A magical Mediterranean vacation COMPLETED - Page 32 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 dinner! The menu photo is awesome - Donald!! So funny. Yeah, I guess that says something about Palo if you enjoyed this dinner so much more than that dinner.
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The Greek meal looked superb!
The entertainment in the atrium prior to dinner may have come on just until the ship left Athens. We had that happen several times on the Baltic cruise. The night we overnighted in St. Petersburg was the best as they did a full show up on the pool deck at about 10:30 pm (since it was still light), filled with the best of the local performers.
I can't imagine being able to eat a larger portion of baklava - it's so sweet and rich that normally a little two or three bite piece is all I can manage.
The spa service sounded great! Did you happen to note on your form that you didn't want a sales pitch? I now do that every time, and it has seemed to help.
I don't think I would like the greek menu too much. I am really weird about food like that and we have a few Greek places and I never like anything they serve....I have some greek friends too...family from Greece and I have tried a few things....and ick. LOL.
You day sounds so fabulous though. The Museum is really neat. So they had one there before....smaller...but never found the new ruins till they started digging for this one? That's interesting and so neat that they are preserving and sharing it.
Sweet finish to a very nice dining experience! Your drink looks very similar to one I had at Top of the World lounge that was so nicely sweet. What are the DVC gifts? Are they on each cruise, and are they just for gold members????
Ok, I hope Mark wasn't too stuffed after that dessert . I know baklava is supposed to be rich and dense, but still ...
What a cool way to end the meal with the flags. I just love it.
I'm way envious that you got the Walt & Lillian on the steamship print. I love that picture!
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The Greek meal looked superb!
The entertainment in the atrium prior to dinner may have come on just until the ship left Athens. We had that happen several times on the Baltic cruise. The night we overnighted in St. Petersburg was the best as they did a full show up on the pool deck at about 10:30 pm (since it was still light), filled with the best of the local performers.
That's what I assumed had happened, as we didn't see them again.
Quote:
I can't imagine being able to eat a larger portion of baklava - it's so sweet and rich that normally a little two or three bite piece is all I can manage.
The spa service sounded great! Did you happen to note on your form that you didn't want a sales pitch? I now do that every time, and it has seemed to help.
I didn't even think of that - I'll try that in the future.
I don't think I would like the greek menu too much. I am really weird about food like that and we have a few Greek places and I never like anything they serve....I have some greek friends too...family from Greece and I have tried a few things....and ick. LOL.
In all honesty, I'm no fan of Greek food, so I was really pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the meal.
Quote:
You day sounds so fabulous though. The Museum is really neat. So they had one there before....smaller...but never found the new ruins till they started digging for this one? That's interesting and so neat that they are preserving and sharing it.
That's my understanding. Apparently it was a really tiny museum, from what we were told, and the description was that it was "embarrassing", it was so small.
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.
Sweet finish to a very nice dining experience! Your drink looks very similar to one I had at Top of the World lounge that was so nicely sweet. What are the DVC gifts? Are they on each cruise, and are they just for gold members????
The DVC gifts are for everyone. On this cruise, we just went along every night and asked what the nightly gifts were - they had a gift every night we were in port. They also put out a welcome gift in our room, although for some reason, we never seem to get it - if that happens, just go to the DVC desk and ask them for it. You may need to show your membership card, although we didn't this cruise.
Ok, I hope Mark wasn't too stuffed after that dessert . I know baklava is supposed to be rich and dense, but still ...
What a cool way to end the meal with the flags. I just love it.
I'm way envious that you got the Walt & Lillian on the steamship print. I love that picture!
I was so pleased with that print, as I think it's just wonderful.
Wednesday 9 July – part one: a warm welcome to another new country!
I was up early this morning, as Mark was already moving around. He didn’t have a good night’s sleep sadly.
I headed outside to get some photos as we arrived in Kusadasi – another day, another country!
I loved seeing the Turkish flag, but sadly with very little wind, it wasn’t flying properly.
I couldn’t stand there too long though, as I needed to get going to get the laundry done. I was very surprised when I headed down there at 6:15am to find I wasn’t the only idiot up at this hour doing this, as there was already a woman in there, waiting for her washing.
The load was going to take 23 minutes, so I headed back to the room for 25 minutes. Well, all I can say is that the machine lied, as it was still going, but fortunately I didn’t have long to wait, then I put everything I could in the dryer, set that going, and put the rest out on the veranda. With the sun out, it’ll probably be dry by the time we head off ship.:
We headed up to breakfast, and you could tell it was an early ashore day, as it was packed in here. Let’s just say obviously some people really weren’t awake yet, as they were taking forever at the buffet…
When we were done, we took our by-now traditional walk up to deck 10 to have a look at what was on the other side of the ship from our cabin, and this was definitely the picturesque side.
We headed back via the launderette, and the dryer was nearly done, so that’s that chore done for the next few days anyway.
We headed down to the Promenade lounge for 8:45am, as I think we were one of the last tours to leave.
We were greeted by Luke from the United Kingdom. We asked him where he was from, and he said Plymouth “but I usually say London, as no-one’s heard of Plymouth.” As we told him, we know exactly where it is. He was a real comedian, reminding us about the all aboard time, saying if we weren’t on board to get our camera ready as the Magic would look wonderful sailing away into the Turkish sunset….
We headed out and again I was stepping on to the soil of a new country, and we certainly got a great welcome with a red carpet…
… and a band playing for us and dancers…
It was so nicely done and you got the feeling that they were very happy to have you here.
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LOL.
Your drink looks very similar to one I had at Top of the World lounge that was so nicely sweet. 
What are the DVC gifts? Are they on each cruise, and are they just for gold members????
Let’s just say obviously some people really weren’t awake yet, as they were taking forever at the buffet… 
As we told him, we know exactly where it is. 
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