1/26/2013-Fantasy-Eastern including Puerto Rico

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Hi there,
We booked on the 1/26/2013 Fantasy cruise last night and while I was surfing the net for pros and cons of particular staterooms, I stumbled upon disboards. While perusing disboards, I read something about FE's. I was just wondering what this is. From what I can tell, it looks like a gift exchange for passengers on the same cruise, I'm not sure. My kids would love it. Am I correct? Is there a master list and how do I get my family on it?
Thanks so much!

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by taswira

I think it MIGHT fill to the max after last-minute discounts a few weeks before sailing. Having said that:

January cruising pros:

• Usually fewer kids (so doesn't "feel" as crowded).
• Lower pricing due to being the "off" season.
• Cooler temps, for the odd ones like me who hate the heat.
• If you live in the northeast, the weather is still bound to be better/warmer than where you came from!

January cruising cons:

• According to Capt. Tom, in January & February they are unable to dock at Castaway Cay 20% of the time. If Castaway Cay is your ONLY reason for doing a DCL cruise and your entire vacation would be ruined if you miss it, you may want to reconsider the date.
• This is the height of cold/flu/GI illness season. Get vaccinated (for flu), get healthy, take your vitamins and please don't board sick to infect other Guests.

Just wondering...all the times you've cruised DCL, have you ever not docked at Castaway? I hadn't heard of that. That would be very disappointing!

[1153rsmith]

Originally Posted by JJ Max n Mickey

Hi there,
We booked on the 1/26/2013 Fantasy cruise last night and while I was surfing the net for pros and cons of particular staterooms, I stumbled upon disboards. While perusing disboards, I read something about FE's. I was just wondering what this is. From what I can tell, it looks like a gift exchange for passengers on the same cruise, I'm not sure. My kids would love it. Am I correct? Is there a master list and how do I get my family on it?
Thanks so much!

FE=Fish Extender. It derives its name from a small fish/sea animal outside each cabin door that you can put notes on, or hand a fish extender. It is a gift exchange, and on our last cruise, my children loved it. We still have fond memories of running around the ship after midnight one evening delivering our gifts to peoples doors. If you do a thread search, you will find all sorts of information.

As to the list on this cruise... as time gets closer, the folks on this meet thread will start organizing and finding out not only who wants to meet up on board and introduce ourselves, but also who wishes to participate in the FE. I think most groups wait to finalize any list until the final payment date... there are just too many changes before then.

I would imagine we can start talking about it in earnest around August or September.

[taswira]

Originally Posted by JJ Max n Mickey

Just wondering...all the times you've cruised DCL, have you ever not docked at Castaway? I hadn't heard of that. That would be very disappointing!

Yes, in January and February. But there's no need to worry about it. Even if odds are 80/20, it's highly UNLIKELY that we'd be unable to dock.

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by 1153rsmith

FE=Fish Extender. It derives its name from a small fish/sea animal outside each cabin door that you can put notes on, or hand a fish extender. It is a gift exchange, and on our last cruise, my children loved it. We still have fond memories of running around the ship after midnight one evening delivering our gifts to peoples doors. If you do a thread search, you will find all sorts of information.

As to the list on this cruise... as time gets closer, the folks on this meet thread will start organizing and finding out not only who wants to meet up on board and introduce ourselves, but also who wishes to participate in the FE. I think most groups wait to finalize any list until the final payment date... there are just too many changes before then.

I would imagine we can start talking about it in earnest around August or September.

Sounds wonderful!! We haven't told our kids yet (dd 12 and ds 8) that we have booked but when we do, they will be very excited to participate! We've cruised DCL twice before but have never heard of it. Thanks for the info.

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by taswira

Yes, in January and February. But there's no need to worry about it. Even if odds are 80/20, it's highly UNLIKELY that we'd be unable to dock.

Ok, I'll stop worrying
One thing is for sure...on DCL, even with an unexpected day at sea, you know the kids will still have a fantastic time!

[1153rsmith]

Originally Posted by JJ Max n Mickey

Sounds wonderful!! We haven't told our kids yet (dd 12 and ds 8) that we have booked but when we do, they will be very excited to participate! We've cruised DCL twice before but have never heard of it. Thanks for the info.

