My 35 night French Polynesia cruise came to an end in San Diego where I met back up with Bob to spend a couple fun days in town before jumping on a plane to Kauai.  We love the Hyatt Manchester and the club lounge there with complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner and almost Free drinks. We didn’t do any museums this year, but we did manage to enjoy Seaport village and the boardwalk. Racked up 20k steps just wandering around and ended up at KC BBQ- a San Diego tradition. Hyatt

Welcoming committee It was a beautiful beach day on Fakarava! The last two years I’ve went out with Christophe from Fakarava Excursions for the blue and green lagoon and a deep water snorkel at Pufana rock (sp). It’s an awesome trip but I was looking for something different. Reports are that Christophe put out a great tour again and I’m happy to hear that he didn’t disappoint this years group. Fakarava is an Atoll in French Polynesi. Like the Maldives, an atoll is a ring-sh

I found Nemo ! He’s been hiding under my bungalow:) Imagine waking up, popping a bottle of Champaign, and then snorkeling directly from this balcony! The entire stay was like living in a movie set. There is a reason Jimmy Buffer found the inspiration to write “One Particular Harbor” about this exact spot. As my sister says, “Moorea is where God created the World”. I shot all this GoPro video from the bungalow areas at the Hilton, Moorea When home is at the top of the stairs

You know you are someplace special when Jimmy Buffet writes a song about the place you are staying. The inspiration for “One Particular Harbor” originated from time Buffet spent at property owned by his friend Hugh Kelley. The property overlooked Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay. The Hilton is perched on the point of land connecting both Baya and truly is a place worthy of a song (and album title) if there ever was one . Arrival photos Getting a ride to the best bungalow on the pro

HAL dropped the ball on St Patty’s day activities during the day (they did have a pub crawl for $29 in the evening and reports are that it was a hoot). In true Professional Passenger Party Planning mode, my friends Cash and Crew whipped up a bag pipe player (what are the odds) and organized a parade around seaview pool. Sometimes you just gotta make chit happen…… I apologize to all involved for quality of these videos- I’m short and there were lots of tall people!

The activities staff whipped up a Nieuw Amsterdam Ball for us on the last formal night. I say “whipped up” because this event didn’t show up in the planner until the day prior. The Rolling Stones sets were all reworked with different times (refer to the legendary daily blog of exact times) and events like the chocolate extravaganza were added. I put on a sparkle top and heels- it’s the best I could do. My days of really dressing up are in the rear view mirror. Met with Mar

Our 2026 Group All Aboard Most of the snorkeling tours in Raiatea include a stop at the vanilla and pearl farm. Bruno is the only operator to offer a swim only tour which skips the vanilla and pearl farm in exchange for additional snorkeling and a leisurely experience where there is more than enough time at each stop. And we are off! Boat number one It is not Christmas and we aren’t in Mexico but it’s a singing sail away tradition I look forward to :) My Captain- this guy s