35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise (2024)

This is the first blog I completed for the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise (2024). Originally posted in cruise critic and moved here. May not flow correctly here. Best to view this live post on cruise critic to see all photos also. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2991811-live-review-koningsdam-feb-17-march-23-2024-hawaiitahiti/

February 14, 2024

I am flying out tomorrow morning so figured I'd get this started. I am traveling in a solo outside room. I'm leaving hubby at home because he refuses to retire and I do my best to avoid Michigan Winters. At the end of the cruise I'll fly to Maui where Hubby will meet me in our paradise. Packing for this trip has been challenging as once I leave tomorrow I won't be home again until Mid-May.

Background: I feel like sometimes it's helpful to have a little background on the reviewer to add perspective. I'm a fully retired Gen X. I started cruising in 1987 and the first 5 cruises were on lines that eventually went bankrupt (Regency, Commodore, and Dolphin).These ships were all in the 20,000 GT range so I do have a historic love for the little gals. I've sailed everything from tiny ships to the 'behemoth of the seas' and find that each and every ship has pros and cons.

It should be noted that while I have sailed nearly all main stream lines (Celebrity, Carnival, Holland, NCL, MSC, Princess, etc..), I have zero brand loyalty. Never have. Likely never will. I select ships based on who I'm traveling with and perceived value. I don't look for the cheapest option, but I do weigh things that are important to me and select based on which ship best meets those expectations. Cost is always a consideration but value is what drives my decision making.

When I travel with DH, his favorite is NCL for the District Brew house with 20+ drafts to choose from. He is also casual and prefers to dress in shorts the majority of our trip. He really appreciates the Local (former O'Sheehans) which is an informal dining option where you can sit down and order a hot meal off a menu nearly 24 hours a day. It's perfect for him. I describe NCL like our local pub. A Cheers type casual bar atmosphere where everyone knows your name. We also enjoy the water slides on the away and away+ class as I'm an admitted adrenaline junky. I'm dragging him on a HAL Antarctica trip next year and I am already preparing him for a much more cerebral experience.

Hubby and I just returned from sailing in the Caribbean on a side to side on the Carnival Celebration and the NCL Encore. Both ships are significantly larger than the Koningsdam. I know some of the HAL regulars feel Koningsdam is too big, but in my experience she is a nice mid-sized vessel. I hadn't been on Carnival since the mid-90's and I'm pleased to report that their new Excel class has upped the game. They have a new 'food truck' style eats around the pool that is revolutionary. Much like the waterfront was when NCL first introduced it. The Celebration kept us entertained until the wee hours of the morning. Where she lacked in service, she made up for in fun. Like I always say, I have never met a cruise ship I didn't like. There are always pros and cons.

I also do girls trips. My girls trips seem to be split between RCL and Celebrity. Some friends appreciate the stepped up entertainment/activity options on the large oasis class, while a few of my friends prefer a bit less Cheers and a few more Martinis. The last few girls trips have all been on Celebrity when they offer 150% solo supplement (since we are now old enough to afford our own rooms). I also greatly appreciate solo trips. I did those when I was working and needed time to just lay on my balcony and drool. There is something really healthy about a good solo trip where 'all about me' is the norm. If you have thought about traveling solo but are apprehensive, I highly recommend stepping outside your comfort zone. It's a wonderful experience. I will miss my Husband, but 35 nights will fly by and knowing he will find me in Maui softens the ache.

I think expectations are critical when selecting a cruise ship. Notice I said cruise ship and not cruise line. I don't believe it's valuable to compare line to line anymore as there is so much discrepancy between ships offered on the same cruise line. The Grandeur of the Seas is infinitely different than the Icon. Instead, I think it's wise to compare ship to ship when making a decision on how to spend your discretionary travel dollars. In addition, I always recommend that expectations be kept in line with price paid. For this cruise, that means the bar is pretty low. HAL prices for sailing 35 nights were significantly less a land only trip to Hawaii would be. So, as I explained to hubby, I'm saving money by not spending the entire winter in Maui ;-). I also think anyone booking a cruise today needs to be prepared for reduced amenities and increased onboard charges as the cruise lines battle back from enormous debt brought on by covid. It's just a new normal.

I typically don't book suites (although I have sailed in the Yacht Club on MSC). Suites just don't provide me with enough value where I can justify the cost. I never used my butler in the Yacht club since it's just not my vibe. However; I will gladly pay more for a balcony that can accommodate a lounge chair because laying outside on my lounger gazing at the sea is very much my vibe. For this cruise the best value was an outside solo. I'm not sure how I'm going to do without a balcony for such a long cruise but time will tell. I tried desperately to purchase a cabana to no avail. I do have a cabana booked already on the 2025 version of this sailing so I'll be able to compare the itininary with and without the solitude a cabana offers.

Finally, I should probably warn you that this review isn't going to focus only on the rosy. That's not my style. For those of you looking for a glowing report, this won't be it. However; I will do my very best to point out both the good and bad as I perceive. As always, just my opinion and YMMV,

I learn much from CC and believe in playing it forward, so if you have questions I am more than happy to investigate. A Little Columbo action to break up the day never hurt this girl. I love a good challenge.

Edited to add: It should be obvious by now that I'm not short on words. I never mastered the cliff note version of anything. Feel free to ignore me. I promise I won't be offended :).

Entry #2:

So let's get some of the 'bad' out of the way upfront. HAL's website and tech team are atrocious. Seriously the worst in the industry based on my experience. I still need to use incognito to get anything done online and our embarkation directions have been a cluster.

First, Everyone was given Noon Embarkation in the app.

Then, The app continued to say noon, but we were assigned check in times. I was given letter "P" to check in at 3:20.

Two days ago, yet another change came when I was bumped to letter Q with an embarkation of 3:40. Did I mention last call for embarkation remains 3:30.

And this letter came late last night. Not one but three contradictions in single 'Very Important Announcement"

1) My check in time is both 3:40 and 2:00.

2) Check in ends at 3:30 (did I mention I have a 3:40 check in?).

3) They forgot to include club orange in the list of those with priorities.

Now, before everyone jumps to HAL's defense, I get that these are first world issues. In fact, none of the changes have effected when I planned to arrive. I gave up early arrival a couple decades ago and prefer to show up much later to avoid lines. BUT, for those who are new to HAL, this has been extremely confusing.

This embarkation debacle won't effect how I judge the onboard experience. I get that this is two totally different departments. But IMO, Hal most certainly can, and should, do better. This has been the most confusing embarkation of my entire cruising life (and I'm not new to this). Since both CCL and NCL offered a completely seamless online experience and embarkation last week, I think HAL needs to up their game.

February 15, 2024

So, thanks to the moderns world of technology I’m currently flying over Mercer County, Missouri in route to San Diego.

Our roll for this trip has been exceptional!! Filled with wonderful helpful kind and friendly travelers. As such, many of us choose to stay at the Best Western Yacht Harbor. Back in April room rates were right around $100 a night and parking is only $5 a night for those that drove so it’s quite a good bargain compared to the traditional hotels across from the pier.

I kept a running list of all the CC members staying at the BWYC and between CC and other social media sites we have nearly 100 people swarming the hotel .

We are having a very informal pre cruise meet and greet both tonight and tomorrow night. It’s BYOB and the lobby is small but the manager said he’d open the breakfast room for us and we can overflow into the pool area.

I’m the girl bringing name tags but other than that I take zero responsibility for any shenanigans that may occur. Zero. Even if I’m involved.

Speaking of roll call, I’d like to invite anyone on our sailing to chime in this report at any time (or we can get multiple reports going). I don’t want anyone to feel left out, so if you are sailing and have anything to add (good or bad), Jump right in. I consider this a group thread for the entire roll call :). Of course, multiple lives are always fun too.

Entry #4

Well that was super fun!! What a great group of cruisers we have sailing on the Koningsdam. At its height, I counted 42 people, but people were coming and going. Im pretty sure some folks are still hanging in the lobby but I’ve been up 21 hours and am calling uncle. Don’t tell.

Tomorrow nights meet and greet will likely be bigger. Wouldn’t surprise me if we double tonight’s attendance (or more). According to the front desk, there are 160 Koningsdam cruisers staying here at the Best Western Yacht Harbor. It’s not fancy, but most of us paid around $100 a night with $5a night parking for those who drove. For those following along who are going on the 2025 version of this cruise, if you don’t have hotel points, I think the BWYH offers a great value.

