bring a friend. He close friends parents will not let them miss school.

So here we come, Me my 14 (almost 15) year old son and one of his friends (TBD).

Now to catch up on the 3 pages of posts...

 

[MikeAndNick]

We are finished sewing our fish extenders and decorating them. We got our paper confirmations last week, with our room numbers on them. It is beginning to feel like it is not as far away, even though it is still 1 year and 1/2 away. I can't wait until Disney gets the excursions ready online. I want to find out what is going to be available through DCL.

I also made our tip envelopes and got them ready too. I want to do as much planning as possible before the baby comes, because I remember they take up a lot of time and planning will probably take a backseat once our little one arrives. 22 weeks...only 18 weeks left (he is due in Nov.)

What is a fish extenders? I did not know the fish in Mexico were handicapped.

 

[MikeAndNick]

Has anyone been on a Mexico cruise? Are the excursion mostly beach and sea life based (i.e. dolphins, sting ray, laying out at the beach) or do they also have some type of in land adventure (going into town, shopping, touring, etc.). We are interested in hanging out at beaches but also seeing the sights.

I have not done Disney Mexico but we have done it on three other cruise lines. There is every kind of excursion you can amagine. After the first cruise I have been booking our excursions online outside the cruise line. Our three favorite excursions:

#1. Dolphins in the wild in Puerto Vallarta, this is swimming with dolphins in the ocean with a marine biologist. The company was Wildlife Connection.

#2. ATV riding in Cabo San Lucas. We rode the ATVs through small hills to the beach. Then we had a couple of hours to ride in the dunes and up a large hill along side the beach. The guides were very friendly and helpfull. The company was cabo san lucas tours.

#3. Zipplining in Puerto Vallarta. The kids loved it and the tour company dropped us in a good shopping area when we were done. The company was PUERTO VALLARTA TOURS.

Note: The times change in each port. Make sure you know the local and ship time. Some of the ships do not change time and others do. Here is what I have been told.
"IMPORTANT" PLEASE CHECK THE LOCAL TIME OF VALLARTA BECAUSE DURING YOUR
CRUISE YOU VISIT DIFFERENT PORTS AND THERE WILL BE TIME CHANGES. VALLARTA
HAS CENTRAL TIME. DON’T TRUST THE TIME THAT THEY TELL YOU ONBOARD BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHY ALWAYS ON CRUISE SHIPS THEY TELL PASSENGERS WRONG LOCAL TIME AND CRUISE PASSENGERS ARE ALWAYS LATE OR LOOSING THEIR LAND TOURS, SO BETTER AS FAST AS THE SHIP DOCKS GET OFF. HERE IS A GUIDE FOR THE TIME

Reference:
* LA, and San Diego (ports from which you might depart) are at east time that means
2hrs less than central time " so Vallarta is 2 hrs ahead from LA and S.Diego"
*Los Cabos and Mazatlan (ports that probably you visit first) are at Pacific time that means
1hr less than Central time so Vallarta is 1 hr ahead from los Cabos and Mazatlan.

 

[Chicogirl]

There needs to be a correction..
Chicogirl only has 4 in her group that is doing the FE exchange
The SIL,BIL, niece, FIL, and MIl are not doing the FE. So for chicogirl there should only be Chicogirl-36, husband -40, 2 daughter age 12, and 9


ChicoGirl
MIL
FIL
DW
DH
2DD (12,9)
SIL
SIL Husband
SIL Daughter

Wests4Disney
(3 rooms)
DW 37
DH 40
2DS (15, 13 months)
DD 12
BIL 37
SIL 34
2DS (8, 18)
DD 3

Marukochan
DW
DH
2DS(9,4)

been2marceline
DH 53
DW 50
DD 16

mug318ca
(2 rooms)
DW
DH
DS 26
DD 31
DGS 10

 

[Chicogirl]

I just want to make sure I have the correct number...We have 28 people total, right. Please let me know if this is right...Thanks

 

[mug318ca]

My count is 26. But I'm old and decrepit.

Let's see, ChicoGirl(4), Wests4Disney(10) [BTW, my last name is West], marukochan(4), been2marceline(3), and me(5) = 26.