Cruising for a Bruising - 7 nights with nine members (well close enough) of the same family **COMPLETE** - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Cruising for a Bruising - 7 nights with nine members (well close enough) of the same family **COMPLETE**
Hello again from the shores of the St. Johns River in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida. Its time for another Terri (DrDolphin) Disney Cruise Line trip report. It seems like this is almost becoming an annual event for me. I guess before I go any further – we should introduce the nine members of our tour party (OMG – am I nuts?? Touring with NINE members of the same family?? Ok officially eight and one to be).
Me – DrDolphin – 38 years young
Marine Biologist & Lover of all things Disney
DVC Member and Castaway Club Member
5th Disney Cruise
DH2B – Chris (known on the boards as Crick85.. don’t look for him too often – he doesn’t post…) – 42 years younger
Pharmacist and learning to love Disney
1st cruise (amazing since he was in the Navy for 6 years and was never on a ship!!!)
DM – My mother – old enough to be my mother
Veteran cruiser – 3rd DCL Cruise
DF – My father
Veteran cruiser – 3rd DCL cruise
DNiece - 10 years old (35 in wisdom sometimes) (DN10)
3rd DCL cruise
DNephew - 6 years old (almost 7) (DN6)
1st DCL cruise
DAunt
My dad’s sister
1st DCL cruise – but has cruised on other lines
DUncle
My dad’s brother in law
1st DCL cruise
DCousin
Aunt & Uncle’s 21 year old, disabled daughter
1st DCL cruise – but has cruised with her parents before
WHEW!!! Did you get all that?? NINE people. Ok - so how did we get here? Time to strap on the way-back machine (this gives you the opportunity to scan forward and skip all my ramblings if you want….) and go back to see how this adventure all began -
My parents and their siblings have cruised together before – about five years ago to Hawaii on the now defunct NCL –America line. And about a year ago – my parents were talking to them again and dad’s sister (DA) suggested they do it again. At the time, mom’s sister DA2 and her spouse were part of the traveling party as well. But that changed. DA said (or so I’ve been told) that since DM and DD have spoken so highly of their DCL cruises with me – they should do DCL. DM booked for all of them – called me and asked me if I could join… here is where things got sticky.
It was March of last year – and I had submitted my application for a yearlong training session with work – and had to wait to see what the calendar for the training classes would be. So I was on HOLD… now that was just not nice… my family, that I introduced to DCL cruising – is planning a trip without me… POUT.
Well – while Lesley and I were bobbing around the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific Oceans on the Westbound relocation cruise last year, the PA schedule was finally released – and praise be – the week of my family’s cruise was OPEN. Now – this was great news – see I was ON BOARD a DCL ship – see where I am going here? Onboard re-booking bennies!! I emailed my mom from the ship, and she was going to add me to her cabin… 3 adults in a cat 6??? Not exactly roomy. So – she asked me if I could get an inside cabin (since that was about as much as I could swing $$) and agree to bring DN10. I was worried about DN6 feeling left out (see DN10 went on the Med cruise with us 2 years ago – when she was DN8 and DN6 didn’t go…). Mom said to go ahead and book onboard, and we would add DN6 if DSis allowed us to (see we hadn’t even asked my sister if we could steal her kids for a week!!). So I had cabin 7001 – Cat 10, inside stateroom booked with a $200 on board credit and re-booking discount. YEAH!!
Next installment - the challenge of adding a DBF!!!
Great pre-trip report except for the comment about me not being a poster. Looking forward to finding out what our itinerary is and hobnobbing it with other well-bred members of high class society
__________________
Pardon Me - would you have any Grey Poupon? (High tea at GF - Aug 2008)
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by crick85
Great pre-trip report except for the comment about me not being a poster. Looking forward to finding out what our itinerary is and hobnobbing it with other well-bred members of high class society
Hi Honey - gee post #2. You're making progress. At this rate - you might make it three before we go on the honeymoon cruise. As for hobnobbing it with rest of high society... inside cat 10 on the Titanic would have been steerage.... good thing this isn't the Titanic....
