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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am looking to see what others think about other cruise lines. We have always cruised Disney and I am looking for a quick/cheap getaway for Jan/Feb/Mar 2017 to get a break from the winter. Looking at 3-4 night cruises on RCCL, Carnival or NCL. I'm so scared I'll be disappointed. Please advise.
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We did a Thanksgiving cruise on RCCL this past November and it was great. The ship was nice, and not one of the "party" ships that tend to take a beating from the spring breakers. We sailed Monday-Thursday and off ship Friday. Nassau and Coco Cay were our supposed stops, but the weather didn't cooperate so we had 2 days in Nassau instead.
Personally, I do not work with Carnival. This is personal choice. But I have booked many happy clients on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Celebrity. Especially some of the newer ships from RCCL and NCL!
Norwegian has a different, "freestyle" way of cruising. The ships are fine but it's definitely a different experience. They had a good mix of crowd ages when we did it and the food was okay.
I've loved Celebrity in the past. They have great prices, the specialty restaurants are wonderful, and they have a lot of ships and options. They are an older crowd and I didn't see much in the way of kids club activities.
And I just booked a Celebrity cruise to Australia/New Zealand for 2018.
I booked through Hilton Honors - CruisesOnly.com I will get Hilton points and Celebrity points. She explained that as ratings go, Celebrity is at the top, then Royal Caribbean then Norwegian.
We love and prefer DCL, but budget and destination sometimes send us elsewhere. We enjoy RCCL quite a bit. We've also done Celebrity and were quite happy there as well.
My sister and I were on the Celebrity Constellation before it went to dry dock for the Top Chef cruise. The ship itself was a dump(probably why is was going into dry dock). There was rust all over the pool deck and everything just seemed filthy. At dinner they had the Top Chef food and the Celebrity food and you can order both. We ordered one of everything and shared and maybe nothing compared to Top Chef's food but in comparison the Celebrity food was nasty. I also do not like how they put a bunch of fold out tables out everywhere and try to sell a bunch of knock offs, it felt like a flee market and cheapened the cruise. The rooms are also TINY compared to Disney. If you go in not expecting a Disney experience it will be fine.
My mom and dad just got back from a cruise on Norwiegen (sp?) and they weren't thrilled. Based on their experiences, I wouldn't be either. Only the main restaurant was included. If you wanted to eat in any of the "specialty" restaurants (i.e., the steakhouse, Italian, etc.), you had to pay extra. And, they both agreed that the food was terrible - neither of them are "foodies" either.
There also didn't seem to be as much to do (based on their description) as there is on a Disney cruise.
I've heard Royal Caribbean is good, but I wouldn't know. I've only been on one cruise and it was a Disney cruise.
My mom and dad just got back from a cruise on Norwiegen (sp?) and they weren't thrilled. Based on their experiences, I wouldn't be either. Only the main restaurant was included. If you wanted to eat in any of the "specialty" restaurants (i.e., the steakhouse, Italian, etc.), you had to pay extra. And, they both agreed that the food was terrible - neither of them are "foodies" either.
There also didn't seem to be as much to do (based on their description) as there is on a Disney cruise.
I've heard Royal Caribbean is good, but I wouldn't know. I've only been on one cruise and it was a Disney cruise.
The "main" dining room is a big deal breaker for me having experienced the type of food they offer that's included with the cruise. Most people do not realize how they nickel and dime you if you want anything better then the bare minimum. Disney cost more but you get what you pay for. Disney serves filets, salmon, bass, lamb and a bunch of other better foods then you get in the main dining room of other cruises. Not to mention the drinks. I know that by the time my family would pay for all of the drinks and the food that would be on the same level as Disney food then we would end up paying as much for the other cruise line that we do for Disney. But we would still get a smaller room and a different atmosphere.
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