On Port days, is anything closed onboard ship? - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
If you have stayed aboard ship rather than go into port, did you find any restaurants, activities, pools, etc. closed? If only 50% of the ship's services and facilities are operating on port days, then I need to rethink about booking a shore excursion or two on my next cruise. Thanks for any advice anyone can offer!
All shops (including Shutters, the photo place) are closed whenever the ship is in port.
The top-floor buffet (Beach Blanket on the Wonder, Topsiders on the Magic) is usually open for lunch, as is either Lumiere's/Triton's or Parrot Cay.
There will be fewer activities happening onboard than while the ship is at sea, but still plenty to keep anyone busy.
We have stayed onboard twice at Nassau, and didn't regret it at all. If/when we do another Western Caribbean cruise, we'll probably stay onboard in Cozumel, which underwhelmed us.
I thought I heard the kids clubs were closed during certain hours when the ship was at CC. Is that true? Are they closed any other time while in a different port?
One thing to remember. All the spa services are open. And frequently "bargain priced" (hahaha). It depends a lot on the stop. Many experienced cruisers don't get off at Nausau.
I thought I heard the kids clubs were closed during certain hours when the ship was at CC. Is that true? Are they closed any other time while in a different port?
The kids' clubs are moved on to Scuttles Cove at Castaway Cay rather than closed. I believe there was about half an hour when they were'nt operating when they were transitioning back to the ship. They were open and operating in all other ports, though.
I second the post above -- there are brief transition periods while the kids' programming moves off ship at Castaway Cay and back aboard (because the cruise staff can't bring kids on or off the ship). Other than that, the kids' programs run from morning till late at night every day, including port days.
It is true, the kids clubs are moved to CC when in port. But the club areas are opened to parents and kids to hang out in together, if you don't want to go onto the island, they cannot stay by themselves. They have games and craft stuff available. Found this out when it was a steady rain on our trip. The kid stuff was still held on the island in a covered area, but I didn't want to be going back and forth in the rain. We hung out for a little in the areas and when the pools opened because there wasn't a threat of lightening, we played in the pool. I will say this, they did add several different things to do on the ship, including an impromptu matinee of the "Dreams" show, because of the steady rain.
We had rain on our December 2005 cruise.....it cancelled our parasailing excursion.
On our cruise last year (in September), the weather was great at CC. Here's hoping for the same in 3 weeks....eeek! Three weeks from today, I will be getting ready to embark! I can't wait!
About This Page: 
On Port days, is anything closed onboard ship?
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
]
Linear Mode
