A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 88 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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High speed train indeed, cool! Love the photos at night, even the ship. What an extra treat.
If the worst thing that day was the rain, then it was a very good day.
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Great photos at night as that's an added bonus! Pretty cool on the train with the speeds your traveling. I had the same thing in 2013 when I took the TGV from Paris to Reims. I checked my TR from that trip and said 320kmh, which translates to 192 mph!
On your daily highlights summary you left the funniest thing today blank!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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All caught up. What crazy weather you had in Moscow today! Despite the rainy weather, it does sound like you had a pretty nice day there. How funny that you chose to eat at the every Russian restaurant, TGI Fridays I can't believe the price of your meal though! That total is the cost of at least one dish here! Glad you were able to get some pictures of St. Petersburgh at night. Hopefully after your long day, you'll be able to get a good night's sleep.
Great photos at night as that's an added bonus! Pretty cool on the train with the speeds your traveling. I had the same thing in 2013 when I took the TGV from Paris to Reims. I checked my TR from that trip and said 320kmh, which translates to 192 mph!
I know - some of the speeds are just unbelievable, aren't they?
Quote:
On your daily highlights summary you left the funniest thing today blank!
Normally I delete it, as often I can't find the funniest things from some days. I guess I just forgot to do that for this day...
Well that was an epic day! How funny to find a TGI Fridays in the station and for so cheap! Love all the flower beds! Can't believe how busy it is in St. Petersburg!
Well that was an epic day! How funny to find a TGI Fridays in the station and for so cheap! Love all the flower beds! Can't believe how busy it is in St. Petersburg!
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Monday 13 June – part one: I guess we all just overlooked it…
I so did not want to get up this morning, but something inside me was waking me up, evidently… I asked Mark what the time was and he told me 5:20am. Ok, I’ll go back to sleep then. I then woke up again, and asked him what the time was. He told me 6:05am. I’ll go back to sleep again. I then woke up at 6:29am, and the alarm was set for 6:30am, so it was definitely time to get up. I was actually surprised by how good I felt, considering our day yesterday. It had been exceptionally, but at least I had slept well last night, a definite improvement on the previous two days.
When I woke up, this was our view outside…
We’d lost the Emerald Princess and the other ship that had been there, and had acquired this one. It was a bit surreal, but I guess it was inevitable, given we have three days here, longer than the usual two day stops most other cruise lines have.
We had agreed to meet up with Jay, Stephanie and Ethan by guest services at 7:50am, and both we and they had said if the other party wasn’t there, they were planning on being and to make efforts to find out what had happened. Phylis had told us if she wasn’t there, to go without her. We figured that would happen, as we’d all noticed her giving Elena and Daniel tips on the first day, so we thought at that point she knew she might not make it for day three. I couldn’t blame her. As Mark said, it had been an amazing experience, but you did need to be really fit to do this excursion.
Jay, Stephanie and Ethan appeared a bit after 7:50am, and we quickly found out that was a minor miracle, as apparently they’d managed to sleep through their wake-up call, and only work up half an hour earlier.
We set off, and walked straight through passport control, and immediately found Elena waiting for us. We headed to the bus, and in this shot, the time says 7:59am, which wasn’t bad, given we were due to start at 8:00am.
We made our way into the city, seeing various sights on the way, including this former ice breaker, which is now open to the public…
… this church, which Elena told us was an ice skating rink during the Communist era…
… and this very happy statue!
We were heading for a city cruise sightseeing tour, which all of us seemed to have missed on the itinerary, as it came as a surprise to us. When I checked the printed itinerary I had with me though, it was clearly on there. I guess we all just overlooked it.
We had to wait a few minutes to board our boat, as we were running early, which seems to be the story with this three day tour all the time. I got some photos as we waited…
Once we got on the boat, it was very nice and comfortable…
Best of all, it was literally just ourselves and one other SPB tour group, made up of six people, so we had the whole boat pretty much to ourselves…
We headed along the main Neva Heba river, seeing the Hermitage from the water, which was neat, as it helped to give you an idea of just how big the thing is. You don’t get that from walking round the interior.
From here, you could also see all the exquisite detail in the statues they have on here…
It was also really neat to see the bridges close up, as we passed underneath them. I don’t know how I missed this, but apparently the bridges go up each night to let boats and small cruise ships through. They have a schedule and it’s basically in the early hours of the morning, around 1:00am. When the bridges go up, they’re called the White Nights, as they’re decorated with hundreds of bright white lights. You may have noticed that from one of my photos last night, as we think the bridges were being prepared for their nightly opening. Our guide explained to us that you had to time it carefully, and if you got it wrong, you could end up stuck on completely the wrong bank for some time while the bridges were open. Apparently, it’s a common excuse from men having affairs as to why they were home late!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Pretty cool on the train with the speeds your traveling. I had the same thing in 2013 when I took the TGV from Paris to Reims. I checked my TR from that trip and said 320kmh, which translates to 192 mph! 
I can't believe the price of your meal though! That total is the cost of at least one dish here! Glad you were able to get some pictures of St. Petersburgh at night. Hopefully after your long day, you'll be able to get a good night's sleep.
I got some photos as we waited… 
It sounds like a great start to your day!!
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