After two years of planning, and jumping over a couple of last-minute hurdles, the day finally arrived when the alarm clock went off at 2:30 am. It was time to catch our flight to Ft. Lauderdale, where we would board Holland America's Zuiderdam to begin our Grand World Voyage. Getting Ready Medications I've been asked, "How... Continue Reading →

Raiatea, French Polynesia Do we go or do we stay? That is the question we asked ourselves as we stood in the rain waiting to get on our tour bus. Raiatea means clear sky -- which we thougth was funny gven that we were soaked as we got on the bus. Raiatea is the ony... Continue Reading →

Where is Tonga? Another beautiful day in the South Pacific. Our agenda today was to explore a bit of the culture of Tonga. We boarded the bus and started our journey. As you can see, we are surrounded by a lot of small islands and plenty of ocean. Our first stop was a blowhole. Now... Continue Reading →

Papeete It was very exciting the day we docked in exotic Tahiti, especially since it was an overnight stay. The dock was right in the heart of Papeete, the largest city on the island. It was mid-afternoon when we ventured off the ship so we headed to the market which was due to close soon.... Continue Reading →

Steve’s Special Day On this cruise, Ukulele lessons were offered. Steve decided to try it out. Every sea day at 1 p.m., he went off to his lessons. After the 3rd lesson, he announced his class would put on a concert. We were excited, but Steve was nervous. The only time the class had to... Continue Reading →

Tendering If you have not had the pleasure of tendering into a port, it is a very different experience. First of all, what does tendering mean on a cruise ship? A tender is a smaller boat that takes the passengers and crew ashore. Tending is done when a vessel is too large to dock in a port of... Continue Reading →

Nawiliwili, Kauai This cruise has been an adventure. I am behind on posting my blogs because we have been having a blast. Nawiliwili, Kauai boasts of having the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. We thought "ok" but when we got there it was "WOW". This is definitely worth going to see if you find yourself... Continue Reading →

Germaine’s Luau What better way to end our visit to Hawaii than with a Luau. After a short ride outside of Honolulu, in what they said was rush hour traffic, we arrived at a beautiful beach. I must add that if that was rush hour, I’d take Honolulu's traffic over traveling 101south from San Jose... Continue Reading →

Crossing the Equator on my Birthday First, we started the day with a leisurely breakfast, then off to Bridge lessons ( more on that later). We dashed from Bridge lessons to the pool on the aft deck for the Neptune Ceremony. This longstanding naval tradition happens when you cross the Equator for the first time.... Continue Reading →