I do want to send a big shout out to the folks at the Best Western who not only opened the breakfast area for us, but supplied several types of juices, some fruit, and coffee. Most folks brought their own wine/beer but it was very thoughtful for the hotel to accommodate us with beverages. I had no idea they were going to do that for us so a pleasant surprise.

I just know I’ve met lifetime friends tonight. There is nothing like a group of cruisers supporting each other in another adventure. Tomorrow one of my new besties and her hubby are taking me to Coronado to check out the sights. How flipping cool is that? I’m very grateful.

So often the internet is used to divide, but I absolutely love it when the internet brings people together. Tonight it’s social media for the win.

Some random pics posted without permission. As they say, better to ask forgiveness :).

February 15th

So, thanks to the modern world of technology I’m currently flying over Mercer County, Missouri en route to San Diego.

Our roll for this trip has been exceptional!! Filled with wonderful helpful, kind and friendly travelers. As such, many of us choose to stay at the Best Western Yacht Harbor. Back in April room rates were right around $100 a night and parking was only $5 a night for those that drove so it’s quite a good bargain compared to the traditional hotels across from the pier.

I kept a running list of all the CC members staying at the BWYC and between CC and other social media sites we have nearly 100 people swarming the hotel .

I’m the girl bringing name tags but other than that I take zero responsibility for any shenanigans that may occur. Zero. Even if I’m involved.

February 16th

So often the internet is used to divide, but I absolutely love it when the internet brings people together. Tonight it’s social media for the win.

Some random pics posted without permission. As they say, better to ask forgiveness :).

February 17th

What a great day in San Diego. It’s always a blessing when locals show you around their town.

We spent the morning exploring the legendary Hotel Del Coronado. Spent time looking at the historic photos of all the famous people who have graced the steps. The hotel is old, famed, and just beautiful. I can relate to one of three.

Walked up and down the beach and grabbed some fun photos. Artists of all forms amaze me. I get excited when my red solo cup makes a nice “castle” in the sand when I turn it upside down. These castles were on a whole new level.

Ended up in Old San Juan for lunch and a jalapeño Margarita!! I bet that comes as a big surprise. San Diego is a super fun city to explore! If they could just get the port functioning in the 20th century this could be my favorite embarkation port. I’m thrilled to spend 4 more nights here after the cruise. There is much yet yo explore!

Here are my new besties and the worlds best San Diego tour guides-

Let’s back the bus up to last nights meet and mingle. Some folks were even Ubering from the high rise hotels downtown to hang with us in the low rent district. We easily doubled the count from Thursday night. Whoa!!! So many people. So many names to forget.

I’d say half the folks were from cruise critic and the other half from another social media platform, but everyone just merged into one super happy, friendly, and knowledgeable group of DamCruisers. I am happy to report that I have found my people!!

Out fearless leader for the meet and mingle onboard had to cancel last minute. She was a great roll call leader. Simply the best. She will be missed on the cruise but we all enjoyed meeting her last night where she passed the baton (aka bag of yet more nametags) to me.

Just to show how wonderful this group of cruisers are, we already have a team of 4/5 who will take on the meet and greet responsibilities to ensure the event goes on as scheduled. We have 300 in our roll call so someone is going to need to use the trusty microphone for a group photo. See everyone on the Monday the 19th at 10:30 am in billboard onboard.

In true HAL fashion there is yet another confusing bit of communication regarding boarding on the app. Someone needs to walk the plank at corporate.

I am not about to fight any embarkation crowds and have a shuttle booked for 2:15. Those much braver that I are heading over earlier and will give me the scoop on how things are progressing. If I have to make a running leap for the gangway as they slide her up, so be it.

Some random photos from last nights gathering.

February 18th

Honey I’m home!! Sorry about missing yesterday but i was in internet jail. Let me try to catch up. I wrote some of this last night, so please forgive the tense errors. Speaking of grammar errors, please forgive them all - in advance. As in right now. One big promise to just giggle every time I prove I am not as smart as a 4th grader. In fairness, some errors are honest typing errors, some are that I skipped English class, and the rest are due to my spell check buying the drink package.

Back at the hotel- After breakfast and lots of socializing with my people, I had the hotel hold my luggage so I could spend the early afternoon exploring shelter island. I got a nice 5 mile walk in just meandering through the park and watching the boats and fishermen. Stopped for a fancy coffee. It was a lovely slow paced morning.

I took the 2:30 shuttle to the airport. I was literally the ONLY one dropping luggage. Once in the terminal I saw three other guests. I was onboard by 3:00. Thirty minutes total hotel to promenade, not one line. Score.

Reports from most were that even at the height of crowds it wasn’t a long wait. Seems yesterday went pretty smooth overall. Debarkation will be a bit more challenging due sharing the port with Disney but it should be easier going downhill. My experience is that embarkation was an A+, communication about embarkation was an X because a F is too generous. Like I said, someone needs to walk the plank for that stretch of ridiculousness.

My room is lovely. A solo oceanview. I didn’t have to pay 200% as a solo, but it wasn’t half either. There is a lot of floor space but limited horizontal space. If the bathroom isn’t smaller than any cruise ship I have ever sailed, I’d be surprised. This thing is tiny. Barely bigger than the days where the shower head came right out of the ceiling and the entire bathroom became the shower floor. You could tinkle and shower simultaneously. If nothing else, old school was practical.

We had a solo gathering in the crows nest at 5:30. I was the girl with the name tags :). The host is adorable and also the picket-ball instructor.

I see picket ball in my future. There were close to 50 of us. Apparently this was the largest solo gathering he had ever seen. A very nice group. Several are my people. Solo Lunch today at noon.

From there it was time for a mani/pedi. Listen girls- this stuff really is cheaper ahead of time so book now. It was fine- nothing to write home about but my fingers and toes are presentable.

So let’s talk about some glitches. HALs technical challenges followed me onboard.

My card wouldn’t scan at muster. The guy wrote my room number down and promised I wouldn’t get detention- you know, when you have to show back up the first sea day at like 4:30 a.m. to and get scolded and prove you can put on a life jacket properly? Well, I got detention. HoweverHALs version of detention is my kind of detention- it included “carefully reading”the document that was left in the cabin. I’m a girl that can appreciate leniency.

At the spa they told me my room didn’t exist. That’s right- my room number did not exist in the system. Problem was I had booked a mani/pedi for first night and a massage for second night but image my surprise when I noticed that they scheduled them both for the first night at the exact SAME time. I’ve had mani/pedis simultaneously when my salon is busy, but giving me a massage while filing my big toe wasn’t going to work for me ;). It was no problem switching my massage to the second evening (i had the document showing it was scheduled for Sunday) but they never could find my room in the system. I even showed it to them on the deck plan. Apparently we are going to wait for a reboot overnight to see if my room magically returns from the twilight zone.

Safe was still locked with the last persons code and I didn’t feel like trying to guess the combo. My adorable cabin steward said to call front desk because they “listen to customer more”. Well, I totally understand that mentality so I called to explain the safe and my issue getting on the internet. Now, here comes a big SCORE for Hal. The guy couldn’t help me on the phone but showed up at my room 10 minutes later. He entered some top secret safe code and fixed that in 3 seconds flat, but getting me on the internet was a bit more challenging. It’s never a good sign when the expert exclaims “oh- I’ve never seen that error before”. He told me to go to guest services in person. Once I saw the line that was a hard NOPE. So, I was without connectivity until this morning when someone at guest services rebooted my number (apparently I have a number) and wa-la- I’m back in this century. Hopefully that reboot will allow the spa to find my room. Two birds, one reboot.

My mani/pedi ended at 8:15 and I realized I had yet to eat. Unfortunately the buffet closes at 8:00 and the only thing available was pizza and fries. I decided to go for room service and was very pleasantly surprised with the quesadilla and Caesar salad that arrived 30 minutes after ordering. Another score for HAL because room service is no longer complimentary on many other lines and these were both quite tasty.

Sleep was good. Room service coffee arrived 15 minutes early. They don’t call on the phone first so that’s a bit challenging for those of us who sleep e’natural. My robe will be ready going forth. Oh- another HAL score. You have to ask for robes on many other lines. Sometimes it’s the just little things (like not traumatizing the room service delivery guys) that go a long way.

Todays agenda is:

10:30-Social media gathering

12:00- solo lunch

3:00- happy hour

6:00- massage

9:00- happy hour

Do I know how to do a sea day or do I know how to do a sea day?

