Fish extenders, Facebook group meet and greets, etc. Help me understand.

[cltdad]

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. I am not a curmudgeon but it seems sort of odd to me. Are people always this absorbed by mixology classes, ornament exchanges, etc. If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great. Any thoughts on this?

[moki'smommy]

Some people feel that these things add to their cruise experience while others feel it is a big pain. You are free to participate in as little or as much as you wish. No, you are not a bad person for choosing to do DCL as a "Family" vacation.

 

One time where the groups are very useful is with things like international cruises--a particular tour operator might require a group of 20 to do a "private" excursion. People from the social media group may choose to go together on this. It is also a convenient time for sharing info concerning ports, special excursions, etc. Example--we did a cruise in Japan in 2016. There was a woman in our roll call group on CC who had done the cruise the year before. We did a lot of chatting as a group on the roll call, and had a single meet and greet on the ship specifically for the purpose of sharing the info she had compiled for us, including a lot more info than the cruise line provided (like the fact that the city provided a free bus to either the nearest train station or to downtown at each port). Stuff like that makes a huge difference in planning excursions.

[alaska_planner]

we never participate in fish extenders.....

we have gotten together for an informal meet, but usually nothing more than that...

i do enjoy getting to know my fellow cruisers before the cruise.

and on some cruises, we have ended up spending a lot of time with people from the meet thread, but it's a hit or miss sort of thing and if it doesn't happen, it's no big deal....

 

and again, we never do fish extenders....who has room in their luggage when flying from overseas????????????

[moki'smommy]

I did FE a couple of times when my daughter was young. Frankly, I find them to be more trouble than they are worth, From the giving side, regardless of what you give there is the issue of hauling it to the port, using up valuable suitcase space as well as the expense and the time involved in choosing something...and ultimately your cruise time in delivering the gifts to rooms. For little kids, gifts like Disney princess pencils or crayons, coloring books, tiaras or pirate treasures are fun and take little space. So, your choice!

 

We also vary on dinner parters...sometimes we request a table for just ourselves. However, we've had cruises where our dinner partners became good friends and we have intentionally requested seating together on future cruises...we tend to like the same cruises. Best time was when we didn't know that the others were cruising until we saw them boarding the plane at JFK.

Edited February 28, 2017 by moki'smommy

[tinybiny]

I do like to meet people on the ship and have a meet and greet. It is fun to run into them throughout the cruise and ask what they've done, where they are going next, etc. I haven't done a fish extender because I don't want to carry extra luggage. I also don't want the gifts. I am sure there are some very nice gifts, but really I don't need anything else cluttering up my house.

[philpcruiser]

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. . If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great.

 

 

We've been on seven Disney cruises and I've always wondered the same. Let those others knock themselves out and enjoy. You'll have a wonderful time doing what you feel is best for you.

[cheermom2four]

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. I am not a curmudgeon but it seems sort of odd to me. Are people always this absorbed by mixology classes, ornament exchanges, etc. If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great. Any thoughts on this?

 

 

Kind of wondering what the point of joining a fb or any board cruise group for a specific cruise would be for then imo. I've done FEs in the past but am not carting a separate bag across seas on our next one (happens to be this september also). I'm also cruising on our next cruise with a family we met by attending one of these meet n greets setup that was done for 1 hr once we all boarded the first day. Its nice to meet others. I wouldnt have know any of the people if I hadnt joined a fb or this board cruise board. As far as will you be ok if you dont participate, umm its your cruise its what you make of it. Honestly not sure why people join cruise groups outside of signing up for private mixologies, FEs, getting to know fellow cruisers ahead of cruise, and getting ideas for DIY ports or possibly sharing a private tour.

[SDJen]

You will be totally fine without participating. We have done FE exchanges for our first few cruises but now I don't mess with the expense and hassle. I would say that signing up for a mixology class is fun though!

[alaska_planner]

as for dining - we always eat alone - that is, just our family group...

we're on vacation to have time together (gosh i sound like an anti-social ogre)..

[rugerdog]

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. I am not a curmudgeon but it seems sort of odd to me. Are people always this absorbed by mixology classes, ornament exchanges, etc. If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great. Any thoughts on this?

 

My upcoming cruise is also my first on DCL and I am seeing the same thing on our FB group. Although I will not be participating in any of the exchanges, etc., it does seem like this is very popular with those who are partial to Disney.

 

On ALL of my previous cruises, I have never been part of a FB group, but have always joined the Cruise Critic Roll Call message boards. For me, Cruise Critic has been an absolutely invaluable source if information, suggestions, reviews, experiences that others have been willing to share. The biggest benefit to me is joining with others to form private tours. I have never purchased a ship sponsored shore excursion, and have either organized or joined a tour with other Cruise Critic members. My experiences in this regard have been 100% positive.

 

One of the great things about cruising is you can be as social or isolated as you wish. Some prefer to spend all of their time sitting on their own balcony with a book, others never sit still for a minute. Over the years, I've met some of the nicest and most interesting people on board a cruise ship. Much to my surprise, this enriches my cruise experience immeasurably.

 

Wishing you and your family an amazing cruise together!

[gometros]

We cruise alone without our adult children frequently. The FB meet pages (and similar pages on this and another popular Disney board) were great ways to meet our fellow cruisers prior to cruising. As somebody else said, it's hit or miss. We have long lasting friendships from some previous cruises and there were some where the chemistry just wasn't there.

[kstetser]

You should do/not do whatever makes you happy. When my daughter was younger we always did the FE because she loved getting and delivering little gifts. Now that she is older we do not participate. We always go to the meet and greet and sign up for a group beverage tasting if there is one that interests us. I will say that I have made amazing friends through cruise groups and we get together outside of cruises and often try to schedule the same cruises. Last November there was a group of about 10 of us who had met a few years ago who all got back together for a "reunion" we had a blast late nights up at Satellite Falls and hanging out.

