September Mediterranean Magic Trip Report updated 10/25/2017 - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
We Match Your Mate! But would NEVER volunteer to actually be one of the couples!
I agree about formal night being a little strange in AP, or in Carioca's/Parrot Cay, etc. I guess they can't have formal night multiple times - with those dressing for dinner if it's your night at Triton's/Royal Table/Lumiere's.
Yeah I agree, I get it but meh!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
You and your mom both look very pretty and your dinner looked really good!! sounds like you guys had a fun and full evening!!
Aww thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Oh wow! I'm a few episodes behind on the Amazing Race, so I will be sure to watch for that when they are in Norway!
I love your formal night dress! You look fabulous!!
I find the Amazing Race to be bad about posting spoilers online, so we try to keep up pretty closely. Thank you
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sounds like a wonderful evening and I loved your dress - beautiful. You're not the only one who feels a bit strange having formal night somewhere like Animator's Palate. Somehow we often luck out and get the more formal dining room (i.e. Triton's, Royal Palace etc.) on formal night....
We always seem to start in the formal MDR!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
A nice evening on your cruise with a great meal. I enjoyed thise truffle pursettes so much on my cruise! I think formal night would work much better and probably just for those dining in Palo or Lumiere's!
Yes they are so wonderful
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheermom2four
What a busy "at sea" day!!! Your food looked great and you two looked awesome! Love the free drinks that night in the atrium. Always a hit with me :-P
Agreed, a complimentary cocktail is always a wonderful treat!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Just saw a discussion elsewhere on this, and they showed a close up. Definitely not the Magic - only a single smokestack, and now Mickey yellow lifeboats. Very similar, though, especially from the distance.
Oh I didn't realize any other cruise line was approved for the yellow lifeboats
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.
Day 5 Location: Naples
Day 5 Activities: Mt. Vesuvius Hike & Pompeii Tour
We were up so early today as we were pulling into port and had an early morning ahead! We quickly got dressed and ready as we took some pics off the veranda.
Once ready, we headed up to Cabanas around 7:15 for breakfast. Mom had eggs Benedict and hash browns along with some bacon. We had tea and coffee and got ourself tea and coffee to go as well so we would have energy for the day ahead!.
I had a ham and cheese croissant, zucchini and goat cheese quiche/frittata and a few bites of an egg and cheese “mcmuffin” (that last one was not great) along with some citrus segments and a chocolate croissant.
For our Port Adventure today, our meeting point was set in D Lounge at 8am and we were right on time. Today's excursion was Mt. Vesuvius Hike and Pompeii Tour.
In no time at all, we were on our way off the ship and right onto our buss. The whole process was very easy. We noticed that there aren't really any small kids on our tour which was interesting since there were a ton on the ship.
Margo is our tour guide and she honestly just kind of rubbed me the wrong way throughout the day. She would say things like “take your pictures take your time” and then 2 minutes later “okay group 15 let's go I'm walking” or something like that. Didn't really seem like she cared if we were enjoying or if anyone got left behind.
We had to put our headsets on for the bus ride and had a little tour on our way to our first top of the tour. The area you drive through outside of Port isn’t the nicest, but still so interesting to see.
uh oh, your last comment about hiking first has me intrigued on what happened next! I find it interesting you said there weren't any small children. I'm hoping my DD6 will be ok on this as we are already leaving her on the ship for a DCL tour in Rome and its an all day one. I dont want to do that to her on multiple days.
uh oh, your last comment about hiking first has me intrigued on what happened next! I find it interesting you said there weren't any small children. I'm hoping my DD6 will be ok on this as we are already leaving her on the ship for a DCL tour in Rome and its an all day one. I dont want to do that to her on multiple days.
This tour is more strenuous than they seemed to imply online. Hopefully my upcoming notes will help!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Ugh, I don't think I'd like your tour guide much. That sort of thing irritates me.