We have a 13 DS and 10 DD and we did not tell them for our 3 day Dream cruise this past September until the night before we embarked. They were speechless. I hindsight, I wish we had told them a little sooner so they could have gotten over the shock and gotten more excited..... However, they were not disappointed in the least. They know about this one, and can't wait for 2012 to pass.

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by 1153rsmith

We have a 13 DS and 10 DD and we did not tell them for our 3 day Dream cruise this past September until the night before we embarked. They were speechless. I hindsight, I wish we had told them a little sooner so they could have gotten over the shock and gotten more excited..... However, they were not disappointed in the least. They know about this one, and can't wait for 2012 to pass.

We cruised Carnival over winter break 2 weeks ago and decided to return to Disney (nuff said) for next January. In order to pull the kids out of school for the cruise, we want to cruise during a week when they have a PA day off school. Our school board won't release next year's calendar until March 2012 so we don't want to tell the kids until the dates are set in stone. They've always had the first Friday in Feb off, so we're banking of that again.

[Britster18]

Is is bad that I don't care that I am pulling my kids out of school for a week to go?!

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by Britster18

Is is bad that I don't care that I am pulling my kids out of school for a week to go?!

Brittany, I don't know how old your kids are. This year was the first time ever that we have taken a family vacation during school break. We have always pulled the kids out of school because it makes cruises like Disney affordable to us. Our daughter is in 7th grade and for the first time, asked if we could travel during xmas break as she was nervous about the workload. Hello Carnival . As a family, we all agreed that there is nothing like cruising Disney and she agreed to taking a 4-day school break in 8th grade. So to answer your question, I have never cared. I guess I should be happy that I have a conscientious daughter. My son will never care!

[Britster18]

Originally Posted by JJ Max n Mickey

Brittany, I don't know how old your kids are. This year was the first time ever that we have taken a family vacation during school break. We have always pulled the kids out of school because it makes cruises like Disney affordable to us. Our daughter is in 7th grade and for the first time, asked if we could travel during xmas break as she was nervous about the workload. Hello Carnival . As a family, we all agreed that there is nothing like cruising Disney and she agreed to taking a 4-day school break in 8th grade. So to answer your question, I have never cared. I guess I should be happy that I have a conscientious daughter. My son will never care!

I have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and 2 year old. I picked this time #1 it's our 10 year wedding anniversary and #2 it happened to be the cheapest!
I guess a little homework on the ship isn't going to kill anyone

[JJ Max n Mickey]

Originally Posted by Britster18

I have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and 2 year old. I picked this time #1 it's our 10 year wedding anniversary and #2 it happened to be the cheapest!
I guess a little homework on the ship isn't going to kill anyone

Ha ha, no homework on the ship! That's what the 3 hour flight there and back are for :D. My son is in 3rd grade. You need not worry. At least now I know another 3rd grader on the ship

[Britster18]

Originally Posted by JJ Max n Mickey

Ha ha, no homework on the ship! That's what the 3 hour flight there and back are for :D. My son is in 3rd grade. You need not worry. At least now I know another 3rd grader on the ship

Oh, good idea! We have an 8 hour drive!

[1153rsmith]

We are homeschoolers, so we don't have to pull our kids out, we just schedule around it. However, we always try to make every vacation at least somewhat educational as well. If you really would like to impress your child's teacher, I might suggest using the internet or the library to do a little research on the countries you will be visiting and then have the child do a short report on where he is going. It may not be what they are studying in school, but it will be interesting... and educational.

[jilljill]

Originally Posted by Britster18

Is is bad that I don't care that I am pulling my kids out of school for a week to go?!

Nope not at all. We took DD out of school every year thru 4th grade. Her school for 5th-8th grade was super tough and we didn't take her out then. Then in HS we've taken her out a day or 2 here and there, but this year is the first time we are taking her out for a full week for our 4 day Dream cruise in 12 days - AND.....it's her senior year. Her school does block scheduling and she co-op's half days, so she'll only miss 1 weeks's worth of 2 classes. Much easier to catch up on 2 classes than 5 or 6. Since she's going to be going to college in FL we're just telling the school she's doing a college visit - we will drive by one of the school's she's been accepted to so we aren't totally lying to the school.

I was raised being taken out of school every year for at least 1 week and I graduated and learned a lot more traveling than I did sitting in a classroom.

Depending on which college she goes to, she may have to miss a week of classes to go on this cruise.