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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have spoke to DCL & they recommend passports but say they are not necessary just a photo id & birth certificate. Has anyone done this or had any problems doing this? We would like to book our 1st cruise so it will be short 3 or 4 nights.
The only potential problem with that is if you happen to get into an emergency situation and have to fly back into the US you cannot. You have to have a passport to enter the US by air (through an airport). Does this make sense??? My DN ordered her passport recently and got it back in ten days. They are good for ten years if you are an adult and a very convenient form of govt ID in alot of "home" situations where you may need proof of citizenship.
Yes...I thought about this & thought maybe to get my passport n case of an emergency with my parents (my husbands parents are deceased )I hate to spend the $ for my kids a passport being that we do not travel out of the states& the kids passports expire so soon. Im trying to weigh the risks for 3 or 4 nights. idk
We are traveling in 2 weeks and my kids don't have a passport. We are traveling to the Bahamas. My way of thinking was well if there is an emergency after day 1 (Nassau stop) there isn't really any place to fly out of. I guess we are taking a risk and if we weren't doing this trip so last minute I probably would have gotten them passports.
If you plan on using a birth certificate, make dire it is an original certificate with a raised seal. I have heard of people having trouble because the document they had was not an original. With a passport, you know you the correct document.
We got our kids passports, and we've used them on three later cruises and a trip to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. They are now on their second set of passports. But, it is possible to do a Bahamas cruise without passports if you really want to save money.
If you plan on using a birth certificate, make dire it is an original certificate with a raised seal. I have heard of people having trouble because the document they had was not an original. With a passport, you know you the correct document.
We got our kids passports, and we've used them on three later cruises and a trip to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. They are now on their second set of passports. But, it is possible to do a Bahamas cruise without passports if you really want to save money.
We ended up getting passports for all of us, including the kids. I just wanted to tell you to be sure if you don't get passports that you are taking the proper birth certificate. When we went to the courthouse to get our passports, I brought along the birth certificates for the kids that we were given at the time of their birth just to realize those were only "gifts" and not official. Ended up paying to get official birth certificates for them so we could get the passports. It would be terrible to reach the port just to be told your documents were unexceptable! Now, with the passports, no worries!!
My birth certificate is a "photostatic copy" with the raised seal from the territory of Hawai'i.
Many states (including Texas) don't issue copies with a raised seal, but have a multicolored stamp. Actually, the copies are issued by the county in which one was born (in Tejas) but have a required format.
I have my passport with me right now because I needed to prove my eligibility to work in the US (the I9 document), It's also handy for going quickly through airports since the TSA agent knows exactly where to get the information. And in several airports now you can go to a separate line where they scan your passport.
For me a passport is a "must have" and a "given" (that travel agent thing, you know ) but a family of five it would be expensive. Note that for kids over 16 at the time of issue they can renew by mail. So if you have someone close, you might want to wait. My niece couldn't wait since she was supposed to be in Portugal on the second day of her class trip for her 16th birthday.
Was also wondering if the cruise can happen without Passports... hubs just lost his job and as crazy as it may sound, we want to push through and save our trip. Was hoping we could get by on the Dream 4 nt. Bahamas cruise without buying pp's .
I may just go with passport cards, although it sort of defeats the purpose of having one incase of emergency because they are not valid for air travel.
comments? Suggestions?
Not quite true. This was supposed to be the state of things, but the final WHTI Regulations include what's known as the "Closed Loop Exception." It applies only to cruises that begin and end in the same U.S. port. For cruises that qualify, such as DCL's Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, and most Alaska itineraries, adults can use a government-issued photo ID plus proof of U.S. citizenship (certified copy of birth certificate, naturalization papers, etc.), and children under 18 just need the proof of U.S. citizenship.
Passport Cards are not necessary in your case, and only give you a slight advantage on the cruise - you avoid the issues that can arise over whether a birth certificate is valid, because all that's been resolved during the passport application process.
I recommend the Passport Card in only two circumstances:
You live near the Canadian or Mexican border and will be driving across the border frequently, but have no expectation of international air travel.
You're applying for a Passport Book. The card is just a $10 add-on in that case, and is a convenient form of compact, durable government-issued photo ID. It's nice to have a back-up ID when you travel - just be sure to keep your driver's license and Passport Cards in different places.
You may still find the card more convenient than carrying birth certificates, but at the price, it's an expensive convenience.
What's interesting is that the cruise industry lobbied heavily to get the Close Loop Exception, yet the cruise lines still recommend that their passengers get regular passports. Among other things, it relieves cruise line personnel from having to scrutinize those birth certificates - passports just get swiped through a bar code reader.
I also strongly recommend a Passport Book. It saves all sorts of potential hassles, and gives you the freedom to go nearly anywhere on short notice.
If you can possibly afford it, a regular Passport Book is definitely the way to go.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Thank you for the info Dave... I think we might be alright enough to get the passport books. We are weighing things here and making our way through this unemployment "issue"... we definitely have our sights set on making this trip a dream come true and keeping pace at "full speed ahead!!"
Personally, I wouldn't count on the birth certificate only rule.
Yes it's enough...if....
People talk about needing the passport for an emergency flight home. But you can have issues at the beginning end too. The first cruise I took, our departing flight was delayed because of weather. So we missed our connection and ultimately the boat.
The airline arranged for us to meet up with the boat at its first port, so the trip was salvaged. But that first port was in the Dominican Republic. We had passports, so all was okay. But no passport -- no flight to the DR -- no cruise.
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Ended up paying to get official birth certificates for them so we could get the passports. It would be terrible to reach the port just to be told your documents were unexceptable! 
Now, with the passports, no worries!! 
) but a family of five it would be expensive. Note that for kids over 16 at the time of issue they can renew by mail. So if you have someone close, you might want to wait. My niece couldn't wait since she was supposed to be in Portugal on the second day of her class trip for her 16th birthday.
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