A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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.
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A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19
Well, as we're now back and I have a number of instalments already to go, I figured now is as good a time as any to get this trip report up and running, so here goes!
Friday 3 June – part one: cow fest!
Well today is the day that we head out, even if it’s not the day we actually board the cruise. We were up early and into work, as we had so much to get done at work. I left knowing that enough had been done for the time I was away, but also knowing there were things I didn’t get done that will still be waiting for me on my return. Oh well, there’s only so much I can do – and heck, my manager is telling me to work less hours, so I took her at her word….
I headed home about 4:00pm, and went into town, as I’d got a text message last night to say my prescription was in. This was the same prescription the chemist had put in for processing at my doctor’s on 16 May. When I went to collect it on Saturday, they still hadn’t had it back. I do not know what the chemist said, but they’d got the prescription I put in previously and the one I submitted on Saturday for different medication – wow!
Anyway, that was one port of call, but I also wanted to go into a department store called BHS. Sadly, it seems destined to follow so many other businesses in closing down. It’s been in administration, and they’ve not been able to find a buyer, so the stores are expected to close over the next few weeks. Given this is where I get my swimming stuff, I wanted to grab some more just to be on the safe side. I already have about 12 spare, but I go through probably about three or four a year, because of the amount of swimming I do. I managed to get another two, so that was at least good. I also had some vouchers to use in another shop that expire while we’re away. I looked at the weekend, and saw nothing I liked, and I was hoping I’d find something today, but sadly it was the same story again, so the vouchers will just expire. Oh well, two out of three wasn’t bad…
I headed home, and we showered and finished the rest of the packing, and settled down to finish watching something on the TV, as some of the motorways we’d be using had problems on them. I kept an eye on the travel news, and as soon as we saw that it had eased up, we started to load the car up, and get ready to go.
We set off around 6:30pm, and stopped to post our votes on the way. The UK is voting in a referendum on whether to leave or stay in the European Union, and I was glad to find out our postal ballots had turned up today, rather than us having to frantically remember to do something with them as soon as we get home – given polling is on the Thursday, and we get back on the Sunday. At least now if anyone knocks on the door and asks how we’re voting, we can truthfully tell them they’re too late!
We headed off, and it was like a cow fest along the M25.
These were the only shots I got, as the others were too far away, but one field was literally full of hundreds of beautiful bovine specimens, so I was very happy!
We had a really smooth run along the M25, which is a very pleasant change. The last time I drove along it was Tuesday and there was torrential rain the whole time. We stopped at the Cobham services, which is only a couple of years old. I drive past it regularly, but because I’m normally heading for our office a few miles on, I never need to stop here. My goodness, what a place – it’s huge!
Amazing as it looks, it was so loud in there that we went to McDonald’s and got a take away, and sat in the car and enjoyed it.
Then we were on our way again, and the whole way down, we had a really smooth run, which was lovely. We were soon passing Portsmouth, and I just about got a shot of the Spinakker Tower, which is the sail shaped tower…
It was a lovely evening…
We quickly found the Marriott and checked in. After Mark confidently told me there wouldn’t be breakfast on the ferry in the morning (and me later discovering he went on a different company last time he travelled ) we paid our £20 ($28) – I hope it’s a good spread for that. We were a bit horrified to discover they were charging £12 ($17) for Wi-Fi, so we passed on that…
At least the room was a good size…
I took the opportunity to photograph all our luggage, which should keep us laundry free – three suitcases and two hand luggage cases… oh plus two rucksacks. Not much then!
We headed off to bed an hour or so after arriving, as we had an early start the next morning, now that we had breakfast booked at the hotel…
The weather today was dry, but cold with temperatures in the mid 50s. The best thing today was the quick journey down. The worst thing today was not getting everything done at work I wanted before leaving. Today we tried staying at the Portsmouth Marriott And the result was the room was fine, but the Wi-Fi charge was a bit of a shock. The most magical moment today was seeing all the moo cows!
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Oh well, there’s only so much I can do – and heck, my manager is telling me to work less hours, so I took her at her word…. 
We stopped at the Cobham services, which is only a couple of years old. I drive past it regularly, but because I’m normally heading for our office a few miles on, I never need to stop here. My goodness, what a place – it’s huge! 
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