PTR - Cruising with the Perry's on the Fantasy updated 12/04/2013 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
PTR - Cruising with the Perry's on the Fantasy updated 12/04/2013
I have never written a PTR or TR! I love reading everyone else's so I thought I would document my own! Bear with me as I work on uploading photos!
I had trouble deciding on a name for this PTR/TR so it's very plain. This will be our second Disney Cruise as a family. I went on two in high school. Until last September my husband had never been on a cruise. He was sold BEST cruise line EVER!!!
We'll be sailing on the Fantasy September 7-14, Western Caribbean
Meet the cast:
Me - mom to two sweet and beautiful little girls. I love all things Disney! I enjoy cooking, reading, & playing with the girls. Belle is my favorite princess and Mulan is my favorite Disney movie. This will be my 4th Disney cruise
DH - Matthew likes the Incredibles, after all he thinks he is Mr. Incredible Now that DD is 5 he enjoys riding the cool rides with her! His favorite park is Epcot. This will be DH 2nd Disney cruise
DD - Haleigh is 5 and entering kindergarten this fall! I'm so sad my baby is growing up! She's really gotten into the princesses this year. She will tell you all are her favorite, but right now it's Rapunzel and Brave. This will be her 2nd Disney cruise.
DD - Lydia just celebrated her 1st birthday! She doesn't have a favorite character yet. Her nickname is Smiley. This will be her 2nd Disney Cruise.
My parents have decided to join us on this cruise. We're so excited! After all, extra hands are always nice
Meet my parents Kristi and William. This is their 4th Disney cruise. They never pass up a cruise. They usually sail on some cruise line every 4 months...sheesh rough life! LOL They have traveled with us on almost every Disney vacation with the girls. We love them and so happy their coming with us!
Up next: Where will we stay the night before and which category state room??
__________________
[/SIGPIC]
Last edited by duck addict; 12-04-2013 at 04:53 PM..
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
We sailed on the Dream last September for 4 nights. The Dream stopped at Nassau, but we didn't get off. DD Lydia was exactly 12 weeks old, the youngest passenger, so we didn't want to over do it. It was also DH first cruise and we wanted to experience as much as we could with our short time on the boat. My parents were also with us!
On our last night sailing on the Dream I booked this cruise so that I could get the $200 on board credit. I wanted to sail on the Fantasy so that DD Haleigh could experience BBB and I wanted to go on a 7 night cruise. I have already been to St. Thomas & St. Marteen but DH hasn't so it wasn't hard choosing which cruise. Also, we wanted to sail after Labor Day. The cruise is cheaper and it's less crowded since most kids have gone back to school. I really would like to upgrade our room so we have more space, but DH thinks we'd be alright with the same room with a verandah. So we'll be staying on deck 7, room 7544
I feel like this past year has flown by! In April my parents asked if they could join us. We didn't mind. My mom called and she was able to get room 7546, connected to us! I like this idea because DD is in love with her grandparents and she's already planned on spending the night with them. She likes the top bunk and the lights on the ceiling. I believe it's a drawing from Peter Pan.
Great start! We just sailed on the Fantasy to the W. Caribbean in May. We LOVED it!!! I have been seriously thinking of doing a TR as it was such a wonderful trip!
Great start! Will enjoy following your family on the cruise. Your girls are adorable!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Great start!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PixieMichele
Way to go, great start!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctsmom116
Great Start!! Can't wait to read all about your trip
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy L
Great start! We just sailed on the Fantasy to the W. Caribbean in May. We LOVED it!!! I have been seriously thinking of doing a TR as it was such a wonderful trip!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
The question came up after my parents booked, where will we stay the night before
Last year we flew down the day before and stayed at the BC. It was a nice relaxing start to our vacation! My parents flew down the day of and ran into a huge problem! They were the first flight to leave STL and their plane was leaking oil. They did not purchase insurance so we were very worried they would not make the boarding time onto the Dream. 2 hours later there was a flight leaving that was supposed to go to Dallas and it wasn't full. The crew spoke to the passengers and they gave up their flight so that the first flight of the day could leave. It was so nice of them. My parents weren't the only passengers trying to make a cruise departing that day. What's neat is that Disney can tell if you're plane is delayed and when my parents arrived to MCO DME knew they were on another flight, had a bus held for them and they were on their way to port! They have cruised twice since then and have left the day before to avoid this happening again.
