Cruising the Med with Mickey and the Crew **Updated 11/25** COMPLETE - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just got through you TR...it was amazing. This is like my dream trip...I so dream about going to Italy and Spain...and I will get there one day but reading your TR made it come alive for me....
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We entered the Duomo and I tried to take some photos - as did Jolene.
Does anyone speak latin? If so - what does this mean?
It was very dark - but beautiful. Not really sure what to say - other than to show you the photos.
I LOVE the artwork on the dome of the Duomo --- so detailed!!
After our tour of the Duomo - I could spend SO much more time here - we headed out for lunch. We were taken to a private club (I think) - Jolene took some photos - but I missed a lot of opportunities.
Entrance to the lunch location
Statuary in the entrance hall
Climbing the stairs to where we ate lunch
Artwork on the ceiling of our lunch location
The rich red color of the couches lining the sides of the room we were in. I think we were in a dance hall - since there was an orchestra balcony above the room.
Opening course of lunch - bruscetta and pate
Course 2 - potatoes, carrots, beef (or was it pork?)
Course 3 - I was starting to get full and did not take a photo - this was the pasta course
Course 4 - tiaramisu (which I am not a fan of)
Chandelier in the lunch room
Next - a bit of shopping and a long ride back to the ship.
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We headed back to the original Square where we began our day and did a bit of shopping. We bought a few books about Italy and Florence as well as post cards for family and friends.
I love the facade of this cathedral - with the Alpha and Omega on the front of it - must be the science aspect for me.
We sat on the steps of the cathedral and just relaxed. We chatted with two other Disney shipmates who are also without clothing -- 8 days into our trip....
Jolene and I looked into the cloister of the cathedral (you have to pay to enter and we did not have time)
The Cloister of the cathedral and the entrance to the baptistry and the end of the cloister.
We made it back to the bus and took the 2 hour drive back to La Spezia to catch the tender to the ship. We passed the mountains where the marble is mined - this time the sun was out and you could see the marble mining areas with greater ease.
We arrived back at the dock - and had just missed the tender
Tender leaving the dock, heading for the Magic (in the far distance)
But - we made it on the next tender and were quickly headed back to the ship
We made it back to the ship, placed our stuff in the cabin and headed to dinner - were we met Dad. Disney had been delaying meals about 30 minutes due to the time it took to get back from shore to the ship for the excursions.
Dinner was in AP - I started with a spicy tomato soup -
Then I had the pizza samplers - the green olive pizza was good - the Nicoise style (with anchovies) was ehhhh....
Jolene hopped up and took a photo of the daily cheese and fruit display -
I had the roast chicken for dinner -
Mom had some sort of chocolate dome confection for dessert -
While I had....
Another ice cream sundae - this time with caramel!!
After dinner - Jolene and I headed back to the room and found the towel animal of the evening -
A snake coiled to strike (I took the photo from a bad angle).
Tonight's show was "Twice Charmed" - we headed to the theatre - and within 10 minutes I was headed back to the room. My head was spinning and my stomach was voicing EXTREME displeasure. I ended up in bed - with Twice Charmed on TV. I am not sure when the family came back - cause I was asleep. This was the ONLY time I have even come close to feeling sea sick this entire trip. All I can say - you can feel the ship move the most in the theatre.... UGH.
Next up - Villfranche!!
NOTE - I know some of you are interested in My dad's excursion to the Ferrari plant - I have some of his photos. I will work on posting them.
Just getting caught up with your last couple installments of Florence. Your photos are absolutely breathtaking, definitely looks like a place you could spend at least a few days touring. Sorry your day ended with you feeling a bit quesy but glad you could sleep through it!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
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Fantastic pictures 
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Your food photos are making me drool! Can't wait to hear more
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