1 Mom, 2 Daughters and 3 Days of Wonder! **Completed 6/29!** - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a great last night. But, what a bummer that the trip and this TR is coming to and end. I really enjoyed reading it and brought back some memories from my first cruise a couple of months ago.
And so it was, we slept beautifully and woke up already docked in Port Canaveral. As bummed as I was to leave, in a way I was kind of ready- I missed the rest of the family and I know they were ready to have us back too.
The girls and I both basically threw our clothes on, made one last sweep of the room and headed out. Both of the girls wanted McDonald's instead of breakfast on the ship so we simply headed to the lobby, said our goodbyes to the CM's. As we did, several of them wished me a Happy Mother's Day- which I thought very nice- and frankly, in all the excitement of the trip- I totally forgot it was Mother's Day. What better gift could I have asked for than spending time on this marvelous ship with my two precious daughters?
Disembarking could not have been easier. We found our luggage very easily, proceeded through customs without any problems and got in line for the shuttle back to the Radisson. That was a bit of a wait but we did get a seat despite the numerous people who were on it. We drove around to the other terminals to pick up the Carnvial folks- and got a glimpse of Freedom of the Seas:
We got back to the Radisson, loaded up and stopped by McDonald's on the way out. An hour later, we rolled into the driveway where all the guys were waiting on us!
As we unpacked our stuff, I realized the lithograph was nowhere to be found. The one that Captain John had signed- my most precious souvenir. I was pretty distraught and decided to call DCL to see what could be done. They couldn't have been better- I was immediately transfered to an agent at the port. She took my name and number and promised to call me back.
About 2 hours later, the agent called me back. Glen had found it and they would be priority mailing it to me. (And it did arrive about 4 days later- in perfect condition).
What a wonderful trip we had full of memories for each of us.
Final thoughts are in the next post- if you'll indulge my writing for one last installment!
This being my second Disney cruise was another enchanting adventure. And my girls had the time of their lives- it was such a neat experience to have just the three of us- because in a family of 5 kids- one on one time with your child or parent, for that matter, is hard to come by.
As a general review, the ship, programming and facilities were superb. However, that being said, I didn't think the service was as exceptional as it was on my first cruise- two crew members stood out on this one- Dan from India and Glen, our stateroom host. In my previous cruise- I had a list of 5 or 6 I wrote DCL about. However, I am not disappointed- it wasn't that the service was bad- it was very good.
Our stateroom was fabulous. I never thought at Cat 9 would work so well. If you can't afford the balcony, don't sweat it. You will enjoy a Cat 9 room as much, ok almost as much. I could easily be happy with one on a 7 day cruise- that's how impressed I truly was with it. The staterooms are exceptional. Cozy, beautifully appointed and spacious- with spacious on a cruise ship being a relative term, of course!
This cruise sealed my fate as a cruise junkie. And I might say while some are exclusively loyal to Disney, I probably am more inclined to try other lines in the future. I think Disney sets the standard for sure but other ships have impressed me enough to keep adventuring on other ships/lines as well.
So this brings us to the end of THIS trip report. However, fear not! Another one has begun- the report detailing our Alaskan cruise coming up in a few days. I've posted the first part of the pre trip report in Globetrotting- so please, stick with me and sail awhile! I'll also be posting live updates and photos thanks to my new iPhone!
Thanks for sharing your trip and your girls with us. I'm gonna go check out your Alaska cruise TR, since that is another I've been dying to do (as has my MIL).
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While I am sad that yet another cruise is over, I am so glad to have met you, Katie, and the most amazing Miss Em. Your girls are wonderful and beautiful, each in their own right. They are as lucky to have you as their Mother as you are to be blessed with them. I don't know much about autism, but it seems as if you were able to give Katie an experience of fun and happiness that she will, hopefully, be able to remember for a long time. Emily impressed me with her selflessness and grown-up-ness in regards to her sister, and yet was still able to have fun as an eight year old and Mommy's little girl.
All is not over, though, for now it's on to Alaska, and to meet more of your wonderful family!
What a perfect trip Mo...I am so glad that you got to enjoy this time with the girls, and you could see on their faces in all your pictures how much they enjoyed it as well.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure...onto Alaska (already started your PTR and I am craving to hear more )
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