People Never cease to AMAZE me. Stay safe.

[Maddysdaddy]

This makes me think of my wife, who is so goodhearted and trusting that she sometimes doesn't think about the repercussions of her social media postings.

She and my daughter are on a road trip for a couple of weeks, and she's posting on a very popular photo sharing website from the trip. She has an open account that anyone can look at, so I find myself posting comments to her photos to the effect of "Have a great trip. I'll be at home manning the fort and working on the yard, etc."

I don't want to spoil the fun she's having posting fun photos, but part of me really wants to tell her that her posts are a flashing neon sign for criminals advertising that there's no one at home.

 

[kmix78]

We had a situation a few years ago where a person went so far as to create multiple aliases on the Dis and FB and signed them all up posing as different cruisers with phony bios etc. This person then proceeded to use their multiple identities to generate fake conversations among themselves which gave the false impression they had garnered support in their efforts to control the cruise meet threads, the FE's and to get a few people banned or ostracized from the group.

That is insane!!! Wow. People have too much time on their hands.

 

[poison ivy]

That is insane!!! Wow. People have too much time on their hands.

I wish it were that simple. Our poster seemed to thrive in the social media environment. True, she did not appear to hold a full time job. But I don't believe it was boredom. I think it was a high from all the attention and control over the management and administration of a group of vacationers. She appeared to be quick, nimble and calculating without effort. So IMO utilizing multiple online identities was easy. We found a few instances where she was running cruise meets and FE's for cruises she pretended to be sailing on. Sometimes she'd be a single mother. Sometimes a husband and wife. Sometimes a guy. You name it.

We tend to hang on the DIS and truthfully have no desire to join FB. But she was everywhere so it didn't really matter.

 

[poison ivy]

This makes me think of my wife, who is so goodhearted and trusting that she sometimes doesn't think about the repercussions of her social media postings.

She and my daughter are on a road trip for a couple of weeks, and she's posting on a very popular photo sharing website from the trip. She has an open account that anyone can look at, so I find myself posting comments to her photos to the effect of "Have a great trip. I'll be at home manning the fort and working on the yard, etc."

I don't want to spoil the fun she's having posting fun photos, but part of me really wants to tell her that her posts are a flashing neon sign for criminals advertising that there's no one at home.

Not to scare you, but I'd be equally concerned someone was tracking their whereabouts on the road. Smartphones are not a friend.

 

[cmwade77]

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

Which is an example of why this board is so intent on the no posting links to Facebook groups rule.

 

[phinz]

Which is an example of why this board is so intent on the no posting links to Facebook groups rule.

I don't buy it. At all. It's about driving business toward their site/keeping viewers within their site. FB links are easy enough to find with a search. People got up in arms about their DIS groups losing members to FB so DIS "banned" the links (though they didn't catch all of them) to try and keep people from leaving. In exchange they got a virtual desert when it comes to group activity.

 

[professorandmom]

In exchange they got a virtual desert when it comes to group activity.

Not sure I agree it was the ban on facebook posts changed the climate completely...when I cruised in 2006, facebook cruise connections were non-existent...but our cruise meet on the boards was frosty (or a desert, if you prefer the analogy)...folks would not share cabin numbers and definitely not the first names and ages of their children...we tried a state-based gift exchange (small trinkets in a lunch bag, it was a pre-FE kinda-thing) but the promise of anonymity was required...even when we met on embarkation day, I still did not know the first names of many of the DISers - only their DIS board name

This time (December on the Fantasy), our cruise meet thread is successful because folks don't want to be on facebook and have their last names and other personal details revealed...

it's an interesting culture to navigate, I must say...

 

[Sytrace]

Out of 8 cruises so far, we have never done FE, not signed up for Mixology, Martini tastings etc. Although, I once tried to set up a Cognac tasting for the group but out of 156 views, not one person commented or responded. Evidently, Martini and Mixology is more of a draw. lol
I have attended two meet and greets and both times felt sort of silly and awkward. There was a definite forced friendliness happening out there in the room which made me uncomfortable. But I introduced myself to the organizers and thanked them for their efforts in planning. Then sat there thinking I should have not gone.
On the recent cruise there was a sub group for teens that was set up to encourage the kids to get to know each other a bit before sailing. I suggested that for this cruise and that idea was never really followed up on. Probably my fault for not being pushy.
Anyway, this time out we are still not doing FE's, I won't be attending the meet and greet and since mixology and martini tastings are not our thing, that is out too.

My husband and kids leave the phones at home and I bring mine but turn it off the minute we get to port and leave it in the safe in the cabin until we pull back into port on the last day.

I used to feel kind of bad about not participating in FE and being more socially active in groups, but at the end of the day, I am with my family to relax and be with them. I am not going to be running from cabin to cabin stressing about getting gifts delivered. And to force friendships with people that you "talk" to on the internet for a few months then never speak to again, makes no sense.

We met some great folks a couple of cruises ago when they sat next to us in Cabanas and then ran into them on a cruise the next year in line to check in at the terminal. That is fun and more my speed. We became FB friends AFTER that second cruise and we really like them. They will be on our upcoming cruise as well but it was not something that was planned...just happened to work out that way due to school schedules (theirs) and booking the same cruise.

