To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's COMPLETE!! - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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The fierce wind on deck was probably one of the first indications that that cruise would be quite different from a Caribbean cruise, huh? Sounds like you guys had a fun night. Sorry to hear your DCL bag was still missing. I would have worried as well!
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Dun Dun Dun Dun.... The case of the missing DCL bag .... I hope they find it soon...hahaha..... The first evening sounds wonderful.... Can't wait to read more .....
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.
What was there when I opened the door was a lovely stateroom in full turn down mode. The lights were on and Aaron's bed had been made up and pulled down over ours.
Matt decided he didn't want the top bunk so it became Aaron's. Matt took the fold out bed (the sofa by day) but I don't recall getting a pic of that- sorry!
On our bed, along with the Cruise Compass and literature left out for us was a note from Marcilano to call him when we got back. I dialed him up and he answered- I could hear a tremendous amount of noise and even though his accent was thick, I was able to get the message that he was at the very bottom of the ship, going through everything down there trying to find it- and he would call me back as soon as he was done. Bless him!
In the meantime, the fellas had taken up residence on the balcony once more and what a show right in front of them.. Aaron kept saying "this is so awesome"!
Might I mention- these pictures were taken about 10:00 pm.. and it's still not dark!
There was a knock at the door a few minutes later and there was Marcilano, but with no bag. He told me not to worry, that he had a few more places to check. In times of stress, I sometimes resort to humor and I said to him.. "Marcilano, is this ship peeved at me that I brought the competitors bag onboard- and ate it?" He thought that was funny. And he replied.. "We good as Disney Cruise Line?" My response to that was, "I don't know my friend, ask me in 6 days." It was the nicest little banter. He told me he would either call or come back.
I decided to take a shower and get my comfy's on because then at least if they told me the bag was lost- I be comfortable and clean when I went bezerk.
The shower was fabulous and almost as soon as I had kicked my feet up in my jammies on the balcony, the phone rang. Marcilano had located the bag! It was in the Security office and we had to come to Guest Relations to get it. I didn't question it, but I thought why can't it be brought here? Regardless, I thanked him profusely and hung up. I was already in my PJ's so Kevan went to get it.
10 minutes later, I see my beloved DCL tote bag and everything was in there. Kevan then informs me that the RCCL luggage tag had fallen off and when the bag was screened, it was determined that there were items that warranted a bag search- to which one of us had to be present. So, he had to witness the search. I had an interesting assortment of things in there for my Kindergarten Conference Presentation but nothing I thought really oddly shaped or suspicious. I promise I wasn't planning to take down the ship with a stuffed bee or ABC books. Whatever- I was glad to have it back.
The boys took their showers and settled in to watch tv but we all kept finding ourselves in and out from the balcony. The weather was cool so we left the door open a bit. Kevan had been out there by himself for sometime when he came in and asked if anybody was in the mood for Taco Bell. "What the heck are you talking about?" I asked. To which he replied, laughing hysterically... "If you need some tacos, let me know- we're passing a Taco Bell! Come see this!"
And with the binoculars, it was easy to see- we were passing a little town on Vancouver Island. Not only did they have a Taco Bell, we spotted a McDonald's and a Sav-Mart.
It had been an amazing, yet very tiresome day- I settled in to write in my journal, Kevan and the boys watched tv and by 12:30, we were all out. No motion on the boat whatsoever. As we were nodding off, Kevan asked if I wanted to set a wake up call to which I responded with a resounding no. Tomorrow was an at sea day and another day to take our time to explore and enjoy the beautiful ship we were calling home- if just for a week.
Coming Up Next: Vocabulary Entry # 2 from the List: Sausage!!
So glad that they found the bag or should I say, Marcilano found the bag. Had me worried there for a minute. Love the view and too funny about Taco Bell.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Oh, Chez- Super Bee is just the kindest, nicest, stuffed animal bee there ever was. I'll introduce you next time we see each other.
And the pull down bed did sort of get me nervous for a minute, but I took a good look and it was so bolted into that ceiling, that I got over it pretty quickly.