As Dottie, a now retired cruise director, loved to say, "You learn something new every day." This day, I learned that Charles Cook who discovered these islands decided it looked very much like his homeland - so he named it "New Caledonia." Though I have a dear friend named Caledonia, I had absolutely NO clue that it meant Scotland . Be honest, how many of you reading this knew that? Not been to Scotland yet, but this is nowhere similar to what I have envisioned Scotland to

All the necessary ingredients for a very Happy Easter surrounded us on board including dyed eggs and Easter displays, a HUGE bowl of jellybeans at the breakfast buffet, an Easter Egg Hunt complete with prizes (Big-O points), God threw in a rainbow and a wonderful Easter Service.   In between all these activities under BEAUTIFUL sunny skies, those who so chose boarded tenders to unravel the "mystery" of Mystery Island. Somewhere between Fiji and New Caledonia lies the isla

Yesterday, April 3rd was spent in Suva, Fiji, the largest city in this part of the Pacific. Our excursion departed at 7:50 am - necessitating an early wakeup call if one was to eat before setting out to see all the sights of Suva. No worries, I made it to The Terrace in plenty of time to enjoy my coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice, bacon, and heaping plate of delicious fresh fruit, berries and nuts. Aboard our air-conditioned bus, our guide shared many interesting facts

Beautiful Mother and Son in Tonga Today, April 2nd, Day 26 of our voyage will be spent in the extremely VAST Pacific Ocean somewhere between Vava'u, Tonga and Suva, Fiji. Now, Fiji I've heard of, Tonga, not so much. For our day (yesterday) in Tonga I chose an excursion "to acquaint one with the local culture. . . and Craft Market..." according to our Destinations Department. "Craft Market" was the key for me. Welcoming Committee in Tonga Typical Home Sixteen of us boarded

Today, March 27 is the 21st day of this 120 day "Around The World" cruise aboard The Vista, one of the newer ships in Oceania's fleet. The Vista is larger than The Insignia on which we made the 2023 journey, and therefore can accommodate 1,200 passengers with a crew of 800. It is, therefore, larger overall than The Insignia, providing: more restaurants from which to choose, a larger lounge for entertainment, an actual person acting as concierge, a larger stateroom on the c

Before arriving in our first French Polynesian port, we were told that each island would be prettier than the previous. I, being a skeptic, thought they were just doing some salesman's puffing. Actually - they truly are, and in different ways. The first, Nuku Hiva, was formed by volcanic eruptions as are most of these islands. Gorgeous, mountainous, covered with dense, really green vegetation, turquoise seas and equally beautiful blue skies dotted with puffy white cumulus

Land Ho! Many, many years ago - when I was probably in grade school, I learned that the Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on Earth. Okay, so that means it's big. I have had the good fortune to fly over, cruise around the outer edges, cross the equator from both the North and South, cross the International Date Line therein twice, catch multiple eye-popping sunsets thereon, pictures of tranquil seas and skies and some not so tranquil seas/skies. I thought I pretty

Today, Friday March 13th, we docked at Pier II in beautiful Honolulu at approximately 7 am to grey skies, a light rain, blustery winds and somewhat chilly temperatures. Unfortunately, our arrival followed a rather bad thunderstorm which has rendered some of the streets and highways impassable. Oops! Didn't know they had storms in Hawaii. Volcanic eruptions sometimes, yes, but in none of my previous visits to our 50th state has it even sprinkled on me. Therefore my excursi

Beautiful San Diego! This is not my first time in San Diego, but it was the first time in downtown San Diego. We arrived on Friday afternoon, peak rush hour, so where was the traffic? That remains a mystery to me. The streets were virtually empty! I was really impressed with the cleanliness, architecture, absence of homeless persons, and friendliness of its people. We were lodged Friday night in the beautiful old U S Grant Hotel, dined at the Grant Grill both at dinner a

Stay tuned for updates from my 2026 trip around the world!