Happy sailing everyone!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Out of 8 cruises so far, we have never done FE, not signed up for Mixology, Martini tastings etc. Although, I once tried to set up a Cognac tasting for the group but out of 156 views, not one person commented or responded. Evidently, Martini and Mixology is more of a draw. lol
I have attended two meet and greets and both times felt sort of silly and awkward. There was a definite forced friendliness happening out there in the room which made me uncomfortable. But I introduced myself to the organizers and thanked them for their efforts in planning. Then sat there thinking I should have not gone.
On the recent cruise there was a sub group for teens that was set up to encourage the kids to get to know each other a bit before sailing. I suggested that for this cruise and that idea was never really followed up on. Probably my fault for not being pushy.
Anyway, this time out we are still not doing FE's, I won't be attending the meet and greet and since mixology and martini tastings are not our thing, that is out too.

My husband and kids leave the phones at home and I bring mine but turn it off the minute we get to port and leave it in the safe in the cabin until we pull back into port on the last day.

I used to feel kind of bad about not participating in FE and being more socially active in groups, but at the end of the day, I am with my family to relax and be with them. I am not going to be running from cabin to cabin stressing about getting gifts delivered. And to force friendships with people that you "talk" to on the internet for a few months then never speak to again, makes no sense.

We met some great folks a couple of cruises ago when they sat next to us in Cabanas and then ran into them on a cruise the next year in line to check in at the terminal. That is fun and more my speed. We became FB friends AFTER that second cruise and we really like them. They will be on our upcoming cruise as well but it was not something that was planned...just happened to work out that way due to school schedules (theirs) and booking the same cruise.

Happy sailing everyone!

This is totally me. I love being a part of the group leading up to the cruise because it's really exciting to read about the planning going on. This is especially true when I'm having a bad day at work and need to escape momentarily. But at the cruise meet I feel terribly awkward and quite annoyed at the group members who are the loudest and constantly need the attention from others.

 

[Chemist]

This is totally me. I love being a part of the group leading up to the cruise because it's really exciting to read about the planning going on. This is especially true when I'm having a bad day at work and need to escape momentarily. But at the cruise meet I feel terribly awkward and quite annoyed at the group members who are the loudest and constantly need the attention from others.

I totally agree.
I enjoyed the planning and tips on Facebook.

My KIDS loved Fish Extenders. We signed up to do it for them and they loved it.

But get togethers with a bunch of random people that happened to be on Facebook together to go make small-talk? Really not my thing.

We enjoyed meeting people on the ship, don't get me wrong. But I don't need to go out of my way to meet-up with a bunch of strangers.

 

[Amunet]

Last year I was running the FE for our cruise. I eventually had someone help while having to deal with my mother in law passing and some health issues.
I made this known to the group only so they knew why I wasn't the one updating the list.
In fact, a family participating was kind enough to host the master list onboard.

Once on the cruise, I had a lot of support and thank yous. But what really blew my mind is a family giving us a $50 Disney gift card as a thank you and to show condolences.
I only found out how much by taking to guest services (we thought it would be $15 or $25 at the most).

I had no idea people use sob stories to gain anything. That's sad.

Like others have mentioned, I enjoy the laid back groups. Having been FE leader the past two cruises (and hopefully didn't make it stressful to others), it's nice to just participate in our upcoming one

 

[AquaDame]

I don't buy it. At all. It's about driving business toward their site/keeping viewers within their site. FB links are easy enough to find with a search. People got up in arms about their DIS groups losing members to FB so DIS "banned" the links (though they didn't catch all of them) to try and keep people from leaving. In exchange they got a virtual desert when it comes to group activity.

What is this, Pokemon? Not trying to "catch them all" - we don't care about traffic on FB/ other social media, to each their own, we just mind people joining FEs here that then get driven over to FB either leaving people in the lurch, or else posting their info there without explicit consent when they merge them. Frequently it will be a new poster with only a couple posts who are driving it too, gee I wonder why. I wasn't around when links were banned - I came along after - so I can't comment on how active individual meets were before Facebook, but I agree it seems like many cruises are quiet. Not to put down the DIS but... Facebook does have a wee bit more members who are aware of it than here. Regardless, there is still enough activity here that the Cruise Meet Board isn't going to close up for lack of interest or anything.

 

[wcw57]

i remember, not so long ago, it got quite heated here when thesitewhichmustnotbementioned was effectively banned from DIS. Sorta nasty....
and, undoubtedly, the meets and FE threads have become a rarity instead of the rule here

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I wasn't around when links were banned - I came along after - so I can't comment on how active individual meets were before Facebook, but I agree it seems like many cruises are quiet

I was around before the big drive to FB. Cruise Meet threads were quite large and active. Then someone found that using FB to do the "mundane" how's your life going; we just moved to Idaho; personal talk was much easier. But left all the cruise discussions (group meets; FEs; excursions; whatever) were still only done on the DIS meet thread.

Then people started just saying "come on over to FB, the FE is there" and like comments without any discussions being done on the DIS. It seemed that they didn't understand that DIS and FB were two different entities and thought it was all the same place/group. Like there could only be one FE group.

I've been on two different cruise boards for the same cruise. Each had their own FE group. Some of us were in both, most were only in one or the other. No reason that FB and DIS can't have their own separate groups.

I kinda like the smaller groups now on DISboards. One of our first FE groups had over 100 rooms in it and the group itself was quite large.

And, just for the record, FB is banned on other sites, also.

 

[phinz]

I seriously doubt people on "other sites" (The really big one that doesn't necessarily "ban" but does modify URLs with asterisks so that you have to copy the URL and then alter the main site portion of the URL comes to mind.) read peoples' PMs under admin authority and give them demerits/scoldings/suspensions/etc. for mentioning other places, like happened during the initial kerfuffle here. That's where a lot of the bitterness started. That and the holier-than-thou attitude of some of the anti-FBers were pretty much the last straw for some, as witnessed in commentary on that BSM site at the time.