Fantasy 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise 8/2/14 - 8/9/14

[Stacey6274]

Hello-
I just planned our trip for Aug 2nd. YEAH - this will be our 6th cruise, 2nd on the Fantasy. It's just me, Dh and DD (will be 11 at the time).

In the past 3 cruises, I have e-mailed some Mom's and then our daughters got to e-mailing and then hung out the whole time - we even requested dinner together and so far it is been great - the kids loved each other and played together in the clubs, dinner and beach and pool. And us adults hung out as well, club and movies. It was great. i saw the facebook link - I will join that as well - Great Idea. Hope to find new friends for us and mt daughter.

Thanks!!!

Stacey

 

[joycsk]

Hello-
I just planned our trip for Aug 2nd. YEAH - this will be our 6th cruise, 2nd on the Fantasy. It's just me, Dh and DD (will be 11 at the time).

In the past 3 cruises, I have e-mailed some Mom's and then our daughters got to e-mailing and then hung out the whole time - we even requested dinner together and so far it is been great - the kids loved each other and played together in the clubs, dinner and beach and pool. And us adults hung out as well, club and movies. It was great. i saw the facebook link - I will join that as well - Great Idea. Hope to find new friends for us and mt daughter.

Thanks!!!

Stacey

Hi. It sounds like Rockstarmom will have an 11 yo girl for you, and I'll have a 10.5 yo boy, if she doesn't think that boys have cooties. . .

 

[Stacey6274]

LOL - I did just send Rockstarmom a private - I think my DD - just passed the boys have cooties phase

Hi. It sounds like Rockstarmom will have an 11 yo girl for you, and I'll have a 10.5 yo boy, if she doesn't think that boys have cooties. . .

 

[Stacey6274]

Joycsk -
For the spreadsheet - make sure they put the sex of the kids - I've seen some names and spelling and couldn't figure out girl or boy....hope that helps

 

[AliceIn]

AliceIn just let me into the FB group and I found she's WAY ahead of me on the google doc! Yipee!

I'd love it if you could manage it. I'm a total newbie to the FE thing. Somebody else on the board created the doc, and I just linked it on FB so that we'd all work from the same one. I have no idea what works or even answers to the most basic questions.

Too funny about your DD's name. I so rarely meet another one spelled the same as me!

 

[AliceIn]

Hi. It sounds like Rockstarmom will have an 11 yo girl for you, and I'll have a 10.5 yo boy, if she doesn't think that boys have cooties. . .

It sounds like a lot of us will have kids in the same age ranges. Mine will be 10.5, 13.5 and turning 9 on the cruise.

 

[Rockstarmom68]

Hello-
I just planned our trip for Aug 2nd. YEAH - this will be our 6th cruise, 2nd on the Fantasy. It's just me, Dh and DD (will be 11 at the time).

In the past 3 cruises, I have e-mailed some Mom's and then our daughters got to e-mailing and then hung out the whole time - we even requested dinner together and so far it is been great - the kids loved each other and played together in the clubs, dinner and beach and pool. And us adults hung out as well, club and movies. It was great. i saw the facebook link - I will join that as well - Great Idea. Hope to find new friends for us and mt daughter.

Thanks!!!

Stacey

So glad to meet you Stacey. I have a DD that will be 11 just a couple weeks after the cruise. Would love to get them started as penpals!! We are about 45 miles NW of Philly so we aren't too far off from your area. Hope we can get the girls acquainted!!

Thanks!!
Rhonda

 

[Carable]

I can't say that I have much to add here, as I am a complete Disney Cruisin' newbie, but everything sounds great so far. I just wanted to say "hi" to everyone. I'm trying to figure out how many days I want to stay after in WDW after the cruise, I just can't be in Orlando and not see the Castle and play Toy Story Mania. BTW, my son will be 9 and my daughter will be 7 on the cruise.

 

[Rockstarmom68]

I can't say that I have much to add here, as I am a complete Disney Cruisin' newbie, but everything sounds great so far. I just wanted to say "hi" to everyone. I'm trying to figure out how many days I want to stay after in WDW after the cruise, I just can't be in Orlando and not see the Castle and play Toy Story Mania. BTW, my son will be 9 and my daughter will be 7 on the cruise.

Looks like we can be rookies together. I hear ya about getting your castle and Toy Story fix!! This will be the first time we have gone to FL and not gone to DisneyWorld. We were just there in July 2012 so at least it hasn't been too long!!

Looking forward to getting to know you. BTW...check out the Fish Extender exchange. It will be our first one but sounds like loads of fun. There is a spreadsheet to sign up and join on the first page of this thread if you are interested. My DDs ages 14 and 11 are already coming up with some fun crafty ideas!!