Random catching up pics-

Koningsdam from shelter island-

FEbruary 19th

Social media group gathering was very well attended. I’m guessing about 300! The host had a speech prepared. She was lovely, very excited, and quite detailed focused. Just so everyone is clear, since I volunteered to step up for the Cruise critic meeting tomorrow, there will be no speech, there will be no excitement, and my focus is always limited :). Remember, the key to understanding me is keeping low expectations.

I will try to gather everyone for a group photo at 11, but other than that, the group is on their own to meet and mingle (of course, if anyone from our amazing roll call wants the mic I’ll gladly hand it over).

From there I attended a solo lunch. The dining room was lovely and our service was very good. I had some sort of goat cheese thing and a spinach salad. Cherrys jubilee for dessert was excellent.

Got my 5 miles in on the promenade. It’s not a pretty promenade like some ships, but it’s FREeZInG out so the protection the lifeboats offered from the wind was welcomed. Once it warms up I’ll head to the track. I packed everything but my parka so that was not happening today.

Solo gathering at 5:30. The HAL rep didn’t show but I had name tags 🤣. A person named Mark arranged 3 large solo tables for lunch every sea day at noon. Another lady is trying to get something set up for dinner. I am not a fan of the MDR I will likely not participate in either, but I do respect when people step up to get things organized!

The solo group on this cruise is very large and I think HAL is missing the boat (pun intended) by not putting something together for a daily sole meet up. It doesn’t need to be hosted, Just a line in the app like “solo meet at 6:00 in Rolling Stones” would be sufficient. Solos are a growing share of the industry and HAL would be wise to pay attention.

Massage at 6:30 was amazing. I added some rejuvenating hot stone ritual as an upsell. Ann is just too cute to resist. Yesterday Ann gave me a sample massage and I loved both her energy and talent so I booked the massage with her. I can highly recommend Ann!! No seriously. I know my massage girls and she is top notch. She has the organic energy that it takes to be a top masseuse in her field. She specializes in healing energy and is working on my wrist injury. Book your massage with Ann. You will not be disappointed.

From my massage I headed to

Happy hour at 9 in the crows nest for a nightcap. It’s very nice of HAL to do 50% off. I haven’t seen that on any other line in a very long time. As a solo, I did not get the drink package because it’s a very bad idea for me to get the drink package without a babysitter. Needless to say, the half off offer is very much appreciated.

With that said, I would have been extremely disappointed if I had gotten the drink package because I was informed tonight by the bartender that not a single bar on this ship can make a spicy jalapeño Margarita. Seriously? Not one?? I haven’t been on a ship in the last decade that doesn’t have those ingredients. A real first world problem, but Hal will likely lose a good portion of what I budgeted for drinking.

Tried The Rolling Stones roCk room but the set was titled “unplugged”. Unplugged means slow and mellow for those unaware. I stayed for a Frampton tune at 3/4 speed and “You’ve got a friend” and that was my limit. When they start belting out some GnR I’ll be on the dance floor.

About 9:45 I Realized I hadn’t eaten since lunch, and then I realized everything closes on HAL very early (except pizza). All that realizing made me tired so I went to bed and ordered room service again. Club sandwich was good. Chocolate Milk is still “unavailable” and I plan to join said chocolate milk in the very same “unavailable”

category shortly.

From the Pacific Ocean were the 15 foot waves are perfect to rock this sea loving girl into a blissful sleep.

Only two pics I took today. A club sandwich and Ann, my 4 foot tall massage goddess.

February 20th

irst things first. In a matter of conservation, I know someone lookin for the mariner drink tickets. Those with the drink package don’t need them and you know the saying, waste not want not. HMU 😉

Yesterday morning was the cruise critic meet and greet. I’d guess maybe 150 people showed. About half the crowd from the other social media group which did have over 300 people and 4 officers present. I asked our event coordinator if officers would be present and he said they “don’t do that for cruise critic.” Not sure if that means not ever again for CC or just not for our particular CC meet and greet. This all supports my theory that with the popularity of social media sites doubling the number of people in cruise critic roll calls, the way of the future is going to be a combined meet and greet for all groups.

Our group fit in billboards and we had a very short welcome and then @BabyJane8 (Diane) spoke about the lanyards. @Rhonda and Keith (rhonda) discussed the slot pull. @Homer88(Mary Pat), -and @organian17 spoke about their very popular game and knitting groups happening every sea day from 1-4 in the Hudson room.

Huge shout out to all the people that stepped up to take on/over leadership rolls. It’s never easy and often thankless so if you see any of these ladies please thank them.

PS-A GReAT BiG ThaNK YoU to everyone who has continued to thank me. It is very much appreciated but please know I did nothing but show up with the name tags. The rest of the gang is doing the heavy lifting.

We quickly gathered for a group picture. I mentioned that the photo was to honor @crystalspin and @Front Row(Elizabeth and Tom) who lead our roll call the past few years but had to cancel last minute. The vast majority of the group cooperated and below are the results. I hope the pic speaks for itself.

From there I had a brief Maui whale watch meeting. For those interested in walking to the bus or finding a ride share, we will meet at the exact same spot (billboards) @8:30 on the morning of Maui. At that point we will know more about the weather for those that are considering walking. The ride-share folks can all pair up at that time also.

I do want to remind everyone that they booked the whale watch with PAC Whale (not HaL). This is one of the companies I volunteer with when I’m on island, and as with most non-profits they are quite corporate minded. That means if we miss stopping in Maui due to weather I doubt they will refund. Read your terms and conditions carefully to understand the cancellation policy. Keep an eye on the weather and if you think you are going to cancel do so according to the TC or consider your ticket cost a donation to the whales :). With that, here’s the weather forecast for Ma’alaea and I think we are in for a great day!!

Yesterday I visited the lido during lunch for their first time. To all of you worried about sailing on a large ship solely due to crowding, I’m here to say your fears are largely unwarranted. The Koningsdam lido is even more dense than both the NcL and Carnical ships I sailed a few weeks ago.

First, The lido hours hours are reduced compared to the competition, forcing more people into the space in a shorter time span.

Second, there are fewer complementary options on Koningsdam. The Celebration offered 11 complimentary lunch venues. NCl offered 9. The Koningsdam offers only 4, and those 4 have reduced hours comparatively. This results in a very crowded lido lunch experience.

However, room service is still complementary on HaL so that really makes 5 HAl options. Nothing provides a less crowded dining experience than your private cabin.

I haven’t been taking a lot of photos. If you want more photos feed this beast with requests. Here are a few photos I did take-

Morning coffee at the Dutch cafe’. It’s nice that there are still fresh flowers on the tables. Many parts of HAL remind me of traditions from days gone by. I think that’s why this line has so many “older” loyal follower. I say older with much respect. I hope to be sailing for many years to come.

Speaking of flowers. Four of the sunflowers I ordered have opened. Really lovely way to wake up each day.

Finally this is yesterdays dessert!! Looks like healthy skittles in a bowl and I didn’t have to cut it!!

FEb 20th cont…

I realize I’m ticking off the HAL loyalists by offering some comparisons to other lines, but remember everything is just my opinion and while i have zero brand loyalty, I’ve never met a cruise ship I did not love. But the loyalists especially should approve of this post.

Tonight’s dinner buffet was the best I’ve been to post covid and right up there with the best of all time.

We all got a message in our app Inviting us to a gala silver dinner buffet.

It consisted of lobster tail, filet mignon, AND prime rib! Of course, lots of other things including fresh grilled swordfish which looked yummy. And they were handing out the lobster tail like candy. I saw one guy with two plates full of nothing but lobster tail. It’s was a feast of epic proportions.

Tonight I had nothing but the protein you see (and a ginger chocolate cake that I dug into before grabbing a photo). It was excellent. One of my lobster tails was better than the other as is to be expected when serving the masses, but the filet and prime were both delish and they had strong horseradish to make this Polish Girl very happy.

They only have half the buffet open at night and if you carry your plate to the other side it is very peaceful (almost empty) and the service is outstanding. My guy only had me sitting in his section so we chatted a bit and let’s just say my coffee never got cold.

Today went by quickly. Because I hosted both nights meet and greet at the BWYH pre-cruise, plus a solo event, plus being involved in the CC meet and greet I have personally met at least 200 people. Names are a blur but everyone is being so gracious with me forgetting their names. I had six invites for drinks and/or dinner. It’s so wonderful to meet so many great people making sure I never feel lonely.

