Sharing our FIRST Disney Cruise Adventure! December 4 Sailing ~ Disney Dream updated 2/23/2016 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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.
It's fun to hear the different opinions! I think a day at sea would be nice, but more than one might be too much for me. I know with no days at sea we sure didn't get to do very much on the ship.
We felt like we didn't have nearly enough time for everything on our first cruise, but when you go back you have a little more time because then you know what things you don't want to do again. For example, we watched all three shows on our first cruise but since then, we always skip Villains Tonight because we didn't like that one. That always gives us a free night for mini golf, Aquaduck time, or just enjoying the balcony. I think you'll feel like you have more time on the next cruise... And the one after that... And after that...
After the safety drill we went back to the room for a few minutes and then headed to the Sail Away Party.
Deck 11 was pretty crowded, so we went up on Deck 12 and watched from there.
It is very fun and loud, and crowded!! There singing and dancing and characters. Fun times! Enough going on to distract you from the fact that the ship is starting to move!!
I was watching the Sail Away show and not paying any attention and just happened to look across the ship and that's when I realized the scenery was moving a bit! I was a weird feeling for sure!
View from Deck 12 as we were leaving Port Canaveral ~
After the party we went back to the room to get changed for dinner. Once the ship got out in the water a ways the motion was awful! As in it was hard to walk and even stand. With this being our first cruise we thought this might be normal and were a bit worried. It was crazy!
First up on the dining rotation was the Royal Palace!
I ordered the Onion Soup Gratinee with gruyere cheese crouton. I didn't care for it, but wasn't going to say anything. Our server noticed right away and wanted me to order something else instead. So, I went with the Leek and Potato Soup. It was good.
For dinner I had Chateaubriand Roasted Filet Steak, crushed new potatoes with shallots, buttered green beans, red wine jus and bearnaise sauce on the side. I don't really remember what everyone else had. I know DS14 had some sort of chicken. Here are the food pictures I took ~
For dessert I had Strawberry Short Cake Sundae - strawberries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and Angel Food cake. I think we all ordered something, plus they brought DH a birthday dessert!
A few pictures on the way out ~
It's a beautiful restaurant!
After dinner I wanted to go to the tree lighting ceremony in the lobby. It was pretty crowded. The kids wanted to head off to Club Vibe, so we let them go. A nice feature of the Disney Cruise Line App is that you can text each other on it. They texted to say that all the kids were staying for a midnight game of dodgeball. I asked them if they wanted to come watch the live show with us, but they weren't interested.
DH and I went off to the Golden Mickey's stage show. It was probably my favorite of all three that we saw. During the show they apologized for the rough waters and said it wasn't normal and that we would be out of it by 10:30 that night.
Unfortunately they don't allow any photography during the stage shows, so that was a bummer.
After the show DH and I took a little walk. It was super windy and chilly. We got an ice cream cone and then headed back to the room. Party animals!!
They were right, by about 10:20 the rough waves and rocking stopped! Thank goodness!
It's so nice that they come back and clean your room in the evening and do turndown.
We waited up until 1:00am for the kids to get back. Yep, 1:00am. Good grief. I can't believe the teen club stays open that late. But, they were having a blast and we didn't want to be party poopers!!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
Oh thank goodness the rocking around stopped - it's horrible when that happens on a cruise.
We were worried for awhile that was what it was going to be like the whole time!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
1:00 am!! Your kids sure know how to have fun.
I know!! Crazy kids!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Bummer about the rough waters but at least you were out of them before bed!
It was a rough go of it for several hours, but thank goodness it stopped. We never would have been able to sleep through that. The bathroom door was swinging open and closed, hangers were banging in the closet. It was crazy!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
1:00am WOW .... I think my boys would like that. I was thinking of waiting to cruise until the boys are 13 and 15, I think they would have more fun.
Turndown service looks nice ... especially after a long day I imagine.
No wonder I never saw you on the webcam. Most of your pictures were taken from the opposite side of the ship from where the camera is. I still had fun watching it though!
I am so glad the rough waters didn't last too long. That's never a good way to start a cruise.
Don't you love the little details at Royal Palace? The tux napkins, carriage bread basket... And it really is a beautiful restaurant. The chandelier in the center is surrounded by glass Cinderella slippers. Did you notice it?
I always get the potato soup there too. I didn't care for the onion soup either. The cheese on top was too thick or something??? The desserts are always good though!
The Golden Mickeys is by far my favorite too. And I hate that you can't take pictures. Don't they know we need pictures for TR s?