See ya real soon!!

 

[Rockstarmom68]

DW and I will be going all out for 2014 it will be 30 years of her putting up with me and I want to make this trip special. We honeymooned at WDW but all there was back then was MK and EPCOT. We will be taking the 7day cruise then 10 days at the Caribbean Beach Resort with dining plan.
The only problem is that my vacation can't be put in for until Jan, DW is a teacher so we have to go in the summer.

Congrats on being together 30 years!! My husband and I are celebrating our 20th this year!! We also honeymooned at WDW which was my very first trip ever!! The bug bit me and we have been going back ever since!! Can't wait until our time comes to have those nice long vacations like you are taking. Wishing you lots of fun!! Hope to bump into you on the cruise!!

 

[momtomattclare]

I will step up and take charge of creating the documents that organize Fish Extender group(s). (Someone may need to tell me how I can upload/link to documents.) Questions that I would like some feedback on: 1) Do we want to have a "maximum" number of cabins and then create separate groups? (Not that cabins could not be part of multiple groups!) 2) How much information do we want on cabin members? (Basics I'm thinking of: Names, ages for children, identification of "generation" (parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle sorts of status), - do we want to ask favorite colors or characters? 3) Will a basic spreadsheet with names, cabin numbers and basic info collected be sufficient for your planning purposes? I've participated in 3 FEs so far, (didn't know about FE or dis on our first cruise) But I've never managed one so far. 4) Would everyone who currently wishes to participate be able to access Google Docs? (That might be the easiest way to collect and gather information.) If you can think of anything I haven't, please let me know! P.S. AliceIN - My husband and I gave my DD 13, Your same spelling (of your actual name - per FB) Love it!

Thanks for taking the lead on this, Joy! I haven't signed up for this FE yet but am planning to do so. I do think it is a good idea to set a max number and then if necessary we can have multiple groups. The 2 that I've participated in have ended up having around 15-20 and that seemed manageable in terms of $$, transporting gifts, and time to deliver once on board. I've read about groups of 60+ and I admit I would have to bow out if we got to that point.

I agree that we need names, boy/girl as some names need clarification, cabin #. Favorite character can be fun too--my kids loved the homemade magnets they received with their names and pics of their favorite characters.

 

[joycsk]

Hi, All! For those new to Dis and DCL, a Fish Extender group is rather like a pollyanna/Secret Santa sort of affair. Members hang a bag/set of pockets/shoe holder sort of affair from the Fish clip outside their cabins. All who agree the volunteer to bring small gifts to exchange with the members of the group. Gifts can be hand made or purchased, for the cabin or the individuals in the cabin, edible or not, etc.

My thanks to AliceIn for finding the google doc for sign up purposes.
As FE admin, I'm requesting a majority approval on a set of ground rules.

For those who have already signed up, I just added a column to the google doc, requesting information if anyone in the cabin has a major allergy that the FE group should know about - Peanuts, for example. Since food/candy is a frequent FE gift, I wouldn't want us to mistakenly cause a problem.

Joe's and my suggestions/questions:

1) I have proposed a cut off date for early FE adopters of June 30. If new cruisers wish to join, we can start a second (or third) group for recent joiners.
2) Do we wish to set a group maximum? (I kinda do.) What number should that be, so that the group is manageable for most. Again, dis-ers are welcome to join more than one group.
3) Do we want to create a delivery schedule for group members? I have both had, and not had such a schedule and personally am open to anything.
Should we choose scheduled deliveries, I will accept requests before finalizing the schedule (if someone especially wants to deliver on Pirate night, etc.)

4) Other suggestions, ideas, questions??

Thanks!!

 

[joycsk]

Thanks for taking the lead on this, Joy! I haven't signed up for this FE yet but am planning to do so. I do think it is a good idea to set a max number and then if necessary we can have multiple groups. The 2 that I've participated in have ended up having around 15-20 and that seemed manageable in terms of $$, transporting gifts, and time to deliver once on board. I've read about groups of 60+ and I admit I would have to bow out if we got to that point.

I agree that we need names, boy/girl as some names need clarification, cabin #. Favorite character can be fun too--my kids loved the homemade magnets they received with their names and pics of their favorite characters.

So, we're off to a good start! So far, everyone who has edited the google doc has included DH, DW, DD, DS and ages. If we continue that trend, we should be good with respect to cruiser genders.

In addition to asking about allergies, I added a column next to each cruiser with Favorite color/character. That way, the information can be offered and used an individuals wish.