While i would love to accept all the invitations, I have hit a wall and am choosing to spend the evening curled up in my Pjs, with a full tummy and Barbie. Not Barbie as in a blow up doll, Barbie as in the movie. I’m not at all a movie girl (hardly watch them) which means that the TV is totally loaded with tons of movies I haven’t yet seen.

Tomorrow I have a thermal pool pass booked for the day. Go Me.

February 21st

We are still sailing toward Hawaii but the seas have calmed and the temperature is rising. First two days had 15-20 foot swells, so the ship had movement. It was also cooler that I expected. On Day three they opened the sliding dome over the pool for the first time and when the sun is shining, it’s starting to feel like the tropics.

Nothing exciting to report for day 5. I’ve settled into a very relaxed pace and spent the entire day in the thermal spa. It’s not the most fancy spa on the seas, but it got the job done. Lasso-thermal pool, heated tile loungers, sauna, steam, and a relaxation room.

I’ve never been on a cruise with this many sea days and it’s quite lovely to slow the pace. I feel no rush to “get everything in” as I still have 30 days to explore. There are parts of the ship I haven’t even seen yet.

Here are some pics of the thermal spa. A really nice way to spend a sea day.

OH.MY.GOSH…..

What an amazing surprise to come back to my cabin to this beautiful bouquet and thank you card for my participation in helping organize tours on the roll call. An act of kindness that brought a little tear to my eye. I always believe in the goodness of people, but this gesture takes the cake.

I am speechless (and I suspect you folks know how rare that is).Seriously, I don’t know what to do other than muster up all my aloha energy send it to this beautiful soul-

@canadianbear I am beyond grateful!!!

February 22nd

It’s a glorious day to be in the middle of the Pacific. Seas are calm and the sun is shining brightly.

So far today I managed some tai-chi. It’s very easy (although I know I’m doing some poses wrong). From there I participated in the 10am dancing by the pool. It’s very easy (although I know I’m doing some of the steps wrong). Notice the theme?

I have one of the Queen loungers on deck 10. I came out at 7 am and got the last one so there is some competition. The pool deck was almost full too.

Had the most lovely visit with a new friend for life. It’s funny how much we all have in common regardless of the color of our skin, nationality, or age.

Got three miles on the jogging track. Sun is bright and I forgot sunscreen. I’ll pick up a couple more miles later to meet my 5 mile a day goal.

I was supposed to have Caneletto tonight but I was invited to join other new lifetime friends at the Caneleto next week so I switched up dates.

Currently about to enjoy this Reuban from the deli. The pager works on all the upstairs loungers so it’s very convenient and less chaotic lunch experience (although ice cream is in the buffet and that is sounding yummy so I’ll put on my iron and brave the crowd). It’s ice-cream after all.

I haven’t seen this mentioned. This morning there was no early breakfast in the MDR and instead they did a Hawaiian brunch from 9-1. Friends said it was good. I have yet to make it to the MdR. Maybe tonight. Probably not.

February 23rd

For the classical music lovers there was both an afternoon performance of a pianist and also a violin/piano duo. They were happening simultaneously which I thought was odd scheduling. The piano player was in the theatre and it was jam packed. The violinist/piano played in Bbking and it was not well attended but I suspect that is because the piano player was doing his thing. If you are into classical music, it’s here.

Tonight they had an event called “Lido Fun Fair”. Basically they had four games set up (cornhole, ring toss. Etc…) and guests played each other for raffle tickets. The officers were the officials. I didn’t stick around long, but those participating seemed to be enjoying themselves. Weather was perfect outside so I got another 3 miles in.

I caught a set of the dueling pianos and Rolling Stones rock. I’m definitely a rock girl so that’s my jam, but I have heard great things about the dance band so I’ll hit that up one night.

Oh- I had fresh grilled fish for dinner from the lido and it was a win. So glad they offer fresh grill. I was told it wasn’t available last year which seemed very odd. They also had part of the lido roped off for a seafood boil ($35).

Tomorrow is Hilo. I spent several weeks on the big island last year so I’m going to lay low.

February 24th: Hilo, Hawaii

It had been six days since we saw land, and Hilo was a welcome site. My sister has a condo in Kona, and I’ve spent a fair bit of time on the big island so no tour planned.

Started the day with tai chi. The instructor is adorable and a hoot. I’ll post his name later because I want to get the spelling right. He is also the picket ball master. He has the perfect job for his personality.

I decided to take the free shuttle to the farmers market. From there I walked to rainbow Falls. I’m guessing it was less than 3 miles, but it was all uphill, so take that into account if you plan to make the journey by foot. Spent some relaxed time at the falls just letting all my senses absorb the energy. Hawaii really is different than the mainland. From its core.

I headed back to the ship by Uber ($15) because I much prefer walking uphill to walking down.

While i was at the falls I ran into another new lifetime friend. She was on a tour. I was on foot. We snapped a selfie I will cherish. Every single person I have spent time with onboard has been a gem.

Back onboard I had a salad for lunch. The salads are exceptional. They had prime rib on both the mdr and lido dinner menu so that was dinner. It was excellent.

I spent some time at sail away watching several different groups of whales off the starboard side. Several pickle breaches from a calf. Surprisingly, they were here all day which is a bit unusual for the hill area.

This evening was a comic. He made me laugh couple times. Funny side story- few weeks ago we were on a carnival ship. Carnival does comedy right (6 different performers offering 12 different shows in a one week time period). Anyway, one of the comics poked fun of the comedy offered on HAL and his stereotype proved bang on. Let’s just say this was a very clean comedy show and I believe most of the audience preferred this style.

So a Hilo summary for those without tours - there is a free shuttle to the farmers market. From there you can walk to rainbow falls. I just saved you $129 pp 🙂

To get back to the ship the free shuttle does its last return at 11:45 ( this company does an island tour at noon. The ship charges $149 but they will sell you direct for $60). If you miss the free shuttle, the farmers market itself has a free small van shuttle that runs on the half hour until 1:00.

After 1:00 the city bus is free and picks up from the farmers market area on the 15s. It drops you off just outside of the pier so a little walking is involved w this option. Ride share will be less than $15 from town and can drive right up to the ship.

February 25th Catching up on Maui

Let’s see if I can catch up yesterday. The morning started with a little excitement. I got up super early to watch sail into Maui. Took a shower, walked out of the bathroom and was promptly greeted by these two fellows in a tug boat. Eye level. 25 feet from my window. I’m sure my cabin was the only one with the blinds wide open and lights on. Whoopsie-

As I’ve mentioned, we have an amazing roll call and there were about 60 of us who elected to go on the 11:30 pacific whale watch. Some folks took cabs, some Ubers, some rented cars, a group of about 15 of us walked to the bus, but we all met on the boat for a fantastic whale watch experience.

It’s hard to go wrong during whale soup time, but we had quite the show-

-4 different sets of mom/calf/escort.

- one full out adult breach

- multiple calf pickle breaches

-3 peduncle throws

- a 5 whale competition pod.

- 1 mugging (where the whales got so close we had to turn off the engines.)

I believe everyone was very happy with the experience and since I had talked it up a great deal I was thrilled the whales cooperated.

Unfortunately I only took whale video and cruise critic doesn’t like that format, but here’s a few shots of most of our group at the harbor

Other than accidentally flashing the tug boat crew and a near miss with my phone, it was an excellent day on Maui. I’m excited to return after the cruise.

February 25th: Kauai

Today I elected to do the Hollywood in the movies tour offered by HAL to use up some onboard credit.

Side note- most of us paid $179 for this tour. It almost doubled in price to $279 in October. It was likely worth $179 (even though the tour guide was a bit a dufus for my taste), but there is no way this tour is worth $279. Hire a private guide for the day. All the spots on the movie tour are well known and open to the public.

The scenery was beautiful and the weather cooperated; even in Princeville and Hanalei; which are almost always a bit

misty. There are literally 100s of movies filmed on Kauai. On this tour they would show a movie video clip on the van and then take you the exact location where that clip was filmed.

We saw Jurassic Park, fantasy island, Raiders of the lost ark, Gillian’s Island, Blue Hawaii, South Pacific, and Donovan’s Reef to name a few….

Tonight’s dinner- a huge plate of freshly stir fried veggies because I’m detoxing from booze and unhealthy food (until tomorrow haha).

