We were going on our first Disney cruise. I had read hours upon hours on the DISforum (i.e. Disney forum) about the cruise, hints, tips, reviews, etc. I felt like a pro even though we had not sailed yet.
One of the things I had read about was participating in a Fish Extender (also known as FE). This is something that a guest on the Disney Cruise Line started through a DISforum board. She thought it would be a neat idea to get fellow passengers from her cruise to "sign up" and do a SECRET SANTA of sorts. It got the name Fish Exchange because on her cruise there were metal fish outside all the cabin doors and people hung pockets over these metal fish. These pockets were a place where their "secret Santa" gifts were placed when delivered. Well, her idea took off and now on the DISforums, you can find an FE for almost any cruise. Prior to our cruise, I searched the DISforum and found the place people were discussing the FE. Only twelve cabins participated in our FE...but it was really the perfect number. You could get a nicer gift (something a step up from a bag of candy) and not break the bank. I have heard of FEs having 50 to 100 cabins participating...that's wild to me -- and not in a good way! Consider this a TRAVEL TIP: Check the limit that will be on your FE or if the group will be split into two if it gets too big.
We gave PERSONALIZED NOTE PADS. I had the notepads printed and bound at our local MinuteMan Printing Press. It was inexpensive. On a side note, I'm glad I know about these notepads, because I think they would make great gifts for other things too. Then I created (with the help of my Cricut) a cover for each pad.
Pretty easy -- yet, it did take more time than I care to tell you to cut all the pieces, glue, and wrap all 12 notepads. But isn't that how it is with most crafts -- they take way longer than you'd think???
We got a lot of great gifts! I'm sorry I didn't take a photo of the pile of goodies. To be truthful, I thought I did take one, but I can't find it on our camera now. If cruising with Disney, you should check out your cruise on the DISboard. See if your group is doing a Fish Extender exchange.
TravelLady Rating: We would participate again in the Fish Extender. It was great fun. And in all honesty, a terrific was for us to explore the ship when we were delivering our gifts to all the cabins. This is something the kids really enjoyed.