This is the third year in a row I have visited this little rustic Motu in the South Pacific. Located just a short water taxi from the town of Uturoa, Raiatea, a relaxing beach day at Motu Ofetaro is the perfect first day in French Polynesia. This year Holland America threw a little wrench in our plans as use of the dock was claimed so our ship was forced to tender. I think we adjusted well given we grabbed tender tickets at 8:50 and were in the line to buy water taxi tickets

We arrived in Honolulu on Sunday, February 22nd and have had exceptional weather considering other parts of Oahu are under flood warnings. It’s sunny and hot in Honolulu. As some of you may know, we had an unexpected overnight here when Kauai was pulled from our itinerary due to weather.    I like overnights very much. The crew likes them more. The crew is often allowed to leave the ship on overnight visits. In order for them to get more time onshore, I put my “no thanks” tag

Below are the results of the 2026 whale watch. Feedback was overwhelming positive which makes me happy since I organized a group close to 50 in numbers and did not want to disappoint. Tail Tail Tail!! Our fabulous group checking in This year I did something slightly different. During our pre-cruise meeting at the best Western, I had people take a second name tag and write any rideshare event they were looking for (example- “whale watch” or “monkeypod”).. This way, most people