There's Something FISHy About Cruising

I read somewhere that a big part of the cruising fun is the prep work for it.  I can say I 100% agree ... and I haven't even cruised yet!

This all started a couple of years ago probably. We were watching YouTube videos one day and somehow ended up watching this guy's videos from when he and his brother went on a Disney Cruise. I've never been on one, but had looked at going on a Disney Cruise when I was a Cast Member back in the day. We all know I LOVE all things Titanic, so you'd think I would have cruised, right?!? Or maybe because of Titanic's fate I would NEVER cruise? I've always said IF I ever did cruise I'd want it to be a Disney one. Well... that time has come!

Shawn was told he had to take a lot of time off work because he had way too much vacation time on the books. I was given the task of deciding what our family would do. Hawaii? California? Canada? We looked at so many ideas, and then we got talking about those cruise videos we saw. From there it was a deep dive into available Disney cruises, and we were almost going to do a 7 day sailing through the Western Caribbean. Realizing I haven't sailed before we thought maybe we should do a shorter one. Alright, found one! 

So we need to fly to Florida. We need to be there early so any flight issues wouldn't keep us from getting on the ship. Hmm, if we get there a day or so early we could pop into one of the Walt Disney World parks. One thing led to another and now it's a full Walt Disney World vacation followed by a Disney Cruise through the Bahamas. Hot diggity dog!!

This all began in January of 2019. We sail in November. (At the time of this posting we have already sailed.) We listened to a podcast of a travel agency all about the Disney Cruise Line. That convinced us to contact them for a quote. Well, we liked what we heard and boom, we had our vacation booked! 

Time to join the Facebook group! Each sailing has a private group just for that particular cruise, and it is so fun! Everyone is busy sharing their excitement, asking questions, countdown down the days. I love it! And there is this thing called Fish Extenders. Outside of our stateroom doors are little hooks for messages to be left. It's now a thing to make a Fish Extender to hang on that hook and then, sort of like Secret Santa, you join exchange groups and give each other presents in your fish extenders. 

I may have been a little excited. We didn't join A group. We joined FOUR. TWO different groups for a magnet exchange (people decorate their stateroom doors with magnets and they look totally cute), a child group and an adult exchange. Now we are in a second child group so we could help welcome a little soon to be 3 year old girl to the fun. When there was one girl wanting to participate and no open groups one was created. I'd be sad if Katura couldn't participate, so I didn't want this other girl left out. Welcome aboard!

And Fish Extenders are what I have been working on for nearly all of 2019! I bought a Cricut to make magnets. We now have a 3D printer that we used for the adult gifts. And then more personalized gifts for everyone.... magnets, backpacks, picture frames, water bottles. I have 2 carry on bags full of gifts for complete strangers! Ooh, another fun thing that we have going on is just for the children. Pen Pals!! Katura has a pen pal in Illinois that she's been exchanging little gifts and letters with for the better part of the year. We even made some "Pixie Dust" for her and her sister once on the ship. Pixie Dust is what they call it when you leave unexpected gifts for people on the ship. We have lots of Pixie Dust prepared! Pretty much we are a generous family and all 3 of us have had a great time coming up with things to give other people. Shawn created 2019 Disney Cruise Line Christmas ornaments on his printer. Then Katura and I covered them with red and blue glitter. I bought plain picture frames and turned them into DCL frames. Katura LOVED going shopping to find little gifts for all the kids in her group. We made each of them personalized water bottles with their favorite characters on them, personalized magnets, and then little things like puzzles, key chains, candy, and temporary tattoos all fitting into custom made drawstring backpacks they can use on the ship.

My mom doesn't get it. So much work just for vacation. But I'm telling you all of this really feels like part of the vacation! We love working on it and it makes it all feel longer than just a simple 4 night cruise. We get to go to a meet and greet with the people in the Facebook group the day we get on the ship, and finally put names and faces together. I'm excited to meet the little kids I've spent so many hours creating gifts for. It's going to be so fun!! And Katura is really hoping to get to meet and play with her pen pal. I hear sooooo much about her pen pal, it's adorable!

I'll be back with a Fish Extender recap once we have sailed and share what it was like to deliver and receive. Oh yeah - so that means 6 staterooms per exchange group + pixie dust = a lot of walking around the Disney Dream!! Good thing I'm packing my race shoes!