A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Just getting caught up. I was going to say what a great start to your trip, getting to see all those cows. But then I read about the passports. OMG! Thank God you realized when you did that they had been forgotten. What I can sense the anxiety you must have had when you realized they were still at home.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Oh my goodness - I would have been freaking out! Luckily you were within driving distance so that you could go home and get them, as opposed to having flown somewhere.
Hopefully that's the only hiccup of the trip and it'll be smooth sailing the rest of the way!
Just getting caught up. I was going to say what a great start to your trip, getting to see all those cows. But then I read about the passports. OMG! Thank God you realized when you did that they had been forgotten. What I can sense the anxiety you must have had when you realized they were still at home.
That's why I always write as I go along, as there's no way you can convey something like that after the event.
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.
Oh my goodness - I would have been freaking out! Luckily you were within driving distance so that you could go home and get them, as opposed to having flown somewhere.
Hopefully that's the only hiccup of the trip and it'll be smooth sailing the rest of the way!
We certainly had no big scares like that again, thank goodness...
Oh my goodness, I would have been horrified if I'd forgotten the Passporters, but than goodness you all could return and get them without too much hassle. So sorry!
Saturday 4 June – part two: we surely can’t be catching the 8:00am ferry, can we?
We found the ferry terminal easily enough, and pulled up at 7:35am. I knew you had to be there half an hour before a sailing, so I knew the 8:00am was out, and sure enough, we were handed tickets for the 8:30am sailing, which was still half an hour earlier than we were booked on.
I went for a wander to get some photos…
I headed back to the car, and got the laptop out, as I figured I’d work on the trip report, and a magazine, because I thought I’d catch up easily enough, and then get bored. Little did I know…
We watched the lorries come off the ferry that had just come in…
… and then we watched the vehicles boarding. Suddenly we noticed that the cars in the lane in front of us were moving. Now hang on a minute, we surely can’t be catching the 8:00am ferry, can we?
We moved forward, then the car in front of us was stopped, and we figured that was it, we’d just missed boarding, but then they took that guy, and we were the last ones to board the 8:00am ferry. Now how neat is that?
The scene in our car was quite hysterical, given we weren’t expecting this. Mark had to quickly put his book away, I had to turn off the laptop, and grab the camera, but what a great surprise.
We were the last car on board, with one lorry after us, so we really did luck out. Well, heck we needed some luck, after the start to the day we’d had.
We headed up towards the passenger lounge…
… and I will confess I was like a little kid with some new toy. I was so excited to be on board. The last time we visited the Isle of Wight, it was almost 20 years ago, and we’d taken the hovercraft, meaning we had no car with us, and had to rely on buses and trains to get us around the island. I’d always wanted to go back with the car, and have a bit more freedom to explore wherever we wanted to, and now we were getting that.
We headed out on to the outside deck, and discovered we were already moving. My goodness, they don’t hang around!
I got lots of photos of Portsmouth as we sailed away…
… and we saw the next ferry coming in to take the position we’d just left. No wonder they need to get away so promptly!
We also saw the hovercraft we’d taken all those years ago…
… and there was still plenty to see as we sailed along, as we were still passing by the mainland. I was amazed at how long it went on…
With my super zoom, I was able to zero in on these, and see what they were…
I don’t know whether it’s these forts, but I know some have been turned into unique places to stay. It’s a nice idea, but knowing our luck, if we did it, we’d have a storm whip up that night!
I had to zoom in on this, as Mark very knowledgeably told me that this was one of the Navy’s latest ships. How he knows, I do not want to know…
I did also get a couple of shots of on board life…
Very cool experience being on the ferry! Nice that you just made it on the earlier one! You got some nice photos along the way.
Funny that, in reading both TRs at once, I'm getting a little mixed up. I was thinking your meal at DLP that I just read about was breakfast, but then when I got here, realized that it was morning on this TR!
Just found this last night and was able to get caught up this morning.
I HATE that visceral response when one realizes that an essential piece of documentation is missing! Thank goodness you were able to get a plan in place quickly to solve the issue.
Nice cows--I think several were waiting for you as if they heard (herd?) you would be coming by.
Tell Mark that when Mike saw that picture, he immediately said it was new as well. It's the newest class of ship that can avoid radar detection, due to the updated design. (Now I can go back to bed, as I've learned something new today already....)
Hope the rest of your ferry trip is smooth sailing!
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.
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.
How great that you were able to catch the 8:00am ferry! I've always thought ferries were the coolest thing. We took one to Martha's Vineyard when I was muuuch younger (I think I'm remembering correctly) and I was like THE CAR DRIVES ON THE BOAT?! And I haven't been on one since lol.
Very cool experience being on the ferry! Nice that you just made it on the earlier one! You got some nice photos along the way.
Quote:
Funny that, in reading both TRs at once, I'm getting a little mixed up. I was thinking your meal at DLP that I just read about was breakfast, but then when I got here, realized that it was morning on this TR!
Yes it is hard to keep up - I don't think there are that many instalments left on the Disneyland Paris trip report now, so in a week or so's time, you shouldn't have that problem any longer.
Just found this last night and was able to get caught up this morning.
I HATE that visceral response when one realizes that an essential piece of documentation is missing! Thank goodness you were able to get a plan in place quickly to solve the issue.
Nice cows--I think several were waiting for you as if they heard (herd?) you would be coming by.
Oh very good!
Quote:
Tell Mark that when Mike saw that picture, he immediately said it was new as well. It's the newest class of ship that can avoid radar detection, due to the updated design. (Now I can go back to bed, as I've learned something new today already....)
I've just passed that on - my goodness, they will have plenty to talk about when we see you guys in September - we still plan on calling you to let you know when we'll be stopping off at the lighthouse, so hopefully we can catch up then.