Staying on property the night before our cruise was nice, but what was not enjoyable was the 2 hour bus ride from BC to port with a newborn and very excited 4 year old. Lydia was 3 months old and did great, but we were the first pick up and had a handful of stops before we were on our way to port. This year Lydia will be 15 months and I just knew another 2 hour bus ride was not going to be an option. My parents came up with the idea to stay at the Hyatt Regency. They had points and could get us a room at no cost. Yes! I had read on the Williams Family Blog how convenient this would be.
Here are a few photos from our cruise last Sept!
We ate at Cape May's for breakfast before departing!
I agree that it's too risky to arrive the day of the cruise. Much better to arrive the day before and stay at the airport, WDW or the port overnight. It's good to know, though, that DCL keeps track of arrivals and held a bus for your parents.
I'm with you - we always arrive the day before our cruise departs, as it's just too risky to fly in the day of departure. Love the photos from your last cruise!
We debated back and forth if we should do excursions, which ones and on which island? Tough decisions! Because DD is so young were are limited to what we can do. It's also nice to stay on the boat and take advantage of places that would normally be busy, such as the Aqua Duck. We read the excursion descriptions in the Passporter book and nothing really appealed to DH. I really wish we were sailing back to Nassau so that I would have the opportunity to swim with the dolphins at Atlantis. Maybe next time
I had been counting down to the day when we could book our cruise activities. I'm more excited about what we're doing on board! When my window opened for me to book our cruise activities I was on the computer at 7am. I just knew I would have trouble booking one huge activity on my list that DD5 wants to do....BBB! It was one of the first activities I booked and to my surprise they still had a lot of openings Now my question to her was which princess do you want to be. Disney was running a sale online and some of their costumes you could get for $29.99. Well this momma waited too long and the costumed DD5 wanted sold out after the first day. Bummer! DD5 really wanted Jasmine. I told her she'd be going to BBB on formal night so I was trying to steer her towards a costume that was a dress. At first she either wanted Rapunzel or Jasmine. I read her the list of princesses, and once she heard Princess Minnie that's the costume she wanted. I'm excited because this costume is exclusive to Disney Cruise Line. I'm worried about the shoes. Can anyone tell me if they are too small will they let us get a bigger size? I booked BBB for 4pm on Sunday. The time is perfect because it's right before our dinner. Check that off the list!
The next thing on my list was the spa. On our last cruise DH and I had a couples massage. It's nice and relaxing time with just the two of you. I booked the couples massage, but I might cancel it. I scheduled it on the day we're at St. Maarten. We had decided to book it early enough in the day that if we wanted to get off the boat we would, otherwise this will be another pool day for us!
The next thing on my list to book was brunch at Remy's. We had brunch at Palo's on our last cruise and loved it!! Our server was fantastic and the food was delicious. On this cruise we're trying Remy's, but I can definitely see us adding Palo's
I got the time I wanted for Remy's and my parents were able to schedule their brunch an hour after ours. Worked out great. The kids will go to the nursery and kids club. The rest of this day will be spent swimming, catching a movie, and hopefully I'm able to sneak in a nap.
We will be getting off the boat at St. Thomas. I went many years ago but only recall snorkeling. My parents have been a lot and my mom said they have great shopping . We will be bringing the girls with us. An umbrella stroller for DD1 and DD5 will have to walk. We'll be taking it easy, site seeing and maybe a trip to the beech.
I didn't book any excursions at Castaway Cay. I'd love for DH and DD5 to do the stingrays, but DD5 is quite the diva & I'm not sure how she'd do with that. DH and I are running in the 5k. I've been training for it since it will be my first 5k. We'll then rush back onto the boat, change into our suits and head out with the family.
We didn't make it to any of the shows on our last cruise. It's like WDW in that there's so much to do and you can't do it all. Plus DD1 was only 3 months old and still not sleeping through the night so we never made it to any. We did watch a few as they were played on the TV in our room. We'll definitely be to a few this cruise.
The itinerary for the cruise is:
Sunday - At Sea
*DD5 BBB at 4pm
Monday - At Sea
*Champagne Brunch at Remy's 11:30
Tuesday - St. Maarten
*Couples Massage 9:15am
Wednesday - St. Thomas
*Shopping
Thursday - At Sea
Friday - Castaway Cay
*Castaway Cay 5k
Saturday - Depart