We were inspired by Samantha Brown's Carnival cruise so away we go! - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
The excursions look great!!! I love Cruisecritic too!! It makes it so much easier to pick cruises and excursions when you can read what others have done. Getting close!!!
We do Cruisecritic I think that its really good for seeing what others have done and what they think and what to avoid,etc.
If I'm not mistaken I think I saw you are going on a cruise soon too???? right? how cool are you excited?
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
Sounds like you have some great excursions lined up!!
Thanks We are really excited about them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Atlantis was somewhere my brother & his fiancee wanted to get married, but because of $$$$ they looked elsewhere. How cool you'll get to enjoy it for a few hours!
I know, its a bit pricey and i'm not sure I could afford much more than the floor of a room *L* but we thought this would be a great way for us to experience it just a little without all the money!
Quote:
Originally Posted by amandal
I always see the commercial for Atlantis, and it looks awesome!!! I can't wait to see all your pictures!!! Is it time yet????
I know????!! I keep waiting for the 30 days to go! I'm getting more excited but it still feels a bit far away right now I need to start making lists!! *L*
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great choices for your excursions!
Thanks!
I was going to do an update this weekend guys but it was so beautiful we spent most of the weekend outside walking. So, I have the pics for the update and will try to get one up this week!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I guess if you have a chance to enjoy a walk this winter without freezing your tootsies off, you'd better take it... even if you DO live in South Carolina!!
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by scdisneyfan
We do Cruisecritic I think that its really good for seeing what others have done and what they think and what to avoid,etc.
If I'm not mistaken I think I saw you are going on a cruise soon too???? right? how cool are you excited?
We have our two week Disney Honeymoon cruise in April! Starting to get excited.
I guess if you have a chance to enjoy a walk this winter without freezing your tootsies off, you'd better take it... even if you DO live in South Carolina!!
We are lucky in SC we have more warmer weather than I was used to in TN We are actually walking again today
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Sounds like great fun! I can't wait to read all about it--I'm going on my first cruise evah in December!
YAY! I think you will enjoy it are you doing a disney cruise?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDolphin
We have our two week Disney Honeymoon cruise in April! Starting to get excited.
I thought I saw that I know you are really getting excited because its not that far away!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MGW
Great start! Can't wait to read all about it!
Those dates are over Easter right? It's a wonder that cruise was such a good price!
Yeah we booked Easter by accident LOL we had no idea until it was too late but it was a great price for easter dates!
So, I thought I would share a little info about the ship with you guys
We decided on Carnival this year and we are a past guest with them as well! We have sailed with them once before.
The ship we choose was the Carnvial Freedom which sails out of Ft. Lauderdale which is where we left from last year as well.
The Carnival Freedom is in the conquest class of ships. The ship holds 2900 guests and has 1200 staff.
They have a "Freedom" decor...as in america theming. This ship was not originally meant to sail out of the US so the decor was meant for Mediterranean Sea. But, for some reason they brought it over here. So, the theming seems odd for a US ship but oil well right?
Here are some pictures of the ships amenities
The Ship
The Room with a balcolny
The Lido Dining room/Buffet
Mini Golf
The Main/Formal dining room
The Poolside Theater
This is called Serenity Deck...its an adults only deck with sun chairs and a spa and a bar
This is the Theater
They have a lot to do and offer. There is a spa, a fitness center, a track, they have a sushi bar which I LURV There is a coffee shop with a bakery as well. The have the usual Wine bar and Sports Bar. They have the usual Dance clubs for adults and teens I'm sure there are amentities for children but since we have no children I have no idea what they are.
If I didn't say this before we did splurge for a Balcolny room again Once you get one you cannot go back to the other. We choose our room on the Lido deck right in the middle of the ship. We choose the Lido deck because its where all the action seems to be. We have had a room on the Lido deck before and to us its the best spot. We love being able to get dressed and walk right out into the pool areas. We choose to have our rooms next to his parents again but we do not have linked rooms by a door.
So, in a nutshell that's the ship. We think it looks fun like all Carnvial ships usually do. We have read there is afternoon tea at 3pm daily with tea and desserts. I am aiming to do this with his mother or with Eric. I am really hoping to take advantage of it
We have read that there is a Beatles tribute show which is amazing so I'm really psyched about that. We have also heard the broadway show they do is really great too which I lurv as well
We have read a lot of reviews about the ship and the food ,etc. There are not a lot of complaints about the ship itself, most people have great things to say about the rooms and amenities. But, the complaints lie within the cutbacks from the economic decline. There seems to be no more midnight chocolate buffet. There is no free drinks for a sail away party. There are no more chocolates on the pillows at night. But, all of these things mentioned I could care less about anyway. I dont like eating really late at night anyway and although I do love me some chocolate I've never been able to take advantage of it. The chocolates on the pillows I can handle them not being there. It wa nice but oh well. We always missed out on the free drink at the sail away somehow so....We will see what we think of the cutbacks.
So, this is about all I know without actually sailing the boat.
The plans are to Drive down to Ft. Lauderdale again. Its roughly a 13 hour trip which we will split up.
We are taking off Friday March 26th to drive down about 10 hours or so. We will stop for the night and drive the rest of the way in that morning. We will probably stop in West Palm beach like we did last year to spend the night.
We will be riding in his parents SUV again this year as well.
So, there is a mini update for you guys If you have any questions about the boat feel free to ask
Up next: Cruise purchases and last minutes planning!
How did I miss this TR?!?!?!? Sounds like you guys are going to have another fun cruise! Sushi.....lots of pics need to be taken so I can drool all over my laptop, K?
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Cruisecritic I think that its really good for seeing what others have done and what they think and what to avoid,etc. 
We are really excited about them! 
I need to start making lists!! *L* 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Sounds like you guys are going to have another fun cruise! Sushi.....lots of pics need to be taken so I can drool all over my laptop, K?
Linear Mode
