Semi-live trip report from our Med cruise **Updated 6/6 - COMPLETE** - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
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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.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Hi Cheryl! Just catching up to your live updates, which I LOVE. I'm so glad y'all are having a great time - it sounds like you have gotten to do and experience so many amazing things! I hope my dreams really do come true and I can do this same cruise someday!
I absolutely cannot wait to see your pictures and hear all the details. I'm already blown away by what you've been posting all along. And your sig picture - fabulous, girl!
Oh and about Mark and the massages...I don't know if you've ever read the children's book, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie..." but I think the same logic could be applied to "If You Give A Husband A Massage..." so watch out!
I'm just reading this now. I'm a little behind in TR's this week.
Mark looks fantastic in his suit. You look beautiful in your gown. Love the new sig photo, and I've printed out and it's on the fridge for the girls to see.
I'm shocked by the rough seas. I never thought it could happen in the Mediterranean, but I guess it can!
Sounds like you're having a wonderful cruise. Hope the seas calm down a bit soon. We had a rough day at sea on the last Panama Canal Cruise, so I know how you feel.
__________________
August 2010
Kathy, DVC Member
Upcomming Trips: 12/11 BWV, 6/12 Disney Fantasy, 12/12 Disney Fantasy
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Our dinner at Palo last night was absolutely superb – the only downside was the view of Civitavechhia port. It’s very industrial here, so it wasn’t the greatest backdrop. Everything else though was perfect. We were served by Gemma from the UK, whose home town is probably only about 50 miles or so from where we live. She went out of her way to help us and we were chatting away to her for ages, so much so that our dinner took more than two hours there!
We shared the calamari and the chef’s special pizza of the day, which had shrimp, pesto, red pepper and mozzarella cheese on – boy was that good and very light too! We each had an individual appetizer, mine was the Portobello mushrooms and Mark’s was the Tuscan fish and seafood soup. For main course, I had the lobster with polenta, which was another chef’s special, while Mark had the beef tenderloin. The only thing I could fault was that the lobster was a little too rich and therefore I couldn’t finish it, but the rest o fit was flawless. For dessert, what else could I have but the chocolate soufflé – divine as always. Gemma brought out a dairy free chocolate mousse for Mark, which he told me was amazingly rich. It was quite a meal and we’re hoping to get back in there later this cruise, but they’re fully booked at the moment, so we’re on the waiting list.
This morning started with a trip to the Tropical Rainforest and then Mickey’s Island Jam Breakfast, which was a lot of fun, with loads of characters, including my sweet little blue alien. Hey, as my donkey’s not on board, then he’s my second favourite!
We then went off to a lecture by Karl Holz, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Disneyland Resort Paris and it was fascinating to hear him speak and to watch some footage of the park. I think a weekend there is going to be coming up in our near future – as Mark said, it looked very good from what we saw of it. Afterwards, he answered questions and Tom McAlpine, who I believe is the Vice President of Disney Cruise Line, was there as well and we ended up having a chat with him about a couple of things, which was very interesting and quite an honour! He didn’t rule out Disney returning to cruise the Med – as Mark said, he very carefully dodged that question.
We’re off to Palo again shortly for high tea, which will be a new experience for us, and then we’ve got a semi-formal night tonight and another new show, Twice Charmed, before visiting Florence and Pisa tomorrow all day.
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Great update! Good to hear that Disney might cruise the Med again - if we enjoy our first cruise ever next April, we might think about a Mediterranean Disney cruise next
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Pixie Dust
I'm so glad y'all are having a great time - it sounds like you have gotten to do and experience so many amazing things! I hope my dreams really do come true and I can do this same cruise someday! 
And your sig picture - fabulous, girl! 
so I know how you feel.
How cool you got to talk to Tom McAlpin 
for taking the time to do them!
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