Our “Wonder”ous Adventure To The Mexican Riviera - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Great updates! Your FE were adorable! What a great idea! I'm so excited that you're onboard the ship now! It's bringing back memories of my trip on the Wonder!
Great beginning and photos! I wonder if DCL will do something about theming at the port now that they have a permanent West coast presence. It's so nice in Florida walking through the mouse ears right into the lobby. I agree with you about the size of the Wonder and Magic. It feels just right to me. Elegant and spacious but still comfy. Makes me wonder if I'd like the Dream. Also agree about the wonderful crew--they work so hard and put up with a lot that they shouldn't have to. Can you imagine the mess they have to face in the staterooms of parents like that?
Great beginning and photos! I wonder if DCL will do something about theming at the port now that they have a permanent West coast presence. It's so nice in Florida walking through the mouse ears right into the lobby. ...Also agree about the wonderful crew--they work so hard and put up with a lot that they shouldn't have to. Can you imagine the mess they have to face in the staterooms of parents like that?
I was thinking the same thing. I hope they make San Pedro a little more Disney-fied. The lady at check in at the port told me that they actually don't work for Disney. She said they are given different uniforms for each cruise ship, and they wear whatever outfit it is that coincides for the ship in port that day. Kind of a bummer, really...nothing like real Disney CM's to get you in the spirit!
And I know, DD and I were saying the same thing. You can only imagine how messy some people are. I wouldn't want that job for anything!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
We were excited to finally check our our cabin - #6088. I went straight for the verandah! (these next few pictures were taken with my cell phone, so sorry about the sketchy quality! )
Kaitlyn wasted no time in poking around and checking things out.
We didn't have much time to fool around, because the Ship Tour started at 2:15pm. Because it was our first time onboard, we wanted to get the 'lay of the land'. So I started rushing Kait out the door... but before she would leave, she wanted to decorate our cabin door for the first time.
Our Ship Tour was given by Deano and Paola. The group started out small, but as we started touring it grew so big that they stopped and divided us into 2 groups. Kait and I followed Paola. It was a good introduction to the basic, main areas of the ship. We were allowed to ask questions and really get a feel for the basic layout. Deano told us that the way he remembers Port and Starboard is that 'Left' and 'Port' have 4 letters in it... it was a good way, because I still remember that! And Paola said that they like to say that FUN is in the front of the ship with all of the clubs and activites, and FOOD is in the back with all of the restaurants. It was a great way to break down things for those of us that are directionally-challenged! Our tour ended by Route 66 outside of Wavebands. After everyone scattered, Kait and I spent some time talking to Paola. She told us she had worked on the Dream, and had been on the crossing from Germany! I was fascinated by the carpet in this area. My sister lives in Apple Valley, right on the edge of Victorville, and my parents lived in Bullhead City. It was fun to see it represented on the map!
(still in port, before the Sailaway Party)
Our lifeboat drill was at 4pm. That gave us a little bit of time to go back to the cabin. DD wanted to change her shoes, and I knew that the first of her suprises was waiting for her there! I am a total idea-stealer, and I read about the Bon Voyage gift basket on DawnDenise's TR right before we left. I knew I had to order it!
We returned to the cabin, and I showed Kaitlyn this;
It was a lovely way to start off the trip! Kaitlyn read the instructions regarding the life perservers, and gave me a little tutorial as I popped the cork for our champagne!
She had never tried champagne before, but chocolate covered strawberries are her absolute favorite. I figured this was a good way to lube her up a little, and take the edge off her nerves from when the ship started to sail. (I am such a good mother ) Then it was time for our Muster. We were to meet on deck 4, at lifeboat station L. Our CM was very funny, and made a big production out of letting us know that our call sign was the LOSER sign! Or as Kaitlyn said, the sign for GLee!! I liked that one better.
We headed up to deck 9 for the Sailaway Party! I couldn't believe it - it was only 4:30pm and we had done so much already that day! We were offered drinks as soon as we came on deck 9, and who could resist those pretty glasses?
These were the 'drink of the day'. The red on bottom/white on top was the virgin drink.
Enjoying our Sailaway Party cocktails! My eye looks weird in this picture...
The Sailaway Party was a TON of fun. We were right in the middle of the crowd, dancing away. I must admit, when the horn blew, I actually got teary-eyed. I am such a weenie!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
After the Sailaway Party, we headed back to our cabin. I have some weird quirks - I cannot sleep in an unmade bed. If my bed is unmade, I will make it, then get into bed. I know, I am a weirdo. It is the same with luggage. And I was chomping at the bit...I knew I would not relax and feel like I was in 'vacation mode' until everything was packed and put away. Thank goodness Kaitlyn is used to my quirkiness, and just goes with the flow. She didn't say a word, and just started helping me unpack and arrange everything for our weeklong stay. There was suprisingly a lot of storage in there. But I don't know how more than 2 people stay in a cabin. I would have felt quite cramped, I think, if there had been more than the 2 of us in there.
After we were done, we sat on our verandah and relaxed. We chatted a little, and then I couldn't wait anymore. As we sipped our champagne, I gave Kaitlyn her goodie basket that I worked on assembling before our trip.
The gift basket...
Her star keychain with cruise details engraved.
fish necklace, so cute!
Nail polishes, all Sailing-themed!
There was some other stuff in there, some scrapbooking supplies and some Arizona State University jammies. You will see her modeling those in my next post. I was under the impression that the ship started sailing at the Sailaway Party, right when the ships horn sounded. That didn't happen. By this point, it was well after 5:30pm. As we sat there chatting, Kaitlyn looked up and noticed that we were finally moving!