You’ll never get anything this fresh or hot in the MDR and it took all of 5 minutes 😉

Of course- I know many of you really enjoy a more formal dining experience where you are waited on. The lido certainly isn’t for everyone, but I do think the food here is fresher, hotter, and healthier than the MDR IF you order right. They have been doing a great job offering a different freshly grilled fish every night and the chop chop salad has everything this girl could ever want for dinner.

February 26th Honolulu day 1

After graduating High school I got on a plane (all by myself, never had been on a plane before) and moved to Waikiki where I worked on a charter fishing vessel for a few years before starting college. Just about gave my parents a heart attack. My mom always said “I raised her to be independent but not this damn independent.” Apparently I was doing gap years before it socially accepted practice.

My goal today is to just explore my old stomping grounds to see how much things have changed in over 30 years.

I walked from the ship to the Ilikai near Honolulu yacht harbor. We used to do happy hour here. Very easy 3.5 mile walk with the detour through the Ala Moana beach park. Weather is quite lovely. Not too hot with a stiff breeze. Currently chilling with a cocktail and waiting for a 10 min shower to pass.

As far as healthy goes, I just feel yucky if I eat yucky. It’s definitely related to age as when I was younger I could eat anything.

captain just came on for an announcement. Several people have reported ill. It’s a gastrointestinal illness.

IMO it’s Likely noro. In keeping with my detoxing, I’m going to skip dinner tonight (or maybe eat very light) because I have a big shark cage dive planned for very early tomorrow and I don’t want any interference.

I racked up 18,000 steps and 8.2 miles today walking from the ship all the way down Waikiki beach. I did not hike diamond head as I’ve done that and forgot to make reservations.

While the Ilikai wasn’t much changed the waterfront is vastly different. Big pools have been built on the seaside of several hotels. I don’t remember a cement path along the beach either but they maybe me. There was a section of the beach quite eroded but that’s common. I’m sure everyone knows that Waikiki beach is almost entirely man made. They will pump more sand in as it erodes.

Oh- found my old apartment. it was a dive then and it’s a dive now, but I was shocked it hasn’t been replaced by skyscrapers. It’s literally right behind the Ilikai in a fabulous location.

February 28th. Shark cage dive on the north shore of Oahu.

Oh what a day!! Still on adrenaline high. Got up at 3:0am and couldn’t go back to sleep I was so excited for todays Shark Cage Dive.

Our group of 6 from the CC roll call met at 5:45 am. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed this roll call. So many great people and many of us have several private trips planned for French Polynesia. Uber came at 6:00 and we were on the north shore in 40 minutes. Easy peasy.

Our time slot was 8 am so we were early. We walked to a little beach, watched some boat action, a sacrificed a member of the group as chum (long story) ;).

The shark encounter itself was flipping amazing!! At one point someone in our group counted 18 sharks circling the cage. Most in the 8-12 foot range. My go pro video is off the charts but CC won’t accept video so I grabbed a couple still shots to post.

The seas were EXTREMELY choppy. 10 footers easy. At times it felt like the cage was in a total free fall between crest and trough. As such, many people (me included) got seasick- but I’d do it again in a New York minute (hoping for a bit smoother sail).

Bonus of the day was two whale sightings, one within 50 yards with a great tail shot. I love the north coast.

We were going to take the bus back but ended up ubering to save time (plus a few of us were still queasy).

Total Uber cost was way more than it would have been had we just rented a car, but it was reasonable considering the cost was split 6 ways and no muss/no fuss.

There was a sail away party leaving Honolulu but the vibe I’m getting is that people are tired and ready for a couple sea days to rest up for the next burst.

I can’t remember if I posted the daily or menu for today so if anyone wants them I’ll be happy to grab for you.

FEbruary 29th

Not much to report today. Did some tai chi. Then did some

Dancing. Then napped. Then pool. Then walked. Then napped. Then met friends for drinks. Currently enjoying happy hour in the crows nest.

The helicopter rendezvous keeps getting pushed back. Originally for 6:00. Then 7:30. It’s 9:00 and we are still cruising at 20 knots toward Kona.

D0 want to give a huge shout out to Callaire, a nail tech in the spa. She is very professional and takes her job seriously. I had a shellac nail chip after just one week and she fixed it complementary because she wants customers to be genuinely happy with the job. Highly recommend her if you want a mani/pedi. I appreciate someone who stands behind their work.

Tonight is formal night. Quite a few dressed up. Reviews of tonight’s entertainment were very poor. Last night everyone seemed to love it and I thought the Hawaiian Luau entertainment was great the night before. Everything one could want from a luau besides an ocean breeze and fire dancers.

They offered escargot in the lido. I totally skipped dinner. I just can’t eat like I used to. I’m making up the calories In liquid form

Feb 29th cont…

I just witnessed the medical evacuation. Two couples. Both men walked on the tender. Both females alert/awake and in wheelchairs. One lady was alert enough to carry on her own medical papers. She had a purple cast on left leg (not sure if related).

Tender departed. Got half way to shore and turned around. Loaded 4 more full size suitcases (originally only had four small rolls boards).

Again- both patients were alert and in wheelchairs. God speed recovery.

March 1st

I’ve officially settled into the rhythm brought about by a long stretch of glorious sea days.

My days look like this-—tai chi, oatmeal, chat with new friends. dance class, lunch, chat with new friends, naps, ice cream, meet new friends, walking the promenade, happy hour, maybe trivia, maybe show, maybe casino, maybe dancing, maybe another late happy hour. Much of the day is meeting or getting more aquatinted with new friends. Our roll call is the bomb. Yesterday was the first day I played some slots. An hours worth of entertainment. Lost $50.

Had a salad for dinner from the lido (it’s a great salad bar) and enjoyed the sunset. A lazy day on the koningdam had me tucked in for a movie quite early. Will hit up the bands tonight. My friend said the band in bbkings is actually very good. I think the entertainment in Rolling Stones and billboards is just “ok”. In fairness, these folks aren’t a band at all. They are contract workers assigned to a ship by a third party. The Rolling Stones band (notice, they don’t even have their own name) has only been together 7 weeks. It takes awhile to gel. However; none of that has stopped me from enjoying a set or two. I didn’t come on HAL for top shelf entertainment and you shouldn’t either.

Warning- Side track; yesterday my dance class was cancelled due to the Koningsdam zoo parade. For those unaware, they do this on Carnival ships too. One morning you will wake up and the lido will be entirely filled with towel animals. Then they parade the cabin stewards onto deck for a round of applause.

I don’t appreciate this tradition like many. First, in a time of fiscal conservatism (as evidenced by some of the entertainment options), I think it’s a terrible waste of water rewashing thousands of towels. But more importantly; don’t our amazing cabin stewards work hard enough? These guys are ninjas when it comes to keeping my room clean and apparently they were up at 5:00 am making monkeys? Personally, I’d rather see the crew get an extra hour of sleep but that’s just me. Clearly, I’m in the minority as many folks gleefully rushed around to take photos of towels transformed into alligators. To each their own, this is just my personal perspective on the event. We can all agree to disagree like adults that color.

I should probably mention that yesterday morning we entered the twilight zone. I’m not going to pretend I understand it, but the chart seems pretty straight forward. I did have a friend get pimped on dinner reservations due to the day change, so if you have any reservations for March 3rd you should probably find out if it’s the first March 3rd or the second March 3rd :).

Today is much of the same. Some random photos and of course tonight’s dinner menu for my new friends requesting-

March 2nd

Today we crossed the equator. King Neptunes Ceremony to change the crew pollywogs into shellbacks. People seemed to really dig it. For those on next years voyage, all chairs were long gone by 9:00 for a 10:30 start.

The very best part for me was finally some live music at the pool if only during the ceremony. I realize I’m too young to be HALs target audience since 95% of passengers are over 60 and 50% are well over 80; but don’t they realize that 70 is the new 40?

March 3rd

Good morning from the southern hemisphere. Here is the answer to the question you have all been pondering- The toilet swirls the same direction (I think, because truth be told I never really noticed what direction a toilet swirls in the northern hemisphere).

The beauty of a cruise this long is that you can make brand new discoveries on day 17 and I made two very important discoveries last night.1) The chicken wings at the deli during movies are excellent. Super meaty and just the right amount of spicy hot for me. 2) The band in BBKing is on point. Seriously on point. My taste in music lends itself more to the playlist in Rolling Stones, but I fell in love with the amount of energy the BBKing band brought. I’m talking standing ovation energy! Granted, by the end of their last set (11:30pm) the crowd was long gone but there were a few of us folks willing to burn the midnight oil- or more accurately the 11:30 oil.m because by midnight this ship is fast asleep.

