My first trip-report: Double Dip Castaway Cay 5/18-5/22 ** Updated 6/14** - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
My first trip-report: Double Dip Castaway Cay 5/18-5/22 ** Updated 6/14**
(or as I like to call it: THE BEST VACATION EVER )
I was restless the night before. I slept good for a while, but everytime I woke up I would just lay in bed and dream happy thoughts of my vacation that was coming up so soon. We finally woke up around 8 and got out of bed. We showered early and got dressed. We then went through our check lists of stuff we needed to pack to make sure we had everything. We were ready to go. It was time to leave, FINALLY!!!!!!! We had to do some last minute things right before we left so we left a bit later than usual. We were still out of the house by 11:45 though. We headed out for the hour or so drive to the port. We finally passed over the bridge and saw 'her' there. The Wonder in all her glory. I was so excited I think I screamed a little.
When we got there we dropped all the luggage (3 in all) and me off at the luggage drop off in the Magic's parking lot. My DH then went to park the car. It felt like he was gone for ever, but in reality it was probably about 15-20 minutes. That was long enough to park a car. When he finally got to me we went inside and went through security and on up to the check in area. We luckily enough got to go into the Castaway Club line. There were quite a few people in the regular check in line. We went through pretty smoothly. We boarded and they welcomed us on. We went to go to lunch at Parrot Cay. Unfortunatley they were turning people away because they were full. So much to my dismay we went to Beach Blanket Buffet. Not that I have anything against it, I just like Parrot Cay better.
After lunch we went to our room. To our surprise all of or luggage was waiting for us outside our door. We brought it in and took a look around our room. We ordered the deluxe fruit plate and that was in our room when we got there. It looked so tasty (and it was)!!!
After we unpacked we read through our info for the day. Of course we had to go to the emergency life jacket thing. Ours, like last time, was in Animator's Palate. We went to the Adventures Away Celebration deck party. There were some fun goings on in that show. It was SO hot and humid though. We were on deck 10 looking down at the family pool and the stage. It was just so hot. We went to the beverage station about 3 times during that. After the party I sat in the shade to try and cool off and my DH went to peer over the side of the ship and wave to the 2 castmembers with their Mickey hands on.
Our 'horn' went off and I had tears in my eyes, as usual. It was so great. There were campers a bit down by the beach and because they were there they sounded the 'horn' again. Again, I had tears in my eyes. I just LOVE that thing. I can't get enough. In our travel out of the port we saw a manatee. I don't think he was supposed to be there. I think he was lost. While we were sailing along I tried to see the Space Shuttle docked but it was so hazy with the humidity that I couldn't see it. It was very upsetting. I said I would try to see it on the way back, sadly, I forgot to do so.
We then went back to our room to cool off and decide on what to do. We sat on the balcony for a bit. We decided to swimming and go sit in the hot tub for a bit. It was so very nice and relaxing. It was very much needed. What a great way to start our vacation. I then decided I was hungry so we went to go get a snack. We decided to go to Pluto's Dog House. I had a fish burger, fries, tomato salad and some pickles. I love the pickles at Disney. They are the best. I lost count at 5 stops to get pickles. I'm obsessed. My DH wanted to play ping pong so we did. I am really not that good at all. We had alot of fun and laughed alot, which was nice.
After our fun we headed back to the room and showered and got changed for dinner. Tonight dinner was at Parrot Cay, just as we predicted. We had the 8:15 We sat at a table for 8. 6 of us were there. There was a couple from Kentucky who were celebrating their 3 year wedding anniversary. Then there was a monther and her son who I guess was about 10 or so. They were very quiet. I am the same way. My DH will just talk to anyone. So he chatted up our table mates and I sat there and said nothing. I'm not very talkative if I don't know you. Our drink server was Miguel from Chile and our main server was Branel from India. They were both super nice and Branel was very helpful when I needed to make some decisions on what to eat. Our head server was Richard from France. He stopped by twice. We had table mates from Kentucky and he didn't know where it was. He said he would look and let us know the next day that he knew where it was. That didn't happen during our 4 night stay. He came back the next day and said he forgot. So we never found out if he found out. I have to say it was the BEST meal we've had there EVER. I can't say enough about it. Here's what we had:
ME: Parrot Cay Salad, Grouper weth vegatables and tomatoes with lemon-butter shrimp sauce. I asked for fruit for dessert since I'm not a big fan of dessert, unless it's ice cream or cheesecake.
DH: Parrot Cay Salad, Ribe Eye with baked potato, greens beans and onion rings and an ice cream sundae for dessert.
After our delicious dinner we went for a walk around deck 4 and ended up stopping in the stores to buy me a key chain and a shirt. We both saw some other stuff we wanted, but we decided to wait.
We headed back to the room to go to sleep since I had a wake up call set for 7:30 and I ordered room service so we can eat in our room and get ready to go to paradise. So eneded our first day at sea. Boy, was it GREAT!!!!!!!!
(I know it's not hard to upload photos, but it is for me...sorry...I have so many too...on this trip I took about 1600 pics~I would love to share, just give me some time and I'll get it to work out)
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.
