Castaway Cay Sandwich - 13 Glorious Days of Disney! - COMPLETED!! - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great start to your cruise! We did our first one last year, and I felt the same way, it was one big overwhelming blur. I had a fabulous time, I just couldn't remember most of it when we got home. It looks like this one started off nice and relaxing, I'm hoping ours next year is the same
All caught up finally! What a great time at WDW before! Our room last month was about in the same location - maybe just down a few floors. Love that standard 'savannah' view! And oh seeing pictures of the Dream has me missing it and so excited for our 2nd cruise next year.
Side q about the kitchen in the rooms: Do they have a crock pot?
Great start to your cruise! I don't mind the bathroom pictures, they're Disney after all.
I'm obsessed with them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I have to say I'm fascinated by the restrooms on board the Disney ships too, as they're just so imaginatively themed. I also love the Halloween touches they have on board.
It was a nice surprise when we found out that our cruise would be having Halloween festivities, they did a great job with the decorations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures from the start of your cruise! More please!
Coming soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Thank you for posting your cruise report here! I've never read a DCL report, as I don't see a cruise in my future, and this is a great way to get a taste for what they are like.
I love that you are having fun and able to let your guys go free on board. WTG!
Oh, I take pics in every outstanding bathroom I visit. To prove it, I'll share one from my past WDW trip. This is from the pool area of BC during our lunch at Beaches and Cream.
I hope you get to cruise one day, I'm afraid we're hooked now (I love the details in your picture - the wave tiles!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan
Oddly the only bathroom pic I've ever taken was on a DCL cruise.
I also have picture of the bathroom in my cabin but they're not as interesting as this one.
I love that bathroom's theme!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
I think this is going to be a trend. We should name it "Bathrooms around the World".
Totally
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great pictures from the ship!! And it isn't weird at all to take pictures of the Disney bathrooms!
I love them! I snap them all over Disney (I usually make sure no one is in there - could be awkard )
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great start to your cruise! We did our first one last year, and I felt the same way, it was one big overwhelming blur. I had a fabulous time, I just couldn't remember most of it when we got home. It looks like this one started off nice and relaxing, I'm hoping ours next year is the same
Yes, this one was more relaxed because we kind of had the "lay of the land" down and the kids were looking forward to the things they did before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
All caught up finally! What a great time at WDW before! Our room last month was about in the same location - maybe just down a few floors. Love that standard 'savannah' view! And oh seeing pictures of the Dream has me missing it and so excited for our 2nd cruise next year.
Side q about the kitchen in the rooms: Do they have a crock pot?
No crock pot in the room, but it would be a great idea to have one in there!
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Monday, Sept 8 - Nassau, Bahamas
Last year we decided to play it cool and not go on any excursions in Nassau. We explored a bit and ended up on a "local" beach. Let's just say once was enough... We got a nice onboard credit for re-booking, so we "splurged" for a real excursion called "Discover Atlantis". It's a tour of the Atlantis resort and it's super-duper aquariums. We didn't get the add-on beach package, deciding instead to just tour the resort and then come back to the boat for lunch. (It turned out to be a good decision.)
For those who haven't been on a cruise (yet ), every evening the host puts the next day's schedule called a "Navigator" in your room to help with planning for activities. This year, instead of the paper one that's like a newsletter, DCL has a mobile app that you can use for free on the ship. It came in very handy, as you don't have to carry around the paper one folded up in your pocket or whatever. When I woke up, I checked the app for the day.
Tonight we would party with Mickey, et al. But first we had a date with some sea creatures Today as I write this, it has rained, then snowed, now it's raining some more. But on this day of our vacation, we were greeted with this beautiful morning as we pulled into Nassau.
We love Cabanas, but I wanted to try breakfast in one of the restaurants. We went to Royal Palace for the buffet there.
Good stuff!
After breakfast, we moseyed back to the room to straighten up a bit and wait for our tour meet up in the D Lounge.
The tree has sprouted jack o'lanterns!
Some celebrities
A view of Nassau from our veranda.
