People Never cease to AMAZE me. Stay safe.

[Bear3412]

And some wonder why activity on any/some/all cruise meet sites is dwindling.

We got involved for our first three sailings.

First one good.

Second one mildly out of control, but good, and the best I suppose. fwiw

Third one proved, ... we were done.

It became more encompassing each sail. So we discontinued participation in anything aboard involving Dismeet, social media, FE, etc.

We now try to sail anonymously as possible.

Now, perhaps that is normal progression. More you sail, the more you refrain your participation.
Makes sense.

We sit back and observe now. I must say, it is entertaining, even on the Fantasy.
It's my new entertainment / on-board excursion, when bored.
Watch the obsessed try to make their daily activities planned prior to boarding, outside DCL's regular schedule. (which of course varies slightly each sailing)

Once aboard (Fantasy) we have always felt comfortable with all the pax and characters aboard.
As long as they were not part of the pre-planning process.

Safe Sail and Seas to All

Bear

 

[JW9DVC]

This was an amazing cruise. The first for our two young boys 5-8 at the time. We met a man and his wife that were on the 72 that's seventy two cruises! They just finished the 75 voyage all on the Disney Ships!

That alone is memorable. Mr. and Mrs Sayman were very generous with time and very welcoming.

 

[Bear3412]

... They just finished the 75 voyage all on the Disney Ships ....

That is incredible and noteworthy. But, ...
Did you ask them if they participated in the FB FE or the Disboard FE?

Seriously though,

Thanks for sharing.



Sail enough and you run into these folks who apparently sail for a living.
We have had a similar couple , .. 70 ... 80 ... 90 ? ? ?
Oh my.

Can you imagine how well they know CC, STT, NAS, SXM, etc.

 

[JW9DVC]

That is incredible and noteworthy. But, ...
Did you ask them if they participated in the FB FE or the Disboard FE?

Seriously though,

Thanks for sharing.



Sail enough and you run into these folks who apparently sail for a living.
We have had a similar couple , .. 70 ... 80 ... 90 ? ? ?
Oh my.

Can you imagine how well they know CC, STT, NAS, SXM, etc.

They ended up joining on the FB groups, our cruise had two. One was a DIS boards and ended up being organized through FB and another was just a FB and cruise meet one. He ended up leaving the one that I was booted from because he posted something about minimum wage and was told he couldn't post it. Then when people asked why he left. I told them because people didn't like it. Lol. What can I say. I'm a troublemaker.

Needless to say. It was neat meeting them and they seem to know and have many friends on the ships themselves. As I understand it. He retired from Wdw from transportation. Just awesome people though.

 

[Bear3412]

They ended up joining on the FB groups,...

.... It was neat meeting them and they seem to know and have many friends on the ships themselves. ...
..... Just awesome people though.....

That is awesome.
My post was rhetorical, I thought.
Great to be proven wrong.

My bad. I'm crawling under a rock now. Hear it?

Wow.



ETA; Karma sucks; I have ants crawling all over my screen now.
LOL

 

[LivingforDisney]

I saw once on another disney site a woman's story about how her friend was dying and she wanted to take her to Disney but couldn't afford the ticket price. Multiple people said they would said her Disney gift cards so she could buy herself and friend tickets.
I was shaking my head saying no!
She said she would come back on line to let them all know about their trip, I never saw her write anything!

 

[Bear3412]

.... I never saw her write anything!

Nooo! Really! How shocking.

That was attempted sarcasm, btw.
Well, sort of.

 

[disneyholic family]

In April of 2016 myself and my family were going on a Disney Cruise aboard the fantasy. We joined the Fish Extender group here on the DIS. We found out that they also had a cruise fan page setup on Facebook. It was great, until we had the one.

This one person went on and joined every group possible on Facebook. She was always asking questions and if she didn't get the answer she was looking for, would re ask the question in mostly the same way. She was supposedly traveling alone and according to her leaving a sick mother at home.

About 2 weeks before our April 30th cruise, she advised everyone that her mother had passed. We all said our sympathies and moved on from the situation. She had become friends with many people who believed what I was beginning to think was all made up and an attention seeker. She wanted to have a celebration of life for her mother passing during the cruise meet up. Have a cake and all. Since we all deal with these situations I suggested that she maybe had it during another time with her closer friends.

I was called heartless because of this, was removed from the group and called a debbie downer. My wife was also removed and what we thought would be great people, turned out weren't so nice. We had met with a few and still remain friends, just many took this womans side.

Well, long story short, I was right. This woman faked her mothers death and situation in genera, attempted to get credit card information from these new friends and should honestly seek some sort of medical treatment in my belief. it was reported later right after the cruise that she had ruined some of her new close friends birthday celebration at Palo. She was invited and or pushed herself into the mix. Screen names can change, so if anyone needs that info, PM ME.


Long story short, be mindful of the information you share with your new friends, this person was able to get over 50 people to believe her lies and in some ways, ruined what should have been a magical time for many.

JW

so sorry you encountered this....i'm not at all surprised though...
social media makes it so much easier for this sort of thing to happen..
i hope you were still able to enjoy your cruise!!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I know this stuff happens frequently and while it is amazing that someone would be so dishonest, it is equally as remarkable that so many people absorb it and accept it as reality.