I think the stateroom hosts on the cruise are awesome! We've always had the best people. They do a great job. I love that they straighten the room several times during the day.
Once the ship got out in the water a ways the motion was awful! As in it was hard to walk and even stand. With this being our first cruise we thought this might be normal and were a bit worried.
It's always rough around the channel I think it has something to do with the currents from the open ocean and the flat water in the channel meeting each other
__________________
You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality.
- Walt Disney
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.
1:00am WOW .... I think my boys would like that. I was thinking of waiting to cruise until the boys are 13 and 15, I think they would have more fun.
Turndown service looks nice ... especially after a long day I imagine.
The teens sure enjoy the cruise!!
Turndown is nice. Our room was always clean!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyWorldNut
No wonder I never saw you on the webcam. Most of your pictures were taken from the opposite side of the ship from where the camera is. I still had fun watching it though!
I am so glad the rough waters didn't last too long. That's never a good way to start a cruise.
Don't you love the little details at Royal Palace? The tux napkins, carriage bread basket... And it really is a beautiful restaurant. The chandelier in the center is surrounded by glass Cinderella slippers. Did you notice it?
I always get the potato soup there too. I didn't care for the onion soup either. The cheese on top was too thick or something??? The desserts are always good though!
The Golden Mickeys is by far my favorite too. And I hate that you can't take pictures. Don't they know we need pictures for TR s?
I think the stateroom hosts on the cruise are awesome! We've always had the best people. They do a great job. I love that they straighten the room several times during the day.
Well that explains it!! So, the webcam is on the aquaduck side?
Royal Palace is beautiful! I didn't notice the glass slippers on the chandelier though.
My dessert was very good there. Probably the best one I had!
I know, I was so bummed that we weren't even allowed to take pics without the flash at the shows. How am I supposed to remember and share anything without pics???
Our stateroom host was wonderful too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan
It's always rough around the channel I think it has something to do with the currents from the open ocean and the flat water in the channel meeting each other
That and the winds were crazy that night. I was walking on deck 12 and the wind was pushing me over. It was crazy!!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
My boys have never seen the Sail Away Party because they like to wave to the people at Fishlips and at Jetty Park (and of course the web cam ). You are right though - it's hard to tell when you start moving.
Royal Court is a nice restaurant. On both of our 7-night cruises RC is the restaurant we ate in three times. I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the other two restaurants. Out of three of them, RC is our least favorite.
Unfortunately, the rocking on our last night never stopped (until we got to PC). We had to remove our hangers from the closet; they got to be too annoying banging around. The captain ended up closing the outside decks so we were never able to make it up to Eye Scream for an ice cream cone on the last night.
Your boys sure do know how to party! I'm glad they had a great time in the club.
I just noticed that on the Dream the restaurant is called Royal Palace. On the Fantasy it's called Royal Court. I always thought they had the same name. They look exactly the same from your pictures though.
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.
We felt like we didn't have nearly enough time for everything on our first cruise, but when you go back you have a little more time because then you know what things you don't want to do again. For example, we watched all three shows on our first cruise but since then, we always skip Villains Tonight because we didn't like that one. That always gives us a free night for mini golf, Aquaduck time, or just enjoying the balcony. I think you'll feel like you have more time on the next cruise... And the one after that... And after that...
I must have missed this post somehow!!
I agree, we will do things differently next time. We won't see all the shows next time. We will take at least one night off to have some time to enjoy the ship!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disny_luvr
My boys have never seen the Sail Away Party because they like to wave to the people at Fishlips and at Jetty Park (and of course the web cam ). You are right though - it's hard to tell when you start moving.
Royal Court is a nice restaurant. On both of our 7-night cruises RC is the restaurant we ate in three times. I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the other two restaurants. Out of three of them, RC is our least favorite.
Unfortunately, the rocking on our last night never stopped (until we got to PC). We had to remove our hangers from the closet; they got to be too annoying banging around. The captain ended up closing the outside decks so we were never able to make it up to Eye Scream for an ice cream cone on the last night.
Your boys sure do know how to party! I'm glad they had a great time in the club.
You should see the Sail Away Party sometime. It's high energy and a lot of fun!
That's a bummer that your last night was so bad. I guess you never know!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disny_luvr
I just noticed that on the Dream the restaurant is called Royal Palace. On the Fantasy it's called Royal Court. I always thought they had the same name. They look exactly the same from your pictures though.
I didn't even notice that. I toured the Fantasy too. Strange!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
Last edited by Momof2Disneyboys; 01-11-2016 at 07:04 PM..