To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's COMPLETE!! - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great update. I agree with you about the meals at Chops - we dined there on both our trips on the Radiance. I rode the ISP zipline (DW declined). It's quite a rush and very beautiful. You've done an outstanding job capturing the beauty of Alaska
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Thanks to all of you for posting replies, asking questions and interacting with this report- I must say, that's what keeps me motivated to keep writing it. I appreciate the time you take to give me feedback!!
Alrighty then....
Tuesday, July 7, 2009:
Kevan somehow managed to sleep in until 5:45 instead of his usual 4:30. The boys and I were so zonked he couldn't get us up to go to breakfast at 6:30, so he went up by himself. I was up at 7:30 and of course, my first stop was the balcony, where I got the top o the morning pic:
I tried to get the boys up, but they weren't having any of it, so Kevan went back up to Windjammer Cafe with me for breakfast. Today's character accosting was provided to us by a polar bear. I learned quickly just to pose rather than argue. Windjammer had some awesome breakfast burritos on this day and that's what I went for, along with the fruit- which always looked fresh and tasted great every single day.
As we finished up our meal, Captain Michel came on the public address system. The ships officers and navigation team had just completed the evaluation of the course to take today- and as luck would have it, we would make it in to Tracy Arm Fjord! He was very pleased with this as he had said that in recent voyages they had only been able to make it into Endicott Arm. He was confident he would be able to get us well into Tracy Arm Fjord and within a very close distance of North Sawyer Glacier. I had read this also on Cruise Critic- so I was especially excited about it.
We were back down just in time to see the boys get up and Matt came up with another plan to dine on the balcony- so we sent he and Aaron up to Windjammer and they were back within 15 minutes. They got set up to eat on the balcony. It was odd because it felt warm but as we entered the Fjord, the wind was sooo cold coming off all the ice- we all ended up in sweatshirts and pants.
In due course, there came the first signs of entry into Tracy Arm Fjord- icebergs!
The colors were amazing and I was shocked by how light reflected off of them. The water also shifted in color as well.
Some icebergs had clearly seen land or sediments- a/k/a "dirty ice":
We also got video of our entry into the Fjords.. the wind was really going so I apologize for that noise (Fjoooorrds) and my goofiness- clearly, I was not thinking about the trip report at the time I was taking the video!
I took a quick break to run down to the shops as they were having a Russian stack doll event at 10:00 am. I found one quickly, she was rather cute and had a total of 5 in the set- for an excellent price of $10. I was back in less than 15 minutes.
By the I got back, the views had gotten more spectacular.
We had decided it was time to go up and stake a spot up on the top deck. Right as we were about to leave the balcony, we caught a glimpse of another ship going by- and I was thrilled to see it was our sister ship on RCCL- the Rhapsody of the Seas! Hey Don, check out your ship for next year's cruise!
After that, we headed up to Deck 13, where it was simply put- freezing. Almost immediately, they brought out hot chocolate in souvenir mugs for sale. I wanted one but not for the $9 they were asking! $9 for hot chocolate! Aaron insisted on one and I told him if he wanted it- he would be buying it out of his own money, which he did.
We found a spot for all of us and little did we know, despite the amazing scenery we had been treated to thus far- we hadn't seen anything yet!
Ok, I am finally all caught up. What an awesome trip so far! I can only hope that when I get to cruise Alaska I have as many "up close and personal" experiences with nature as you all have! Keep it coming!!!!
Wow, Maureen. I'm absolutely speechless. That scenery is just so BEAUTIFUL!!! It's now official - I'll just HAVE to take an Alaskian cruise sometime - sooner rather than later Thanks so much for writing this TR.
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to see another cruise ship... what a beautiful view from the balcony.... I just love chocolate...mmmmmm....
Enjoy a Disney Lifestyle......Everyday!
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Your trip sounds wonderfully relaxing.
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