March 4th

his trip is simply decadent. D.E.C.A.D.E.N.T— The weather is lovely. Pool temp is perfect, and there is enough of a breeze to keep me cool in my cocoon on deck 10 when I’m not participating in Tia chi, morning dancing, or swimming.

Last night was a dance party at bbkings. I can’t tell you how much I am loving that band. The vibe is just perfect for dancing all night. As i mentioned, i am more suited to the playlist in Rolling Stones, but the band in BBKing brings exceptional talent and way more energy.

I think the two story venue is perfect for the level of sound produced. I can’t imagine a band with this much gusto playing in rolling stones with its low ceilings. It’s loud but I just turn down my hearing aids and get busy on the dance floor!! Racked up another 20k steps yesterday.

Oh- There was also a costume party happening at the same time in bbkings, but it was typical cruise ship lame where 4 people dressed up, we applauded, then we immediately got back to dancing.

Tonight is dressy. There is no complimentary lobster on the menu. I’m a bit perplexed why they had a dressy night immediately preceding a port day. It’s not like this itinerary lacks for port days. I have been invited to catelletto tonight by some of my new favorite people. As such am not eating anything but a small bowl of oatmeal at 7:30 am. Girls gotta prime.

There are a few other things I find perplexing onboard. One is that they do not repeat activities on the TV, nor do they repeat Kristins port talks. Seriously HaL, float into 2024!! They are missing a huge monetary opportunity not filming all the activities throughout the cruise and then selling a $1.99 thumb drive for $49.99 like all the other cruise lines. I can see not videotaping copyrighted performances but line dancing and port talks are fair game.

I would love to listen to Kristen’s port talks, but not at 4:30 when she gives them. Why is it too much to replay them on the tv so we can catch up at our leisure? There are lots of complaints on the social media pages about the same thing so it’s not just me being entitled. It’s about using technology to enhance a guests experience.

I wanted to watch several of my friends perform the hula and ukulele today at 1:00 but missed it because a) the app has stopped notifying us when events are about to happen. Instead we get a notification a few hours late and b) I was dripping wet from the pool. I put in another request for activities to be filmed and some higher energy music at the lido from 1-3 (I’d like it all day but am willing to compromise). I’m pretty sure these two requests are falling of deaf ears. I am pleased to say that every staff compliment has made it to the staff member because they keep thanking me so we know that is working.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a fabulous time. In over 50 cruises spanning 4 decades; this is absolutely one of my favorites and we haven’t even made it to this reason I booked (French polynesia). I totally understand, and accept, that I’m not HAls target audience, but I suggest to HAl that they pay a bit more attention to us retired Gen Xers as we are quickly becoming a large market share.

Ok enough silly babble. Just talking out loud ( I said l was pausing the food not alcohol ;).)

March 5th

We have arrived at Gillian’s Island (aka Raiatea). The Captain opened up the bow at 6 am for the sail in. Took us 2 hours from when we crossed into the reef

at Tahaa (see photo below for where we crossed into the reef area) until we docked. Just spectacular!

I don’t have any ship info for you because I didn’t spend anytime on the ship.

Some of my people and I hired a water taxi to take us to a Motu just south of the ship. It’s where locals hang out. It was basically like landing on Gillian’s Island. For the most part the island was deserted with exception of a friendly black tip shark and sting ray (although there were more people as the day progressed).

The motu is advertised as having showers but they were fibbing. There were restrooms (bring your own toilet paper). The snorkeling from shore was excellent (bring fins, strong current).

We were only planning on staying a few hours but ended up there the entire day. By the time we water taxied back to the ship all the stores were closed. I was hungry, did the lido. Fourth time this cruise they have had prime rib on the buffet and not in the MDR. They were also fresh grilling mahi mahi again. I’ll make it into the dining room at some point, but I am totally satisfied with the lido fresh grill and yummy salad bar.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, I have no words….:l

March 7th

Trying to catch up. Nothing to report on the ship other than Laundry is going a bit faster (2 days instead of 3).

I did a snorkeling excursion with Bruno. Highly recommend. I have an information pdf I can post when I get home with all the deets for booking, or you can go look in this years roll call. I just don’t have the files saved on my phone or i would post for those booking in 2025.

Here are some photos (which do not do French Polynesia justice). We circled Taha’a in 6 hours with a stop for swimming with reef sharks, two coral gardens, a drift snorkel (in quite strong current, not for weak swimmers) and lunch on Gilligan’s Island :).

The pouring rain on return trip was nothing but a fresh water shower. Unfortunately most of my great photos are video or taken with my GoPro and cruise critic doesn’t like the format. Hope these give you a little idea what this was like!

March 8th

Yesterdays recap- I do not recommend snorkeling in Papeete and especially not with catamaran Ohana. I’m giving HAL a chance to rectify before I type out everything that I was disappointed with. Because of all the fresh water that dumps in the ocean on this island (Tahiti) there is virtually no coral comparatively. This is why I rarely book any HAL tours, but I needed to spend some OBc. Tahiti is a great island for a land tour which is whAt I just completed. Lots of waterfalls and flowers. Photos later, I need to jump in the pool and cool off.

I will say this also, there are quite a few people complaining about heat. It is hot. Much hotter than Hawaii. Think Florida in July hot times 2. I love the heat and am doing fine, but do not forget your water bottle anywhere. I did witness one lady suffering from what appeared to be heat related illness as they were pouring water on her head.

March 9th

Photos from yesterdays tour around Tahiti. Booked with Eden tours. I’ll add all the contact info/prices for those interested once I get back to my desktop and can access my pdf files, but you can google it if you want the info sooner.

We did an entire circumnavigation of the island. Most tours do east coast one day and west coast another. It was a full 6 hours. Very comfortable air conditioned van.

Our driver was the owner of the company. He is retired military. Born and raised in Tahiti. Gave great background on the island including the politics involving France.

We visited an ancient sacrifice temple, tikis, grotto, 2 waterfalls, Paul Gauguin park where he painted, a blowhole, and black sand beach. Information/history was on point. Bottled water provided. I’d Recommend it for first time visitors -

March 11th

am several days behind because this Girl Is On Fire!! Literally speaking because it’s extremely hot and metaphorically because this place is paradise. No really- PARADISE!!

Our first day in Moorea i complete the photography tour offered by the ship. I had higher expectations for actual help with photography. The guide, while lovely, discussed composition only. Nothing in focal point, aperture, settings adjustment, etc…just elementary composition. If you have a setting tab on your photo with grids in your camera you already know everything she taught us.

We did make 5 stops which were beautiful but the heat was oppressive and the oblivious elderly lady who kept standing in front of everyone’s photos was enough to make me want to poke my own lenses out.

All in all I did 3 HaL tours this cruise. None of them good. The Hollywood movies in Kauai was ok. The “lagoon snorkeling” on ohana catamaran in Papeete was very poor and not to description. I’m still waiting for HAL to address my written concerns. I’ll keep you posted. The photography tour was probably just me having too high expectations. I don’t recommend that ship excursion for anyone but the most very beginning photographer. I suspect her day tours for those actually staying on island are more detailed because it’s clear she is a wonderful photographer herself. This is why I hardly ever do ship tours and likely won’t be booking any next year.

March 12th

Really quick post for those who are following this thread and are currently onboard….

The orange party was great! Unfortunately the timing was off for many of us who need to get up early for tours tomorrow.

I will be using the “let us know” feature in the app to request another party (or two) on the lido during the long 8 night return trip to San Diego. Based on all the participation, I suspect folks wouldn’t mind another orange themed party.

If you agree, please write the request in the navigator app using “let us know” and give this post a like. Let’s turn this place up for the ride home!!!

March 13th

am now two islands behind but let us just say that Moorea was exceptional and Fakarava exceeded my expectations.

Backing up to day 2 in Moorea- My friend knows a guy so we literally took a taxi and showed up at his house. He took the 5 of us out on his private boat for the most amazing snorkeling. Then we hung out at his private pool. The only snafu was our private taxi driver that didn’t show up for our return trip. These are the risks you take for big rewards :). We were prepared to make the 5 mile walk back into town when an angel taxi miraculously appeared and saved the day. That’s twice travel karma has shined down upon me this trip.