[texasgirl29]

I've enjoyed doing FEs and magnet exchanges. It helps to pass the time waiting for the cruise. I find the tone of posts on the different message boards to be very different, from CC to FB to Disboards. I didn't hang out with anyone from the FE group, per se, but I enjoyed discussing possible excursion ideas. My teenager was able to meet up with other teens online prior to the cruise. We recognized other families from the group and said hello. One fun thing was all the photos families posted as they set out for the cruise. When we ended our cruise in Galveston, there was a huge delay because of fog, and it was interesting to see posts from people about how long it took to get home in real time.

 

 

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[WrittenOnYourHeart]

You do what works for you.

 

Not counting my two Great Alaskan Running Cruises where I've kept up with a few because of shared interests and experiences, I've kept up with exactly ONE person from a cruise I've been on (fathom Christmas Week Cuba cruise) who I interacted with on FB prior to the cruise. He, his husband, and I hung out on the ship and the airport and are still in contact. That started in a discussion of things we each were doing on our free night in Havana and we discovered we had a LOT in common. But as a rule, I'm not cruising to make friends - I'm cruising to relax and enjoy myself by myself or with family who are traveling with me. I don't get the need to know people on the cruise - but I tend towards the more Introvert side of the scale in that regard (once I'm comfortable with someone they NEVER believe I can be an Introvert - probably why I'm an X on the Meyers-Briggs Introvert/Extrovert scale.)

 

The same with decorating the cabin door. The most common theme I've heard is "it helps us find our cabin". I may be weird, but I have NEVER had trouble finding my cabin. I might turn the wrong way off the stairs once or twice early in the cruise, but that's it. Now...a resort room at WDW after a marathon? Yeah...that one can be a challenge because I am brain dead. But I never felt the need to decorate anything. Just snap a picture of the room number. Seems like that would work on the cruise too if you're worried about forgetting the cabin number.

 

Again, you can do whatever works for you! A cruise is supposed to be relaxing - not all stressful about how your door is decorated or what gifts you're giving or getting (yep, people have admitted keeping spreadsheets of the gifts they get and adjusting their giving accordingly - Oriental Trading Co stuff didn't get the nicer gifts said person had brought).

[Stratus22]

We participate for our little ones. For me, I think its more about them than anything. My girls love making things for the FE's and when we get home, the cruise almost feels like it continues as we go through all of the FE's we've received. As they get older, I know we'll not participate anymore in the FE's. It's just fun and a nice thing to participate in.

[mammaCS]

My entire crew enjoys the Fish Extender exchanges (my kids will be 12&14 on this cruise). We've done them on 3 of our 4 past cruises and plan on doing it on this one. It's a fun way to explore the ship and has never taken up that much extra space in the luggage. Its fun to come back to the room and find goodies as well. As for decorating the doors, why not! I don't invest a whole lot of time or money into it, but its fun. To each their own.

[alaska_planner]

while we don't do FE, we definitely do decorate our door...

and not so that we can find it, but because we enjoy doing so...

our door is full of disney characters and silly disney cartoons etc.

pretty much every inch covered..

we create the magnets ourselves....

so yeah, we're pretty nutty that way i guess :)

[worrywartmama]

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. I am not a curmudgeon but it seems sort of odd to me. Are people always this absorbed by mixology classes, ornament exchanges, etc. If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great. Any thoughts on this?

 

On our first trip on the Magic, I found out about these FEs the week of our trip. I was worried that my kids would feel left out somehow so I bought a recyclable Disney bag for each of my two kids with their favorite characters on it, stuck ribbons on it, duct taped them together with cute duct tape and bought a couple trinkets to put in there for them every night(very simple stuff). They thought Disney was leaving it for them. However, in the end I decided that it's not as prevalent or necessary as you might think given all the FB pages and discussions. The kids were so busy and happy that they would have been fine without our "fake FE". This April on the Fantasy, I will just be bringing a couple magnets and enjoying the relaxation and experience.

[Pens fan]

I'm not on Facebook at all, but I can see the benefit from a planning stand point, exchanging excursion ideas, and such. But other than that, we mainly just like to hang out as a family. If we happen to meet some friendly folks on the cruise that's great, but if not that's ok too. Sometimes the whole meet and greet, group mixology thing just seems kind of forced to me. Maybe I'm weird?? (that's probably it!)

 

As for fish extenders, we have never done one and honestly don't see the point. Even when our son was little, we've never looked at vacations as a way for him to come home with a suitcase full of random stuff (especially from strangers). It's just not something that interests us at all. I also think that a lot of people go on their first Disney cruise thinking that "everyone" participates in FE's, when just the opposite is true. Yes, you will see the occasional FE hanging on a door, but it's really not that many. Our son never even noticed them until about our 3rd cruise and I pointed one out. His response, "why would anyone want to fool with that?". I don't mean this to sound as if they are a terrible idea. I get that lots of people enjoy this, but our family isn't one of them. That's ok. 😎

 

And for door decorating, I do enjoy looking at all of the different things people put on the doors. Some of them are really quite clever. I will caution though that they sometimes go missing. We only decorated our door one time. Every summer we rent a house in the Outer Banks, so we thought it would be fun (and different) to buy some OBX magnets and decorate our door with them. Well, several were stolen. It was annoying and we've never bothered with them again.

 

Do what ever makes you happy. Everyone's different and looking for different things from their vacation. There's no right or wrong way to take a Disney cruise.