To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's COMPLETE!! - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Found this by accident, and so GLAD that I did!!!! Very nice start!!! Beautiful harbor view and gorgeous room!!! Sorry that food was hard to come by..... Can't wait to read MORE!!!!!
We got to Deck 8 and waited in the Explorer's Lounge while we waited for the corridor door to open up to the staterooms. A older couple came soon after us and soon decided that it was 1:01 and they weren't waiting anymore. Right as they got to the door, a crew member popped it open and scared the daylights out of them. I said nothing but thought it quite funny.
I knew from the deck plans that our cabin was right at the start of the corridor but for some reason, seeing that was a little eye opening. As soon as you turned, our cabin was right there!
So with much anticipation, we opened the door. And at first, we all were taken aback. It was small. We immediately were shocked by the size of the balcony- being that it was on the hump, I knew we got a bigger one than most!
Leave it to a teenager to have to check out the TV but in this case we were all glad that Aaron did - because we had a nice little welcome on there!
Aaron and Matt immediately made themselves comfortable:
We were so amazed by the balcony that we forgot to check out the bathroom. That was our next point of exploration and I must admit, even though it isn't split like on DCL- it was extremely well appointed and had alot more storage space than I ever imagined.
The shower was fabulous. Not only was there a round door that closed completely, we later found out the water pressure was as good as we had in any hotel or even at home. It was round and the lip on the floor was high enough that we never had one drop of water leak out the entire week.
Aaron points out the features of our fine shower:
Here's another view of the other side of the cabin. There was fabulous storage space- both within the closet and the desk, as well as above and below the televsion. Of course, at this point that didn't mean too much because there was nothing to unpack- as the luggage had not yet arrived. (And quite the story that shall be.. but I tease as to keep you coming back!)
So photos are one thing and videos are another. Here's a video tour of the stateroom, hosted by yours truly. Towards the end though Matt has to provide his own brand of comedy in it..
Kevan and Aaron wanted to hang around a bit, and I wanted Matt to at least go check out Adventure Ocean. He insisted he wanted no part of it but I thought by at least going to see it, he might change his mind.
He and I headed up to Deck 12 to see it and honestly, of course DCL has this area beat by a mile. The first thing we saw was the area for the little kids- which naturally put him off. We went towards the back and it was bright, colorful with some video games but other than that- neither one of us very impressed. I firmly believe that RCCL depends on the activities to make the kids programming but just on that first impression- I didn't really leave with one at all. I knew at that moment, Matt would hold true to his word and not use it at. It's his vacation too, so I am not one to force him.
He wanted to go see the rock wall and mini golf course- so we headed out to do that. There weren't many people out up there yet, so we played a few holes.
Might I add, this unique, again leaving us speechless sculpture greeted us at the front of the mini golf course.
When I glanced at my watch, it was almost 3:00 and with the safety drill beginning at 3:45, we headed back to the room.
Coming Up Next: "Honestly, I don't get the overboard thing."
Great update and love the video tour. Bed in the ceiling?
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Lorie- yes- Aaron's bunk pulled down from the ceiling over our bed. I'll have a pic here in a few installments- it was always pulled down at nightly turn down service.
Thanks for the room tour. The ceiling bed is right over the main bed? How did that work out? The storage and bathroom do look very nice. Those sculptures, though.... I guess I'm speechless, too.
I'm glad I am finally all caught up!! What a beautiful ship and your room is very nice even though it is small, but how much time do you spend in the room anyways!