A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 56 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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!
Oh dear!
Quote:
Dinner looked fantastic, but made me sad we never made our Palo dinner - despite three different reservations.....
That is a shame.
Quote:
Nice to know they have gelato, but I can never seem to stray from the soufflé!
That was a great discovery, but like you, how do you not have the soufflé?
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.
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.
No-dinner at Palo was so good they had to do it AGAIN!!
That's what I thought!
__________________
Tanya
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I'll have to do this a bit later, as I have to swap computers to get the most up to date version of the trip report... although I save everything on to memory sticks every day, I often forget to then download between the desktop and the laptop.
Monday 7 September – part one: heading back into port
We were up before the wake-up call that we’d set for 6:00am. Although I’d heard the screaming brat next door at about midnight (and trust me, it was a screaming brat nearly every single night late at night, so I believe I’m justified in calling it that ), I didn’t hear it a second time, but Mark did. That meant he was awake from 3:00am onwards. I really hope that family never takes another cruise, or if they do, they learn how to deal with their kid, as the behaviour was appalling. Had it not been for the fact that every time it woke us up, we were completely out, and therefore didn’t feel able to get up, as then we really would be wide awake, I would’ve gone and said something, as it was appalling to be next door to.
Anyway, we got going, and we were just coming into the outskirts of Vancouver…
We passed underneath the Lions Gate Bridge, which was beautifully lit up…
… and with that, we headed up to deck nine. We were wondering if it was opened, as it wasn’t mentioned at all in the disembarkation information, but that was because Disney basically didn’t want you up there. There were quite a few of us there, although I had to wonder at everyone who bought their cases with them at around 6:30am. We’d have at least another hour to embarkation, and heck we were still coming into the harbour. I didn’t want to cart mine around for any longer than I had to.
The first person we met was Alex all in his blue buffet uniform! It was so nice to see him again, and he couldn’t thank us enough for all the meals we’d had in Palo this cruise, and equally we couldn’t thank him enough for the wonderful service.
We stocked up, so we could keep going for a while today…
Once we were done eating, it was up on to deck 10 to watch us come into dock. We got some wonderful shots of the Vancouver skyline…
… and the sun gradually coming up…
We did think that perhaps we were a little too tight to make the complete turn in front of Canada Place, but of course we weren’t, and we managed it without any incident. They just make it all look sickeningly easy…
Nothing worse than a screaming kid in the middle of the night. I suspect the parents were just as distraught as you were. Beautiful sights sailing into port.
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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. 
), 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! 
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