The WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY” of our Cruise TRIP REPORT - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Day 3
Castaway Cay Day All ashore
- I was asleep when they announced that we were docking at castaway cay, so I didn’t hear it, but Mike heard it and was up and looking out the window when I woke up. We wake up at 9:15am and eat our breakfast in our room, actually we decide to eat it out on the veranda while we watch those who have already disembarked the ship walk around castaway cay, we have the perfect view from our room, we are starboard, aft and we love it!! While looking out of the veranda we spot chip and dale down in front of the post office taking pictures with people, and Chris just loves that, it encourages him to get his clothes changed and ready to head off the boat. We ate our breakfast and was out of the room by 10am Castaway Cay, here we come!
- We walked around castaway cay just taking everything in and taking lots of pictures (can you tell? LOL) I love how they have the free strollers, wheelchairs and even wagons in the front for everyone to use, we grabbed a wagon and although Chris wont ride in it, we use it to carry our towels and misc. things in it (it frees up our hands for the day). We then head towards the bike rentals at 11am (as we had rented the bikes already online). We were not sure how Chris would like the bikes as he would have to sit in the seat on the back and wear a helmet (which he HATES hats in general so I thought that would be very hard) but he actually likes it a lot and only fusses when we have to get off of the bikes (it’s a long bike ride and we learned that we are not in shape at all as we were huffing and puffing and ready to get back to return the bikes LOL) Lunchtime, to eat or not to eat, to eat!
- 12:15 we head to see what they had for lunch (although we are not really hungry but we can’t pass up food right? LOL I got a hot dog for Chris and I ate some of the tomato salad and a mixture of fruit. Also we couldn’t pass up the chocolate chip cookies. There be treasure ahead!
- After lunch at around 12:30 we head out to start on the treasure hunt, we thought we would be smart and start from the back of the map and work our way forwards so if we get tired we would be closer to the ship, although I warned mike that the treasure that we were looking for is probably in the back of the island (as that is Murphy’s law right?) but he didn’t care and so off we went to look for clues. We did really well, but one of the clues was virtually un- determinable because the telescope was broken and you couldn’t see thru it at all, but we just did what we thought and it turned out to be correct. The treasure hunt was fun, not too hard but not too easy either. We took our time and was in no rush and we finished around 2pm. So we head back to get our reward (which was of course the opposite way we were at) and by now we were tired and Chris was needing a nap, so I convinced him to ride in one of the jogging strollers (he hates strollers) and the only way he would ride in there is if/when I convinced him that it wasn’t for babies (which is what he was concerned about LOL) and of course as soon as he got in, he fell asleep while we were on the way to collect our prize. Nothing special (just some fake gold coins) but it was fun. Getting my hair braided
- I used the time that Chris was asleep to get my hair braided on Castaway Cay, I love having my hair braided (I only get the cornrows at the top, but it makes it easier to deal with my hair during the rest of the trip). I choose blue and silver beads because to me they represented the water in the sea.
- The lady finished my hair at 3pm and just as she was putting in the last bead, Chris woke up (Perfect timing) so we decide to head back to the ship since it has been a long day and we are all tired. Oops I guess we forgot
- As you can tell we never stepped foot into the ocean to swim, not really trying to avoid the ocean at all, its just that since I have grown up on the ocean, its not really the “HAVE TO” thing for me, although I would have liked to go in, That will be on our to do list for next time. Back on board, and into the pirate theme
- We get back onto the ship and into our room at about 3:50pm. We take our showers/baths to get dressed and ready for Pirates night. Mike didn’t listen to me when I told him that it would be cool for him to get a pirate outfit (although now he says that he wishes that he would have dressed up and he will next time) but he does have a pirate shirt and a goofy pirate hat that he wears. I got myself a pirate outfit and although I wanted to dress Chris up, I couldn’t find an outfit for him in enough time to get one for him, but like Mike, Chris also has a pirate shirt (Pirate Mickey) which works for now. Also in our room we find another card, and a postcard of castaway cay with captain hook and a plate of cheese and crackers that Chris and Mike LOVED and dug into right away. Picture time again!
- We head out of the room at about 5:30pm and head to shutters to pick up our photos from yesterday, then we headed straight down to get some photos with Pirate Mickey and Pirate Stitch. The line for Mickey was the longest one yet in all of our time on the ship, but at least we got to see many pirate outfits. People go from not at all into it, to all decked out completely!! Golden Mickey time
- After our photos were taken, we headed straight to the theater to see the Golden Mickey show. It was really good. After the show we head back to the room to drop off our photos from shutters as we didn’t have time before hand
- At 7:30pm we head to guest services to ask a few questions about whether or not you can buy the videos from the performances on the ship (you cant because they don’t have any) but anyhoo after all this we head to Animators palate again (this time for Pirates night) so different menu all together. Dinner, Pirate style, at Animators Palate
- Dinner was once again DELICIOUS! We got our pirate bandanna's as well as our rolled up pirate menus as soon as we sat down. And our tablemates were back tonight. They hadn’t seen the cool show here the night before so we filled them in on what they missed, as it wouldn’t be happening tonight ☹ Christopher had chicken strips and macaroni and cheese for his dinner, which we ordered right away. For appetizers I chose the pirates golden pasta envelopes, which were good, and Mike chose the Caribbean style spicy vegetable gumbo soup, which he said he liked but he stayed away from the Jalapeños that were in it. For our meals, I had the black pearls oven roasted beef tenderloin (yes it was as good as it sounds) and Mike had the Treasure of the seas grilled shrimp and seared scallops and he liked it a lot as well.
