A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 55 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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I have always thought Alaska was so beautiful, but the lack of sunshine for nearly 6 months plus the cold and isolation haven't made it a place where I could live. Very nice to get a window seat at Palo again.
Although, four months out of the year (June-September and part of May) are quite nice, but would never consider living there and just visit like on a cruise! The weather is quite volatile to say the least and is a vast understatement! Even worse being so isolated as many of these communities and small towns are! The populations are quite sparse and what do you do in the middle of winter where there is nothing for miles (stores, gas etc) with several feet of snow on the roads for months without any plows to clear it? I suppose you just prepare yourself for months of this and stock up with non perishable foods and the lot?
Not my way of life and don't think I could get used to it as I don't even like the winters here in CT!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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I have always thought Alaska was so beautiful, but the lack of sunshine for nearly 6 months plus the cold and isolation haven't made it a place where I could live. Very nice to get a window seat at Palo again.
Oh my goodness, I hadn't even thought about the lack of sunshine! How on earth people can live like that, I do not know.
Although, four months out of the year (June-September and part of May) are quite nice, but would never consider living there and just visit like on a cruise! The weather is quite volatile to say the least and is a vast understatement! Even worse being so isolated as many of these communities and small towns are! The populations are quite sparse and what do you do in the middle of winter where there is nothing for miles (stores, gas etc) with several feet of snow on the roads for months without any plows to clear it? I suppose you just prepare yourself for months of this and stock up with non perishable foods and the lot?
That would be my assumption too, but how the heck you prepare for that, I really have no idea.
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Not my way of life and don't think I could get used to it as I don't even like the winters here in CT!
Imagine how I feel - our winters are practically nothing over here, compared to yours....
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Sunday 6 September – part six: that is way too much for one person!
Tonight, Alex asked us what we wanted from the antipasti trolley and we explained to him that’s how it’s done on all the other ships. As he said, he suspected that would change soon on the Wonder, and I’m sure it will.
We decided to go for something a bit different tonight, with me getting the Sicilian pesto marinated grilled shrimp on a mussel, crab, and cherry tomato ragu, which was absolutely lovely, although my goodness, there was so much of it!
Mark had the mozzarella caprese, buffalo mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil and virgin olive oil, so really no change at all there. He pronounced it better than at brunch, but I did tell him that didn’t surprise me, given it’s a buffet item for brunch, whereas here it’s an entrée item. I would hope it would be better quality.
Mark then went for the fritto di calamari, lightly crusted calamari served with deep fried cherry peppers, which I tried a little bit of, and it was exceptionally light. He asked Alex if he could have some garlic mayonnaise with it, and he said he’d ask. He came back to say they didn’t have any, but the chef would make him some.
Oh my goodness, look what arrived! There was way too much for one person, and although I helped out with a couple of mouthfuls (it was very good by the way ), there was no way Mark was going to finish it, and most of it sadly went back.
As Mark was having a second appetiser, Alex asked if I wanted a small version of my favourite lobster and mascarpone ravilio and somehow he just managed to twist my arm. So much for me having something different, but heck, if someone is literally going to offer you your favourite dish on a plate for you what would you do?
For entrée, I did go for something different – the pappardelle con aragosta, made up of lobster, parsley, and fennel with chilli and fresh tomato sauce,but without the chilli, as I really don’t like spicy foods. Alex expertly took it apart for me, and I told him I could’ve done with him at the crab feast yesterday!
It was excellent, although I felt there was a little too much pasta for the lobster, and a little less would’ve been good.
Mark asked Alex which he would recommend out of the veal and the lamb, and Alex said the latter, so Mark got the oregano and parmesan crusted rack of lamb withSanglovese roasted shallots, olive oil baked Roma tomatoes, potato torta and herb jus.
For dessert, it had to be the chocolate soufflé with vanilla bean and chocolate sauce, and again this was excellent, although there was just way too much of it for either of us to finish it.
Alex mentioned that they’d be changing their dessert menu shortly, and I suggested to him that they should put Italian gelato on it. I’m glad I did, as he told me they served both gelato and sorbet, but apparently only to VIPs who’d done the rest of the dessert menu. I will say here we haven’t done the rest of the dessert menu, there just really isn’t that much that appeals to me on it. However, I wasn’t about to tell him that!