As fate would have it, I now know a guy on Moorea and will plan a similar trip next year. In fact, I will be researching taking a ferry from Papeete to Moorea and spending one or two nights there instead of overnighting Papeete. Moorea is way more my vibe. If this interests you tag me in the 2025 roll call.

In other news, as mentioned, we have earned back our salt and pepper shakers. Ironically, we were granted the privilege of using tongs again a full day before the article about noro was published. Gotta love main stream media.

I wish I could upload my GoPro video. We did a tow snorkel over 2 dozen eagle rays, snorkeled with more reef sharks, stingrays, turtles, and a he took us to an unbleached secret coral garden. Pictures don’t do the experience justice. Here are a few screenshots i grabbed from the videos…

Side note- the GoPro video I have of the coral garden is 15 minutes long and won’t transfer to my phone. Therefore I can’t share screen shots with you. I’ll figure out how to do that once I get to faster internet so those stunning photos will come later. With all the coral bleaching events taking place throughout the world this place brought back memories of snorkeling in the Caribbean 30 years ago.

Lookie Lookie- lobster tail appeared at the lido again tonight and was accompanied by a side kick of her friend escargot.

I ate a very lovely meal of 3 lobsters tails and one escargot outside; all while enjoying a warm breeze and watching a lovely sunset.

I know some of you enjoy the formality of the slow paced MDR experience being waited on (and I respect that), but this TomGirl much prefers the freedom of dining on my own schedule, eating at my own pace, enjoying food I have personally selected, all with a gentle sea breeze at my back. For me, immersing myself in the sounds and smells of the open ocean is a huge draw of cruising.

March 14th

’m certainly no HAL cheerleader. I have zero loyalty to anything without its very own pulse and, at times, even that is questionable. 😉

With that, this been has been an exceptional cruise. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely!!! Are there people with legitimate grumbles, sure! IMO, This ship itself is one of my least favorite physically and the entertainment is some of the worst I’ve ever encountered (not counting BbKings who are single handedly saving my nightlife).

However, even with its niggles, I’m sailing this itinerary again in 2025 because HaL has delivered what HAL does best. A fairly inexpensive trip (comparatively) with a fabulous itinerary. I continue to be grateful every single moment. Perspective is underrated.

We are currently in nuka hiva. This is a very slow tender port. They can only get one tender to the dock at a time. Guests must be able to climb stairs shoreside and there is no wheelchair access at all.

It’s currently a cluster tendering. Bbkings is a madhouse. We started tendering 1.5 hours ago and they have just called the first two groups. My guess is it will take 2-3 hours before tenders no longer require tickets and that’s when I will head down. In the meantime I’m lounging at an empty pool enjoying a cool breeze and margarita because while it’s 11:30 here it’s 5:30 back home so technically I’m late. I choose not to fight crowds as the only thing I have planned for today is to pick up some Tahitian oil.

Side note- We got in late due to unsafe tendering conditions but we are staying an extra hour. That has added to the cluster downstairs but those on the 2025 cruise should know that tendering here is challenging. Might be a good port for a ship tour where you can get off first. As I mentioned before, between 4 and 5 stars plus all those who purchased priority thru club orange and suites, nearly 50% of the ship has priority (which means no one really has priority). There are some very angry folks right now so please plan to bring your patience to this port.

I hung out at the pool. Had a few margaritas. Had lunch with some friends. Another margarita. Took a shower. Headed to bbkings at 2:30. Figured it would be clear by then. Couldn’t believe I still needed a tender ticket. The first tender went off around 10 and tender tickets were needed until after 3, so a full 5+ hours to get folks off.

The story I have by playing the cruise ship telephone game is that a lady got injured getting off the tender. She needed an ambulance. That slowed things down. There are sketchy steps to navigate so, please, if you use a cane or are unsteady on your feet please beware here. I later saw luggage on the pier so not sure if the lady was left behind or not.

By the time I got off the tender it was 3:30 and the market was closed. I meandered down to the grocery store and picked up my monoli oil but couldn’t find liquid vanilla. Lots of tikis and black sand beaches near the port. Next year I may take a ship excursion because those folks did get priority tendering to be the very first off. Nuka hiva is a very pretty port but there were issues tendering last year too, so I’d bet on them in 2025. There is only room for one tender at the pier and guests must be able to navigate the stairs.

It’s 6:30 and we are sailing away. As I look in the rear view mirror at the experiences I have had here in French Polynesia I am in awe and am absolutely overflowing with gratitude. I take not one minute of this experience for granted.

March 16th

Fakarava - hard to believe that was 5 days ago. I had minimal expectations for this stop and was very pleasantly surprised.

I booked with Fakarava excursions and went to both the blue and green lagoons. We were the first ones to the blue lagoon and had it to ourselves for an hour or so. Do the morning trip if you want easy snorkeling from beach. The afternoon snorkel is more open water and was quite rough with white caps at times. This trip is only for strong swimmers. I’m booked on both trips next year too. I believe he is close to full for next year already. There just aren’t that many tour operators here.

I should note that if you do book with christophe’ you must be in the first couple of tenders. I got into line for tickets about an hour before they were handing them out and made it in the second tender. There isn’t a mad rush to get off here, but if you book a tour you will need to be assertive. By the time I got on island there was already 4 people waiting to see if those with reservations were going to show up. Christophe ended up waiting until the fourth tender and then left behind 4 people who had reservations as there were plenty of others ready to take their place.

For those going next year I can’t stress this enough, many of the tours down here are not like the USA with regular steps and safety rails. There are three rather large steps to get into the boat and one lady had to be physically carried. I’m sure she was embarrassed and it didn’t look like the crew was all too happy. If you walk with a cane, most (all) of the tours I have done will require careful reconsideration before booking. No such thing as Ada laws for tours here. If you are unsure, take a ship tour because they are very experienced in helping those with some physical limitations.

Fakarava is basically a giant sand bar. Very rustic and remote. There were a few tables of trinkets at the tender area. There are very minimal cabs. You can rent bikes (see below). You must be able to walk on uneven surfaces and sand as sidewalks aren’t paved.

The biggest complaint I am hearing is entertainment options. IMO the entertainment options are simply the worst I have ever experienced. With that, I am not HALs target audience. The newest comedian had the entire audience in stitches. I chuckled a few times. He did some impressions of Tim Conway that were cute but I’ve heard the skit before on other lines and didn’t think Tim Conway was that all funny when I watched him on Mary Tyler Moore reruns as a child. I believe that some of my entertainment disappointment is due to my age. I like a higher energy fun vibe. That’s not what HAL passengers want. I would guess there are less than 5% of passengers under 60. As such, The entertainment is skewed for a much older crowd because this ship has a much older demographic. That makes sense. I knew that going in. But some of the entertainment isn’t appealing to even the older crowd as it’s, well, just very poorly executed. I didn’t come on this ship to be entertained (and you shouldn’t either).

I came for the islands and they delivered a grand slam home run.

For me, BBKings band, Grant (activities director) and yello (spelling that wrong) are terrific and are carrying the lions share of entertainment offered. High energy. Warm. Welcoming. The rest of the entertainment consists of things like movies in the theater (daily at 2:00), foot analysis, 5 minute facials, guess the diamond, etc… Lots of lectures which I may enjoy, but when the weather is nice I’m a 💯 outside girl. Hubby would love the lectures as there is one in the theory or relativity today. That requires far more brain cells than I contain. Last night i did attend the star gazing at 9 which was quite interesting.

It seems the art lady is well liked. I did go to the “dam dots” session. I thought we were going to make a picture using dots of color like Picasso. Instead it was connect the dots (numbers). There is adult coloring (which could be very relaxing but I don’t consider that actual entertainment and certainly not something I’d leave my playpen for). I think the painting classes looked fun, but so far the times haven’t worked out for me. This is nothing against the lady running arts and crafts as I have a couple friends who enjoy it very much, but imo there is clearly a budget cut on the part of HAL when it comes to entertainment offerings.

I’ve been a bit negligent in posting dinner menus for those that asked. I still haven’t made it to the MDR. I am VERY happy with hot fresh grilled items on the buffet. While I think the entertainment is lacking, I have absolutely zero complaints about the food and think the service is outstanding! This cruise is a solid 9/10 for me (as I believe no cruise can ever be a perfect 10). Anyway, Here is tonights menu:

March 17th

About the entertainment - for clarity, I have been bored a grand total of zero times. I’m not sure if you can pick up on this in type, but I can pretty much make my own party in a paper bag ;).