- Desserts (my favorite part of the meals) Both Mike and I got the Walk the Triple layered Gangplank cake which was very good but very rich, I couldn’t eat it all which was the first time on the whole trip so far that I couldn’t finish the dessert. LOL Chris got the cheesecake and I think they gave him an adult portion because it was huge but Chris ate half of it, which is great for him because he doesn’t like too many sweet things, so I know that it had to be good! Pirates in the Caribbean deck party!
- We get done with dinner at about 9pm and head straight to the “Pirates in the Caribbean deck party” and we go up to deck 10 (which is our favorite spot to watch all the activities). There are already a lot of people gathering together for the party so we are glad that we came up right after dinner. The show was good, and of course our two favorite parts were when Mickey glides down the line to save the ship, and when the fireworks go off. Chris HATES fireworks but fortunately they were not as loud as what I thought they would be, and they were very pretty. It was VERY hot out tonight and with all the pirate gear on, I was melting. And I was also getting a headache from the braids (yes they are tight and hurt!) So we decide to forgo the dessert (which looked very yummy but we were still full from dinner) and head back to the room, by that time it was 11pm anyways. Thinking back, I wish I had grabbed a plate or two of dessert to bring back to the room with me for later when and if I got hungry. So there’s a tip for those of you sailing that may not be hungry during the desserts, grab some anyways to bring back to room for later!! Back to the room we go!
- When we got back to the room, we had our nightly towel critter waiting for us, this time it was a monkey hanging up on a clothes hanger on our room divider. I also took this time to take some Tylenol (thank goodness I brought it with me) and then I looked over tomorrow’s navigator and then got ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be a sad day since it will be the last full day on the ship before we have to leave (Wish hubby would have listened to me and gotten the 7 day cruise or longer! LOL)
- Well goodnight me hearties YO HO!
__________________
Shauna (Me) Mommy to Christopher (3) and Wife to Mikey
About This Page: 
so I didn’t hear it, but Mike heard it and was up and looking out the window when I woke up. We wake up at 9:15am and eat our breakfast in our room, actually we decide to eat it out on the veranda while we watch those who have already disembarked the ship walk around castaway cay, we have the perfect view from our room, we are starboard, aft and we love it!! While looking out of the veranda we spot chip and dale down in front of the post office taking pictures with people, 
and Chris just loves that, it encourages him to get his clothes changed and ready to head off the boat. We ate our breakfast and was out of the room by 10am
(it’s a long bike ride and we learned that we are not in shape at all as we were huffing and puffing and ready to get back to return the bikes LOL)
we thought we would be smart and start from the back of the map and work our way forwards so if we get tired we would be closer to the ship, although I warned mike that the treasure that we were looking for is probably in the back of the island (as that is Murphy’s law right?) but he didn’t care and so off we went to look for clues. We did really well, but one of the clues was virtually un- determinable because the telescope was broken and you couldn’t see thru it at all, but we just did what we thought and it turned out to be correct. The treasure hunt was fun, not too hard but not too easy either. 
We took our time and was in no rush and we finished around 2pm. So we head back to get our reward (which was of course the opposite way we were at) and by now we were tired and Chris was needing a nap, so I convinced him to ride in one of the jogging strollers (he hates strollers) and the only way he would ride in there is if/when I convinced him that it wasn’t for babies (which is what he was concerned about LOL) and of course as soon as he got in, he fell asleep while we were on the way to collect our prize. 
so we decide to head back to the ship since it has been a long day and we are all tired. 
It was really good. After the show we head back to the room to drop off our photos from shutters as we didn’t have time before hand
We got our pirate bandanna's as well as our rolled up pirate menus as soon as we sat down. And our tablemates were back tonight. They hadn’t seen the cool show here the night before so we filled them in on what they missed, as it wouldn’t be happening tonight ☹ Christopher had chicken strips and macaroni and cheese for his dinner, which we ordered right away. For appetizers I chose the pirates golden pasta envelopes, which were good, and Mike chose the Caribbean style spicy vegetable gumbo soup, which he said he liked but he stayed away from the Jalapeños that were in it. For our meals, I had the black pearls oven roasted beef tenderloin (yes it was as good as it sounds) and Mike had the Treasure of the seas grilled shrimp and seared scallops and he liked it a lot as well. 
Both Mike and I got the Walk the Triple layered Gangplank cake which was very good but very rich, I couldn’t eat it all which was the first time on the whole trip so far that I couldn’t finish the dessert. LOL Chris got the cheesecake and I think they gave him an adult portion because it was huge but Chris ate half of it, which is great for him because he doesn’t like too many sweet things, so I know that it had to be good!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Threaded Mode
