As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Is anyone booked for the Southern Caribbean Cruise in 2014? That itinerary sounds amazing to me as I've never been to any of those places: St. John's, St. Lucia, St. George, Barbados, St. Kitts and San Juan. I'm SO tempted to book this for our anniversary. We took our first cruise on the Disney Magic in 2009 to the Western Caribbean.
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Is anyone booked for the Southern Caribbean Cruise in 2014? That itinerary sounds amazing to me as I've never been to any of those places: St. John's, St. Lucia, St. George, Barbados, St. Kitts and San Juan. I'm SO tempted to book this for our anniversary. We took our first cruise on the Disney Magic in 2009 to the Western Caribbean.
Which 2014 itineraries do you have your eye on?
Yes, Yes, this all sounds amazing for sure. BUT ya know what would be even more amazing in 2014?? Traveling on The MAGIC across the Atlantic....just sayin'
Yes, Yes, this all sounds amazing for sure. BUT ya know what would be even more amazing in 2014?? Traveling on The MAGIC across the Atlantic....just sayin'
That's the one I have my eye on, too. The WBTA - two weeks on the Magic and the southern ports!
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1984 WDW off-site, 2003 WDW ASS, Poly, Wonder, 2006 WDW PC, 2011 Wonder to Alaska,
2012 Wonder EBPC, 2014 Magic WBTA, 2016 WDW CSR
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I agree - those Southern Caribbean itineraries look amazing. I'm hoping they continue to do those in future years, as that's a trip I'd love to do one day. We're already booked on the itinerary that looked most amazing to us for next year - the cruise out of Venice. Can't wait!
What itinerary isn't amazing on a Disney ship?!? We are booked on a Western Caribbean on the Fantasy with a stop in Jamaica--for our anniversary as well.
Go ahead and book it! Keep us up to date on the great ports!
What itinerary isn't amazing on a Disney ship?!? We are booked on a Western Caribbean on the Fantasy with a stop in Jamaica--for our anniversary as well.
Go ahead and book it! Keep us up to date on the great ports!
I agree, we could stay on the ship the whole time and be thrilled!
__________________
Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
Is anyone booked for the Southern Caribbean Cruise in 2014? That itinerary sounds amazing to me as I've never been to any of those places: St. John's, St. Lucia, St. George, Barbados, St. Kitts and San Juan. I'm SO tempted to book this for our anniversary. We took our first cruise on the Disney Magic in 2009 to the Western Caribbean.
Which 2014 itineraries do you have your eye on?
Actually the Islands are Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, and St Kitts
(St John is the port in Antigua, St George is the port on Grenada.) As for San Juan (I presume Puerto Rico) did not show on the itinerary I looked at on DCL's website.
In any event I have been to all of them on a different cruise line and enjoyed them thoroughly (though it was on 2 cruises...Eastern and Southern Caribbean ). Would be happy to answer any questions (I saved all the port excursion information on all of them )
We are booked on the 10/4/14 Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan. It falls over our 15th anniversary and since we spent our honeymoon on the Magic, we thought it was a perfect choice. I am super excited since I have never been to any of the ports.
We are booked on the 10/4/14 Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan. It falls over our 15th anniversary and since we spent our honeymoon on the Magic, we thought it was a perfect choice. I am super excited since I have never been to any of the ports.
I would love it if you shared more info Don!
Thanks! I did not realize the cruise started in San Juan
Understand that no cruise line runs their own shore excursions, They contract with local vendors (though Disney may add some Magic them.
I will go back to my TR's and cruise 'binders' and make some notes then post here.
A great resource is cruise critics Ports section. Click on Caribbean and there will be a subfolder for every island
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Some ideas from my Southern Caribbean stops on other cruise lines.
San Juan, Puerto Rico (Port of Embarkation).
Though this is a port of embarkation, it is worth flying in a day early (or so) and enjoying. Being an American territory, your Dollar is the coin of the realm . Great visits are a tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory, and 1) Walking tour of Old San Juan including the El Morro de San Felipe (fort guarding San Juan) 2) A daytime trip to El Yunque National Rainforest
Antigua (St John’s)
St Johns is in the NW corner
A historic scenic drive of Antigua usually includes a visit to Nelson’s Dockyard (home to the British fleet in the revolutionary war through early 1800) with stops at Shirley heights and the Dow’s Interpretive center. These sights are at the south end of the island.
Alternative to the scenic drive is a tour of part of the island from sea, with lunch and beach stops (some with snorkeling).
They say Antigua has a beach for every day of the year, so a beach day with lunch is a common excursion.
As in almost every port there is a zipline adventure and Antigua has its own location where you can swim with the stingrays.
St Lucia (Castries)
Castries is at the NW corner.
Most of the tour stops are near the SW end. Primary points of visitation are views of the Pitons (two large peaks 2,000 ft) and two nearby sights Sulphur Springs drive in volcano-you are view the east side of the volcano…the town of Sufriere nearby is the location of the former west side of the volcano when it blew. Marigot bay on the way is the filming sight of “Dr. Doolittle”. Here is also the Diamond Botanical Gardens where a guide explains the flora and you get in to the mineral waters. There are usually visits here by bus (about 1 ˝ hrs each way) or you can visit by boat (sail from Castries to Soufriere)
Zipline and aerial tram tours are also often offered.
Grenada (St Georges)
Probably the economically poorest of the port stops. BUT my favorite. Why?? I love to cook and this is the spice island.
I took a tour of Laura’s Herb and Spice garden where we viewed, crushed and smelled about 30 different spices and herbs. The tour also included as stop at a factory were nutmeg was processed into jams, jellies and syrups (primary ingredient nutmeg). If you buy jams, jellies or syrup, remember to put them in checked luggage flying home or TSA will take them.
Other popular tours were to Grand Anse beach , hikes to the Seven Sisters Waterfalls, tubing on the Grenada River, and snorkeling tours.
Barbados (Bridgetown)
Lots of beach, snorkel etc tours here, including the chance to swim wild sea turtles. Scenic drives, of course; and ziplines;
For adults, a visit to the Mount Gay rum factory is fun often with a second stop at the local brewery (Banks beer).
The other two popular sights are the Andromeda Botanical Gardens and Harrison’s Cave. The cave visit is not recommended for wheel chair patients. A glass elevator takes you down 80 feet and then an electric train takes you to the great hall, including underground waterfall.
St Kitts/Nevis (Basseterre)
Two islands connected by a small channel.
The north island St Kitts is the most travelled.
St Kitts railway is very popular. Take a one way trip along the sugar cane route. A scenic bus ride is also included as it is on the east side of the island.
Romney Manor is the oldest sugar plantation on the island, with Caribelle Batik on the property. Brimstone Hill is a UNESCO world heritage fortress. Common tours stop and any and all of these locations. I took one that included Romney Manor , Caribelle Batik and a two hour guided hike through the rainforest. (one of the best ‘tours’ I have taken J )
Many other tours include beach stops with snacks or lunch and swim time.
Nevis is a couple miles south, and usually is a boat ride and a day at Pinney’s beach.
Charlie and I are booked on the October 11th sailing. We are super excited about this sailing since neither of us has been to any of the islands we will be visiting.
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I'm hoping they continue to do those in future years, as that's a trip I'd love to do one day. We're already booked on the itinerary that looked most amazing to us for next year - the cruise out of Venice. Can't wait! 
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