A Christmas Ship Comes Sailing In (A Cam and Luke TR) Completed 2/18 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Signing on! I have a lot of catching up to do. Just got back from running the Dopey at WDW and the training for it really cut into my PP time. What a great start to your cruise! Love the open boarding you had and that you were able to attend the DVC welcome aboard party. That is always a "must do" for us. We are sailing next month and I am really hoping they are still giving out those Tervis mugs! Really looking forward to reading more! I always learn something new to do from your TR's.
I'm glad you could get back to sleep and then had a lovely, leisurely time on board before coming into port.
Me, too! I knew I was too awake, and didn't want to disturb Luke. At least reading is quiet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soarin829
I am so EXCITED to be catching up on the cruise portion of your trip! My husband and I are leaving on Saturday for a cruise. While not Disney (which truly saddens me!), it is a cruise nonetheless!! I am afraid we will be quite chilly on deck while the ship is moving, but the weather forecast for all of our ports seem to be quite warm.
The breeze on deck while the Magic was moving could be quite chilly for me, but our ports were all warm. Hopefully, yours will be, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Aw, don't stop there - I want to hear about going ashore!
Late disembarkation in Key West. I don't remember it being that late when we were there on DCL. Love that blue water! Glad you were able to fall back asleep, and that you didn't need to race to breakfast.
We didn't mind the late disembarkation, and as I'll explain in the next update, we had more than enough time in Key West.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures from the ship! Can't wait to hear about Key West!
Thanks! The Key West update should be at least a little bit interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Sorry your head was a little dizzy from the ship movement, but it didn't seem to affect too much. A fun first day! I will say your pictures of the ship all decked out for Christmas make me want to take a Christmas cruise! First I read Kelly's TR and saw all the Halloween decorations on the ship and now I've seen all the Christmas decorations. I really think our first cruise will be a holiday cruise. I just have to figure out which one!
I think a holiday cruise for your family's first one would be so exciting. Disney really decks out it's ships for the holidays.
Key West is one of our FAVORITE ports! Makes me sad the new ships can't pull in there.
I too seem to remember pulling into Key West about 11:30---guess that's only an hour later.
More please, I'm in serious cruise deficiency!
I hope my update on Key West doesn't disappoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy L
Signing on! I have a lot of catching up to do. Just got back from running the Dopey at WDW and the training for it really cut into my PP time. What a great start to your cruise! Love the open boarding you had and that you were able to attend the DVC welcome aboard party. That is always a "must do" for us. We are sailing next month and I am really hoping they are still giving out those Tervis mugs! Really looking forward to reading more! I always learn something new to do from your TR's.
Congrats on running the Dopey! I think we'll make sure to do the DVC welcome aboard party on any future cruises. Hope you get a Tervic mug, too. I've used mine almost every day since we got home.
What a lovely leisurely morning - just like a cruise should be. I'm interested in your views as you are in port to see what ours may be like as we're on the opposite side of the ship in October.
Oh I love the water pics .... One day I will see it, one day!
Funny that your table mates are Mike and Penny, my Uncle and Aunt are also a Mike and Penny.
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.
Just joining in.... Wowza! We have not yet had the pleasure of a Disney cruise so I am incredibly excited by your report. The ship is gorgeous, especially decked out for the holidays! The stateroom is really quite a nice size compared to other cruise lines we've sailed. Breakfast looks yummy. Looking forward to hear about your first shore day!
Looked like a nice breakfast at Cabana's! I think, I'll be having breakfast each day there on my cruise! Some nice photos coming into the port of Key West! Glad you were able to have some leisure time on board before coming into Key West!
A couple of quick questions!
On formal nights is the dress code enforced and would khakis, a button down shirt and shoes be fine? Is a jacket and tie required for guys?
For the scheduled arrival into port....how long after this should your reservation times for your port adventures be scheduled for?
Thanks!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Key West looks beautiful. It's been years since I last went to Key West..Probably 12. I have actually looked at a few this year that stop there...I just need to figure out what we plan to do before I dream of a specific spot.
What a lovely leisurely morning - just like a cruise should be. I'm interested in your views as you are in port to see what ours may be like as we're on the opposite side of the ship in October.
The entire cruise felt leisurely from start to finish. We were typically on the side where we could see the port city and the walkways in to the port.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
What beautiful blue skies and water in Key West!
We had lovely weather for our day at Key West.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oddboysmum
Oh I love the water pics .... One day I will see it, one day!
Funny that your table mates are Mike and Penny, my Uncle and Aunt are also a Mike and Penny.
The water for this whole cruise was beautiful though it was different in every place we sailed. it!
The port of Key West looks so beautiful and that water is such a gorgeous color blue!!!
I was amazed at the beautiful blues and greens of the water.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roaminggnome
The pics of that water is so inviting. Can't wait to hear about your adventures on shore.
I spent a lot of today working on our October WDW scrapbook, so no update today, but it's on my list for tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mousestruck
Just joining in.... Wowza! We have not yet had the pleasure of a Disney cruise so I am incredibly excited by your report. The ship is gorgeous, especially decked out for the holidays! The stateroom is really quite a nice size compared to other cruise lines we've sailed. Breakfast looks yummy. Looking forward to hear about your first shore day!