Who's hanging a fish extender on Lou's cruise?? Updated post #30

[lorilovestigger]

Yes, we're bringing our own!>)

Honestly, Lou and Beci have procrastinated to a frustrating level on giving us details.... let's not go there
I plan months to a year in advance so we already put plans in motion before they said anything about providing them.

Much of the stuff not being told is due to the fact that Disney isn't giving them the information they want. We are a huge group and trying to figure out were to put all of us for some sort of meet is hard considering the only place on the ship big enough is the theater and that's not very personal. Or an island!

The fact that FE were being provided was released many weeks ago. If you want to take your own that's fine but I have a feeling many people are going to look for the FEs that are provided to know who's in our group.

I don't believe a master list is going to be handed out so if you want people to know your room number then you better let them know.

Start a list on your Deck thread if you want.

I know for myself I am doing Deck 7 and plan on just looking for the FEs. Only a few others on other decks do I need to know room #s for.

[dusten]

Much of the stuff not being told is due to the fact that Disney isn't giving them the information they want. We are a huge group and trying to figure out were to put all of us for some sort of meet is hard considering the only place on the ship big enough is the theater and that's not very personal. Or an island!

The fact that FE were being provided was released many weeks ago. If you want to take your own that's fine but I have a feeling many people are going to look for the FEs that are provided to know who's in our group.

I don't believe a master list is going to be handed out so if you want people to know your room number then you better let them know.

Start a list on your Deck thread if you want.

I know for myself I am doing Deck 7 and plan on just looking for the FEs. Only a few others on other decks do I need to know room #s for.

I sent you a PM.

Just for a timeline... I booked the cruise in November 2009 and nothing was mentioned about providing FE's until November 2010 (when you started this thread)... actually it may not have been mentioned until December 2010... less than 3 months before the cruise.

[tiggerwannabe]

I am really looking forward to leaving apecial surprises for my fellow cruisers....of course I am making my own list of who I want to leave presents for so Alls I gotta hope for is everyone having some kind of FE out for me to put things into.

[two-foxes]

I think it is HUGELY generous of Lou and MouseFan to provide the FE's. However since it is not an organized list and it appears most are doing their decks or friends, it really seems like you could end up with way too many or way too little FE gifts. It eliminates the true "exchange" part. I am taking part in an organized exchange from another board and do plan on dropping some gifts in random Lou's Cruise FE's but simply our SR location and lack of knowing many here eliminates the return....which although shallow sounding, is half the fun!

[zippitydoodah]

I don't think I would be participating if it were the "typical" way of doing the FE's. There's 500 people, thats way too many... even doing everyone on my deck is almost 100 people which is still quite a bit. I just don't have the time or money to make/buy that many things. This way I can still participate, and if I don't get a single thing I'll be happy but I can still give out a few things. People seem more excited about giving than getting anyhow (for the most part ) and I mean, with 500 people on board I really don't think anyone is going to be left with nothing and most people will still get quite a bit!

[lorilovestigger]

My gifts are one per cabin. So if it's a mixed cabin of friend's I KNOW they are going to fight over who gets MY gift!

[beci]

Im working on some materials for the cruise so I thought I would pop in and see if I could help with any questions that might be floating around.

Wow! I am so amazed to see so much interest in fish extenders. While it wasn’t the intention when we decided to provide them, its so cool to see so many kind hearted folks who want to provide little gifts for each other.

For some background, usually the info on the fish extenders is saved until sailing as a little piece of added magic for our guests when they travel as a group. For past group sailings, we have never advertised they will be given and its always been a nice little surprise that just shows up. Over time people have become more involved in wanting to give little things to people in the group so when the forum messages started popping up saying people wanted to deliver gifts but they needed fish extenders but didn’t know how to go about getting them, or didn’t want to spend the money, Mouse Fan Travel decided to go ahead and invest some money so everyone in the group could have a simple/basic FE. This decision was not made until right around the time this thread started so was not part of the initial plan. I hope this helps explain the delay of info to anyone why may have been annoyed that we didn’t tell you at time of booking.

I know other communities have done much more organized and elaborate exchanges, but for us it is simply meant for the group host to provide little random goodies and be able to allow others to easily identify that cabin as part of their group.

Its an added benefit that some people are electing to deliver stuff to their friends, family, deck mates or other segmented part of the group and that’s great! But I want to emphasize that on this sailing, there is absolutely ZERO expectation that anyone deliver anything to anyone’s stateroom. If people delivery things to your extender, think if it as little pixies stopping by to say hi, and don’t stress or feel guilty that you didn’t bring anything -- just let the magic happen.

I know it was mentioned earlier in the string, but Mouse Fan Travel has a deep care on concern for people’s privacy. Because of that, will not be giving a list out of guests cabins. If people choose to release that info they certainly can and I noticed many have been keeping lists from the forums. While the fish extenders do show you are booked as part of the group, you always have the choice to remove it and keep it in your cabin. You may miss a couple of little things that we can’t fit under the door, but believe me when I say anything of real importance will be handed to you or messaged to you via voice mail. We have other ways of hunting you down if needed. : )

Hope that helps answers some of the questions and concerns popping up in the thread, and if you have any additional concerns, please do not hesitate to PM me.