Kaitlyn was like "Whoa!" and had to give herself a minute to absorb the feeling of the ship moving. But for someone who was afraid of boats, she was so brave! Look at her, standing by the railing...
Finally we were off on our adventure!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
Amy
Last edited by ilovedisney0_0; 03-13-2011 at 05:59 PM..
We went to the All Aboard, Let The Magic Begin show at 6:15pm. It was very good, but had a lot of the same information as our ship tour. I think, knowing what I do now, you could do one or the other. Here, though, we got to meet our Cruise Director, Clayton Lindsey, who was so awesome! He does this really funny 'vacation dance' that is an exact replica of 'The Carlton'...
YouTube - The Carlton Dance
They even played this music! Clayton was all big teeth and cheesy smile...it was spot on, and he was fantastic!
We were then entertained by Bronkar Lee, who is a beatboxer and juggler. He was REALLY good! This is from YouTube... YouTube - Live Auditorium Show
After the show, we went to the Vista Spa and were given a tour of the spa and gym. It really is beautiful, and everything is state of the art. We added a manicure appointment for Kait (which we later switched to a hair treatment appointment). We had NO trouble getting any appointment, at any time of day, on the trip. People say it's hard to get appointments, and I was very worried about booking before we left. But we never had any trouble, and were even able to move some of our times around with no issue. And our cruise was full! I won't be so worried about pre-booking in the future, because there were a lot of specials and discounts if you booked spa services while onboard.
By this time I was tired of lugging around our camera, so I don't have any pictures for this update. Dinner tonight was at Tritons. We were at table 22. Our tablemates never showed up during our entire cruise, so it was just DD and I. That's fine, we like each other anyway! We had a great time and got a lot of individual attention from Nyamon, our assistant server, and Marco, our server. Tonight, Kaitlyn had the tomato and basil soup, which she thought was delicious. She ordered the 3 cheese lobster macaroni, but asked that they substitute chicken. We don't like seafood. It had big tubes of pasta and was very cheesy - she loved it! I had the french onion soup, which was HOT but wonderful! For the main course, I ordered mashed potatoes, green beans and grilled beef tenderloin. It was delicious! I don't eat a ton of beef, not because I don't love it but just because it's a little heavy. I ate a lot of beef this trip, though, and it was all devine.
Kaitlyn and I sat in wonder and watched all of the CMs rushing about, carrying these monstorous trays with dish upon dish of food piled on top of them. I asked Nyamon if anyone ever dropped a tray because they were so heavy, and not 2 seconds later, 50 feet in front of us a waiter dropped a tray with a huge CRASH!!!! I felt so bad for him!
We came back to the cabin after dinner, and Kaitlyn got our first FE gifts out of our FE. This really was a highlight for her. She loved coming back to the room every evening to find little goodies tucked inside! When we opened our cabin door, we found our first towel animal - a swan!
We decided to deliver our FE gifts to those on decks 2 and 5. We broke our deliveries up by deck, so we weren't spending too much time each day doing the deliveries. It was fun to walk around the ship, though, and see everyone's cute and creative door decorations and FEs!
Immediately after coming back to the room, this was Kaitlyn (wearing her new ASU jammies from her gift basket )
I asked if she wanted to go check out Wavebands or Cadillac Lounge, but we were both tired. We ordered cookies (which were HUGE!) and water from room service, then spent a little bit of time reviewing the Navigator and planning the next day. We were both out by 11:00pm, because we are party animals like that.
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
Amy
Last edited by ilovedisney0_0; 03-13-2011 at 06:38 PM..
Look at you, rocking out the updates! Sounds like a WONDERful furst day! Loved the gifts you gave Kaitlyn! Glad you enjoyed the Bon Voyage package! More please!
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You are on board!! Congrats to Kaitlyn for overcoming her fear!
(these next few pictures were taken with my cell phone, so sorry about the sketchy quality! 
)
And Paola said that they like to say that FUN is in the front of the ship with all of the clubs and activites, and FOOD is in the back with all of the restaurants. It was a great way to break down things for those of us that are directionally-challenged! 
Our tour ended by Route 66 outside of Wavebands. After everyone scattered, Kait and I spent some time talking to Paola. She told us she had worked on the Dream, and had been on the crossing from Germany! I was fascinated by the carpet in this area. My sister lives in Apple Valley, right on the edge of Victorville, and my parents lived in Bullhead City. It was fun to see it represented on the map!
I am a total idea-stealer, and I read about the Bon Voyage gift basket on DawnDenise's TR right before we left. I knew I had to order it!
) Then it was time for our Muster. We were to meet on deck 4, at lifeboat station L. Our CM was very funny, and made a big production out of letting us know that our call sign was the LOSER sign! 
Or as Kaitlyn said, the sign for GLee!! 
I know, I am a weirdo. It is the same with luggage. And I was chomping at the bit...I knew I would not relax and feel like I was in 'vacation mode' until everything was packed and put away. Thank goodness Kaitlyn is used to my quirkiness, and just goes with the flow. She didn't say a word, and just started helping me unpack and arrange everything for our weeklong stay. 
I won't be so worried about pre-booking in the future, because there were a lot of specials and discounts if you booked spa services while onboard.
Dinner tonight was at Tritons. We were at table 22. Our tablemates never showed up during our entire cruise, so it was just DD and I. That's fine, we like each other anyway! 
When we opened our cabin door, we found our first towel animal - a swan!
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