A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 112 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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By the way, I am noticing that it's becoming a struggle to add posts to this thread and a couple of people have seen posts go up twice. It is getting long, but there are literally another seven or eight instalments and then it's done, so I want to try and stick with it, as we're almost through....
Friday 17 June – part two: you’re our captain?
Just then, the captain’s announcement started, and I thought he must be doing it from somewhere else, as I couldn’t see any sign of him. Charis was asking for any final questions, and one woman asking if he’d be taking part in the Dancing with the Officers taking place later. It’s like Dancing with the Stars (Strictly Come Dancing in the UK) with officers paired with guests. I can imagine it’s a lot of fun, and we may go along to watch it, given it’s in the Sky Lounge, our favourite haunt. Anyway, his face was a picture. He was obviously completely and utterly lost for words, and just stood there, obviously embarrassed and not having a clue what to say. It was a classic moment, and we all burst out laughing and couldn’t stop. We were making quite a racket and got some looks from the others on the bridge. It was only a few minutes later we’d find out that we were supposed to be quiet, as the captain was doing his announcement from here!
We were told that we were pretty much done, and could ask any final questions, and get some more photos, so I made sure to get some shots done while we were here. I wanted to make the best of the limited time we had up here.
We did mention the helicopter from the night before, and Charis didn’t bother to deny it. He said he’d been asleep, and he woke up, wondering what the heck was going on. So at least it wasn’t just us then…
Then this small figure emerged, and I realised it was our captain. I’d already heard he was pretty young, and he is. I’d never have thought he was the captain had I just walked up to him around the ship. One woman asked if she could get her photo with the captain, and I thought “heck, why not?” so we were next in line…
At least we don’t now have to stand in line later on to meet him and get our photo taken with him, as you can do that this evening. Mind you, I think it’s taking place while we’re eating at the Tuscan Grille tonight, so I don’t know that it would’ve worked anyway.
With that, we were done. It had been a fascinating tour, and definitely a real once in a lifetime opportunity. After all, with eight Disney cruises under our belt, we’ve never once had the chance to do this with them, and I don’t think they even offer it. Perhaps they should, as it’s something well worth doing.
We headed back to the room, and spent the next couple of hours there. We sat out on the balcony for a while, as it was sunny out, although not overly warm. I found myself nodding off a number of times as I tried to read, so I just gave in for a while and dozed. I guess I needed it…
There was a little activity out on the water, but not much…
We ended up watching the final ever episode of Banshee, and it was a really good ending to the series, which I tend to find is very rare these days. I like it when they actually know they’re going to do the last series and draw everything together to finish it off. Hopefully it will be like that with the Good Wife, as I think the last couple of episodes of that have been airing in the UK while we’ve been away.
We headed out to get lunch at the Oceanview Café just after 1:30pm, as I was getting a bit hungry, and fancied some cheese and wine. My goodness, it was packed up there! They had a massive seafood pie…
… but I stuck with my planned cheese, although it nearly killed me with my carpal tunnel trying to cut it for myself. I wish they’d already pre-cut chunks off. That would be so much easier. I really don’t like the way the crew members watch you struggle and do nothing to help. I know that wouldn’t happen on Disney.
Eventually, I got there, and we headed outside, as there were no tables inside. It was a little chilly out, but I’d bought my sweatshirt with me, so I was Ok. Here was our very peaceful view…
…. Except it was about to be shattered by this…
I cannot tell you how close by this passed to us. It was terrifying, as you heard the noise, didn’t know what was going on, then it zoomed by. I got lots of shots as it passed on and then circled around…
… then it was heading back towards us!
Next: so now we know why there were so many police in Copenhagen!
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One woman asked if she could get her photo with the captain, and I thought “heck, why not?” so we were next in line…
I found myself nodding off a number of times as I tried to read, so I just gave in for a while and dozed. 
I guess I needed it… 
My goodness, it was packed up there! 
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