Alternative to Running Portupgrade -rf In Upgrade of expat2

[Bob Perry]

/usr/ports/UPDATING recommends that users of textproc/expat2
run portupgrade -rf textproc/expat2 to properly update expat2 and all of 
its dependencies.  Am I correct in that I should be able to run 
portupgrade on the dependencies individually once identified?

I have 48 dependencies on one box and 151 on another and only use a 
dialup service.  Disconnections are common and can be a real problem in 
this situation.

thnx

Bob