A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 4/23 - Page 23 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
How cute that Mark found some scrapbook kits for you. Wow, I can't believe how deserted the ship looked and you really lucked out with all your photos.
To a certain extent, it is about being in the right place at the right time and we quickly learnt that when the show was on and they were in the middle of late dining, it would be pretty deserted, as that's where the vast majority of people were.
I'm all caught up finally! I hate playing catch-up with TRs, as I forget what I wanted to comment on in each installment. I'll just say this is shaping up to be a great cruise, with a new one booked already. You both look wonderful in your formal wear and I think you should just keep wearing that dress until it falls apart. The color and the style are perfect and every time you wear it you look lovely.
Thank you! I'll be sure to give it a few more outings yet...
Great timing for the staircases photos. Your dress is lovely.
I'm a little confused by your comment "we both knew about the one cocktail" Do they want you to move on after one cocktail or you & Mark were only up for one cocktail ?
The ship really is stunning.
By that, I meant we knew about the alcohol content in them - they were quite strong and there was no way we could have a second. I'm sure they'd have been very happy for us to stay and enjoy many more, but I'm not sure we'd have walked out of there had we done that!
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.
Sorry your dinner wasn't up to par. Once again it seems like this is where DCL fails miserably. I had such high hopes for the newer ships, but they seem to be following in the footsteps of the older ships. Love all the pictures you got this night.
It is a shame. Every time we cruise, I do wonder whether it's just because we go in with high expectations and I think that's part of the problem - especially after the Palo brunch. I will say that we did have some good meals this cruise and I thought the quality of food generally was better than our last cruise on the Wonder around Alaska.
I have told my hubby that once we both retire from the military that we are going to take the Mediterranean cruise!! It looks amazing Can't wait to see your TR from that one!!!
That sounds like a great plan to me! We did the first ever Med cruise in 2007 and it was an amazing itinerary. All of the itineraries they're now doing in the Med sound just as good though.
I love that you got to stroll around "by yourselves". The Skyline looks like a nice place. I didn't really "get it" from descriptions, but seeing your photos makes it clearer. I had to smile because I think the Conquistador sounds yummy, and your drink too... I'll have to get both, lol
Fun way to end the evening. I am not much of a drinker, and neither drink sounds all that great to me. I like very fruity, can't taste the alcohol kinds of drinks.
WOW!! Where were all the people??? Such beautiful shots you guys got this evening.
I love a lounge that can serve some off the wall drinks, some work, some don't but I always think it is cool how they give it a go and sometimes you can be sooo surprised! Great night!
Fun way to end the evening. I am not much of a drinker, and neither drink sounds all that great to me. I like very fruity, can't taste the alcohol kinds of drinks.
Monday 17 December – part one: this is fit for a prince, princess, King or Queen!
We had to put our watches forward an hour last night, meaning we essentially lost an hour, so when we woke up, it was already 9:25am. Ok, so I guess the DVC Member Celebration, which seems to be at 9:00am every morning, just isn’t going to work for us. So much for our cruise director saying at the show yesterday that you can sleep in – they seem to be programming a lot of good stuff for between 9:00am and 10:00am on the at sea days, which I think is just plain stupidity. I wouldn’t mind if they were on again later in the day, but they’re not. Ok, rant over…
We took our time getting going, because heck, it’s an at sea day and we can! We watched one of the films available on the TV (can I just say this is one thing I love about Disney cruises, the fact you get these, and they’re free, and you can pause and stop them), Premium Rush, which we’d never heard of, but it was a fun film, and we enjoyed it. As you can see, it was a beautiful day outside:
We eventually headed out for lunch at Royal Court at midday. On our way there, we checked out Shutters, and it’s just as well we did, as there were a couple of photos in there of kids that were nothing to do with us.
Everyone was getting ready for the lobby atrium party as we entered Royal Court, but apart from the occasional whooping outside, we knew nothing about it inside. Oh wow, what a beautiful place this is – I absolutely loved it here. It’s just magical, and definitely fit for a prince, princess, King or Queen!
We asked about this table, table 82, on the way out – and we were told it’s complete luck who gets it. How amazing would it be to be seated here?
Mark went for the selection of antipasti for appetiser, which consisted of bresaola, marinated olives, shaved parmesan, and a grissini stick with a roasted garlic dip.
I had to go for the cold strawberry soup, which was just perfect.
For entrée, I had the poached salmon with asparagus, fingerling potatoes, and lemon hollandaise, which was excellent.
No hollandaise sauce… … and now there is!
Mark had the Angus chuck burger, a grilled half pound burger with a choice of bacon, cheddar or Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions served with coleslaw and French fries.
We opted out of dessert, as we were just nicely full.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I'll be sure to give it a few more outings yet... 
Can't wait to see your TR from that one!!!
We did the first ever Med cruise in 2007 and it was an amazing itinerary. All of the itineraries they're now doing in the Med sound just as good though. 
you're not... I do too! 
Linear Mode
