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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We just decided that we are going to try a Disney cruise next summer! I am very excited but have no idea where to even start! This will be our first time on a cruise (any cruise!), so I really know absolutely nothing! The plan is to spend a week at WDW, then go on a 3 or 4 night cruise out of Port Canaveral. SO.....
Is it best to book online?
Should I book the cruise and WDW stay separately? Or are there packages available?
Are there ever discounts on Disney cruises? If so, how/where do I get one??
For 1st time cruisers worried about getting seasick, what kind of room on the ship is best? (It will be myself, DH, and 5 year old DD.) And where on the ship should we try to be (high, low, front, back)???
Basically, I need to know everything!! (Just ordered the Passporter Cruise book!)
Any advice and help is greatly appreciated!
__________________
"Any wish is possible. All it takes is a little courage to set it free." -Jiminy Cricket
Should I book the cruise and WDW stay separately? Or are there packages available?
Are there ever discounts on Disney cruises? If so, how/where do I get one??
For 1st time cruisers worried about getting seasick, what kind of room on the ship is best? (It will be myself, DH, and 5 year old DD.) And where on the ship should we try to be (high, low, front, back)???
Basically, I need to know everything!! (Just ordered the Passporter Cruise book!)
Any advice and help is greatly appreciated!
Congratulations on deciding to book your first cruise - and a Disney cruise at that!
I haven't been on a Disney cruise - but I have been on two on other lines - if you are worried about seasickness, try to book towards the middle of the ship (front to back, or Forward to Aft) and on a lower deck - you won't feel as much of the motion that way.
I, too, am researching our first Disney Cruise and I've found that it's good to book with Disney -but may be better to book with a TA as you can get onboard credits (OBC) with them. It sounds like all Disney Cruises are the same price regardless of where you book so getting an onboard credit is a great deal. I do know that working with a TA is free so feel free to search around and find the one that gives you the best OBC.
I've read that you can get much better deals if you book your land and sea parts separetely, as you can't take advantage of discounts on the land portion if you book them together. that's another thing a TA would be able to help you with.
Good luck on your planning - you're at the right place - folks around here know a lot and are very friendly. Have fun planning!!
__________________
Self-proclaimed Disney Planning Addict - I might not get there often but I know what I'm going to do when I do!
You are off to a great start ! Passporter.com and the Passporter Cruise book are great sources of information. I would suggest that you work through a TA. The OBC is great but they are able to provide insight and additional info that you may not be able to get anywhere else during the booking process.
We just took our first cruise in March, and it was a Disney cruise. We did WDW for 5 days, then did a 3 night cruise. We booked the land part ourselves, and used a TA for the cruise part. We saved a ton of money by doing it that way!
We used Disney gift cards purchased at a grocery store that gives fuel rewards to pay for the land AND sea portions thus saving another $600.
We found that the Passporter, and this board, prepared us so well to go on this magical vacation and feel relaxed, and like we knew what we were doing.
As for seasickness, we were worried as well but didn't even feel it. We were on deck 5 aft. It was funny during dinner to see the plants swaying ever so slightly.... that may have induced a mild nausea. Lol
You're going to have an amazing time!!!! We loved it so much, we are going again next March.... and the year after that too. ;-)
I always recommend booking the land and sea packages separately. They used to bundle them, then they stopped, now they are promoting it again. It's always better to book them as separate entities so if a discount comes out for WDW you can apply discounts, etc, it's a much easier process When they are separate but since they're all Disney, they work really nicely together so they make it easy to use transfers from the resort to the port to the air port, etc. yes, TA services are free and if anyone tells you differently...buyer beware! Every agent/agency offers different incentives but it's most important to find someone you're comfortable working with, especially if you're a first time cruiser you're going to have a lot of questions so make sure to find someone who will be available to answer your questions and help you out as necessary if that's whats important to you. Ive taken 14 Disney cruises but my passporter if always the first place I turn when I have a question or can't remember something. I think you'll find answers to a ton of your questions in there, it's my cruise bible
Thanks so much everyone! I think I am going to look for a TA for the cruise part of the trip. I wasn't thrilled with the TA I used a few years ago for a WDW trip, so I was hesitant to go that route again (I knew much more than she did and knew things weren't happening when/how they should have). But I'm really in the dark about everything related to Disney cruises! So hopefully I can find a TA who can help!
Do Disney cruises work like WDW resorts and if you find a deal after booking, you can apply the discount?
__________________
"Any wish is possible. All it takes is a little courage to set it free." -Jiminy Cricket
There are sometimes discounts, usually close to the sailing date for cruises that are not selling as well as Disney hoped. However, the discounts are usually available only for new bookings. Because discounts are sporadic, if you find a cruise you want at a price you are willing to pay, you are better off booking it rather than waiting in hopes of a discount.
Many discounts offered lately are "restricted" fares for one or more room categories (inside, oceanview, or veranda) on specific dates. These are less than the current prices for those cruise, but require payment in full at time of booking and do not allow any changes to dates or people. They also allow Disney to place you in any cabin within the category -- you cannot choose a room, and may not even know your room assignment until a few weeks before sailing.
For regularly-priced bookings, a 20% deposit is due at time of booking, with the remainder due a few months in advance. Before the final payment date, you can cancel and get a full refund (except for Concierge rooms).
An experienced Disney travel agent will be able to watch for any discounts that are announced and let you know about them. There are many travel agencies and agents that specialize in Disney cruises, and I would recommend going with one of them unless you are sure that another agent is familiar with Disney cruises. As others have mentioned, every travel agency will have the same fares, but some may offer other benefits.
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There are sometimes discounts, usually close to the sailing date for cruises that are not selling as well as Disney hoped. However, the discounts are usually available only for new bookings. Because discounts are sporadic, if you find a cruise you want at a price you are willing to pay, you are better off booking it rather than waiting in hopes of a discount.
Many discounts offered lately are "restricted" fares for one or more room categories (inside, oceanview, or veranda) on specific dates. These are less than the current prices for those cruise, but require payment in full at time of booking and do not allow any changes to dates or people. They also allow Disney to place you in any cabin within the category -- you cannot choose a room, and may not even know your room assignment until a few weeks before sailing.
For regularly-priced bookings, a 20% deposit is due at time of booking, with the remainder due a few months in advance. Before the final payment date, you can cancel and get a full refund (except for Concierge rooms).
An experienced Disney travel agent will be able to watch for any discounts that are announced and let you know about them. There are many travel agencies and agents that specialize in Disney cruises, and I would recommend going with one of them unless you are sure that another agent is familiar with Disney cruises. As others have mentioned, every travel agency will have the same fares, but some may offer other benefits.
Happy planning!
Melissa
Thank you so much! Great info!
__________________
"Any wish is possible. All it takes is a little courage to set it free." -Jiminy Cricket
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