The "third times a charm" HCL cruise PTR - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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We were glad to only have two days at sea this time. But, after three days consecutively in ports we were ready for a day at sea with no schedule. We slept in today. We got up around 1030. I was up first and decided I was hungry so Eric and I threw on some clothes and made the last of the Breakfast Buffet just in time!
We ate breakfast and decided to go look for his family. We went to their room first and couldnt find them. But, just as we were beginning to give up his mom knocked on the door and said they had saved us some chairs on the back sundeck next to the pool.
Today was beautiful and sunny! But, windy!! It was about 80-85 degrees with no clouds.
I followed his mother up and believe it or not I did put on sunscreen I def had learned my lesson!
She had picked some great chairs for us so I settled in and laid on my stomach since my front had already been sizzled to a crisp
Eric found me about 20 mins later and we laid in bliss. The wind was blowing and it was warm and I found myself in a trance. I think we laid out till about 2pm. Eric's parents left before we did stating they had been out there longer.
So, we decided to lay a little longer. The sun still made it through the sunscreen but it wasnt too bad Evened up the tan lines from the day before!
We went to find his parents after we had enough of the sun and in and out of sleeping....we quickly ran into them in the middle of the ship. They were listening to some caribbean band (which was a disappointment, this was the only disappointment that Eric and I agreed on. They barely sang or played carribbean music and that was disappointing)
I read for awhile (falling ever so more in love with Twilight*L*) and eric decided he was bored. We went to the back of the ship again and had a tropical drink and watched them play water games.
I will have to say the back of the ship where the second pool was located was where all the fun was located. The middle pool where his parents were was more for lounging and relaxation.
We sat at the bar and watched the games for about an hour. We then decided to change clothes and wander around the ship.
We did not take many pictures today at all. I think we needed a break from it i'm not sure....wait....eric's disk was full*LOL* that' was why we only have a few pictures from this day.
Anyway, we decided to go to the front of the ship where there was this coffee shop and have a latte and hang out together.
We noticed after walking around that there was a LOT of movement today on the ship. LOTS of rocking.
Well, we noticed it even more at the front of the ship. But, we also noticed these little shadow boxes of treasures on display here are a few of those pics
Here are some pics of the areas leading to the coffee cafe, There was a really nice gym with awesome equipment!
Here are pics of the bar area/lounge area next to the coffee shop where we sat and drank our latte's
These chairs were so awesome!!
The view
Eric and I began to get really motion sick up there so we decided to head back to the room since it was nearing 6pm anyway and it was formal night. We both took a second round of motion sickness medication AND Eric NEVER gets motion sickness! But, they said it was really windy that day so i'm guessing that was making the sea rough.
We got ready for dinner and tonight was our second formal night! Formal night is always such fun! We did not take pics because we had worn these formal outfits last time and really I think we just forgot.
Anyway, at the end of dinner there was a special treat and they called it the presentation of the Baked Alaska.....There was this big to do and dance with glow sticks and it was a parade of Baked Alaska desserts!! It was so great
Here's our waiter with our's
The baked Alaska was amazing! It was like this toasted marshmellow topping but underneath was Neopolitan Ice Cream. I got a big slice of the chocolate portion
After dinner, we decided to catch the show at the theater that night which started at 10pm.
Here's the theater
This was our second show that we caught and it was a husband and wife duo that were acrobatic. They used their own bodies to contort and do all kinds of amazing stunts!
It was really fantastic and made me sad that we only were able to catch two of their shows on this trip due to the earlier in the trip sickness
We were very impressed with this show and we actually sat right in front of the stage! It reminded me of Cirque de Soleil. It was a great show and afterwards we decided to call it a night because we had an early day the next day.
Here is the last towel animal we received of the trip and we left him hanging for the rest of the trip
this pic was actually taken the next morning but I wanted to show you guys
The day at sea was really relaxing and laid back. We didnt have many pics to share, sorry But, I did forget to mention that this day we set our clocks back to the original time.
Up next: Our Final Day spent in Half Moon Cay and the end of an amazing trip!
Wow! You had a great day at sea! Relax, relax, and then relax some more!I like the coffee lounge. They have one like that on the Magic, we'll have to try it out next time. You sound like us: just barely making it to breakfast! The "Baked Alaska Parade" is done on the Magic, too. Though quite a bit different, the theater reminds me of the Walt Disney Theater on the Magic, too. The show sounds amazing! Love the Monkey Towel Animal... I'd have let him live till the end of the trip, too!
I can't believe it's coming to an end... you just got started!!
GREAT UPDATE! and another twilight plug too!
I wish I was enjoying your relaxing day at sea right now! lol!
And I love the towel animal! So cute! Sounds so fun and relaxing-- when will you guys be in Disney again? Just so I know how long I have to wait for another TR!
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Great update, Crissy! Days at sea are one of the things I'm nervous about cruising, but it sounds like you had a really fantastic day. Very relaxing! Makes me less nervous about it.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!