Pledging myself to family fun aboard a Disney cruise ship

Preparing to go on my first Disney cruise seems a bit like pledging my sorority.

There are acronyms to be learned; DCL for Disney Cruise Lines, FE for fish extenders (I’ll explain that later) and KTTW for the Key to the World card that serves as your room key and credit card.

With my sorority, Delta Gamma, it’s no exception. Members are DGs, and we always sign our letters with a secret three letter acronym.

Like a sorority, on a Disney cruise there are wardrobe issues to consider. What should I wear to pirate night and the semi-formal? Do I dare attempt a smoky eye?

There’s also a social hierarchy to master. Repeat DCL passengers are called Castaway Club members, and are ranked as silver, gold and platinum. In a sorority there are pledges, big sisters, little sisters, officers and alumni.

I pledged my sorority back in the dark ages before social media. I relied on my sisters to show me the way. But social media makes pledging my vacation to DCL easy. It turns out that there is almost always an unofficial Facebook group for every sailing date.

Not only do people plan meet-and-greets and pajama breakfasts, but Castaway Club members patiently guide new initiates like me.

If it wasn’t for my DCL Facebook group, I wouldn’t have known that the cabin doors were magnetic and that everyone who was anyone brought custom made magnets to decorate their door. Ours is a picture of the Disney Fantasy decorated for Christmas, with “The Bardsley Family” spelled out in big letters.

The Facebook group was also essential for fish extender organization. All right, what’s a fish extender? A fish extender is a cross between a quilt, a stocking and a personalized envelope that hangs down from the fish decoration next to a cabin door.

Working in prearranged groups, passengers surprise each other with presents that they leave in the fish extenders. Some people spend months creating hand-made gifts for total strangers. I’ve never seen Secret Santa played on a Carnival, Celebrity, Regent Seven Seas or Royal Caribbean cruise, but back in my sorority, my sisters surprised me with gifts all the time.

In the Facebook group, people from all over the world bond over their shared DCL love. Singles and couples are just as welcome as those traveling with children. People “pixie dust” each other with gifts and reservations. There are pen-pal lists for children.

Mentoring happens every day, as well as fellowship. This is what happens in a good sorority, too. Whenever I meet a fellow DG, I feel a connection, even if we didn’t go to the same college.

I haven’t boarded the Disney Fantasy yet, but I can already tell that a Disney cruise is unlike any cruise I’ve been on before.

Castaway members, I’m ready to commit to your fraternal order of fun. The first thing I’m buying on the Fantasy is a Mickey Mouse pin.

Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as The YA Gal.