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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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I know there aren't that many people here who have done this, but DH and I are booked for 2011 and I have a ton of questions for those who have.
What airline did you take to Barcelona?
How did you deal with the baggage allowance?
Did you ship anything ahead? If so, how did that work out?
How many days ahead were you in Barcelona?
Where did you stay?
How did you get to the port?
If you don't mind my asking, how much was your airfare, hotel, ground transfers, etc.?
This is a huge undertaking for us and I'm trying to figure out as much of the budget as possible to see if we can really do this. I've only ever traveled to the UK and that was a long time ago, so I'm just a bit intimidated by the pre-cruise planning. Not so worried about the actual cruise part. And we've got family in Orlando, so post-cruise is no big deal either. But I'm also incredibly excited about this - I've always wanted to do a TA cruise and being able to do it on DCL is like icing on the cake. Like chocolate icing on the cake!
TIA!
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Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) "We are the people our parents warned us about."
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I have no answers for you, just wanted to say I'm JEALOUS! I did the Westbound Panama transit and loved it. One of the great things about long cruises west is that you keep gaining an hour sleep as you pass through the time zones. I wouldn't like losing time on vacation going Eastbound!
I know there aren't that many people here who have done this, but DH and I are booked for 2011 and I have a ton of questions for those who have.
What airline did you take to Barcelona?
We had a non-stop between Philiadelphia and BCN on US Air. My advice is to do any connecting flights inside the US, with a direct flight from a US airport to BCN. Check fares on all airlines, based on a variety of convenient "gateway cities" (airports with direct flights to Europe. Each airline is likelly to specialize in different airports.
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How did you deal with the baggage allowance?
The allowances will still vary by airline. If you use the same airline for your domestic connecting flight as you use for the transatlantic leg, you normally get the international allowance for the entire trip. On international flights going outside North America, you generally get more free baggage than on domestic flights (lately, flights from the US to Canada, for example, are treated like domestic flights for the purposes of baggage).
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Did you ship anything ahead? If so, how did that work out?
Shipping ahead is not really an option. Since it's an international export/import, there must be a recipient willing to take responsibility for the goods - pay customs fees, local taxes, etc. If you have a friend or relative who can do that for you, great. However, they won't let you mail to yourself (for pickup at a post office, for example), and DCL's port agent probably won't want to do it, either - it's too big of a security and legal risk.
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How many days ahead were you in Barcelona?
We flew in the same day (arrived around 9:00am local time). We had cruise line transfers, and because we were there so early, they gave us a free three-hour bus tour before taking us to the ship. We stayed three nights post-cruise, but for us, it was a research trip.
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Where did you stay?
Hotel A/C Barcelona
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How did you get to the port?
Cruise transfer. After the cruise, taxi. Any hotel in the downtown area is going to be a fairly cheap cab fare.
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If you don't mind my asking, how much was your airfare, hotel, ground transfers, etc.?
We booked air through the cruise line, so transfers were included. I think we paid around $750-800 per person. Hotel was a decent rate for what it was (four-star, luxurious breakfast included), but probably in the $200/night range if I remember correctly.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
We did the WBTA this past september. It was fabulous!!
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Originally Posted by pflamingo
I know there aren't that many people here who have done this, but DH and I are booked for 2011 and I have a ton of questions for those who have.
What airline did you take to Barcelona?
USAir. We paid $401/pp for the fare from Wash DC to Philly to BCN. We set up a fare tracker on Kayak and several of the folks on our cruise ended up booking the 3rd week of January when USAir and several other carriers had a sale. (The advise from the 2007 WBTA was that fares were lowest 8 months out, which was January, so held true in our experience.) It was truly the most no-frill international flight I've ever had, but for the price and an overnight flight, it wasn't bad.
How did you deal with the baggage allowance?
I have Premier status on United, thus am Star Alliance Silver, which gave us an allowance on USAir of 2 bags per person up to 50lbs each.
Did you ship anything ahead? If so, how did that work out?
No, because the cost is significant. However, I did price it out, and it is possible, to ship either to the hotel (if you're staying there before sailing) or to the port.
How many days ahead were you in Barcelona?
We flew out on Wednesday, arriving in Barcelona first thing Thursday morning. We got on the ship on Saturday.
Where did you stay?
Le Meridian Barcelona, but mainly because I had credits for free nights there. Many on our cruise stayed at the Pratik Barcelona and Pratik Ramblas hotels. If you find the WBTA thread the first page had a list of everyone's hotels and flights.
How did you get to the port?
We got to the port by a van arranged through the hotel. We got to the hotel by booking a private tour that picked us up in the airport on Thursday, toured us around Barcelona for 4 hours, and dropped us off at the hotel just in time for the 2pm checkin.
If you don't mind my asking, how much was your airfare, hotel, ground transfers, etc.?
Airfare was $401/pp to Barcelona, and $82/pp home from MCO to DC. So about $500/pp. I think the tour and transfer from airport to hotel was 39 euros/pp, and the transfer for 6 people and luggage from hotel to port was 40euro total.
This is a huge undertaking for us and I'm trying to figure out as much of the budget as possible to see if we can really do this. I've only ever traveled to the UK and that was a long time ago, so I'm just a bit intimidated by the pre-cruise planning. Not so worried about the actual cruise part. And we've got family in Orlando, so post-cruise is no big deal either. But I'm also incredibly excited about this - I've always wanted to do a TA cruise and being able to do it on DCL is like icing on the cake. Like chocolate icing on the cake!
OP - Since you are from Georgia, you might seek some advice from su_kraft on the DISboards who was on the WBTA with us and is from Georgia. She also shipped packages to the ship ahead of time and may be able to answer that question.
I know there aren't that many people here who have done this, but DH and I are booked for 2011 and I have a ton of questions for those who have.
What airline did you take to Barcelona? Iberia from Boston cost us $630 RT per person. We needed to change planes in Madrid.
How did you deal with the baggage allowance? 2 checked bags and 1 carry-on check the sizes that are a little smaller then domestic travel.
Did you ship anything ahead? If so, how did that work out? We made everything fit into our bags. I always travel with a luggage scale.
How many days ahead were you in Barcelona? We left on Tuesday because it was an overnight flight and spent 3 nights in Barcelona before the cruise and one night after the cruise.
Where did you stay?
For the three nights before the cruse we stayed at Eurostars Grand Marina. It is a five star hotel right next to the port. I loved the hotel and would stay here again.
I original booked through Eurostars but later cancelled and booked through Expedia because it was cheaper. We had a superior room for $245 a night including taxes.
For the one night after the cruise we stayed at Novotel Barcelona Cornella because it was close the the airport. It was just OK. IT was listed as a four star but not IMO. It smelled of smoke and would not stay here again. We had a queen size bed room cost $120 a night including taxes.
How did you get to the port? Taxi just be careful some taxis will charge for each piece of luggage you have (cost 1 euro each). We took taxis to and from the airport and traveling around Barcelona.
If you don't mind my asking, how much was your airfare, hotel, ground transfers, etc.? I have an excel spreadsheet listing all our cost. If you would like a copy just PM me. Thinks to think about...
This is a huge undertaking for us and I'm trying to figure out as much of the budget as possible to see if we can really do this. I've only ever traveled to the UK and that was a long time ago, so I'm just a bit intimidated by the pre-cruise planning. Not so worried about the actual cruise part. And we've got family in Orlando, so post-cruise is no big deal either. But I'm also incredibly excited about this - I've always wanted to do a TA cruise and being able to do it on DCL is like icing on the cake. Like chocolate icing on the cake!
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