Fish Extender Gift Feedback

[MomOTwins]

I should mention, for each stateroom (or mom and dad, however you want to look at it) I got a cute decorative soap bar (lots of these on Etsy themed to Disney Cruise), and a Disney cruise-themed plastic card that you can use in place of your Key to the World card for turning on the lights and AC in the stateroom (also on Etsy). Then the kids each get their own gift. But I thought the stateroom gifts were pretty cool ideas--I actually got us our own "light switch" Disney card to use (it has a magnet on the back so you can stick it on the door so it is still eco-friendly--but it saves me from forgetting to take my key card with me when I leave the room).

 

[ahain]

We no longer participate in FEs, but when we did, we would choose very generic, non age-specific gifts. All boys/men received a pirate-themed necklace (we actually thought about giving this to everyone so they could wear it on pirate night) and all girls/women received a "pixie dust" necklace (very small vials that we put very fine, colorful glitter inside). The pixie dust necklace was a corked vial (which we corked firmly), but technically it could be opened/ingested, etc if one tried hard enough. We figured that parents could decide whether or not the child should/shouldn't have it.

We actually quit doing FE when DD got older (like 14) because it seemed that the apparent expectation for "personalized" gifts for each participant (this girl is age 4 and likes Snow White; that boy is 15 and likes video games, that man does not want booze, but that one does) and "rules" for some FEs ( our group has decided that FE gifts should each range in value from $x to $xx, and should be distributed on days 3, 4 & 5 of the cruise, etc) was taking all the fun out of it and was becoming too complicated for us. We liked participating in FE, but decided that we didn't want the stress/pressure of having to find the perfect gift for every participant or follow arbitrary "rules" some groups required.

In the past, we have enjoyed many FE gifts we received - some store bought (small tubes of sunscreen, playing cards, stickers, small bags of candy), some personalized with Mickey themes (sewing kits, first-aid kits, q-tips boxes, plastic cups); and some totally hand-made (a CD with Disney music, magnets, "Ellie" grape soda-cap badges, drink carriers made from fold-up fast-food drink carriers that were covered in Disney themed contact paper, bookmarks..) We enjoyed them all. Most of all, we enjoyed the surprise of coming back to our stateroom and finding goodies in our FE.

 

[TestingH2O]

I agree with everyone about the teen/tween gifts. They are hard to figure out. Our med cruise group for this summer has few younger kids and mostly tweens and teens. I'm struggling!

In terms of gifts we've received, we haven't gotten much that's personalized but we've loved everything. I felt like FE have become like other things on DCL: you hear about one or two fancy gifts or crabby people who expect fancy gifts and suddenly you expect and feel pressured to do something fancy. We love the experience and how others do too, but we won't spend gonna of money or time trying to our FE everyone else on the internet nor do we expect others to for us.

 

[Dug720]

I agree with everyone about the teen/tween gifts. They are hard to figure out. Our med cruise group for this summer has few younger kids and mostly tweens and teens. I'm struggling!

In terms of gifts we've received, we haven't gotten much that's personalized but we've loved everything. I felt like FE have become like other things on DCL: you hear about one or two fancy gifts or crabby people who expect fancy gifts and suddenly you expect and feel pressured to do something fancy. We love the experience and how others do too, but we won't spend gonna of money or time trying to our FE everyone else on the internet nor do we expect others to for us.

The one who takes the cake on this was the poster here a couple of years ago who bragged about keeping a spreadsheet of what she got from whom and then the last day she delivered hers ONLY to those she deemed deserving of something based on their gift.

 

[ADowling]

We just did the FE on our last cruise. I bought cute nautical bags off amazon. Inside I put neoprene popsicle holders with glow in the dark bracelets in them for kids with marvel tattoos (marvel cruise) and bubbles. The adults got can koozies with the cruise logo on them.

 

[lovewdwfun]

Thanks for the feedback. What has become apparent, based on the comments, is that there is no way to get a gift that everyone will like!

Ironically, a lot of the things suggested to get for tweens instead of “younger” gifts are things my tween would not be thrilled to get! I guess the moral of the story is that no matter what I pick, someone will not like it. And even if I tried to personalize them to the person’s age, they still might not like it!

 

[Disney Cruiser!]

You can Buy hot chocolate in individual sachets now tho so if it made you feel better they wouldn't need to be opened and you wouldn't need to measure it out into smaller bags!!

 

[mudd]

You can get hot chocolate with or without marsh mellows already in packet. Or you can get individual packets of mini marshmallows if you prefer fresh ones

 

[Tinkabelllyss]

How do you add pictures to your posts? I see a camera button and I see a picture button but it seems both of them require something else to put the picture in. The picture button says image URL and the camera has HTML coding around it. Wanted to get some opinions on my ideas I started but want to add pictures to help.

Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How do you add pictures to your posts? I see a camera button and I see a picture button but it seems both of them require something else to put the picture in. The picture button says image URL and the camera has HTML coding around it. Wanted to get some opinions on my ideas I started but want to add pictures to help.

Thanks!

I believe you have to have at least 10 posts here on DISboards before the extra options are available for you.

Once you've posted 10 times, it takes the system a little while recognize the fact and open the options to you. Usually around 30-60 minutes.

To post photos, you can drag & drop, or copy & paste directly from your computer into the posting window (one thing - images must be smaller than 1MB to do this). Or you can use a photo hosting site, download your photos there and copy the IMG code to paste into your posts here.

 

[Tinkabelllyss]

Thank you for replyng. This is really helpful.

