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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Grumpy and I are cruising on the Magic 14-21 Feb 09, WAHOOOO, for our 20th Anniversary, for the very first time, so I have a lot of questions, but first the most important question is Port or Starboard side stateroom with verandah?
Early dinner or late dinner????
Which is best? what is your preference?
We have already decided on a Deluxe Stateroom with Verandah.....
Help me all you Obi Wan Cruisers......you are my only hope
We have never cruised on anything bigger than this CQ small.JPG
25 ft, Only 1 cabin, top speed 29 knots
We were on starboard side (room 6562) for the 4-night and have booked that room again for 2009 (western). We enjoyed that side, as it was Port side in Port Canaveral (so we got to watch them load the ship). It was non-port side at Nassau which I think was better as we could look out at the ocean and the Atlantis resort. And at CC, we again were non-port side, so we looked out over CC and could see the beaches and everything going on there.
As for dining, I think it's really your preference on when to eat. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. We did the early seating and will be doing it again, as with 2 kids, they like to eat early. I found it easier to be done with dinner and then do other things on the ship after that (the show, things going on in the lounge, just wandering around). We're early eaters anyway (usually around 5 or 5:30) so it worked well for us.
Port or starboard would depend on your preferences: for example, on Castaway Cay - would you like to view the dock and the activity below? Then choose port. If you want to gaze out towards the beaches, then choose starboard. I love my verandah cabins - I try not to 'sail home without them!' Watch with some starboard cabins located over the Oceaneers Club as they can be noisy.
For the Eastern cruises, I believe all ports are on the port side.
Early dinner or late? You'll see the shows first with late dining which I preferred. I liked not having to rush back to change for an early dinner. I could see the early show and still have time to go back and change for dinner. We were up later (cruised without kids!) so we'd spend time in the clubs afterwards so I liked having a later dinner.
We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last year with a cruise and it was fantastic! To make it even more magical, check out the thread about the Romantic Escape package option:
The only thing that can compare to your prior cruise experience is the top speed! Max speed on the Magic is @24 knots. You'll also have one cabin but it's a whole lot nicer than the other one!
__________________
Lynn
Yes, I am a Disney Addict... and I'd rather be cruising!.
We cruised this past December and had the late dinner seating and we did not enjoy that. We felt like we had to eat dinner twice - because by 4pm we were hungry! And since dinner wasn't until 8:15 - we had to snack beforehand! Plus with the younger kids (7 and 5) it was really kind of late for them to eat. And - we felt like we couldn't enjoy the clubs as much since after dinner was so late. The kids did go to the kids' club once or twice after dinner - but it was just so late. So this next go around, we have the main dining seating that we think we'll prefer. I agree with earlier posters......it's just a matter of preference. :-)
I'm doing my first DCL cruise this May, but I've cruised before and I'm a late seating kind of gal. I tend to be a night person by nature so this works for me. From what I've read families with children tend to choose the early seating.
The late seating also eats later on the day of debarkation. Later being a relative term. I think the late dining time is around 8:00 am.
Be sure you order a Passporter DCL book. The 2008 version is available for preorder now and if you order you can download some of the info now. It will be a huge help if you've never cruised before.
About This Page: 
New to cruising, lots of questions
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Pixie Dust
I think the late dining time is around 8:00 am. 
everyone for the great tips, Grumpy and I are very appreciative and very excited about our first cruise WAHOOOO 
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