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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are starting to see some of the "Disney Magic" we missed at the parks. It was if we were isolated with our veranda like that. It was so special. That first day goes by SO fast,it was exhausting for me.
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"Life can be as easy as a fall,it's all so easy once you just let go."
The food looks wonderful! A cruise is on my to do list...so I am looking forward to yours!
Thanks! It was our first cruise and it was fabulous!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Great start! Food looks yummy so far!
And Albert sounds like he will be taking good care of you!
Thanks! Albert was wonderful!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
I always find it a bit rocky on the first night. I hope you get acclimated quickly. I see nothing wrong with spending the whole cruise on your balcony! The sea and sky is different every minute, although I do admit you might not have as much to say in a TR.
Thanks - wasn't sure how I'd fare on a cruise. But it was all good!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry it was a bit of a rocky start to the cruise - hopefully that will be the last of that for this cruise.
Thanks! I got it under control.
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
What a great start! Love the treats you had waiting in your room
Thanks. I did do a little surprise from the gifts and floral. It was yummy!
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
OH Man!!! Your room verandah!!! I could live out there!!! I think I may have opted to sleep out there a night or two :roll eyes: And your dinner looked amazing as well!! Sorry you weren't feeling well
It was awesome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start to your cruise portion! Reading your update reminded me of that weird feeling I had that first night aboard, not exactly sick, but not exactly right either. Love the view from your verandah.
Thanks Cam! It was strange. But I got it under control.
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Originally Posted by manticorjenn
Great start to the cruise, except the rocking and queasy feeling. I sure hope I don't encounter that on our Anniversary Cruise in 2016. I love your/our room pictures (we will be in the same cabin ). I am so excited to hear about the rest of the cruise!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
You're on the Dream!!! I vent that way our first night too. Hope I don't have a repeat this year. You're verandah is amazing!
Yay! Thanks!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great start! Your verandah looks awesome!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Great pictures of the ship! Your dinner looks delicious
It was very good! Thanks!
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Originally Posted by taylan1
Great start! Everything looks amazing! Your room, the food, the ship, all of it! Sorry you were feeling a little off, hope you were better the next day.
Thanks! It was wonderful!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
Glad to see you made it to the ship and had such a great first day. Hint 2 Bonnine the night before you get aboard, 2 more on the way to the ship and should be okay for the day If things still rocky cut back to 1 every 10 hours or so
We had Bonine and ginger pills and sea bands - had it covered.
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Originally Posted by POOKIE81
Checking in with this end of the trip!
Thanks! This is the fun part!
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Originally Posted by Jambo
Great start for the cruise, except for the queasiness. I hope it cleared up quickly. Dinner looked very nice. Lovin' that verandah.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by lindawdw
It sounds like a very relaxing start to your cruise but I hope the queasiness gets better after the first night!
Thanks! Spoiler - it does.
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Originally Posted by belle0517
Great start!
THanks!
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Originally Posted by tcmary
Loved your room and verandah. Can't wait for more.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by jackid2
Love the view!! Sorry you got queasy.
That view was wonderful! Thanks!
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Originally Posted by NanaTink
Wow, nice view from the verandah! I'd be tempted to sleep out there as well! Hope the first night queasys ease up!!
It was very relaxing there. Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Verandah views can create a whole new kind of magic! I agree that the first day can be exhausting.
I think we just finally got to really relax and didn't realize how exhausted we actually were.
I was up early (around 7:30) without an alarm. It was a difficult night because of the motion and you could hear the motors as we came into port at Nasseau. I took a Zofran and put on Seabands (accupressure bands for motion sickness) around 5 am and then laid in bed dozing until 7:30. With just that bit of intervention, I felt much better. I gave Chuck the Bonine and we were both taking Ginger pills. Chuck got up around 8:30 am. We got ready and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. I had a bit of eggs benedict, 1/2 bagel and Mickey waffles and fruit.
Then we headed off back to our room to get ready for our excursion. We chose to do the Chocolate Factory Tour at Graycliff. We had to meet at the District Lounge. There were 7 people in our group. Once we got off the ship, we met our guide CeCe and took a short walk to get into a taxi van to go up to Graycliff. It's very pretty up there but we had to go through some "suspect" areas to get there. Once at Graycliff, we took a tour and got a bit of history on making chocolate. This is set up in a house! We saw the equipment - roaster, grinder, temperer. Then we went into a big room and got to make our own chocolate! Bars with nuts, chocolate covered berries, marshmallows, with chocolate to dip in and stuff to sprinkle on like coconut, nuts and chocolate chips. CeCe was hilarious! She and Chuck "bonded". She called Chuck "her nemesis" because he was mimicking her. It was all in good fun. Chuck said that if he was single and 30 years younger he would've jumped ship and had his mother send all his belongings. She was cute and I almost lost my man in the Bahamas! After everything was done and we had tipped CeCe, we went to the "store" part of Graycliff. We got some "professional" chocolates, a bottle of good rum, a shirt for Chuck and a couple of waters. When we got on the taxi back to the ship, the driver kind of got into it with some local pedestrians. He then dropped us off outside of where we needed to be and Chuck grabbed my hand and said "don't look up and don't say a word". We made our way to the port and showed our ID's to get back on the boat. We headed back to our room. We were glad we had went because we had actually thought about scrubbing it since Chuck wasn't feeling too well either this am.
To the right of the flag is our verandah!
Once back, we had a room service lunch and then Chuck took a little nap.
After that we hit the (adult) pool and hot tub - and noticed a whole bunch of kids around this area. Mostly because of it's location. It's between the forward cabins and the buffet. We looked around the ship a little but ended up back in our cabin. We spent more time on the verandah watching them unhook us and we were underway again. We got some good pictures of other ships lit up in the port as we were heading out.
Also - full moon over Nassau
Atlantis all lit up
Full Moon
We watched "Treasure Island" in the room while "waiting" for dinnertime. Dinner tonight was at Royal Palace. Double Crowned drink, Baked brie, Farmhouse salad and Chateaubriand and Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert. Our dinner mates that were missing from last night's dinner showed up tonight. I forget their names - I know one was named Billie. But we heard about every ailment they had Apparently they had seasickness on Monday night. They asked for A-1 to put on their Chateaubriand - ewwww! We ate and got outta there.
(you can see our table mates in this pic. Dale and the friend of Billie)
Chuck had a trio dessert
After dinner we did a little shopping - picked up some postcards to mail from Castaway Cay. Then we went back to the cabin and found this little guy.
After checking out the Navigator and pouring some ice water (Thanks to Albert for the ice bucket fill) and checking out the verandah again, we got ready for bed. We put on Up! and fell asleep watching it.
The chocolate tour sounds like a good choice! I'm glad Chuck decided to stick with you, but CeCe is adorable and looks like she was a lot of fun. Dinner companions are always a bit of a concern on a cruise unless you're with a group of your own. I've been lucky, but always worry about it!
What a fun day of chocolate!!! Cece is adorable!! Glad Chuck came home with you
Dinner looks so yummy!!! Bummer your table mates weren't better matches for you two. That is the one thing I don't like about shared tables, you never know what you are going to get!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports