Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue TR-Cruise portion **Updated 3/7** COMPLETE - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Love all the character pics! I'm not a fan of eating with strangers either. Do they sit families by themselves or with other families? I am currently checking cruises for 2010.
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Sorry you were disappointed in the food at AP. We really enjoyed our dinners there on our 7 night EC back in MArch. We had out Pirate night when we were at Parrot Cay and it felt so perfect for the setting. Tropical setting restaurant. I would have felt odd sitting in Lumiere's wearing my pirate mickey ears. I hope you got past the moving ship feeling and may want to take a longer cruise in the future.
__________________
Love, April
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass;
it's about learning to dance in the rain.
We woke up nice and early for our Castaway Cay day. This was really a kid on Christmas kind of moment....waking up and running to the verandah to see the view. And this is what we saw...
Paradise!
We threw on our bathing suits, put on some sunscreen, tossed some clothes on over our suits, and headed up to Beach Blanket for breakfast. We were able to get a table outside which was a really nice way to start the day We had enough time before they let us off that we were able to relax and enjoy our breakfast. When we were done we headed down to get off the boat once they made the announcement. According to the Captain we were looking at a great day... only 10% chance of rain. (or was it ?? You'll see....)
So we got off and took a self shot by the Christmas tree
One of the CMs saw us and took one for us...
We walked down to catch the tram and head to the beach. Our Stingray excursion was for 10am and it was only about 8:30 right now. Funny store about how absent-minded I can be. That morning I was a little worried b/c our excursion tickets weren't in our room. So we went to the guest services desk and they printed more for us, no big deal. Later that night when I was packing and cleaning up, I found our tickets ...oops... they had been with our first day stuff and I had completely forgotten that I commented about them....it's even on video Oh well.... no harm no foul.
We stopped for photo at Mt. Rustmore
And then we hit up the family beach first.
And guess who we saw on the family beach! None other than our adult pool bar buddy Shri! He came walking up to us "Hello Andy and Melissa, I expected you to be on the adult beach" he says! I was so amazed he remembered our names! We talked to him for a bit, told him we planned to hit the adult beach later and asked if he'd be here all day which he would be We loved us some Shri!
Since we were like only 2 of maybe 25 people on the beach at this point, we scored a hammock
Andy tried it out first...
And then he was nice enough to let me lay it in for awhile.....I have to say, I've never really laid properly in a hammock. It was niiiiiiice.
This picture pops up on my screensaver at work and it just makes me smile....
We relaxed for awhile until it got closer to our Stingray time. Then we made our way over to where it was located. We were early checkin in so they gave you your snorkle stuff and let you go into this other water area to practice and swim while you wait. The water was coold and I wasn't sure if I wanted to stick my head under yet. Andy got right in. I swear he's part fish.
As we waited for our time the clouds started rolling in. 10% chance of rain? Really? We had just started our time where we were getting the introduction and speech about the rays and what to do, when it started POURING rain. And with the rain, came the wind. It was freezing now. Perfect. Just perfect.
So they took us down there to feed the rays first. It was a neat experience, but it was so cold it was hard to enjoy it. We got to let them suck food from our fingers about 3 or 4 times. There was one bossy flossy ray that kept trying to sneak back in and get more After we fed them for about 15 minutes or so we were let loose with our "free time" with the rays. I think we had about 20 minutes of free time. I'm just guessing but that's about what it felt like.... probably 10 minutes of intro, 15 to feed, and 20 to play. That equals to almost an hour. I just sort of walked around and stalked them......I just like watching them in the water. I was not about to submerge myself in that freezing water. Sure it would get warm after you were in there for a few minutes, but then you had to get out! And that wind, uh uh, no way Jose. Andy however, went right in. I took some pictures and Andy took some of me, but me in a bathing suit whilst freezing, does not do well for Melissa Talk about being whitey mcwhite!
But here's one of Andy and the rays...
A random ray swimming by..
and me and Andy freezing our faces off...
After the ray excursion we piled our clothes back on and caught the tram to the adult beach. We grabbed drinks at the bar (hey it was after 10am, and it was cold, so we figured, what the hey, maybe it'll warm us up).
When we got to the adult beach we saw others had the same idea, too. There was a young couple beside us on their honeymoon (Andy told me that b/c he remembered them from our first night b/c they got a cake at their table at Triton's and had to be recognized). Anyway, they were well on their way to being blitzed. They, like us, were praying for sun....just wishing it to come back......