Keep the ideas coming!

 

[joycsk]

Did anything ever replace the LGMH as a Dis "call sign?" I'm only on the boards when we cruise, and I have no idea if there is a new, distinguishing sign that people are using to identify as dis-ers. . .

Thanks!

 

[AliceIn]

Did anything ever replace the LGMH as a Dis "call sign?" I'm only on the boards when we cruise, and I have no idea if there is a new, distinguishing sign that people are using to identify as dis-ers. . .

Thanks!

I don't think so. I have a Pin for the BC/YC group on the resorts board.

Great ideas and good updates on the FE document. I went in and added info for the kids.

I agree with all the ideas that you posted above. Thank you so much for being our FE admin!

 

[RRBB]

Hi All,

DH just booked us on this cruise. Actually we're booked on B2B. We were debating whether to do WC or EC cruise with a week at WDW. Then kids piped up that 7 day cruise is too short. We weighed the difference of land/sea vs. B2B and it came out pretty much a wash. We've never been on the new ships so it will be nice to have extra time to explore.

We are myself (Robin), DH (David), DS-9 (Ian), and DD-7 by the time of cruise (Sophia). So excited to be joining the group. Now off to find everyone of FB.

 

[joycsk]

I don't think so. I have a Pin for the BC/YC group on the resorts board.

Great ideas and good updates on the FE document. I went in and added info for the kids.

I agree with all the ideas that you posted above. Thank you so much for being our FE admin!

Glad I'm meeting with approval, and I am really happy to do this, as I know how much my OWN children love it!

Next question: AliceIn, I'm very glad that you replied and know what I'm talking about. Do the others in this group even know what LGMH stands for? -Would they recognize it and what it meant?

(I'd like to do something with them as part of my own FE, but if it won't make sense to the group, then it would be work wasted.)

OH - hey creative types, we need a cruise name! Any ideas??

 

[Rockstarmom68]

Hi, All! For those new to Dis and DCL, a Fish Extender group is rather like a pollyanna/Secret Santa sort of affair. Members hang a bag/set of pockets/shoe holder sort of affair from the Fish clip outside their cabins. All who agree the volunteer to bring small gifts to exchange with the members of the group. Gifts can be hand made or purchased, for the cabin or the individuals in the cabin, edible or not, etc.

My thanks to AliceIn for finding the google doc for sign up purposes.
As FE admin, I'm requesting a majority approval on a set of ground rules.

For those who have already signed up, I just added a column to the google doc, requesting information if anyone in the cabin has a major allergy that the FE group should know about - Peanuts, for example. Since food/candy is a frequent FE gift, I wouldn't want us to mistakenly cause a problem.

Joe's and my suggestions/questions:

1) I have proposed a cut off date for early FE adopters of June 30. If new cruisers wish to join, we can start a second (or third) group for recent joiners.
2) Do we wish to set a group maximum? (I kinda do.) What number should that be, so that the group is manageable for most. Again, dis-ers are welcome to join more than one group.
3) Do we want to create a delivery schedule for group members? I have both had, and not had such a schedule and personally am open to anything.
Should we choose scheduled deliveries, I will accept requests before finalizing the schedule (if someone especially wants to deliver on Pirate night, etc.)

4) Other suggestions, ideas, questions??

Thanks!!

I am good with the cut off date so that we have time to know exactly how many gifts we need to bring. My girls are into crafts so this gives us time to make our items. I also like the idea of setting a maximum number for our group to keep the time of delivery and money in check. With regards to delivery schedule, I have never done one so I don't know if it is better or not to have a set day so I will defer to the majority on that one.

Thanks again Joy for taking charge!! Looking forward to doing this for the first time.

 

[carolbeech]

Hi all, is anyone else obsessing over the cruise! Its so far away, but I can't stop looking up reviews of the staterooms, port and activities. Bought some mickey material to make our fish extender over the weekend.
I hope we can get a group together to do a Mixology class - looks like fun!

 

[carolbeech]

Next question: AliceIn, I'm very glad that you replied and know what I'm talking about. Do the others in this group even know what LGMH stands for? -Would they recognize it and what it meant?

(I'd like to do something with them as part of my own FE, but if it won't make sense to the group, then it would be work wasted.)

OH - hey creative types, we need a cruise name! Any ideas??

I don't know what LGMH means! I agree with keeping FE to a set number, to keep costs and packing down. Would 20 mean 20 total (including all members of families) or 20 units (family groups). Since I'm a complete newbie, I don't know if having a schedule is better or not. I'm glad to have guidance from those in the know.