We were inspired by Samantha Brown's Carnival cruise so away we go! - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Great start!! You always get the nicest rooms when you cruise. They are always so much better and nicer than I expect them to be. Looking forward to hearing more
Sorry about all the undecisiveness with Eric's parents, but I'm guessing you're getting used to that now.
What a great room! Looks really nice. Can't wait for more!!
I'm all caught up Crissy. Wonderful updates, and what a way to start your cruise off(even the hotel the night before). Sorry about Eric's parents indecisiveness. The cruise ship looks great, live the pictures of you & Eric on the ship. I will have to keep in mind the hotel you stayed at when I go to visit my mom. Congratulations & good luck with your new job Crissy. More please.
for all the well wishes about my job.
Just for you that have asked my new job is very different from my last!
I am not working those weeeee early hours anymore. In fact, I am for the first time in 6 years working NORMAL hours hahahaha
Its a huge adjustment so far getting used to not having so much free time while Eric is at work.
My hours are now 830-5pm roughly. Its a flex schedule so I can go in a bit earlier or work through lunch and get off around 4pm if I want.
I am now a Counseling Coordinator for a program for Mental Health Boarding homes for the State of SC. So its a LOT more responsiblilty and NO INTERNET time
That is why I am soooo behind on here! But, with time hopefully I can adjust to this new schedule and plan my time better
So far the job is a LOT of information to learn and I felt very overwhelmed last week but I'm praying things will get better *LOL* just gotta take it all in stride!
Anywho!!! Thanks for asking and back to the TR!!!
Okay I last left off at Exploring the ship....
EXPLORING THE SHIP
We always like to explore the ship first thing. It helps to take pictures of the rooms when its nearly vacant which only happens when you first get on the ship. It also helps you familiarize yourself with the layout and learn to get around.
It was about 2pm when we started our exploration. We were on lido deck and convientely located right next to the doors that led out into the deck/pool area.
(FYI: we choose this room via our travel agent. If you book early you can choose pretty much any room you want)
We walked out and this is the first thing we saw on the pool deck.....
This was the Seaside theater. We have never had one on any of our other crusies and it was WONDERFUL! They would show new release movies at night and they would do two shows a night. During the day it had the Lido activies being shown and then sports shows or Nature Scenes.
We walked around looking at all the pool deck/Lido deck had to offer...Here is Eric's Paparazzi shot of me...
We walked up a deck and took a pic of the overall pool area
Here is the slide
Here was a giant chess game
More of the pool area
We then walked up to the Serenity area. This area is for ADULTS ONLY!!! We grabbed some beers and walked up here to relax for a bit
ITS WONDERFUL and its fabuously decorated!
It has hammocks, chairs, a bar and two jaccuzzis
We then walked around all the top deck areas...here we are with the whale's tail on the ship
this was from that area looking back
If you walk down a deck and back this is the rec area...there is mini golfing, basketball court and a volleyball court...
this was the walking track
This was our ship we took last year
We then walked to the back of the ship and this is where the other pool is and its an adults only pool....but I saw children in it at times....
We walked inside and it was nearing 3pm at this point. We just went down a few floors to explore all the common areas of the ship...
Okay so we started from the middle of the ship. Here is the lobby bar looking down onto it....
more of the lobby
the next thing we did was walk back past all the closed stores and into the casino area...
In that area was the sushi bar
and the coffee bar
This was the casino bar
The casino
The piano bar
The sports bar....
The main theater which was really wonderful!
The cigar bar and lounge
This was the posh dining room where we ate every night
Oh I forgot this picture it was of me in the Lido dining room
Around 4pm we were sent to a Muster drill....Now you dont bring your life jackets???
Weird...you just actually go to the drill section. But, it lasted about 30 minutes and was over.
By this time our luggage began to arrive at our room. We unpacked everything completely which only took about 15 to 20 minutes tops. We then watched the ship sail out and took pics that you guys saw last year so I didn't want to bore you with the same ones
It was nearing 6pm at this point. We decided to go and get some sushi. This night was a variety night of sushi and the sushi was actually really good
After sushi we decided to get ready for our dinner and here is a pic before dinner
We were seated at a table for four which was really nice! We loved the table location and tonights meal was really good. We all ordered flat Iron steak which was pretty good
The dinner choices are a appetizer, main course and dessert. You can order two of each if you like. they really don't care. We also always had bread too!
After dinner we wanted to watch the welcome aboard show that was at 1030pm.
After the show Eric and his dad decided to wander around the ship....this is a pic they took of the dance club..
I turned in around midnight and Eric and his dad came back around 2am They are night owls!!
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Great updates!
I love the paparazzi shot Eric took of you! Its so artsy looking! It must be great having his parents there to take the cute pics of you guys! lol! (Don't you hate asking strangers all the time in Disney?? lol... Rob and I once had a guy hold my camera completely backwards and take a picture of his own face! LOL! We try to ask Photopass peeps whenever we can now! HAHA!) Anyways, I love your dresses so so much on this trip!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Pixie Dust
Melanie
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Great pictures! Glad you're on the ship! 
for all the well wishes about my job. 
They are night owls!!
Susan
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