 

[TestingH2O]

How do you add pictures to your posts? I see a camera button and I see a picture button but it seems both of them require something else to put the picture in. The picture button says image URL and the camera has HTML coding around it. Wanted to get some opinions on my ideas I started but want to add pictures to help.

Thanks!

You can also use the upload a file option at the bottom where it says post reply.

 

[happytime]

I am not crafty and we'll be doing FE exchanges on our upcoming cruises.

One idea I had is to buy pillowcases in bulk and give everyone a pillowcase with a Sharpie for autographs. Is this a good idea? I don't see it listed on many of the suggestions, so I am wondering if it would not be something people would like. I was thinking about doing this for a Western Caribbean cruise.

We are also doing an Alaska cruise. I stumbled upon an adorable idea for giving people hot chocolate mix-in kits - plastic bags of mini marshmallows, peanut butter chips, etc. The only issue is I would have to put them in plastic bags myself. I love this idea, but I'm inclined to not do it because I think a lot of people would not accept food that was opened from a stranger. Thoughts?

Alternately, I could get Dollar Tree Disney items. I really have no idea how much people spend per person/cabin and I don't want to be cheap.

I LOVE your ideas. They are creative, and you can tell you've put some thought into it. Pillowcases are a great gift. You can take the pillowcases to Guest Services and some time during the cruise all the characters will sign it. At the end of cruise (on last day or evening before cruise over), Guest Services will deliver the autographed item to your stateroom. This is so you wouldn't have to take said item with you to every character. You could enjoy meeting the character and have a nice photo taken instead.

I think everyone has a preconceived idea of FE gifts. I've been participating in all of our cruises except for the 1st one...I had no idea what an FE was back then. I've been the coordinator for 2 of them and believe me, I've seen all kinds of wonderful gifts. Me personally, I appreciate any FE gift I've received, because I understand there are many people who will go the way-extra-mile and there will be many 1st timers who want to participate and don't know where to begin. I"ve had some guidelines to help the giver, but I found out (example here) that even if a family wished for no alcohol, they got it anyway. It happens. The cruise is about family, vacation, and fun. If giving to a stranger has a price tag on it, then I would suggest perhaps get into a group where that is established at the get-go.

One of my favorite gifts earlier this year was from someone who gave from their home state, in this case Kentucky, 4 small moonpies wrapped each in cellophane (purchased this way). It was so adorable. It was on this cruise, that my husband and I became ill (as did a LOT of people) so something small when we started feeling better fit the bill for us.

Enjoy the experience. It's fun. Good luck to you.

 

[TestingH2O]

can take the pillowcases to Guest Services and some time during the cruise all the characters will sign it. At the end of cruise (on last day or evening before cruise over), Guest Services will deliver the autographed item to your stateroom. This is so you wouldn't have to take said item with you to every character. You could enjoy meeting the character and have a nice photo taken instead.

FYI - this is no longer true. Too many people were doing it so now they won't accept them. However, if your take the pillowcases with you to the characters, they will sign them during your meet and greet. Several people have suggested putting a piece of cardboard in the case to hold it steady and this seems like a great idea.

 

[happytime]

FYI - this is no longer true. Too many people were doing it so now they won't accept them. However, if your take the pillowcases with you to the characters, they will sign them during your meet and greet. Several people have suggested putting a piece of cardboard in the case to hold it steady and this seems like a great idea.

Oops! I had no idea they quit this feature. That's too bad! Seems it would more waiting in line if everyone has something they want signed.

 

[Dug720]

Oops! I had no idea they quit this feature. That's too bad! Seems it would more waiting in line if everyone has something they want signed.

In my experience, those other than kids wanting autograph books signed were very few and far between.

 

[A01]

I am not crafty and we'll be doing FE exchanges on our upcoming cruises.

One idea I had is to buy pillowcases in bulk and give everyone a pillowcase with a Sharpie for autographs. Is this a good idea? I don't see it listed on many of the suggestions, so I am wondering if it would not be something people would like. I was thinking about doing this for a Western Caribbean cruise.

We are also doing an Alaska cruise. I stumbled upon an adorable idea for giving people hot chocolate mix-in kits - plastic bags of mini marshmallows, peanut butter chips, etc. The only issue is I would have to put them in plastic bags myself. I love this idea, but I'm inclined to not do it because I think a lot of people would not accept food that was opened from a stranger. Thoughts?

Alternately, I could get Dollar Tree Disney items. I really have no idea how much people spend per person/cabin and I don't want to be cheap.

If you do the pillowcases make sure you put a piece of cardboard in between the pillowcase so it doesn't go through to the other side. We did this and we used different color sharpies for each character.

 

[SDJEL]

My tween had absolutely no interest in the pillowcase she just received. She and the teen boys loved the drawstring bags, earbuds and personalized cups. One year they got those little portable chargers for cellphones. That was a big hit. We all loved candy that came from somebody’s home town.

My favorite gift this last cruise was a chapstick with a little holder that I could attach to my lanyard. My daughter and I loved! that. We used it every day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My favorite gift this last cruise was a chapstick with a little holder that I could attach to my lanyard. My daughter and I loved! that. We used it every day.

One of my favorite FE gifts was a tiny chapstick (about 1" tall). It fit so nicely in the tiny pockets that women's pants tend to have (if they even have pockets).

 

[Pandy220]

Side note about the exchanges . I’m a little salty about one of our exchanges. We received an exchange the last day of the cruise as we got back from CC. They were 2 large drink coasters for the beach. Not really handy when we’ve already been on the beach and now they’re bulky to have to fly home with. So, just a suggestion, to maybe be considerate and pass them out within the first few days of sailing!
Other than that, happy with the rest of our gifts, but for the hassle , maybe we’ll skip FEs next time around.