He ended up bringing out three samplers, although in truth, they were each massive scoops and could’ve been desserts in their own right. We got the hazelnut gelato, which I thought had sounded wonderful, but I actually found it quite heavy, although the flavours in it were beautiful.
The second one was melon and mint, and this just went to show how much flavours can differ from one person to the next. I found it way too minty for me, and the mint just overwhelmed the mango. However, Mark couldn’t taste the mint in it at all. Go figure!
The third one was, for me, the winner – strawberry basil, and one I’d never have tried in a million years, as the combination sounded horrible. However, it was just beautiful, and all I could taste was the strawberry, with perhaps the mildest hint of something else, but had I not known, I wouldn’t have been able to place it.
Alex then brought out two complimentary drinks to finish our meal, but forgot I couldn’t have apple, so I cheekily joked that perhaps I should just have limoncello, as that was what was in it. Next I knew, I had a complimentary glass of the stuff!
I really cannot fault any of our meals here. Palo delivered time and time again, and I am so glad we were able to do two dinners and two brunches here. Alex was an absolute star, and we loved him to pieces, and it’s just a shame Marcello was feeling ill (apparently the reason he wasn’t there today ) as he had been a real star too. Both would get honourable mentions in my survey the next day.
Once we finished there, it was past 9:00pm, so we popped into Shutters to see if our CD was ready. Sadly it wasn’t so we made our way back to the room, and put the last of the items in our suitcases, and sent all four outside for the night. This was what awaited us tonight:
It wasn’t long after that we were asleep, as we knew we had an early start tomorrow.
The weather today was dry and sunny with temperatures in the high 50s. The best thing today was our meals at Palo. The worst thing today was having to pack while rocking and rolling about. Today we tried going to one of the talks by the on board naturalist And the result was he was lovely to listen to, and we learnt so much from it. The most magical moment today was standing out on deck, admiring the amazing scenery and how we zig zagged through the islands.
What a great day at sea! Such beautiful scenery along the way! Glad you were able to get into Palo for brunch! Delish! And dinner as well! My goodness! A great day all around!
Wow, what a great dinner! So happy your service was just as good. I'm not a lamb fan, but Mark's meal looked delicious. Great last dinner for this cruise!
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Tanya
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What a great day at sea! Such beautiful scenery along the way! Glad you were able to get into Palo for brunch! Delish! And dinner as well! My goodness! A great day all around!
Wow, what a great dinner! So happy your service was just as good. I'm not a lamb fan, but Mark's meal looked delicious. Great last dinner for this cruise!
Okay, your four Palo meals have convinced me that we really must do Palo the next time we cruise. We've always been a little fearful that we'd not like the cuisine, but so many of the dishes you two had would appeal to one or the other of us.
OK, I clearly need to head to bed. I must have read the sentence where you said Mark pronounced the mozzarella caprese better at dinner than brunch, about ten times, trying to figure out different pronounciations of mozzarella. Then I finally realized he liked the one better than the other!
Dinner looked fantastic, but made me sad we never made our Palo dinner - despite three different reservations.....
Nice to know they have gelato, but I can never seem to stray from the soufflé!
Okay, your four Palo meals have convinced me that we really must do Palo the next time we cruise. We've always been a little fearful that we'd not like the cuisine, but so many of the dishes you two had would appeal to one or the other of us.
I don't know that you ever get tired of the scenery, but, you sure get tired of the weather. At least I do here in MT.
That I can fully understand, but you can be consoled by the fact you have the cutest airport we've ever used - we absolutely loved it when we flew in there to head over to Yellowstone.
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Very nice to get a window seat at Palo again. 
Even worse being so isolated as many of these communities and small towns are! The populations are quite sparse and what do you do in the middle of winter where there is nothing for miles (stores, gas etc) with several feet of snow on the roads for months without any plows to clear it? 
I suppose you just prepare yourself for months of this and stock up with non perishable foods and the lot? 
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PassPorter Guide Author
How on earth people can live like that, I do not know. 
), there was no way Mark was going to finish it, and most of it sadly went back. 
So much for me having something different, but heck, if someone is literally going to offer you your favourite dish on a plate for you 
who’d done the rest of the dessert menu. I will say here we haven’t done the rest of the dessert menu, there just really isn’t that much that appeals to me on it. However, I wasn’t about to tell him that! 
) as he had been a real star too. Both would get honourable mentions in my survey the next day. 
Great end to the day. 
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
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