The History of Fish Extender Exchanges

[I_love_Cruising]

Agreed. But it should also be known that FE groups on other sites are NOT DISboards FE groups.

I've seen lots of instances where someone has started a Cruise Meet thread here on DISboards and then, immediately, someone will post on it says "come on over to XXXXX where the FE is". Not true. A FE is on some other site, but the DISboards FE will be on DISboards.

That's all true. I never said the DISboards shouldn't do FE. The more the better.

But there are many cruises where nothing is organised on the DIS and then you have one or two person asking about FE and they will miss out on the Other FE because nobody is allowed to point them to that information. I suppose they could start organising an FE themselves, but they rarely do.

All I'm saying is that this forced exclusivity bothers me. Why not let people choose where they want to participate. Some will choose the Dis some will choose the Other one, some could do both. I would do both, because I just love FE.

Give people as much information as possible and then let them choose for themselves what they want.

 

[TestingH2O]

But there are many cruises where nothing is organised on the DIS and then you have one or two person asking about FE and they will miss out on the Other FE because nobody is allowed to point them to that information. I suppose they could start organising an FE themselves, but they rarely do.

Now that there is a DCL Fan FB page, it would be great if they kept a listing of FB cruise groups. Then we could refer people from here to the FB presence. That would increase the visibility of the DCL Fan FB page, and also make it less likely that people would be left out.

 

[DisLiss]

So true. There have been a number of those complaint threads.

What's worse is when there is a spending cap on a group, but a few people either ignore it or find loopholes...like, oh, I found these $20 items on clearance for $5.00 each! Or, I know these sell in stores for $10, but I made mine for $2.00. Or, my husband's brother works for this company, so we got free samples.

In thought, those are perfectly fine. People were (mostly) just trying to be nice. But if you loophole your way into giving items with a value of $50 in a $20 limit group, then the folks without those deals/abilities/"in"s feel bad when they actually have to go out and buy $20 worth of items at retail prices, and they feel even worse when someone complains about it. And people definitely do. Which is so unfortunate since the spending limit was supposed to prevent that problem in the first place.

The groups also started getting incredibly in depth in some cases, with people being asked for people's favorite colors, foods, interests, dislikes, allergies, etc. It started to sound like a complicated family Christmas shopping list, LOL!

I did love the idea when they were token gifts, especially when they had something to do with the giver, rather than the receiver. Like mentioned above, postcards, regional items, touristy magnets from a person's hometown. Those items were small, easy to pack, and easy to find a place for when you got home. Many of them could be showcased or stored along with your cruise photos.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and they will miss out on the Other FE because nobody is allowed to point them to that information.

I'm on other forums that have the same rule - no re-directing people to other sites. It's not a DISboards thing. In fact, DISboards didn't institute it until there was a mass gutting of the Cruise Meet threads here not too long ago.

If people are looking for groups to participate with, then they have to do their own searches, not be "helped" away from the site by others sending them away.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

I don’t think this site generates enough traffic to sustain its own groups- looking at our next cruise has a thread with 6 replies all several months old bs my ‘book group with 350 people and dozens of conversations.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don’t think this site generates enough traffic to sustain its own groups-

Oh, I think it does. It did for years. And there are still lots of people who show up here to ask questions. No reason it couldn't be as active, if people are willing to participate.

 

[SamFaniam]

This is why I stopped participating. It was so fun back when it was on the DIS. Then social media got ahold of it and it became a competition. So the last 2 sailings we went on, I just hung our FE, filled it myself for my kiddos, and had my kiddos pixie dust other FEs around the ship.

We stopped participating also. The last cruise that I did an FE was several years ago. As always, I made some magnets and a themed music CD. I always took pride to make things look really nice, but there was absolutely more time involved than money. On that cruise, I have to say that I was embarrassed by some of the gifts that we received because they were so costly. I did worry a little bit that the people in our group that received my gifts might’ve thought them not worthwhile. So, that was our last time.

I do miss the old days. Once I received a PM from someone that had been in a cruise meet group asking if I would send another copy of the CD that I had made. They had played it so much it had worn out!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Once I received a PM from someone that had been in a cruise meet group asking if I would send another copy of the CD that I had made. They had played it so much it had worn out!

That's pretty cool.

 

[TestingH2O]

a themed music CD

We got a mix CD once. One of the best gifts ever.

 

[monkeydawn]

But there are many cruises where nothing is organised on the DIS and then you have one or two person asking about FE and they will miss out on the Other FE because nobody is allowed to point them to that information. I suppose they could start organising an FE themselves, but they rarely do.

I get where you are coming from. I'd guess it's usually first time cruisers that miss out and since there is plenty of magic to be had on your first DCL, its hard to feel too bad plus it gives the perfect excuse to cruise again. LOL

Put me in the camp that enjoys the crafted items or items that have to do with the giver best.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I get where you are coming from. I'd guess it's usually first time cruisers that miss out and since there is plenty of magic to be had on your first DCL, its hard to feel too bad plus it gives the perfect excuse to cruise again. LOL

Put me in the camp that enjoys the crafted items or items that have to do with the giver best.

I have been asked several times while on the ship as I enter/exit my room how to get involved in the toy pockets or gift sign-ups. With wide eyed children just hoping for good news from me.
My first cruise 2010, I was initially denied I was so disappointed three months in advance on DISboards. Later because of so many other late comers, they made a late group for us. Disney MAGIC!
I was initially devastated, as I knew that was my once in a lifetime cruise. (Then my parents booked a cruise at my begging request 5 years later) Now I book once a year and tell my husband to pound salt!(He hated the cruise!?!?!)
I wish they would not close too soon.
Now the next cruise problem is what if my personalized FE gifts are waisted on a cruise that didn’t sail! Wrong name, wrong date, wrong ship,…ugh.