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
The troubles begin
AKA - how do I add my Boyfriend to this trip?
Fast forward about a month – and I meet DH2B (at that point known as DBF) and a few months into our relationship, I mentioned this cruise, and he mentioned he might be interested in going…. OK – major challenge here… Will GRANDMA (DM) allow DN10 to stay in my cabin with DBF and me??? How will DS feel about that – how will DN10 feel about that? How will DBF feel about that?? So after some discussion, it was decided that DM and DF would upgrade from a cat 6 to a cat 4 – and they, plus DN10 and DN6 would share that (we had added him by this point).
A little while later, after transferring the ressie to TA (our own Belle*), I decided to surprise DBF with the Romance package while we were on board… A first for me. We had our dining reservation added to my parent’s group – so we were a table of 11 at the early seating (remember we have kiddos….). Months go by and we get closer to pay it off time – and booking of excursions, Palo, spa, etc – and the bad news starts.
My DU2’s company is threatening significant layoffs – and he is worrying about dishing out significant $$ for a cruise that they may need to live off of… so he decides to wait until the last moment to decide if he and DA2 will join us. Ends up that they won’t be. So now we have Nine folks. I should say that while we will be dining together and maybe seeing shows together – DH2B and I have separate excursions booked (with a couple of exceptions on CC).
Now you know the backstory of the cruise – we can get to the details – what are we doing – when?
The rest of the crew from NM, OR and IL will be flying into Orlando on Friday the 24th of July and taking a Quicksilver towncar/van to the port (at my recommendation – cheaper than Disney transport) and staying at the Cocoa Beach Hilton. The next morning, Chris and I will be driving down from JAX. He works until 11pm on Friday night, and I will have returned from two weeks in Alaska the prior Sunday – so we will need all week to get me back on the right time zone, and pack all our stuff for the cruise.
We plan to be on the road by 8am and pull into the DCL terminal bldg right about 1030 (it’s a 2 hr 25 min drive usually). That should let us be on the early boarding group. The traveling contingent will meet us at the terminal and I think we will board together, or at least close to each other.
Plans for the cruise –
Ship Itinerary –
July 25 – Sail Away
July 26 – Key West
July 27 – At Sea
July 28 – Grand Cayman
July 29 – Cozumel
July 30 – At Sea
July 31 – Castaway Cay
Aug 1 – Back to the House and start planning the 2 week trans-Atlantic honeymoon cruise!!
And our plans –
Key West – GPS Walking Tour
1st Day at Sea - Spa Appt
Grand Cayman – Stingray City Snorkeling & Palo Dinner
Cozumel – Zip Line, Snorkel combo
At Sea – Palo Brunch (all adults in the party) & Spa Appt (trying for a couple’s suite)
Castaway Cay – Parasailing, Bike riding (w/DN10) & Mr. Ray’s Stingray (with DN6 and DN10)
Well – that is it for now – the basic plans for our party of nine. I don’t know what DA, DN and DC are doing for excursions yet, and really don’t know what DM, DF and the DN and DN are doing either. I’ve sort of been in a planning void as far as they have been concerned.
I will come back with more details on the planning, packing and paying details – as well as a live “Floridian freezing in Alaska” trip report right before the cruise takes off!!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Oh, goody... a Dr Dolphin cruise report! Great plans and as always I'm amazed at how you keep everything organized with your busy work and play schedule. Not to mention planning a wedding and honeymoon trip!
Terri, I totally didn't know we were the same age....shows you how well I pay attention on FB! Looking forward to reading about your trip (even though none of the excursions except Stingray Ray's match up to what we're doing in Oct! Maybe that's good, a little variety!). Do I recall that you did a zipline excursion on your Panama cruise?
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Great start, sounds like you have just the right balance of quality family time and some time for you and Chris as well. Great excusions planned...love the idea of zip lining. Can't wait to hear more.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Parlor Panther in 'stalking mode'
Hybrid Mode
