Valentine's Day Celebrity Cruise TR - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This was our day at sea, and quite frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot on the agenda! I had an appointment at the Fitness Center for a Body Composition Analysis. I had one done on my Disney Cruise in May 2012 and wanted to see if I’d made any progress. It was set for 8:30 but I thought it was 8am
An early morning fitness class
So anyway I waited in there for a while and Cody had walked me over to check out the area and then went off on his own. We planned to get breakfast after in the Main Dining Room since he had such a yummy meal there the morning before. So I found the fitness center and was told to wait for Jason, so I did. I think I waited about 15 minutes before he came (because he had the correct time and it was the start of his shift). This is when I learned I had my appointment wrong, but he was happy to start early and quickly we were off in a nook discussing my body and habits and hooking me up. Somehow he convinced me to buy a dry brush system that came with free nutritional and fitness consultation. (okay I’m gullible and like to buy stuff!) But we went through the schedule and decided that tonight after dinner would fit in best with our plans and the appointment was made. Off to find Cody!
He was just outside the Spa area in the Solarium reading, so I scooped him up. He asked if he could throw his Kindle in my bag and I said okay so we only had to keep track of one thing! And off we went to the other end of the ship for breakfast. We were quickly led to be sat… at a table that clearly wasn’t cleared. The host was flustered but quickly led us to another section with numerous empty tables and we were tucked neatly away by the railing overlooking the lower level (where we sat for dinner) and told our server would be with us shortly.
Then we waited… and waited… and waited. Finally someone brought us waters. Then we waited… and waited. OJ and pastries were brought around. Then, we WAITED some more! Finally our server showed up and took our order. While we were waiting, the area completely filled in around us with parties of varying sizes, but the section was certainly bustling. As we were waiting, we noticed food start coming to tables around us, to parties much larger than ours that were sat after us. This was SUCH a disappointment for me. Probably the absolute biggest issue with the cruise as a whole. The shows were bad, but laughably so and we still had a good time experiencing them. This was just miserable for me, as I’d been up a few hours now and hadn’t eaten. Then finally our food came out, and this is what it looked like…
Cody’s Specialty Pancakes & an Omelete
My Specialty French Toast
Do either of these dishes look special to you? Or worth waiting for? Here’s a spoiler, they WERE NOT. They tasted like they came off a buffet. So not bad per say, but definitely not worth the hassle we were experiencing. Cody had a great Eggs Benedict here the morning before, but this was crossed off my list to eat at again except for dinner. Blech.
We had glanced through the activities the night before but discussed a little more over breakfast and decided we wanted to do a fun tour and check out the Art Auction. There were interesting sounding fitness classes but aside from the ones first thing in the morning and the Zumba classes by the pool, they came with an extra cost which wasn’t super appealing to me.
Despite having an extended breakfast we had a little time to kill and tried to find some space to lay out and read. The pool deck was mobbed but the upper deck had lots of free space… it was only a few minutes before we realized it was because you couldn’t adjust or move the chairs, the jogging track ran through it, and the breeze kept it pretty cold up there (it wasn’t a super warm day, 60s maybe) We retired to our room to wait out the short time before our first activity instead…
Also, I had asked a stateroom attendant if she had anything I could put my rose from dinner in, and she actually had a vase with other flowers for me, so our room had a lovely flower arrangement for us (My friend told me AquaClass rooms have the fresh vases always, and when they wilt they take them away, but I thought they looked fine!)
Up Next: Day 3 Continued: Tour Groups and Special Deals
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Just read about last night and this morning. Dinner looked amazing and you and Cody are adorable! That just stinks about the long wait and then the not so good food, how disappointing. I hope the day gets better from here!
Sorry it wasn't the greatest start to the day. I can't believe the wait for breakfast - and you're right it was nothing special when it arrived.
It was just such a surprise after all the other great food!
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
What a shame about breakfast
Not a mistake we repeated
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sorry breakfast was less than special!
And breakfast is one of my favorites!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Ridiculous wait for such uncomplicated breakfast items!
Exactly! Those things do not take long to make at all!
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Originally Posted by BelmontBelle
Just read about last night and this morning. Dinner looked amazing and you and Cody are adorable! That just stinks about the long wait and then the not so good food, how disappointing. I hope the day gets better from here!
Still drooling thinking about that mac and cheese! And thank you It did improve!
Sounds like an over all nice Valentine's Day! & I think i am sold on the chocolate tour!!!
What a shame about breakfast. Being a former waitress, this kind of stuff really bugs me.
It was great, it's not something I'd do EVERY visit but definitely glad we did it! And I studied hospitality in school... so I tend to get very irked very easily in situations like that.
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a shame about your breakfast. After waiting for so long.
Lesson learned!
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Originally Posted by a_bernard
sorry about the breakfast. i love breakfast out as well.
Mhmm we love breakfast so it was such a shame!
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Originally Posted by Russi01
Sorry your breakfast was not so grand after the LONG wait!! Hope your day turned around.