Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising THIS SECTION COMPLETED 5/7 - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel 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
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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.
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Nice start to your cruise! Love seeing the photos of your stateroom as it looks so familiar as I was still experiencing this just over a day ago! The room setup seems a bit different as the bed and sofa seem to be on the opposite side as it was in my stateroom!
Wow, that is very fresh in your mind then!
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I loved those chairs in the adults area (Quiet Cove on The Dream as well?). Didn't see these on The Magic! Your drink looked quite good and probably what you needed! Rooms were ready on The Magic at 1:30 as well. The design of The Dream is a bit different but still quite similar to The Magic in many ways in what I have seen of your photos.
The old ships and the new ones are similar, but there are quite a few differences - you'll have to now ensure you cruise on all four, so you can compare them.
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Your meal at EG looked very good and Disney certainly provides the best regarding this on their cruises! I'm only through page three at this point and looking forward to the rest!
That was a bit rushed with dinner and the spa treatments. I think I'd rather do these before dinner, so I wouldn't have any time conflicts. But at least it all seemed to workout with the exception of the noisy ones in the hot tubs!
Oh trust me, you haven't seen anything yet with dinner timings. We've had the early dining rotation a number of times and have never had an issue with it, and trust me, there shouldn't be an issue, but sadly there was this cruise...
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I didn't see the Kennedy Space Center from the ship as your pictures show. My room was on the starboard side and probably just didn't notice it, but was most likely viewable from the port side?
That's probably the case. I've just double checked and we were on the port side.
Tuesday 24 February – part seven: enjoying life in the Skyline…
I decided to take it easy up on deck 12 in the adult only area…
It was about now we had the first call for a missing family. We got the second call a while later, so we headed round to that side of the boat to see if the gangways had gone yet. They hadn’t, but we saw them running along, and boy did they get a cheer and a half, not just from our ship, but also the Royal Caribbean one opposite. If I was them, I’d want to curl up in embarrassment.
We headed back to the room to watch our departure from Nassau…
… and as we moved out into the open sea, we were treated to some amazing views of the sunset:
We got ready for our dinner at Palo, and headed down to the lobby around 6:20pm. We were both surprised and a bit shocked at how little photo opportunities there were. They had two backgrounds set up, one of which we hate (it’s the Paisley design we’ve seen before), and there was no photographer in sight, so any idea we had of doing photos went out of the window.
Instead, we headed over to the shops. We only went into one…
… but did some serious damage in here. Mark got two tops, and so I did I, along with three pairs of sunglasses. Finally, I had found a decent selection, after looking everywhere in Disney World. Just figures!
Once we were done with our shopping, we headed over to see Jennifer and her family for a brief chat, before making our way into the District…
We were going to the Skyline Lounge, but went via Pink, and bless the Crew Member in there, she was so disappointed we were stopping. She kept trying to persuade us, and when I said we weren’t keen on champagne, she immediately told us she had wine.
We weren’t going to be deterred, and into the Skyline Lounge we went. I just love this place… it’s so cool.
The menus are so neat as well!
We both ordered a cocktail each. First I went for the pearl, made up of Absolut mandarin, Absolut kurant, sparkling wine, orange and pineapple juice, and pomegranate syrup, which was very nice…
… but I tried a bit of Mark’s and much preferred his. He got the Nine Dragons (and you thought that was a restaurant in China in Epcot? So did I! ) made with takara jun shochu sprint, Chambord, cranberry and raspberry juice.
In fact I like it so much that I had two of those, while Mark had a second, so let’s just say we rolled out of there… I got a few photos of our second set of drinks being made:
When we arrived we had the New York scene, the same as when we visited in the afternoon…
… then we got Rio…
… followed by Paris…
Now Paris was interesting, because when you know the city really well, you start to look at it carefully, and wonder where the footage came from, and I realised that, although it looks like a seamless panorama, really it’s not, as some of the images had to be taken from very different spots, which was interesting.
Just to let you know it's highly unlikely there'll be an update tomorrow morning, as I have an exceptionally early start for work and just won't have time to log on before I have to head out.
Going to the skyline lounge was the one thing I really regret missing out on during our fantasy cruise a few years ago, so thanks for sharing such great pics! Mark looks great all done up, it's too bad the photographers weren't out for you!!
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Ahh there's nothing like a Caribbean sunset so beautiful!
I was surprised to see the Castway Cay Challenge shirts on the boat as they are usually just sold on the Island. Then I remembered you were on the cruise that had the special Castaway Cay Challenge after marathon weekend. We are planning on running that challenge after marathon weekend next January. Maybe you and Mark could repeat this same trip next year?
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 the family running for the ship! We see that at least once a cruise. Ahhhhh, the Skyline!! That is a wonderful place!! Also, a great score at the shop! What a fun predinner time!
I was a travel agent at the time when Disney first announced and launched the cruise line. At the time they had contracts with the Big Red Boat where Disney Characters would appear on their ships. During contract negotiations the Big Red Boat jacked up their prices to have the Disney characters. Disney said no way and created their own cruise line. Where is the Big Red Boat now?
I sailed the Big Red Boat back when it was contracted with Disney characters. We flew out from San Francisco and did a combo trip - first, WDW, and then the cruise.
It was a lot of fun but it kinda satisfied my need to sail with characters. But your photos of the ship are so gorgeous, we might have to rethink that.
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More beautiful sunset photos over the ocean. Ahhh..... so peaceful.
I think I could spend the every night in that lounge. So cool!
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Great photos of the sunset, I definitely agree!
I've seen more than a few run the run of shame and know first hand of a couple left behind. (they were 2 of our tablemates)
The differences between the Dream and Fantasy...I read in Disney Dining today that the Dream will be getting Satellite Falls during its next re-fit!
Do you ever look for the Disney touches in the Skyline 'windows' ? We love doing that. In Paris, for example, you can find Gasteau's restaurant sign.
Going to the skyline lounge was the one thing I really regret missing out on during our fantasy cruise a few years ago, so thanks for sharing such great pics!
Glad I could help out.
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Mark looks great all done up, it's too bad the photographers weren't out for you!!
We still got some nice enough pics of the two of us that night and later on in the cruise...
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Love seeing the photos of your stateroom as it looks so familiar as I was still experiencing this just over a day ago! 
The room setup seems a bit different as the bed and sofa seem to be on the opposite side as it was in my stateroom! 
Your drink looked quite good and probably what you needed! 
I'm only through page three at this point and looking forward to the rest! 
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We've had the early dining rotation a number of times and have never had an issue with it, and trust me, there shouldn't be an issue, but sadly there was this cruise... 
He got the Nine Dragons (and you thought that was a restaurant in China in Epcot? So did I! 
) made with takara jun shochu sprint, Chambord, cranberry and raspberry juice. 
I got a few photos of our second set of drinks being made: 
about the family running for the ship! We see that at least once a cruise. Ahhhhh, the Skyline!!
That is a wonderful place!! Also, a great score at the shop! What a fun predinner time!
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