Our Valentine Cruise Pre Trip report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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As I mentioned earlier we booked the cruise very last minute so we were unable to get Palo reservations before we boarded the ship. Well since we were staning in line forever and our friends who flew in on the day the ship was to sail they were allowed on board ahead of us. When they flew in and went to the Magical Express desk DCL checked them in for the cruise. So anyone who had the Keys to the World cards go on board first. Our friends called after boarding and told us they were able to get us reservations for dinner that night at Palo. SCORE!!! Things are looking up. Dinner at Palo and on Valentines day. So after the sail away party we head back to our stateroom and get ready to go. We order room service for the kids and they eat while we get ready. We take the kids to the Oceaneers Lab and check them in, then we head up to Deck 10 to meet our friends at Palo. The last time I went on the cruise I did not eat there. We were on a 3 night cruise and just stuck with the regular restaurants. I can tell you that the food we had that night was incredible. Our waiter which unfortunately I can't recall his name was adorable and his service was great. He brought us out a variety of the Flatbreads and other appetizers. The Flatbreads were delicious and so was everything else. I think I got the Tenderloin of Beef entree as did most of my dining companions. It could not have been more delicious. Then on to dessert, our waiter brought us all the chocolate souflee and an assortment of other desserts on the menu. OMG the chocolate souflee made you want to slap your momma. No kidding. I ate so much that I could hardly walk when I got up or maybe it was the two Pomegrante Martini's I drank at dinner. They were good. I don't drink much but when I am on a cruise I feel the need to since of course I won't be driving anywhere. LOL. After dinner we head over to Rock-n-Bar D for some adult entertainment. When we arrived they were having the scavenger hunt which I loved last time we cruised so we missed that but next up was the Match Your Mate game. Did we get picked for the Game? stay tuned to find out.
I think you are right. It was not the martini's definitely the swaying of the ship. You know the seas were a bit rough. But I did not care we were finally sailing away. WOO HOO!!!!
As I said earlier, we went to Rock-n-Bar D for some adult fun after Palo. The next fun thing on the agenda was the match your mate game. I really wanted to get picked but my DH did not. Bummer I thought. Well the host began his search for the three couples by asking for someone married less that 5 years. Not us, then for a couple married more than 20 years again not us. He then asked for a couple married in between the two. That would be us, so my friend starts pointing at us and of course Dave the host notices us and asks how long we had been married, well on April the 12 it will be 13 years so yes we did get picked. I was very excited about this, but could tell my DH was not as happy as I. So we go up on stage and they begin introducing everyone. Then they take the men off and ask the ladies a few questions like where was your first date? I said the movies which it was and he asked if I remember what we saw. I hated saying the title because I knew he would take it and run. The movie we saw was "Unlawful Entry" which is even funnier because my DH is a State Trooper in LA. Oh well he asked us two more questions like what is the first thing he touches in the morning and what would he say is my most annoying habit. We got two out of three the first round and then they had us leave and ask the men some questions. Of course you know one had to be where is the most interesting place you "Discovered the Magic". That one is always funny. We ended up getting second place and we got a rainforest pass at the spa. We never did get to use it but it was nice to win something. And while we were there out beeper went off because it was time to go get the kids from the clubs. So right after we had to rush out to get our kids. Well that is an end to our day one on the 7 oh I mean 6 night Eastern Caribbean Valentines Cruise. Next day a couple of Sea Days and America's Funniest Videos.
Sounds like a fun game, and a great end to the day. Too bad you did not get to use the RF pass, as that was one of our favorite places onboard.
I wonder if your DH was the LA State Trooper that stopped me for passing on a double yellow line... well... he just warned me... I probably deserved it!