Great start! I can't wait to read more about it! I too know what you mean about that first sight of the ship and the sounding of the horn! I have the wave file on my computer at work and if I'm a bit down (and my office mate is not there) I have sounded it!
More of your story, please!
Day 2 of the BEST VACATION EVER!! Other wise known as 5/19/2008
So day 2 started early. We woke up at 7:20 when the ship started reversing into Castaway Cay. It was very loud. I had room service coming between 7:30-8 with breakfast and they were VERY prompt. Breakfast consisted of danish, bagels, cereal and juice. He was there at 7:30 on the nose. We got our Mickey Mouse wake up call at 7:35 even though we were already awake. We showered up and let the room about 8:30. It was VERY hot and VERY humid today. It made the day pretty hard.
When we got off the ship we went straight to Serenity Bay. We got us a hammock then went to the water and tested out the 77 degree water. We then layed on our hammock and relaxed and listened to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. At about 9:30 we went to go get our floats from the rental place. We ended up getting tubes instead of floats today. We floated around in those for a bit and then my DH decided he wanted to snorkel. So we were off to Gil's to get our snorkel stuff. While there we found this great little hideaway part of the beach with hammocks and the ship in the background. We then donned our snorkel gear and headed for the ocean at the family beach. We found all the sunken treasure under the sea (HA HA!!!) and took many pictures with my underwater camera (that is 27 pictures) in about 5 minutes. Keep in mind we were snorkeling for about an hour.
After snorkeling we decided to return our gear to Gils since we were REALLY tired due to the fact that we didn't sleep well last night since our room made 'ship settling' noises and we were up so early this morning. We dried off and went to Cookie's BBQ for lunch. It was quit tasty. It consisted of: chicken, burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, tomato salad, mahi mahi, cole slaw, potato salad, pasta salad, chips, fruit and little breads and cookies for dessert. After lunch we walked around and took some GREAT pictures.
After walking around we decided to get back on the ship and take a nap since we were very tired. We napped for about and hour and a half and then showered which is when we noticed how sunburned we got today. Boy will it hurt over the next few days. Our sunscreen didn't do it's job. We put it on numerous times today too. Didn't do a darn thing. When we woke up I was hungry and decided I needed a snack. So we were off to...you guessed it...Pluto's Dog House. I just love that place. I again had a fish burger, fries, tomato salad and yes a side of pickles. DH had a hot dog and fries. When we were done with that we headed back to the room to get ready for
"Toy Story The Musical". The show was FANTASTIC!!!!!!! It was really great. I have to say I was sad to Hercules go since I loved Hercules, but they did a good job replacing it. It was just so great.
When the show ended we walked through the Atrium and saw formal Mickey and formal Minnie each in seperate lines. I wanted to see Mickey. So we stood in line for him. What a great picture we got of us with him. He looked so snazzy too.
After saying our goodbyes to Mickey we decided to walk the ship until dinner which would be at Triton's tonight. We ended up in Diversions and got a plate of carrot sticks, tomatoes, tortilla chips and dips. We love it in there. There is never anyone in there. I had to use the little cruisers room so we headed to the room so I could use the potty. We then went for a walk around deck 4. It was so nice out.
So after our walk it was time for dinner. We headed off to Triton's. Our table was over to the left by the window over looking the magnificant seas. Here's what we had for dinner:
ME: Tomato/basil soup (I forgot how good it was)
Shrimp medley
Salmon, baked potato and veggies
Fruit for dessert
DH: Normandy salad
Ratatouille-served cold and very tasty
Rib Eye with potatoes and some mashed green stuff I can't remember what was
Pistaschio something (I can't remember it's real name, but it was good) for dessert
When dinner was over we didn't know what we wanted to do. We went back to the room to decide and couldn't decide so we stayed in. We sat outside on the verandah for a bit. I was getting tied so I went to sleep and my DH watched ESPN for a while. And so ends our 2nd day at sea. Another great day.
So today is our third day. I'm already sad that our vacation is almost over. It's been great so far. Today we planned on sleeping in a bit later than we have. That didn't happen though. We were up at 7 because the sun was shining in, even though our curtains were closed. Our plan right now is to go to Triton's for b-fast and hang out by the pool and relax today.
What I had mentioned that we wanted to do today didn't happen. We went to b-fast at Beach Blanket Buffet since by the time we left the room Triton's stopped serving b-fast. After b-fast we decided to go to the shore excursion desk and try to make a trip over to Atlantis since we haven't been there since our honeymoon in 2002. We ended up signing up to do the Discover Atlantis Tour at 1:15. We tried doing the earlier one, but it was full. The tour was okay. We wouldn't do it again, especially at 1:15. it's way to late. Even our bus driver said to get the bus back no later than 3:30 since traffic will be horrible going over the bridge. So by the time we got there it was about 2 so that left us an hour and a half. Not nearly enough time to do anything there. It was a waste of money and time going so late in the day.
