A day off! That’s what a day at sea feels like, no need to set an alarm or be somewhere at a certain time. Shore days I’m awake before 6am as I must check our progress into port and/or line up to get a tender ticket if we’re anchoring. Today I had the luxury of … Continue reading Day 24: At Sea

I was on deck early again as I’m always eager to catch my first glimpse of our destination. We entered the fringing reef on the western side about 6:45am but Fiji is a huge island and it took about an hour to sail slowly up the coast to our port. A very grey day to … Continue reading Day 22: Lautoka, Fiji

"Bula! Bula!" (Hello! Greetings!) We're still on the main Fijian island of Viti Levu but are now docked diagonally opposite to yesterday’s port - we’re now in the southeastern corner of the island in the capital town of Suva. Today I’m doing a CruiseCritic forum recommended island tour: “The Jewel of Fiji”, it’s got canoeing … Continue reading Day 23: Suva, Fiji

Well, not really. We didn't actually get a Wednesday as we crossed the International Date Line last night and went directly from Tuesday to Thursday! So just one day at sea... By coincidence I met up with Aspen for breakfast and played morning trivia with Chad. The rest of the day was pretty laid back … Continue reading Day 20 & 21: At Sea

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