[zeusywoo]

Thanks Beci for posting that was very nice of you to address the group and explain. Ours is 1 gift per cabin too! Can't wait 2 weeks from today Epcot.

[tiggerwannabe]

Yay Beci!

My distribution will be really random beyond one per cabin. I even made multiple types of gifts...I am making one of everything for myself first then making multiplies of everything. I am filling my FE goody bag with all the extras and will hand them all out randomly til their gone.

I listened to Lou's podcast #207 today, all about the Dream! Great show! Almost two full hours chock full of Dream information. Two weeks from tonight we should be in moms car on our way to Beaches and Cream

[disneysister]

Thanks Beci! Just a little more magic to get excited about! Can't wait!

[lorilovestigger]

Im working on some materials for the cruise so I thought I would pop in and see if I could help with any questions that might be floating around.

Wow! I am so amazed to see so much interest in fish extenders. While it wasn’t the intention when we decided to provide them, its so cool to see so many kind hearted folks who want to provide little gifts for each other.

For some background, usually the info on the fish extenders is saved until sailing as a little piece of added magic for our guests when they travel as a group. For past group sailings, we have never advertised they will be given and its always been a nice little surprise that just shows up. Over time people have become more involved in wanting to give little things to people in the group so when the forum messages started popping up saying people wanted to deliver gifts but they needed fish extenders but didn’t know how to go about getting them, or didn’t want to spend the money, Mouse Fan Travel decided to go ahead and invest some money so everyone in the group could have a simple/basic FE. This decision was not made until right around the time this thread started so was not part of the initial plan. I hope this helps explain the delay of info to anyone why may have been annoyed that we didn’t tell you at time of booking.

I know other communities have done much more organized and elaborate exchanges, but for us it is simply meant for the group host to provide little random goodies and be able to allow others to easily identify that cabin as part of their group.

Its an added benefit that some people are electing to deliver stuff to their friends, family, deck mates or other segmented part of the group and that’s great! But I want to emphasize that on this sailing, there is absolutely ZERO expectation that anyone deliver anything to anyone’s stateroom. If people delivery things to your extender, think if it as little pixies stopping by to say hi, and don’t stress or feel guilty that you didn’t bring anything -- just let the magic happen.

I know it was mentioned earlier in the string, but Mouse Fan Travel has a deep care on concern for people’s privacy. Because of that, will not be giving a list out of guests cabins. If people choose to release that info they certainly can and I noticed many have been keeping lists from the forums. While the fish extenders do show you are booked as part of the group, you always have the choice to remove it and keep it in your cabin. You may miss a couple of little things that we can’t fit under the door, but believe me when I say anything of real importance will be handed to you or messaged to you via voice mail. We have other ways of hunting you down if needed. : )

Hope that helps answers some of the questions and concerns popping up in the thread, and if you have any additional concerns, please do not hesitate to PM me.

Thanks Beci!! You know where I'll be if you need to find me!! If not, I'm sure Cassidy will tell you "mom's at the bar!"

[beci]

I listened to Lou's podcast #207 today, all about the Dream! Great show! Almost two full hours chock full of Dream information. Two weeks from tonight we should be in moms car on our way to Beaches and Cream

Thanks for your replies guys and Im glad the info was helpful. Its hard when you have a group this large because there is so much going on and everyone has their own idea of fun... its challenging to meet everyones needs & expectations. But I promise you we will try!

Just a quick comment on the quote above... first, thanks so much! Im glad you enjoyed the info on the show. I gotta say there is soooooo much to see and do on this ship, even without any of the meets we are doing, the time is just going to fly by! I think the first time cruisers are going to be amazed at how much activity there is. I was on 9 nights total and still didnt get to do everything I wanted to. This is going to be fun to experience with a gang of friends!

[two-foxes]

I know other communities have done much more organized and elaborate exchanges, but for us it is simply meant for the group host to provide little random goodies and be able to allow others to easily identify that cabin as part of their group.......

Hope that helps answers some of the questions and concerns popping up in the thread, and if you have any additional concerns, please do not hesitate to PM me.

Beci,

Thanks for taking the time to clarify. I certainly am used to the "other communities" type of FE exchanges, and had the same assumption of it here. I appreciate the work you all are putting into this cruise and look forward to seeing you all. (have heard your voice lord knows how many times on the podcast!)

[DisneyMonkey]

Thanks in advance for the FEs Beci. We are first time cruisers and would not likely have been able to participate otherwise. (I have no idea how to make one). Now I have a big bag full of goodies that I am so excied to share.

And thanks to Lori who started the thread- otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea about FEs before the cruise.

[DisneyMonkey]

.
I know for myself I am doing Deck 7 and plan on just looking for the FEs. Only a few others on other decks do I need to know room #s for.

I'll be in 6010 Lori.