Dreams do come true **Updated 7/24** THREAD 2 *COMPLETE* - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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.
I was reading and thinking, "My gosh - who put ME in charge of drinks??" But you're right, it doesn't seem unreasonable that your drink server should know what the drink of the day was!
Thursday 31 May – part one: I thought it was going to be quiet in here!
We had a lie in today, as there was no rush for us to get up, as we had no shore excursions to catch this morning.
We eventually crawled out of bed to do some washing at about 8.30 and were quite surprised to see how busy it was. Apparently, a lot of people were taking the afternoon tour of the Vatican and were taking the opportunity to get their washing done in the morning before they headed off. Fortunately, we were able to grab a couple of washers and driers without too much difficulty and get everything washed. I dread to think what this place must usually be like. It wasn’t until I looked at my PassPorter later that I realised how few laundry areas there are on board!
While we waited for everything to wash and then dry, we went for breakfast at Topsiders Buffet. Now, while this place doesn’t serve fancy food and only does very basic stuff, from what we’ve seen so far on this cruise, it does it very well, perhaps better than some of the places that are trying to be more fancy with their food, such as Lumiere’s. This morning, I had some fresh fruit and an omelette and we were greeted by our server, as it turns out that those who are down to serve in Animators’ Palette that night staff Topsiders Buffet during the day.
We chatted to one Crew Member for quite some time after we were done eating and she was telling us that they have to work less hours over in Europe, as we have what’s called the Working Time Directive and they can’t work anymore than 91 hours in a week. In the Caribbean, apparently they work 96 hours. You can’t even begin to picture how hard these guys work to ensure that you have a wonderful cruise.
We took a wander around the ship to take some photos, but there wasn’t much to photograph on the shore. My goodness, Civitivecchia is not a pretty place at all. The not so charming port of Civitivecchia
While we wandered around, we also played a bit of table tennis and basketball, while Mark tried his hand at football. It was a change to be able to use the courts on deck 10, as usually they’re packed with kids and I was glad no-one was around, as I’m so bad at all sports, except for swimming. To say I have no co-ordination is not understating it!
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.
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.
From memory, I think it was either on deck 9 or deck 10 - I'm thinking deck 10 by the basketball courts. Sorry I can't be any more specific than that, we did a lot of wandering that day, taking lots of photos.
We retrieved the washing and then headed off to the adult pool to just unwind after a swim. We had a dip in the hot tub and then I went off to use the Tropical Rainforest for half an hour or so. I love being able to go in there, wash my hair, then use the gentle sauna and the hot stone chairs, but take my advice, don’t sit on those things without a towel underneath you. I came out with a lovely engraving of the chair on my back. Not good.
We sunbathed outside for a while by the adult pool, but it was hot. That Mediterranean sun is deadly and probably just bad as the sun we had in the Caribbean on our three night cruise. High factor suntan lotion is definitely a good idea on this cruise.
The time rolled round to nearly 2.00, which is when our couples’ massage was booked for, so we headed to the Vista Spa and it’s just as well we were early, as we had to fill in a two page questionnaire about our health and our lifestyle. It wasn’t too bad, but I’m just glad that we had allowed enough time to do that.
Now I need to say here that Mark was a little bit, well apprehensive, about having his first ever massage. He freely admitted that he was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, which I guess is fair comment, as I didn’t know what to expect the first time I went for a massage.
We were taken to the room, where we would get out massage and I had to ask to use the restrooms. I got the impression that it was done that way, as Mark hadn’t paid for the Tropical Rainforest for the day. If he had, then he could have access to both the men’s changing rooms and the restrooms and then freely use the Tropical Rainforest. If you have a massage, you can get it for $8 a day, as opposed to the usual charge of $15 a day.
The room we were in was very small and I don’t know how the two girls managed to work around us. We had booked the full body massage and over the next hour, they used the aromatherapy oil on us and, boy was it good, although a bit firmer than I’m used to at home. At one point, the girl doing my massage said to me “I can go deeper if you like”. No, I’ll pass on that option, thanks!
We both really enjoyed it and Mark did say afterwards that he might now go for another massage sometime in the future, so I think I have a convert. Now, having experienced the couples’ massage, I can see why they also offer the couples’ massage in the new private areas, as the room they use is very small and quite clinical.
After we were done with the massage, we walked around the boat and took some photos. It was like we had the whole place to ourselves. There were just so few people around. We even went up into the Stack, the teen area, and there was no-one in there, so we were free to take as many photos of it as we liked.
About This Page: 
But you're right, it doesn't seem unreasonable that your drink server should know what the drink of the day was! 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
And made the right decision not to get off! Great pics!
the photo of the Magic's ship's plaque - 
photo!
your meal wasn't what you were hoping. 
Now, having experienced the couples’ massage, I can see why they also offer the couples’ massage in the new private areas, as the room they use is very small and quite clinical. 
Linear Mode
