National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 38 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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It's interesting that Parrot Cay was closed for lunch as I'm sure it was open every day during our cruise. I know we had lunch there on at least two occassions, one of which being that last at sea day I'm pretty sure....I'll have to check my Navigators and notes later. Maybe another side effect of being the last day of the last cruise of the season
First, I just want to say I really like the dress you're wearing in those photos. Anyway, by the sound of what's to come, it looks as if Palo didn't disappoint, but I'm jumping ahead of myself.
Oh, I remember deck 4! We rather enjoyed walking around that as well. So glad you were able to change the reservation at Palo, that worked out nicely! Still, beautiful scenery along the way....
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Getting caught up again before I leave for WDW (and fall behind again). All your excursions sounded really great. I am filing away that info for the Alaskan cruise I'm planning some day. Sorry the food has been hit or miss, but it's a great solution to keep going to Palo instead.
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First, I just want to say I really like the dress you're wearing in those photos. Anyway, by the sound of what's to come, it looks as if Palo didn't disappoint, but I'm jumping ahead of myself.
Thank you very much! It was a very cheap buy and I can see me getting a lot of value for money out of it.
Getting caught up again before I leave for WDW (and fall behind again). All your excursions sounded really great. I am filing away that info for the Alaskan cruise I'm planning some day. Sorry the food has been hit or miss, but it's a great solution to keep going to Palo instead.
Can I say jealous that you're heading back to WDW again? I tell you, if I could, I'd have been at Palo most nights of that cruise, as we'd have been guaranteed top quality food!
How wonderful that you all got to dine together at Palo...looking forward to hearing about it (ok, I already your tablemates' versions, so now I'm ready to hear your take on it!).
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How wonderful that you all got to dine together at Palo...looking forward to hearing about it (ok, I already your tablemates' versions, so now I'm ready to hear your take on it!).
Well, you heard Sue's version. I've no idea what's happened to Barb?
Monday 5 September – part three: the perfect end to a perfect cruise with great friends
We were given a fair bit of time to go through the menu, but not as much time as on Saturday night. This time, it felt like the meal was just perfectly timed. We had Nikolai as our server and he was absolutely wonderful. I could not fault him at all. : He really was the perfect server and was so attentive to our every need and we felt he went above and beyond, happily pulling down the blinds for us, when the sun was setting and getting in our eyes.
Talking of which, Sue, Barb, Steve and I headed outside at one point to photograph (or video in Steve’s case!) the sunset, which was beautiful. The weather had really improved as we’d come south, with the sun coming out and it had warmed up quite a bit. It was just lovely out now, even in just a thin dress, which is all I was wearing. Very different to Alaska!
For flatbreads, we all decided to share, although we had to be different. Sue and Steve shared one, as did Barb and I, going for the Quattro formaggio with mozzarella, mascarpone, gorgonzola and parmesan. Mark and Bob shared the al prosciutto, with tomato sauce, mozzarella and prosciutto.
For appetiser, I decided to go for the fritto de calamari, lightly-crusted calamari served with deep fried cherry peppers. This was another bad dish at Palo on the Dream and I wanted to see if it was any better here. My goodness, this is what I expect, just beautifully cooked.
My entree is my old favourite, the lobster and mascarpone ravioli with a light truffle burro bianco and it was as good as ever. Barb went for that as well and I think she enjoyed it.
Mark opted for the oregano and parmesan crusted rack of lamb with sangiovese roasted shallots, olive oil baked Roma tomatoes, potato pave and herb jus. He seemed very impressed with it.
For dessert, all three couples shared the chocolate soufflé with vanilla bean and chocolate sauce, which Nikolai described as the best on the “seven seas”. We told him that now, after the Grand Marnier soufflé in Triton’s, they did have competition for that title...
I also got Palo’s homemade tiramisu, having enjoyed it so much on our previous visit and it was just as good this time.
Sue and Mark also got to celebrate their respective birthdays.
Mark and I shared a bottle of Riesling Spatlese again, although there was some comedy at the start of the meal, as Nikolai mis-understood and thought that we had an open bottle from our previous meal, but : we were after a brand new one!
When we were done with eating, we got a group photo with Nikolai and Marco, who had both been stars at this meal.
We also saw our favourite photographer Margerita and of course she got some lovely photos of us all:
Then we sat there, chatting away for ages, enjoying the scenery and the company. It had been the best possible final night of a cruise with wonderful friends.
Eventually, it was time to settle the check and enjoy our complimentary limoncello.
From there, it was over to Parrot Cay to say hi to the rest of the table, who had been wondering where we were, and to hand our gratuities to our serving team. Despite a bit of a rocky start to our time with them, we had had a good time with them, but we sadly hadn’t been absolutely wowed, as we had been with Joy on the Dream, which was a shame, but that’s how it goes sometimes...
We headed over to Diversions, getting some shots of Wavebands on the way....
We wanted to get a farewell drink and to say goodbye to Sue and Steve’s favourite bartender, Brigitte, who had made the Green Python for Steve the other day. Mark and I also went for that, as it had tasted so good and we all sat there for an hour, just chatting away and I think all of us probably desperately wishing that it wasn’t the last night and we didn’t have to say goodbye tomorrow. It had been such a fun cruise and we had loved every minute we had spent with these guys. As you can see, we had a great time together.
Eventually, it was time to head back to the room to finish packing our cases, which we got outside at 10:27pm, which was a little close, but there you go...
This towel creation was waiting for us:
The weather today was chilly with temperatures in the 50s. The best thing today was dinner at Palo with great friends. The worst thing today was not having many choices for lunch. Today we tried seeing a movie on a Disney cruise And the result was I really enjoyed doing that. The most magical moment today was spending the evening with Sue, Steve, Barb and Bob.
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Well, you heard Sue's version. I've no idea what's happened to Barb?
Yes, I was wondering the same thing! Barb was doing well, but you've gotten quite ahead of her now! Well, now we've seen Sue and Steve's version, and yours and Mark's version...hopefully we'll get the same thumbs up when Barb gets a chance to catch up!
Sounds like yet another wonderful experience at Palo. It's a shame the rest of the dining wasn't as spectacular. Just seeing the smile on Nikolai's face makes the food more appetizing, right? When the server's in a good mood, the food's always better! That being said, the food looked absolutely scrumptious! It looks so good, it must taste amazing! Hmm...I wonder what I can make at home to ease my hunger pains now!!!
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I tell you, if I could, I'd have been at Palo most nights of that cruise, as we'd have been guaranteed top quality food! 
: He really was the perfect server and was so attentive to our every need and we felt he went above and beyond, happily pulling down the blinds for us, when the sun was setting and getting in our eyes. 
to the rest of the table, who had been wondering where we were, and to hand our gratuities to our serving team. Despite a bit of a rocky start to our time with them, we had had a good time with them, but we sadly hadn’t been absolutely wowed, as we had been with Joy on the Dream, which was a shame, but that’s how it goes sometimes... 
It had been such a fun cruise and we had loved every minute we had spent with these guys. 
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