 

[tvguy]

But like so much which started on Disboards, other travel agents and groups take the ideas and use them

Yup, the Internet has grown in the 18 years I have been a lurker and a member of the DIS. Competition has dramatically dropped traffic here. Back when I was planning my DCL cruise in 2002 I found this board as a link off Dave's Disney Cruise Line Tribute page. I thought the DIS was a sub-board of Dave's page, it was months before I figured out it was an independent board.

 

[DCLDVC1]

Yup, the Internet has grown in the 18 years I have been a lurker and a member of the DIS. Competition has dramatically dropped traffic here. Back when I was planning my DCL cruise in 2002 I found this board as a link off Dave's Disney Cruise Line Tribute page. I though the DIS was a sub-board of Dave's page, it was months before I figured out it was an independent board.

It really has. There wasn't even a cruise group on Disboards for my last cruise but the group on the site that can't be named had over 500.

 

[Snowwhyt]

It really has. There wasn't even a cruise group on Disboards for my last cruise but the group on the site that can't be named had over 500.

And it has a much better format to answer questions. And So Knowledgeable!! I came to you guys needing help at midnight in 2016. This board made the difference between my sailing a few days later and the reason the airlines got me my passports back. I worked through every single recommendation (and there were several) And although I can’t be sure which one of those suggestions was how I got them back. They told me they saw a note mentioning the lost folder with passports inside and they knew they had the right folder and who to call brood that note.
And it’s the unpaid people like you all that have saved at least 3 vacations I seem to mess up one way or another. The euphoria each time I step on that ship... there’s always a little bit more because y’all saved my butt one more time!

 

[MrsNFB]

Honestly, the format for the FB groups is so much more user friendly plus most people are already on it so it's not another thing to join. Besides the usual board where we can add topics to each post so it's easy to weed out information, my FB group that I run (I am NOT a travel agent, I hate the cruise FB groups run by travel agents because there are so many rules and only posts from their blogs or whatnot) we also created "events" for every exchange or activity so it's easier to chat about specific topics (FE, kids pen pals, magnet exchange, ornament exchange, onboard get-together, hotel group rate, etc) - it's awesome. I always check my cruise group on DIS but there are 2 people in my cruise group (including me!) on DISboards - on FB, there are 150 for next August. Sorry to say, I don't think you'll get back to the "good ole days" with exchanges on this board unless there are major structural changes to make it more user friendly.

And the suggestion of manually collecting information and inputting into an Excel sheet when a Google Form automates data entry is antiquated. There is no requirement to collect email addresses on a Google Form so not sure why that is an issue (it is distributed via a link, not emailing anyone).

*Edit to add* I send people to DISboards all the time from our FB group. It's not run by a travel agent so we don't limit resources to help each other.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I was around for the original but will no longer participate off the DIS. It's a crazy world out there for FE's and I don't like it one bit. Too many greedy and competitive people. The days when it was simple and anonymous were fun. Fun isn't the word for it anymore.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Yup, the Internet has grown in the 18 years I have been a lurker and a member of the DIS. Competition has dramatically dropped traffic here. Back when I was planning my DCL cruise in 2002 I found this board as a link off Dave's Disney Cruise Line Tribute page. I thought the DIS was a sub-board of Dave's page, it was months before I figured out it was an independent board.

I remember Dave's page. I forgot all about it.

 

[JM23457]

I was around for the original but will no longer participate off the DIS. It's a crazy world out there for FE's and I don't like it one bit. Too many greedy and competitive people. The days when it was simple and anonymous were fun. Fun isn't the word for it anymore.

We always have fun with our FEs. I'm sorry you haven't, but there are still perfectly nice, low-key & fun groups out there for people to join.

 

[TXDCLfan]

That's all true. I never said the DISboards shouldn't do FE. The more the better.

But there are many cruises where nothing is organised on the DIS and then you have one or two person asking about FE and they will miss out on the Other FE because nobody is allowed to point them to that information. I suppose they could start organising an FE themselves, but they rarely do.

All I'm saying is that this forced exclusivity bothers me. Why not let people choose where they want to participate. Some will choose the Dis some will choose the Other one, some could do both. I would do both, because I just love FE.

Give people as much information as possible and then let them choose for themselves what they want.

exactly

 

[disneylove69]

All FE groups I've participated in had no monetary requisite. Personally, I prefer the gifts that don't really cost a lot - postcards from giver's local area (sometimes with local recipes on them). Homemade bookmarks (great pre-cruise project for kids). Small, sample sized chap stick. Bandaids.

Sadly, some FE groups have evolved into "I gave $XX in gifts and got a stupid (whatever) in return" mentality. Some groups also mandated that everyone had to put the giver's name on them, so they could check off a list of who received gifts and didn't give any in return.

I joined a FB group about FE. I was hoping for some ideas but quickly left. People would complain about homemade gifts or they spent $$ on personalized blankets and got dollar tree stuff. The Admin tells newbies they need to spend $$ and newbies get scared off. I have been lucky and never had a bad group and had everything from chapstick to handmade items. Love it all. I loved it when groups organized on disboards vs other platforms. I had one person who was a travel agent run the group and was not even on the cruise. I wanted my friend and I to each participate seperately as we font live together. I had to get firm because she didnt see the reason why and thought we should share. We each gave gifts.