A magical Mediterranean vacation COMPLETED - Page 68 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Love the views from The Magic coming into port! I was amazed at the amount of people taking photos of The Magic and not others! The Magic is such a beautiful ship and can't wait to be part of this in April! Great sites and photos around Venice as well and you saw a lot on the way to your Gondola ride! I can't believe a gondola costs about 30K! Wow! You ride is off to a great start and you must love those narrow canals that make it so peaceful. Plus getting a completely different perspective of Venice! I took one of these rides several years ago and really enjoyed it!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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The little canals are beautiful, and quite a different life-style living on the water. I've ridden the gondolas around there, but sadly my last trip was before they cleaned up the water in Venice and whew!! It was stinky back in those little passageways!
My mum said that they went back in the 1960s and she told me it stank. She was so shocked when we first went in December 2001 and we came back and said e couldn't smell anything...
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I've been inside of one of the hotels on the water and the back entrance was on a small street, so with the larger buildings at least, you have your choice of land or water access.
Wonderful perspective of Venice from the canals on the gondola! Do the striped poles have a particular meaning, e.g. that is where gondolas can pick up and drop off? Just curious as you all passed several as evidenced in your photos.
I honestly don't know. We didn't ask Alex and she didn't tell us.
Love the views from The Magic coming into port! I was amazed at the amount of people taking photos of The Magic and not others! The Magic is such a beautiful ship and can't wait to be part of this in April!
She certainly is - and I'm not surprised that people take photos of her, as she's absolutely beautiful.
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Great sites and photos around Venice as well and you saw a lot on the way to your Gondola ride! I can't believe a gondola costs about 30K! Wow!
I know - frightening, isn't it?
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You ride is off to a great start and you must love those narrow canals that make it so peaceful. Plus getting a completely different perspective of Venice! I took one of these rides several years ago and really enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed it and I'm so glad we finally got to do one.
Wonderful perspective of Venice from the canals on the gondola! Do the striped poles have a particular meaning, e.g. that is where gondolas can pick up and drop off? Just curious as you all passed several as evidenced in your photos.
Yes, the poles are mooring poles. Parking spots for gondolas. They were originally painted in different colors, representing the major families who all had their own gondolas, but now they're red and white.
Yes, the poles are mooring poles. Parking spots for gondolas. They were originally painted in different colors, representing the major families who all had their own gondolas, but now they're red and white.
, Laurie! I began to wonder as Cheryl said that some of the places had steps that seem to go to nowhere, but most of those also had the striped poles. Very cool way to mark these.
Yes, the poles are mooring poles. Parking spots for gondolas. They were originally painted in different colors, representing the major families who all had their own gondolas, but now they're red and white.
How funny - I nearly said "I bet Laurie will know the answer to this..."
Sunday 13 July – part seven: this is just stunning!
Eventually, we made our way out on to the Grand Canal, just by the Rialto Bridge, and despite my fears about how choppy it would be here and how much we would be moving from side to side, we were absolutely fine. Sure, it was busy, but not as busy as I’ve seen it when we’ve been on other boats, so I guess we lucked out.
I have no idea what tickled him so much in this photo
We headed under the Rialto Bridge…
… and the a bit further along, and the sky was just stunning. So much for thunderstorms and heavy rain tonight. They really couldn’t have been more wrong with the forecast had they tried – luckily enough for us!
We passed the town hall, and Alex explained that it’s currently deserted, as the Mayor and 33 others have just been arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Soon we were turning back into the narrow canals again, and heading back to where we’d started from.
I thought this was excellent value. It was supposed to be a 50 minute ride, but I know we started before 8:00pm, having heard the church chime 8:00pm when we’d been underway about five or ten minutes, and we didn’t get back on dry land until 8:55pm. We paid Alex and she gave us directions back to the Rialto bridge, where we could pick up a vaparetto.
We made our way there, and validated our tickets for the number 2 service back up to Piazzale Roma. We waited a few minutes, then saw our boat arriving, except it seemed to be going too fast for our stop. Sure enough, it was carrying on further up the river to the next Rialto stop. Wait – that’s not right. This is definitely the stop.
I took off running, with the others following behind me. We had a bridge to negotiate, but thankfully having spotted it early enough, and there being quite a few people disembarking and quite a few more getting on, we were Ok and arrived in time to get in, but trust me, they definitely got it wrong, not us, as this stop was clearly marked for number 1, not number 2.
That drama over, we enjoyed our last trip up the Grand Canal, and it was fascinating to see Venice after dark. There wasn’t much lighting, but that made it seem all the more atmospheric.
Soon we were approaching Piazzale Roma, and that darned bridge that we’d walked over with the suitcases at the start of our trip – wow, that seems like half a lifetime ago now.
The sky still had some beautiful colours in it…
We disembarked at Piazzale Roma, and headed towards the People Mover, got our tickets, and there was a train waiting for us. We had some lovely views of the Magic all lit up at night, as we travelled along, but sadly as it was light inside the train, it was impossible to get any photos through the glass.
We got off at the cruise terminal stop, and made our way back to the ship, getting some photos of the Magic at night on the way…
Frustratingly, on the way back, you had to walk all the way along to the end of the terminal, where we’d first entered to clear immigration and security. Inside, it was all ready for the guests who’d be embarking on the Magic tomorrow. I just hope it’s a smoother process for them than it was for us.
We spotted this, and could only assume that it’s an office of some kind
Then of course you had to walk all the way down the length of the ship once you’d cleared that, as the gangway was right at the forward end.
We said our goodbyes to Mari and Raleigh on the elevator, as they were going back to the room. We got off at the fourth level to go to Shutters to pick up our CD. Only 94 shots on it – darn I was hoping to make it to 100… It was spooky how dead it was on this floor…
We headed up to deck nine next, as I wanted to hit the beverage station, as I was gasping for a drink. This was where everyone was – watching the World Cup final on the funnel vision. I couldn’t believe how busy this was, considering you had the option to spend the evening in Venice. Who on earth would pick football over that? Well, judging by this, I guess the answer is a lot of people.
With that, we headed back to the room, and one final wonderful creation.
We headed to bed not long afterwards, as we had to be at breakfast at 7:00am and ready to disembark the Magic.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the low 80s. The best thing today was the gondola ride and arriving in Venice on the Magic. The worst thing today was how bad service was at our lunch at Lumiere’s. Today we tried taking a gondola ride And the result was it was a truly magical experience. The most magical moment today was seeing St. Mark’s Square from our stateroom.
Next: we’re going to need those waterproof jackets
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I was amazed at the amount of people taking photos of The Magic and not others! 
The Magic is such a beautiful ship and can't wait to be part of this in April! 
I can't believe a gondola costs about 30K! Wow! 
You ride is off to a great start and you must love those narrow canals that make it so peaceful. Plus getting a completely different perspective of Venice! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
We didn't ask Alex and she didn't tell us.
, Laurie! I began to wonder as Cheryl said that some of the places had steps that seem to go to nowhere, but most of those also had the striped poles. Very cool way to mark these. 
Sure enough, it was carrying on further up the river to the next Rialto stop. Wait – that’s not right. 
This is definitely the stop. 
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