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

I’m an 80s girl. Not wus 80s like Cyndi Lauper or Duran Duran- I’m talking fast guitars and hair spray. Lots and lots of hair spray. It may not be the most musically developed time in history, but it’s my jam. The Rolling Stones room on the vista and signature class differs from the Pinnacle class in both sound quality and music selection. The pinnacle’s tend to focus on real rock and roll while the Rolling Stones room on the vista/signature class is more a mix of dancing and

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

If you’ve sailed on Holland America, you know that the orange party is one party onboard where you can count on HAL to bring it- and that they did! I want to stress that Holland America has really upped their game when it comes to bringing high energy fun. Whomever is the putting together the activities is putting more effort in than I have seen before. Bringing in the world stage cast to sing and dance at the evening parties is a nice touch, and holding them at the lido is m

I ’m typically not one to dress up for a costume party. I use my luggage space for the really important things like snorkeling gear and shoes. Until now. That’s because I have never had the opportunity to sail with Marvelous Mimi and Mr Mike! This gentlewoman whipped up costumes and an entire theme (complete with group chant) in no time at all. One quick rehearsal and we were ready to roll. We came as the “Glow Gods of the South Pacific”. Loren from the activities staff made

I will give credit where credit is due and whomever is planning the parties is putting in substantially more effort than either year on the K’dam and it shows. The last two years the masquerade party has been pretty lame. This year the decorations in Rolling Stones were on point, and there was a lot of crowd participation with the masks. I suspect that is because while the ship was in Honolulu, the staff went and bought a whole bunch of crafting supplies and held multiple art

The sale entry is every day as beautiful as the sailing into Venice used to be. If you get up super early, we sail by Bora Bora, but it’s pretty dark. The last three years the captain has opened up the bow at 6 AM. I highly recommend you get out and about for the sailing because it is very unique. First, the ship sales passed Bora Bora, and makes a turn to enter the lagoon at the north end of Tahaa. Shipp makes a sharp right turn in sales down the West Coast of Tahaa before c

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