Curious question about cruising in early Novemeber - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
$12 a day parking, IIRC. BBQ is included. Other than Palo, all of the food is included.
Thank you for the info. I wasn't sure, given I know most cruises include all the food, but suvaniers and alcohol are separate. Parking isn't that bad. That does help us know how much to budget for parking when we save up and having it figured out.
You treat Castaway Cay like the ship - so meals and such are included, alcoholic drinks and purchases are not (they are charged to your room). In other ports, such as Nassau, anything purchased off the ship (including food) is out of pocket. If you stay on the ship, then it's included, but unless food/drink is listed as part of an excursion, only Castaway Cay is included.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Heather, thank you. I wasn't sure or not if Castaway Cay was treated like being on the ship, and that does make a lot of sense. I wasn't sure if for Castaway Cay if I needed to budget an extra days worth of spending money, like we will for Nassau (which I knew was a given). I did see Palo's was a $15 pp upgrade which we are debating if we're going to do or not (still time to think about it).
Especially if you are taking Skyler, I would definitely recommend doing Palo, as that will give you some romantic adult time that you won't normally be getting. We did it on our Nassau night and we plan to go again on this next cruise. We're trying to convince my in-laws to go to Palo on her birthday (Castaway Cay day) but she keeps on insisting that she'd rather be with the grandkids...
So, maybe we'll do 1 night with the 4 of us (on their stateroom) and 1 night with just me and DH....hmmm, now the wheels are turning!
Especially if you are taking Skyler, I would definitely recommend doing Palo, as that will give you some romantic adult time that you won't normally be getting. We did it on our Nassau night and we plan to go again on this next cruise. We're trying to convince my in-laws to go to Palo on her birthday (Castaway Cay day) but she keeps on insisting that she'd rather be with the grandkids...
So, maybe we'll do 1 night with the 4 of us (on their stateroom) and 1 night with just me and DH....hmmm, now the wheels are turning!
Heather, thank you for the extremely wonderful suggestion of Palo's especially if Skyler does come with us. That was something I wanted to do and it's an extremely reasonable upgrade for an"Adult Only" restaurant on the ship and just a nice little get away from him. I think he'd have fun doing the Kids Activities that night while we're at Dinner and he can make some friends of his own. I told DH that there is extremely reasonably priced babysitting or Kids Programs on the Ship that Skyler can do without us for a little while every night, or even just one night.
I even remember my parents having my sister and I doing childrens activities on our Cruise when I was 7 and we made great friends while they had adult time each evening. My parents even did that when we went on our last cruise as my cousins, sister, & I all headed off and had our own fun and our brother (then 4) went off to Kids Activities and they got their alone time. I that was another thing I was prepared to put in our budget for the cruise was money for Babysitting and Kids Activites for Skyler. We can still have fun, have some "Adult Time" and I can still have Skyler there and enjoy his company as well. By then he'll be 5 so he'll have fun.
Heather, I hope you're able to get your in-laws to go to Palo's. Everything on their menu sounds delicious. It looks like something not to pass up! Good luck convincing them to enjoy dinner there. You have me convinced
Keep in mind that for children 3 and older (and potty trained) the kids clubs are free of charge. They only charge for Flounder's, which is for the younger kids and/or babies.
Keep in mind that for children 3 and older (and potty trained) the kids clubs are free of charge. They only charge for Flounder's, which is for the younger kids and/or babies.
Thank you for the great tip about the Kids Clubs. He'd be 5 by then and keep my fingers crossed we can get him potty trained by then (my brother was a slow poke with that one, but every kid is different). Thank you for letting me know the kids clubs are free. I know some cruise lines do charge for Kids Activities. Even for Flounder's babysitting there is reasonably priced and that's going by what I used to babysit in high school and college.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Linear Mode
