As you’d expect from a brand like Disney, a Disney Cruise has about 6.4 billion fun things to do onboard. Shows, parties, waterslides, shopping, pools, mini-golf, tea parties, splash pads, character greetings, you name it, they’ve got it! There’s also an extra gift exchange program called the fish extender program that’s not sponsored by the Disney Cruise Line, but organized and run by passengers. We LOVED participating in the program. My kids had a blast helping pass out gifts and were so excited each time they received a gift.
What is a Fish Extender?
A fish extender (FE) is a pocket organizer that you hang on the fish hook outside of your cabin on a Disney Cruise. The hook was originally used by the cast members onboard to hang information about your cruise. Kind of like a cruise mailbox. But these days, most of the cruise information is delivered via the Disney Cruise Line app.
What is the Fish Extender for?
The FE is used as part of the fish extender gift exchange program on a Disney Cruise. This completely optional program isn’t run by Disney or the Cruise line – it’s actually organized and run by guests on the Disney Cruise. To sign up for the program you’ll start out by searching Facebook for the date of your cruise and signing up through the group for the program. You’ll be assigned about 5-6 other families who will be part of your specific FE group. You’ll make or purchase gifts for each of the people in your group (or do one larger gift for each cabin) and deliver the gifts during your Disney Cruise. The other guests in your group will be making or purchase gifts as well. So every now and then, when you return to your cabin, your FE pocket organizer will be filled with gifts!
Where can I purchase a fish extender?
You can purchase really adorable personalized fish extenders on Etsy, or you can make one yourself!
What kind of gifts should I make or buy?
The sky is the limit when it comes to gifts! I’d start by setting a price limit for each gift or cabin. Most groups also make a spreadsheet with each person’s age, gender, favorite characters, favorite colors, etc. You can personalize each gift, or just do one big gift for each cabin. We received so many cool gifts and I’m excited about our next cruise now that I have a lot more ideas! (Click here to see one of the gifts we passed out on our first cruise.)
Here’s our fish extender. My mother-in-law’s sweet friend made it for us!
The kids had so much fun helping pass out our gifts! (Sorry for the blurry iPhone pic.)
And here are some of the amazing gifts we received:
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disney cruise in room gifts