I had started with the drink of the day. The Stingray for $3.95. You can't beat that! And I was wrapped up in as many towels as I could find.......
We battled it out for about 45 minutes and finally said screw it. We decided we'd be more happy if we just went back to the boat, changed clothes, came back and drank and ate all day on the beach. I mean really, I hate being in a bathing suit and sitting around damp all day anyway, so this was perfect for me. So that's what we did.....
I took a couple shots on the way to the tram and on the tram back to the boat...
When we got to our room poor Allan was so confused. "You not going to beach?" We told him we were but we had to change clothes, it was too cold. He let us have our room (he was cleaning it at that time). We changed and were back out on the tram in no time.
I had to take this picture...
Because Andy's job title is "Mailing Specialist" for his company and he deals a lot with the Post Office. I had to force him to let me take it
We grabbed a couple more drinks and were just in time to see the Lilo and Stitch hula dance party thing.
Andy got into it
After the dance we headed over to catch the tram to the adult beach and grab some lunch.
It was very shortly after this shot that I almost killed my camera. I've had it since fall of 06 and this was the first time I'd let it drop......I had it in my lap and I think I thought the strap was around my arm....I got up, and it went down! Lens first of course, on the floor of the tram...making the loudest THUD noise ever. I just knew Andy would freak out on me....but he didn't......and I checked it and it still worked so it survived it's first major fall. Not that I plan on there being a second
We went to grab some lunch and saw that the little birdies were enjoying lunch already...
We both opted for the Mahi Mahi. Andy had his sandwich style while I just went for the fish. We both had some pastas on the side and then went and sat at the bar by the beach to eat.
This was actually pretty good. The fish was cooked well and very tasty and I always love pasta salads
The sun had come back out by now, of course So we decided, or rather I decided, that we'd walk the bike path. Ai yi yi, that was a walk. And considering halfway through I had to go to the bathroom so bad, it felt even longer than it was But it was worth it. The view of the beach was very pretty...
We stood there for awhile, taking pictures and relaxing, before walking back. The walk back didn't seem to take as long. I think it was because on the walk there we had no idea how much further we had to go
We caught the tram back to the family beach....
Our Disney stomachs were talking to us so we decided to hunt down some food. We found some pizza We took our pizza and copped a squat in the sand on the beach....
It was a great moment. That picture makes me smile. The pizza wasn't great, but it was like the great frozen pizza you get a hankering for every now and then, and eating it while sitting there in the sand looking out at that beautiful water, with my sweetie, it was perfect
We sat there for awhile and watched more clouds roll in. We decided we better head back before it rained again. It was probably 4:00 by now. We decided to walk the path rather than catch the tram. Why, I don't remember. Maybe it had just left, maybe there was a bunch of folks waiting, maybe both. But we walked back...
We got closer to the boat, when the bottom fell out We were soaked!!!
I took this self shot of us, dripping, once we got back on board...
Coming up: More relaxing onboard, Palo, and our last night.....
Glad your stomach was a bit more settled your second night, sorry though that AP was not up to par, the fact that you had to wait so long for your entrees, that would have ruined the meal for me even if the food was amazing. The Pirate party looked like it was great fun.
Sorry it was so cold and it rained on your Castaway Cay day but it seems like you made the best of it and had a wonderful time anyway....
Oh no, rain in paradise? That picture of the hammock made me want to jump on a plane so badly! I cannot WAIT to finally get there! I'm sorry to hear you were freezing. Loved to look at your pictures, though!
The hammock pics reminded me of those great corona commercials! Such a great day despite the rain though.....their private island looks amazing!! I am def doing this cruise one day for sure....
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We had enough time before they let us off that we were able to relax and enjoy our breakfast. When we were done we headed down to get off the boat once they made the announcement. According to the Captain we were looking at a great day... only 10% chance of rain. 
(or was it 
You'll see....)
Oh well.... no harm no foul.
We loved us some Shri!
Talk about being whitey mcwhite!
So we decided, or rather I decided, that we'd walk the bike path. Ai yi yi, that was a walk. And considering halfway through I had to go to the bathroom so bad, it felt even longer than it was 
We took our pizza and copped a squat in the sand on the beach....
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
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