Disney Cruise: Fish Extender

If you are planning a Disney Cruise and you have not heard of "Fish Extender" or "Fish Exchange Groups" you need to keep reading! Once I booked our Disney cruise to Alaska I started my Pinterest search for tips, tricks, etc., and "Fish Extender/Exchange" kept coming up. I found a really helpful post from Family Travel Magazine that set me on the right path:

"With such a unique name, there’s no surprise that most people don’t know what a fish extender even is! On the Disney Cruise Line, each of the staterooms has a small silver fish or seahorse to the right or left of the door. Usually, it’s used to hold invitations, receipts, and correspondence during your cruise, but those participating in a fish extender exchange hang a bag or special holder to the “fish” to serve as a mailbox. If you want to participate, you sign up, provide your information and stateroom number, and make little goodies for each person or each cabin." Family Travel Magazine Article

Well, I wanted in! I followed the steps in the Family Travel Magazine post and that led me to DISboards.com. I immediately found the Fish Extender/Exchange group board for our scheduled cruise, but unfortunately, the deadline to participate in an exchange for our cruise had already passed. Apparently, these groups close about 4-6 weeks before your sailing date. I did send the person who was organizing the exchange for our cruise a message, but we were not able to join in (there were over 100 cabins participating). Luckily, there were a few other families on our same cruise in the same situation and we met up through DISboards.com. We joined together and made a small group of our own (just 3 families). I didn't have much time to get our items together for the cruise so I was off and running very quickly (now I know why people do this early and the reason for the cutoff -- not going to lie, it was a little stressful, but worth well worth it!). The family who organized our group assigned each family 2 separate days and on the last evening of the cruise we met up in a lounge and all exchanged one last family gift. Very simple.

Fish Extender Holder:

I hopped back on Pinterest to find a no sew project for a Fish Extender Holder. Not happy with what I found. Etsy had some amazing holders that people were selling, but the timing to receive them before we left for our cruise was not in our favor. So I found a sew project on YouTube that I turned into a no-sew project (I just used my hot glue gun). This YouTube post by Margaret Olander was exactly what I was looking for: Margaret Olander Fish Extender - You Tube

I followed Margaret's directions pretty much to a T (but instead of sewing I used the hot glue gun). Then, I made it my own. Using my digital tools I made 2 large buttons, the "H, S & L", printed them on cardstock and I put some bling embellishments on the buttons/letters to give them some pop.

Fish Extender Holder

Loved, loved, loved how this turned out. Got lots of compliments on our cruise.

Fish Exchange Gift Ideas:

When it comes to Fish Exchange gift ideas let me refer you back to the Family Travel Magazine article (it was a good one). I stuck to what I know best - digital. Here is what I made:

JOURNAL MADE OUT OF PAPER BAGS FOR GIRLS

MINNIE MOUSE NAIL POLISH KITS FOR THE MOMS

A LUGGAGE, ZIPPER, WINE CHARM, KEY CHAIN OR BACKPACK PULL FOR EVERYONE

CHICK-FIL-A GIFT CARD FOR ALL KIDS

STARBUCKS GIFT CARDS FOR THE DADS/MOMS

SPORTS BAG/GAMES FOR THE BOYS

On the last night of the cruise all of the families met in one of the lounges. We exchanged gifts ... I could not at this point think of anything more to do. So, we made each family a candy gram: 8 1/2 x 11 black cardstock paper, a silver sharpie and I adapted a candy gram I found on Pinterest. My 7 year old daughter had fun creating this gift. To finish it up I used 3 ring binders to keep it together, created a cover and wrapped it with a pretty bow. Here is our candy gram (one little thing she forgot to write on the last page was "KLONDIKE" GOLD" - our ship stopped in Skagway and we had a Gold Rush adventure - no big it was cute and yummy regardless):

I also made each family/member a personal magnet for their door and a family magnet as well (like the ones we made for our family stateroom door -- see below).

Finally, keep in mind that if you are flying to where your cruise departs you are under weight restrictions (50 pounds for most checked in baggage). I had to keep our projects small and minimal. I heard/read some stories of people who participate in Disney Cruise Fish Exchanges and they have their items shipped to themselves to the ship in advance. One of the families in our group actually drove from Texas to Vancouver, B.C.!!! Um, no thank you. That family gave candy and the whole way to Vancouver from Texas they had to take off the bag that contained the candy so that it would not melt!!!

STATEROOM DOOR DECORATING:

I pinned some cute ideas on Pinterest, but the cutest by far was the Eskimo Minnie. I did order this item from Hair Majesty Boutique on Etsy MINNIE MOUSE ESKIMO STATEROOM DOOR HANGER. Once ordered it shipped within 1 day and I received it by day 3. Loved it.

I wanted to add my own touch to our stateroom door so after getting some ideas off of Pinterest I put my digital scrapbooking skills into use and made up many custom magnets for our door. I purchased 8 1/2 x 11 printable magnet sheets (Avery and a brand from Hobby Lobby). The Avery brand was far better quality than the one from Hobby Lobby (the ink set quickly and didn't smudge).

Here are my creations:

Here are a few more tips for decorating your stateroom door:

I have a little one and didn't want our full names on our door. So, I only used our initials on our magnets.

If you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary, let everyone know. Put it on a magnet! We were celebrating my daughter's 8th birthday.

Buy an inexpensive whiteboard magnet (we got ours at Daiso Japan for $3 + markers). Use the board to exchange messages with family, write messages about how you are feeling that day, leave messages for other fish exchange participants thanking them for their gift, etc. Ours got used alot!