As someone who wouldn't want to have a memorial for my own family member with a bunch of strangers on a vacation, I cannot conjure up in my mind anyone who would want to do that. That would be more of a stop sign than a red flag to me. I would have been very happy to be kicked out of a group like that.

 

[Bree]

These scammers have always been around since the dawn of time. They can just reach more people now because of the interwebz.

The worst scam I have ever been witness to was from the ADMIN of my birth board on BabyCenter. She claimed that her son had passed away due to SIDS. It turned out that she had never even been pregnant and all the pregnancy, labor & delivery and baby photos she had posted were of some random family she stole from another site. So many people sent money to help with the funeral expenses. Another member uncovered everything because something seemed off to her. She got in touch with the husband who had no idea what she had been up to. It was an awful situation and has really hardened me to believe any sad story I read on the web.

 

[redsonja76]

btw, is the timing of this thread and some other thread just a coincidence?

I hope you're not referring to my thread about my dad passing and wanting to make my mom's first cruise magical. I was only looking for ideas

 

[hanscarlet]

Wow there was a moon person on BBC (babycenter community) back in 2007 that was psycho, she used to post really crazy stuff... I think we even were able to figure her out who she is in real life... that would be wild if they were the same person

 

[hanscarlet]

These scammers have always been around since the dawn of time. They can just reach more people now because of the interwebz.

The worst scam I have ever been witness to was from the ADMIN of my birth board on BabyCenter. She claimed that her son had passed away due to SIDS. It turned out that she had never even been pregnant and all the pregnancy, labor & delivery and baby photos she had posted were of some random family she stole from another site. So many people sent money to help with the funeral expenses. Another member uncovered everything because something seemed off to her. She got in touch with the husband who had no idea what she had been up to. It was an awful situation and has really hardened me to believe any sad story I read on the web.

Yep there were a lot on BBC... we had one in my birthclub of a girl who raised $$ for March of Dimes and we discovered she never gave MOD al the money she was collecting.... it was a huge scandal, EvaJ and MOD donations lol

 

[hrhdhd]

That people make stuff up on the internet is not a surprise. That people post so much intimate detail about themselves that IS true is what makes me scratch my head.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Nooo! Really! How shocking.

That was attempted sarcasm, btw.
Well, sort of.

Attempt succeeded, well done!

 

[DCLDVC1]

...........

Now, perhaps that is normal progression. More you sail, the more you refrain your participation.
Makes sense.

We sit back and observe now. I must say, it is entertaining, even on the Fantasy.
It's my new entertainment / on-board excursion, when bored.
Watch the obsessed try to make their daily activities planned prior to boarding, outside DCL's regular schedule. (which of course varies slightly each sailing)

When we first started cruising, the cruise groups seemed to be a lot more laid back. Now it's all about planning every last detail (FE, Mixology, ornament exchange, recipe exchange, group Palo Brunch, group pictures, group tshirts, etc). I feel for the first time cruisers who become overwhelmed with some of it.

 

[phinz]

Our November cruise group is not that way. No overplanning at all. It's refreshing.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

When we first started cruising, the cruise groups seemed to be a lot more laid back. Now it's all about planning every last detail (FE, Mixology, ornament exchange, recipe exchange, group Palo Brunch, group pictures, group tshirts, etc). I feel for the first time cruisers who become overwhelmed with some of it.

I agree. I didn't know anything about DISboards (or any other cruise boards) before our first cruse. And I'm SOOOOOOO glad. As much of a planner as I am, I would have been a basket case with trying to fit in "everything" you're supposed to do.

We booked that cruise, did some research on the DCL site, and read a little about cruising. And went with that. We had a great cruise without Fish Extenders, mixology, ornaments, pajama parties, cabin/bar crawls, etc., etc., etc.

Subsequent cruises (after discovering DISboards) we did participate in a few things that our group planned, but certainly not everything. After 3 full participations in FE groups, I've settle down to just pixie dusting those FEs of kids. And not hanging up one of our own.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I agree. I didn't know anything about DISboards (or any other cruise boards) before our first cruse. And I'm SOOOOOOO glad. As much of a planner as I am, I would have been a basket case with trying to fit in "everything" you're supposed to do.

We booked that cruise, did some research on the DCL site, and read a little about cruising. And went with that. We had a great cruise without Fish Extenders, mixology, ornaments, pajama parties, cabin/bar crawls, etc., etc., etc.

Subsequent cruises (after discovering DISboards) we did participate in a few things that our group planned, but certainly not everything. After 3 full participations in FE groups, I've settle down to just pixie dusting those FEs of kids. And not hanging up one of our own.

I agree as well. Our first 2 cruises were without knowledge of Disboards and Cruise Critic and we had a great time. I see people rushing around like crazy and just cringe but realize we all do things differently. People think I'm crazy for spending thousands for a cruise to lay around and relax, but that's how I roll. I unplug from my phone and the outside world and just do nothing, it's heaven!!!

 

[GrannyDee]

Well. I'm going to swim against the stream.

I love planning. Everything. I used to plan my kids' birthdays in 15-minute increments with optional collapse points.

Vacations are always on a spreadsheet, cruise or otherwise. I love knowing all my options and groups like Disboards. Once we're on holidays, I'm flexible, but I think planning is half the fun. I'm sure I'd drive some people crazy, but thankfully my family is fine with it. In fact, my daughter is the same way. We spend many evenings connecting online or in person making vacation plans.