Wonder to the Land of the Midnight Sun~~~August 20th 2012~~~

[lmagnee]

We are also on the Aug 20 Alaska cruise.
Have not booked any excursions yet or anything else for that matter. I need to get on the ball soon on this.

It will be my husband, my two daughters (10 and 7) and myself of course.

We are from the SF Bay Area. We are all really excited about going. This will be my husband and my second cruise on Disney.

Look forward to meeting others


Liz

 

[Boutilier]

Put Tom and I down as a maybe for the FE. If the group stays small we can do it. We have only done the FE once when we were driving to port and didn't have to worry about luggage space.
Liz - what part of the bay area are you from? My husband works in SF and Oakley is in the East Bay.
I added a brunch at Palo as well as dinner. Might as well take advantage of our adults only trip!
Jennifer

 

[DisSarahK]

Yay, Liz! So glad to have you joining us! Will you be doing the fish extender gift exchange? Just let me know and I'll add you to the list!

Jennifer, I'll put you down as a maybe on the FE exchange. Good for you for doing the Palo brunch and dinner!

 

[DisSarahK]

As for me, I'm so glad my children finally know about the cruise--they are VERY excited! We went to the library and checked out/requested books about Alaska yesterday...which had the side benefit of giving them a lesson on the Dewey Decimal system. They found that very interesting too. I also requested the "Brother Bear" movie from the library since none of us have seen it yet. Hopefully we'll get that in time for our road trip this weekend to Vancouver, BC.

Next up we're going to work on a Disney countdown because they are all about crafts these days.

 

[lmagnee]

Jennifer we live in San Mateo.

Sarah, I am not sure what a FE gift is. Can you tell me about this and then I can figure out if we can participate.

Thanks,
Liz

 

[Xscream]

Ditto. What is the FE (Fish Extender?) gift. Sounds like something we'd be interested in.
Seattle area family with husband, wife, 11 yo son & 8 yo daughter. First cruise for the kids and first Disney cruise. Any and all info is appreciated.

 

[KZPow]

We'd like to join in for the Fish Extender gift exchange. KZ, husband, son 11, daughter 8.

This is our first Disney Cruise. We live in Maple Valley,Wa. My husband & I have both cruised before kids. This will be both of the kids first cruise.

I see my husband "Xscream" posted above me. Don't count us twice. We are one family. I called a girlfriend who is a seasoned Disney cruiser and asked her what a fish extender was. She gave me the low down. She even told me I could shop for the FE on etsy. There are several cute ones listed there now.

 

[DisSarahK]

A fish extender is a gift exchange amongst cruisers--there are several threads about it on the main cruise forum here. There is a hook (shaped like a fish) outside your stateroom door and you hang something with pockets from your hook--this is your "fish extender". You can buy a cute personalized fish extender from etsy or you can make one...or you can just hang a gift bag or something like that from it. Do whatever works!

Then you go around to the other cabins participating in the Fish Exchange and leave gifts for them. Some people leave one gift for the entire cabin and other people leave one gift for the adults and individual gifts for the children in the cabin. The gifts can be store-bought or homemade. There is a big thread of gift ideas on the main cruise thread.

You can be super creative or not creative at all--there is NO pressure either way. It is totally supposed to be something fun! Who doesn't like to find surprises waiting for them?!

 

[DisSarahK]

Welcome KZ and family! I'll add you to both lists--and I bet my 8 year old daughter will run into yours in the club/lab. Mine will be the one with long straight hair and big hairbows. She is hard to miss!

Sorry I was MIA the past few days. We went up to Vancouver for a long weekend and had a great time up there for three days. Love Canada!

 

[DisSarahK]

please see last page of thread for current list of cruisers!

 

[KZPow]

Thanks for pulling this together for us Sarah. My 8 yo will be excited to hear about yours. Mine is Maya. She is very petite and is usually thought to be younger than her age.

Chat soon.
KZ

 

[DisSarahK]

Ha, mine is as tall as a 10-11 year old...but still is VERY much an 8 year old!

 

[lmagnee]

Hi DisSarahK,
Count us in for the fish extender. I found some great easy ideas. Very excited.
Now I have to book excursions. Anyone have any other info on the best ones? I think I am going to search the other boards for Alaska and see if I find any info from people who have already cruised.

 

[DisSarahK]

Hi DisSarahK,
Count us in for the fish extender. I found some great easy ideas. Very excited.
Now I have to book excursions. Anyone have any other info on the best ones? I think I am going to search the other boards for Alaska and see if I find any info from people who have already cruised.

I put you down for the FE, Liz!

As for excursions, there are so many great ones! I booked all of ours independently of DCL. Here is what we are doing...

Skagway: We are renting a car from Avis and driving up to the Canadian Yukon (as far as Emerald Lake. I downloaded a copy of "Murray's Guide" (it is amazing! There are terrific reviews online for it and it is very inexpensive.) Along the way we are definitely going to stop at Caribou Crossing for a dogcart ride and time with the puppies. We may also stop and do the Yukon Suspension Bridge--we're going to play that one by ear.

Juneau: I booked a private whale watching tour.

Ketchikan: We're doing the lumberjack show--the exact same show that DCL sells tickets for, but it is less expensive to book it directly rather than through the cruiseline.

 

[AJaquins]

We will be joining al of you for this cruise. My Husband and I in one cabin and my Mother and Father in law in another. It's our 1st cruise and we're excited. We're from Yakima, Washington and its so nice to be able to sail out of Seattle.

 

[DisSarahK]

Welcome, AJaquins! Are you interested in joining the Fish Extender exchange? There is an explanation farther up this page as well as more detailed information about it on the main forum.

 

[AJaquins]

No we're not interested in participating with the FE we're too busy saving up for our Disneyland trip at Christmas.

 

[DisSarahK]

Oooh, fun!! One of these years we will make it to DL at Christmas time!

 

[Aparrent]

First time cruisers from Dallas. We are so excited to go - counting the days! August 20 happens to be my birthday as well

Hubby, me, and 4 year old son

As first-timers, we booked all our excursions through Disney. I'm sure I'll wise up next cruise, but i wanted to play it safe this time.

 

[DisSarahK]

Welcome to you, Aparrent! We are first time cruisers too! I think this is a great way to celebrate your birthday--I know I'd like to celebrate my birthday with anything Disney!

Which excursions are you doing?

If you'd like to do the Fish Extender, let me know and I'll add you to the list. There is an explanation farther up on this page and there are more detailed explanations in the regular forum.