First, thanks everyone for the kind birthday wishes! Today we docked at a place that was never on my travel radar - American Samoa. It’s a very non-touristy place with the main employer being the local Sunkist tuna cannery (“You can smell it before you see it!”) and the US government 2nd. There’s not the … Continue reading Day 19: Pago Pago

Two more mellow days at sea without much to report. The usual routine of reading & relaxing with lots of good food and socializing with friends. My cold is still in the developmental stage so it's not too intrusive but luckily there's nothing much going on. Many other Soloists have it too. I did some … Continue reading Days 17 & 18: At Sea

Our second visit to Bora Bora! Unusual but only because I’m a back-2-back cruise ship passenger and now we’re giving the guests who embarked in Tahiti a chance to visit this gorgeous island. Tahiti has the largest airport in the area and is the commercial hub so it was a logical place to end a … Continue reading Day 16: Bora Bora

So our ship docked in Raiatea but we entered the lagoon right by its sister island Taha’a and it was at Taha’a that I spent most of the day. I booked another snorkeling/lunch adventure and this was even more fabulous than the previous one. Our boat picked us up at the marina beside the cruise … Continue reading Day 15: Raiatea

Today is the end of my first cruise! We're spending the day in Tahiti and I've nothing planned. I originally was going to rent a car a drive the island but my experience in Kauai kinda put me off that. Then I thought I might just grab a tour from one of the touts at … Continue reading Day 14: Papeete, Tahiti

Another great day, if not great weather. To me Bora Bora is all about the water. It's a small island, only half the size of Moorea, but it's surrounded by a huge lagoon with just one channel to the open sea. So to spend time in and on the beautiful blue water of said lagoon … Continue reading Day 13: Bora Bora

The glorious island of Moorea! I booked a morning 4wd island tour and it turned out a nice couple from Vancouver who were on my my Marquesas tour were also on it! 8 of us in total, originally all in the back of a pickup truck converted to an open-air bus with 2 rows of … Continue reading Day 12: Moorea

Another full day at sea as we continue to sail south towards the Society Islands. Not a lot interested me on the ship’s schedule so I did a lap of the ship on the way to coffee - 480 steps just to coffee so about a 1000 steps or so right there. 9am was the … Continue reading Day 11: At Sea

It was a short night last night! To bed at 11pm but up at 4:55am. I’m not sure what woke me, perhaps a change in the sound of the engines, but when I looked out my window I saw land! I ran upstairs to Deck 13 for a look and we’d arrived to the harbor … Continue reading Day 10: Nuku Hiva

Another lazy day at sea. Morning lecture, trivia, lots of reading. Lunch with friends, dinner with friends. Attended a fantastic show in the theatre, followed by a funny comedian. Life is good!