Here's some info about the tour: when we got to Atlantis we were split up into groups to tour the resort with a guide. We went in through the Coral Towers and made our way over to the Royal Tower and then to the aquarium. Remember we've been here before so we pretty much remembered our way around and such. The resort looks the same inside. It's very nice. Outside was a different story. Not to sound bad, but I think the grounds look worse and I don't think they should allow so many people in from the cruise ships that are there because you can tell that some of them just don't care about it. It was very messy and smelly and there was garbage on the ground. We made our way to one part of the aquarium and saw their GIANT stingray. His wings spanned 9 feet. I don't like being guided around and being told what to look at. I want to look at what I want to look at. I made it a point not to look at what the guide was saying to look at. I looked what I wanted to look at. When the tour was over it was about 3. We walked around a bit more and some pictures of the same stuff I took pictures of in 2002. DH wanted to head to see Aquaventure but it was so far from where we were and the time was closing in on us. I didn't want to miss the 3:30 bus. Needless to say: it's good if you haven't been before; if you have been before go on your own or not at all. The tour wasn't worth is. And definitely not worth the money. We ended up heading back towards the buses back to the ship about 3:15 and luckily there was bus there with 4 seats left on it. We hopped on and headed back to the boat!!!!!!!!! I was never so excited. We went about 100 feet and got stuck in traffic. The bus driver told us that they have 3 working shifts on the island and the first ended at 3 then 3:30 and then 4 (I think-it was something like that) so that's why there was so much traffic. He said if you leave at 4:30 you will be stuck in traffic no less than an hour. I don't know if anyone left at 4:30 to head back, but if they did then they probably would have missed the ship. Oh and let me add that the bus driver was NUTS!!!!!!!!! He looked like he was always going to hit a car or a pedestrian. I hate how they drive there.
We made it back to the ship safe and sound. I decided I wanted a snack so we went up to deck 9 to you guessed it: Pluto's Dog House. I had some chicken tenders and fries and my 5th cup of pickles and DH went to Scoops and had a tuna wrap and some pineapple and 2 cookies.
We left Nassau and we off for our 2nd stop at Castaway Cay. Nothing is better than that. Tonight is also Pirate Night. As you see soon I will end up missing most of dinner and barely survive the deck party. We decided to relax in the room for a while. DH was outside watching the sea sail by and I decided to lay on the couch with my feet up because they were swollen from my sunburn and they really hurt. I also wanted to go get our family portrait done tonight. They would be doing it from 5-7 or something like that. We got dressed and headed down there and were 2nd in line. The photographer made up move in ways I didn't know were possible. She took so many pictures. I don't like being in front of all those people in line either. I am very self conscious.
After we made it back to our room we changed into tonight's dinner wear. We both wore Pirates of the Caribbean shirts from the Disney store that I got for $5 a piece and our mouse ear pirate hats. We left the room and walked the ship and ended up doing some shopping before dinner. We brought the stuff back to the room and headed to dinner. Dinner, again, was at Triton's tonight. I was looking forward to it so much. It's always fun. Sadly after I ate my appetizer I had to leave. I was having some major stomach issues. I told my DH I would back. I never made it back. Now don't get worried everyone. I have IBS (in case you don't know what that is, turn your head if you're squeamish, it's Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and on top of that I am having issues with my Gallbladder now and anything I eat that's fried makes me sick. I know I should have known better, but I hadn't gotten sick at all this trip. It was the chicken tenders though I know it for sure. Anyway's here what we ordered for dinner: (remember I only got to eat my appetizer)
ME: Pearls Of the Caribbean-shrimp, crab and salmon with cous cous
Mr. Smee's Bib Lettuce
Treasure of the Seas Grilled Shrimp and seared scallops (I didn't even get to see this)
I would have had fruit for dessert
DH: The Buccaneer's sun-ripened pineapple
Mr. Smee's Bib Lettuce
Black Pearls oven roasted beef tenderloin
Walk the plank triple layered chocolate gangplank cake
My DH enjoyed his dinner and while he was worried about me he stayed and finished all of his dinner. I don't blame him. I always have problems. I can be better in 10 minutes or 2 days. It varies. This one happened to last into the night and the next day. We did go to the deck party right before it started. It was/ is just so great. I love it. We were standing right by where they shoot the fireworks off to so we had a great view. Not that you can have a bad view. They were just so great. We did do the dessert buffet. We both got some cake and chocolate covered strawberries. After eating our cake I wanted to go to bed so I did. I'm sure DH watched TV. I did wake up in the middle of the night with more stomach issues. After that passed I finally went to sleep until were woken up by the engines again. This time it was 7:30. So today wasn't great and wasn't awful. It could have been better though. I know tomorrow will be great!!!!!!
I'm sorry you got ill! It's no fun to be sick on vacation! Hope you feel better for your second visit to Castaway Cay!
Thanks for the tip regarding the Atlantis tour!
More please.
Sorry that you started to feel sick...I had terrible problems with my gall bladder (it just started out of no where a couple of months back)....I had it taken out and now I feel like a weight has been lifted but I know how terribly sick it makes you....
Hope you were feeling a bit better to enjoy your last day...
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.
About This Page: 
)
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Now that's someone excited for her vacation! I love it.
Can't wait to hear more
PassPorter Guide Author
]
Linear Mode
