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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm taking 4 adults and 3 kids on the Med. cruise 05-05-10.
We have not cruised before.
Should we book shore excursions, or "do-it-ourselves" when we reach port?
Are there many port-hawkers, selling on the spot excursions? How reliable are they?
Should we find our own transport and simply make our own days?
Which ports would you consider "must book aheads"?
If I book excursions, can I cancell them? At what cost? How far in advance?
I would book shore excursions through Disney. I say that because you have the reassurance that, that way, the ship will not sail without you. If you do it yourself, it's your responsibility to get yourself back to the ship - and remember you'll be in a foreign country, so that could be a daunting prospect. We booked all our shore excursions through Disney for our Med cruise and loved them all. That would be the way I'd go.
If you do want to go outside Disney, I would book ahead. I really don't recall seeing any hawkers trying to sell you excursions on our cruise.
We sailed Europe on Princess (Italy, Turkey, Spain, Greece) and booked ahead, but not through Princess. We had a group of five and were able to do private tours for our group at each port for less than the cost of the large group ship sponsered tours. Recommendations abound at cruisecritic.com's message boards, and all the ones we used turned out to be very good.
All of our tours picked us up at and returned us to the dock. I wasn't worried about missing the ship because these companies understand that their livelihood is at stake and can't afford negative reviews.
We did our shore excursions on the 2007 Med cruise through Disney with one exception (Rome). Disney did a great job coordinating the tours and making them enjoyable for all ages. I would highly recommend this route unless you have a very experienced Travel agent who will help you arrange your own guide. We did this in Rome because there was so much we wanted to see. Our private guide met us at the dock at a prearranged time and took us in a Mercedes van to all the sites that we wanted to see. On our tour we did run into a few of the Disney tours and had our photos taken at the Trevi fountain by the ship photographers who were stationed there most of the day. We saw a lot more sites than any of the Disney tours and spent several hours at the Vatican. We also had a great lunch at a small cafe in a beautiful plaza, with no other tour groups present.
But other than Rome I would stick with the on board tours. I know there is a cancellation date, but I don't recall what it was. I'm sure its in the registration materials on line. Disney also let us do a last minute change to one tour when we realized that we didn't want to spend a second day touring another French Medeval village.
Also, as Cheryl pointed out, you are guaranteed that the ship won't sail without you as long as you are with one of their tours.
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
I'm also taking the Med cruise in May (after yours). We are 4 adults. I have booked my own shore excursions on other cruises, but for this trip I'm going through Disney. I looked around in some cases it would be more expensive to go through a different company just because of the additional transportation cost.
I'm also using my Disney rewards dollars to pay for half of the excursions.
We prefer the excursions organized by Disney because of the peace of mind. Also, the didn't seem all that overpriced. Since there's so much to see and do here in Europe, I'd definitely book planned excursions in advance, and, like I said, I'd stick to Disney.
Yes, most likely there will be port-hawkers but I don't recommend booking through them (especially in Tunisia).
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Time is very short in your ports of call, and most destinations are very intensive (far, far more to do than you can see in a day). It's much better to book ahead, whether with the cruise line, or through another reputable tour operator. Tour offerings at the port are often few and far between, and may not cover the sights you desired. Further, the time you spend making your on-the-spot decision is very precious. It's much better to shop ahead. Also, for the most part, the on-the-spot tour operators are not offering bargains. It's just as likely you'll be paying a higher price for having not planned ahead.
You're paying a lot for each port of call visit in port fees and taxes, so in for a penny, in for a pound. Book ahead, and get the most out of your days.
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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 went to the Med as our first ever experience of cruising and had a 6 month old with us so decided to diy. We generally got on very well. I found the hawkers at the ports quite intimidating so it would have been nice to be whisked straight past them. We had no problem though once of the ship doing things like getting on a double decker sight seeing bus etc.
Trying to decide what to do on our next trip - go with Disney or diy - Northern Europe should be even easier to make our own way .Though I would never go too far from the port as I would be concenred about them leaving without me ;-)
Kit
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Med shore excur - yes or no???
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