Wildly irritating! I'm fine with hurrying us along, but then don't say "take your time"
So after our bus journey we pulled up to our stop - Pompeii! All of the materials on this excursion mention hiking in the morning and then going to Pompeii. We were slightly disappointed by this as we were kind of mentally prepared for the hike, but tried to just enjoy the walking tour of Pompeii first. Our starting/meeting area was a little hotel outside Pompeii and we were given a water bottle voucher here and I think everyone pretty much got their water now, as it was already a hot day! There was a little outdoor stand with drinks and snacks at which to exchange.
Today was definitely hot but the ruins were not too crowded and the day wasn’t too sunny. They said that’s why we did this first, to beat the crowds and the heat. We headed in for our guided tour of the ruins. I’m mostly going to let the photos do the talking here, I’ll try to post comments where I can but it does blend together a bit and my notes are a bit shaky.
Statues throughout Pompeii
People were shorter back then!
Forum Area seating
Really cool fountain
Floor in a house of rich person (I think)
back of a house/store
There was a bunch of preserved pottery in this section
Another fancy and preserved floor
Fun with fish eye
Pizza ovens
This was a spot in the tour I distinctly remember the “take your photos take your time” and then as soon as we snapped this shot “okay let’s go moving on!”
Detail work at the baths
The baths were enclosed with these beautiful celings
Overall Pompeii was a really cool place to see and I’m glad we chose a tour to include it. We walked by houses, shops, gladiator housing, the baths and a forum arena. There was also art scattered around honoring the past there which included some really wonderful pieces.
At 10:45 our tour finished and we had “free time” to get lunch. Pompeii was dusty with a lot of uneven surfaces and some stairs to walk on. Couple that with the heat, and we were already starting to tire out with the quick pace our guide had us going. We looked forward to a rest and some food!
Up Next: Day 5 - You have to have pizza in Naples!
I love your early morning pictures!! That sky is just amazing!! Sorry that the tour guide was a little irritating, but how cool is Pompeii?! We loved that place. Your pictures are wonderful of the ruins.
Lots of beautiful photos from Pompeii. Judging by how many photos you got, it looks as if you got a good tour and got to see a good selection of the city.
Great photos of Pompeii as it looks so worthwhile with it's place in history. Too bad your guide wasn't that pleasant!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Great trip report! I'm hoping to book this tour for our September Cruise. Did the guide take the time to explain things? And my husband is always wondering about the availability of restrooms when you are on a tour. Looking forward to reading more!
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.
Another quick question, I'm wondering how many people are actually on these excursions. I notice on the Cruise line site that you can pay more for smaller groups with a maximum of 20 people and wondering if it's worth it. Thanks
I love your early morning pictures!! That sky is just amazing!! Sorry that the tour guide was a little irritating, but how cool is Pompeii?! We loved that place. Your pictures are wonderful of the ruins.
The sky was gorgeous that day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Lots of beautiful photos from Pompeii. Judging by how many photos you got, it looks as if you got a good tour and got to see a good selection of the city.
I felt like we saw a lot!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Great photos of Pompeii as it looks so worthwhile with it's place in history. Too bad your guide wasn't that pleasant!
It was so cool to see such a historic site!
Quote:
Originally Posted by oufpat
Great trip report! I'm hoping to book this tour for our September Cruise. Did the guide take the time to explain things? And my husband is always wondering about the availability of restrooms when you are on a tour. Looking forward to reading more!
Yes she gave lots of fun facts throughout and I think there was a restroom at the beginning and end and possibly one in the middle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oufpat
Another quick question, I'm wondering how many people are actually on these excursions. I notice on the Cruise line site that you can pay more for smaller groups with a maximum of 20 people and wondering if it's worth it. Thanks
There was one bus for our tour group - maybe 40 people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great pictures from Pompeii! Your tour guide definitely sounds a bit annoying!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
She was but we still tried to enjoy!
I have the next installment written for you guys but Photobucket is NOT cooperating today