A sad sight! Someone from the boat had to be transported to the hospital. We hoped that nothing was serious and they made it back ok.
We met up with our group around 11am. When we got off the ship, representatives from Atlantis met us and gave us our bands for the tour. Note Titus' kid's club band, it's a magic band . Then we boarded a bus and headed off to get a quick tour of Nassau. I really mean "quick". My photos are blurry as I had to snap them fast!
Note the price. Want to move here?
We drove over a long bridge as the driver basically talked about the insanely rich man who owned the land on this side of the island and all the other insanely rich folks who live there.
That bridge-looking part of the building is a suite called, The Michael Jackson Suite. In honor of the first person who has ever stayed there. In case you're interested , it's only $25,000 a night. We were quizzed on it later . I remember watching a reality tv show when Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown stayed there.
When we got off the bus, our very nice tour guide reminded us SEVERAL times when and where the bus would be to pick us up and NOT to miss the last bus. (This was a special reminder for those who would be staying to play in the casino ) She handed us all headsets so that we could all hear her talking.
Looking across the water where people live.
I don't remember the names of these Chihuly sculptures, but I do remember how much they cost: 1 million dollars. I know this because we were quizzed on that also
A view of the resort's lagoon. The photos I'm going to post here really don't do Atlantis any justice. The colors seem a little washed out in my pics. In reality, the colors are stunning and very vivid. The place is absolutely beautiful.
The main part of our tour was of the Aquariums. Our tour guide let us take quick shots, but we would be able to come back after it was over to take as much time as we wanted.
Spiny Lobster
Sting Ray
The theme of the resort and it's aquariums is the ruins of "lost city of Atlantis". They really did a fantastic job with the themeing. The guide spoke as if we were really in "Atlantis" and went into great detail about the people of the city and their culture.
A shallow open pool
Our guide (I wish I remembered her name!) asked for a tall volunteer. Naturally, I volunteered Dh He got to reach into the pool and grab the conch. She invited the kids in the group to touch it. Of course they were all properly grossed out and fascinated at the same time. It was like a giant snail.
Jellies. Now known as the bad guys of the sea, but I'm sure they don't mean it.
Outside again. It was a great tour, if quick. She collected our headsets and let us roam free. We felt bad that we forgot to bring cash for her tip. She was really great and you could tell that she knew a lot and was proud of the resort. We had plenty of time to roam around. We didn't see very many other people and none of the group that was with us. Maybe they went on to the beach portion (or the casino), but we took our time and explored. We took a ridiculous amount of pictures, but I'll spare you from most of them. The kids actually started rolling their eyes whenever we stopped, but later on when we uploaded them, they appreciated all the stops...
This may be our Christmas card photo
Hammerhead shark
Rickety bridge over hammerhead sharks.
Terrible children scaring their mother on rickety bridge over hammerhead sharks.
The ceiling of the round pavilion entrance leading to another pavilion.
The handrail of some steps.
We had this place to ourselves and we spent quite some time here, fascinated by the creatures seeming to fly overhead.
We made it all the way around back to the beginning. Even thought it was a great tour and we saw so many things, it was hot and we were growing tired. Plus, I think if Dh or I took just one more picture of one more fish, my boys would've run away from us.
Another Chihuly masterpiece. Guess how much it cost?
The lobby
We got back just in time for the next bus back to the Dream. This one just took us back to the dock. We could have spent some more time in Nassau, but we didn't need to do any shopping that day. It was time to go home
Wonderful photos of Nassau and the Atlantis. That Christmas card shot of your family is just wonderful. The lighting is perfect and you all look beautiful and happy!
I have very fond memories of our visit to Atlantis - it's an amazing place isn't it?
It must be weird to be re-living this, having snow and rain at the time you're posting it and it must also be very nice to look back on this and remember the great weather you enjoyed!
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Are those Disney nurses/doctors in the white uniforms, or just cruise ship staff? (I'm going to be a Disney RN someday, and I hope I get to wear that cute dress...)
What a great tour! That was the tour I thought we might do last year, but decided to forgo one at all. And I think that's a perfect Christmas card photo!