Mom's First Taste of Cruising with the Mouse! **Completed 11/20** - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Mom's First Taste of Cruising with the Mouse! **Completed 11/20**
Cast of Characters: Mom (1st Disney cruise) and Me!
When: October 22 – 25, 2009
Ship: Disney Wonder
This trip was seven months in the planning after a morning conversation between Russ and me. One morning he woke up and asked, “What are your goals in life?” If you know Russ, you will realize this is not an unusual question coming from him. Of course, the first thing I blurted out was, “Spending more time with Mom!” I guess the past several years with her cancer and then near-fatal car crash have me realizing my time with her is precious. Not to mention, I’m insanely jealous every time I call and either she is at my sister’s or vice versa! When she moved closer to both of the sisters I knew they would have so many opportunities to spend time together – I guess I just didn’t realize how I would long to have the same opportunities.
But, I digress.
Anyway, Russ asked the question, I gave him my answer, and five hours later Russ had Mom and me booked on a Disney cruise and Mom’s flights in and out of Jacksonville were all set! I love my hubby!!!
The cruise was paid off immediately so there was no question at the 90-day mark I could make our Palo reservation. In addition I booked a Castaway Ray Stingray Adventure, which we eventually bagged. Mom had a hard enough time just tapping the very top of our cats’ heads! Poor thing is just not comfortable around animals.
I should mention here our original booking was for a category 12 inside stateroom. The intention was to upgrade us to an oceanview stateroom, which as the cruise drew closer I wasn’t absolutely certain was going to happen. It seems our cruise had been long sold out (with the occasional availability scattered in here and there); a large FSU alumni group was also booked for our sailing. Ack! (Time to get the Miami backpack out!) Around the third week in August we received a call from DCL asking if we would like to upgrade our stateroom to an oceanview for $99 total. You bet we do! I jumped on the offer and started plotting the next upgrade – to a verandah! Our current stateroom assignment though – 2100.
So, October finally rolls around and we picked Mom up from the Jax airport Wednesday evening. Her flight was completely full, and her window seat on the return flight didn’t seem so appealing anymore. Thankfully the woman at the United counter was more than willing to see what she could do, and on the return leg home she found Mom an aisle seat on another nearly full flight. With that taken care of, we were on our way to the house for the night.
Since Mom wasn’t getting much time to spend with Russ, whom she treasures dearly, I gave her a choice for the morning. Breakfast with Russ and leave around 9:00 a.m. (getting us to the port around noon), or leave first thing around 7:00 a.m. allowing us enough time to arrive at 10:00ish giving us a better chance of purchasing another upgrade. Mom was just happy having an oceanview and opted for time with her “son.” With those plans all set, I frantically began my packing (I’m notorious for last minute packing) and we finally settled in for the night around 1 a.m.!
As promised, we were out the door just a few minutes after 9:00, waving to my sad hubby. Don’t get me wrong – he was more than thrilled Mom and I were spending time together. He and I just hate being away from each other. The drive to the port was rather uneventful, with only one pit stop along the way. At this point I was in no rush to get there knowing if we arrived at noon, those who had already checked-in would be just boarding leaving us to just walk on the ship as soon as we had our paperwork taken care of.
I dropped Mom and the bags off at the drop-off area located by the DCL buses, (the construction at the terminal is in full force!) and then went to park the car while Mom waited inside. Although the new garage construction is directly across from the terminal entrance, having to park a bit further down was no big deal. It’s still a quick walk over, and hey – we’re going on a Disney cruise! Up the escalator I went and Mom was sitting on a bench right at the top.
We quickly entered the Castaway Club member check-in line (which Mom was allowed to do so since she was with me), and waited no more than 2 or 3 minutes before we were being assisted by a friendly CM! She informed us our stateroom had been changed – ooooooh, could it be – to 2570. *Sigh* Not an upgrade, but! I was happy – we are going on a Disney cruise! By this time it was now around 12:30 p.m., and we are standing right next to the Supervisor’s desk. I see no “Sold Out” sign and make a beeline for the counter (poor Mom was left behind in my dust!). I’m not sure if I said anything other than, “Do you have any verandahs available?” When the CM responded, “I only have a category 4 available,” I was all over it! At this point I wasn’t sure if we were still considered a category 12 or now a category 9. Even after I did the $99 upgrade to 9, our reservations still showed 12, so I am thinking that is what they still considered us. Either way, I thought the $570 to go to a category 4 was more than worth it and snatched it right up! Good thing I did too – a family walked up just as we were getting yet another room assignment, and asked if any upgrades were available. They were told only oceanviews remained. Mom and I scored the last verandah! Whew!
With our third stateroom number in less than 30 minutes, we headed towards the entry way to the ship and were finally on our way to Cruising with the Mouse!
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Threaded Mode