My point regarding entertainment is that for those who list ship entertainment at a priority (especially the evening shows), HAL probably isn’t the best choice as, imo, every other main stream line appears to have a much higher budget in this area. Remember, I have zero brand loyalty to HaL and sail all the other main stream lines quite frequently (which appears to be equated to mass murder according to some 5* onboard).

Yesterday was pretty chill. I did tai chi from

my play pen. Attended dance class, swam, read, swam, had pre-dinner conversation with some of my people, ate dinner with another group of my people, and closed BBkings with….. my people. I have met sooooooo many life long friends onboard. It’s really taken this cruise over the top for me. Sure there are some cranky McCrankersteins, but I’ve found my cruise family and we all come from a place of gratitude which can, imo, really turn the frown upside down (sorry for the dad humor).

I suspect today will be more of the same with the exception of St Patty’s day party (which will be held indoors much to my dismay). Apparently it was too much work and too hot to do another lido party. Granted, every other tropical cruise I have been on does 2-3 lido deck parties on a 7 day cruise, but what do I know 🤷‍♀️

In fairness to Hal, there were a lot of complaints that the last lido party was too loud (is there such a thing?) and too hot (ok, was hot, but we are sailing on-top of the equator fhs). I think it boils down to demographics again and I’m ok with that. I’m not giving up hope for another lido deck party as we move thru colder water near San Diego, but then again, I’m a dreamer.

Apparently we moved the clocks forward a half hour again two nights ago. For the last two days I’ve been wondering why I’m always late. Clearly I can’t keep it straight. Seriously, who move clocks by 30 minutes? It’s like I’m in math class every time i glance at my Fitbit.

Ok- here is a real legit gripe- Last night a debarkation letter was left on my bed!!! We have 7 days left. S.E.V.E.N!! WTH??? That’s the equivalent of putting luggage tags out on embarkation day on 90% of the cruises sailing this week. I immediately threw it in the recycling. Ain’t nobody got time for that nonsense.

In other news, we are back in the northern hemisphere

March 18th

Feedback from the St Pattys bar crawl was that it was great fun. This came from “my girls” who make their own fun anywhere, but the videos looked happening. As far as the benefit, I think @Haljo1935 said it best, just compadre and something different to do.

I closed BBkings again last night. Don’t be impressed. It isn't a monumental accomplishment given the band ended at 10:45. But still, a close is a close.

The St Pattys day party was fun, but would have been much better attended had it been outside in the lido (just my opinion). You cannot have the same vibe when you spread people across multiple venues. But the temp was more comfortable and I’m sure many of those on board appreciated that.

Today tai chi was cancelled because the instructor is sick. For those wondering, yes, covid is onboard. Could be 5 cases, could be more, i have no way of telling other than speaking with people who have come out of isolation. I do hope everyone sailing knows the risk of sickness spreading in crowds. Covid is likely onboard every cruise ship sailing today. If you are concerned about covid, or have significant comorbidities, you maybe better served to select a vacation that is less densely populated as fellow passengers continue to misbehave. Covid is here to stay, and the more people, the more spread. Just a fact of life. I spend most of my time outdoors (including eating outdoors). I avoid elevators, MDR, crowded shows, and lines since Interior venues are where the majority of air borne viruses spread. I do have greater exposure at BBkings but a girls gotta dance.

For giggles I’m including snippets of todays planner. Keep in mind most of the

activities are repeated frequently. How often can someone get a foot analysis or buy an inch of gold? I’ve highlighted my activities and it’s pretty much been exactly the same every sea day.

I suggest finding your people early. I hang in the same playpen daily and get visitors often. That leads to lots of chit chat and endless laughs. Without my people, I’d be on my 72nd book by now. As it stands I’ve read one.

March 19th

Came back to the cabin to find more flowers! Overwhelmingly, the people on this cruise are simply the best!!!

Back at the pier in Moorea, I noticed an elderly lady who was clearly very confused. She was really struggling to find the right HAL tour bus (it was confusing). Poor thing almost had tears in her eyes so I did what any decent human would do and found her bus and then escorted her to it. Took all of 5 minutes.

She found me in the hall a few days ago and thanked me again (wasn’t necessary). Then she asked my room number and I gave it to her not thinking too much about it.

March 20th

Not much to report other than there was dishwasher on fire in the middle of the night!! Apparently an

Announcement was piped into the cabin just after midnight. It was quickly extinguished and the whole thing was over in about 5 minutes but so much for my quick reflexes and keen senses and as I didn’t hear a thing and slept right through all 3 announcements 🤷‍♀️

Last night they had another “fun night” at the lido. Very low budget carnival type games (ladderball, corn hole, ring toss, etc…). You played against a fellow passenger and whomever won got a ticket and chance to win HaL swag. Music was playing on speakers. Even though it was low budget, we had some laughs and I’m glad they did it. Now, if they could just play the music and instead of bringing out the games leaving the deck open for an open air dance floor at night that would be perfect (and wouldn’t cost a dime). Lord knows they don’t show movies outside every night and we’ve spent 35 days looking at a drop of water on “unused” big screen.

Permission to dance class is filled everyday at 10 am. MaNY of us would come to another dance later in day. My one complaint on this ship is lack of fun/active things to do. How many times can a girl listen to a talk on Einsteins theory of relativity? For me, the answer is zero; but my understanding is that those talks were standing room only. Again, should be repeated on the TV. But given the numbers at dance and tai chi- I suspect things for those of us who want to be active would also be well attended. If HAL ever wants to rid themselves of their “cruises for nearly dead” reputation, they really do need to up their game.

Oh- We know that the technology is possible to stream on the tv because today they are repeating the crew show all day (it broadcast with no sound yesterday).

The sea is still glass but It is significantly cooler outside. Not at all cold, but we are obviously no longer in the tropics. We are still a full 3 days before San Diego and I expect it will continue to cool off. Current weather for Saturdays arrival 63 and rain (boo hiss).

This trip has been one of extreme temp changes. It was cold first few days out of San Diego (high 50s and a very brisk wind). I needed a zip up hoodie and long sleeves to comfortably be outside. The FP islands were hot hot hot! I will not be booking any land tours next year as French Polynesian has a heat index set at “take off all your clothes.” As always, Hawaii was just right (said in my best three little bears impression).

I’m officially sick of eating. Yesterday I ate a croissant for breakfast, grilled cheese w tomato from the deli for lunch, and three spicy chicken wings from the deli for dinner. TMI but my point is I ate in entirety from the deli menu (outside where I have less chance to come in contact with covid).

I had reservations for Tamarand but cancelled them. The last thing I need to do is spend $42 for food that I just don’t want. Like any super responsible financial planner, I’m going to dump that cash into a slot machine instead and see how long it lasts.

Side note, the spicy wings from the deli served after 9 pm are super good! I still have the gut of a teenager (to go along with a palette of a toddler). I can eat anything at anytime as evidenced by my ability to suck down 3 xtra spicy wings at 10pm sleep through a fire alarm at midnight.

They have had three ice cream socials. It takes place at the gelato station but do not be fooled, it’s regular ice cream. However there is a plethora of toppings and dipped cones to choose from. The line wraps around the deck so get there early (or just walk inside and get a bowl from the lido with no line) :).

I did speak with the next cruise guy and we talked about all the things they have done for us due to this being a legendary voyage. Apparently the food budget was increased for us. Things like the ice cream social, lobster at the lido, etc… are supposedly all due to legendary voyage status. I do think that the quality of food has been exceptional. The best I’ve experienced post covid and some of the best compared to precovid cruises too.

Next year I am doing a 22 night (non legendary) Antarctica cruise in January, immediately followed by this 35 night legendary voyage so I will be able to make a direct comparison of things you can expect on legendary vs non legendary itinerary. For now, until you read of lobster tails being unloaded to the masses at the lido on the 7 day bus runs, it’s probably safe to assume this is a practice reserved for the “special” voyages. It is nice to be special.

I just completed the very last dance class of the cruise. It was BY FAR my favorite activity onboard. Grant can’t do classes the next two days because it conflicts with a “life at sea presentation“ he is part of. WTH??

I’m just going to say it- whomever is making the activity schedule needs a new job. The dance class is VERY popular. It’s the only ship activity I look forward to and I suspect I’m not alone. Certainly the life at sea talk could be scheduled for anytime after 10:30 (when class finishes). There are wide blocks of time with nothing scheduled and then a bunch of “activities” all at 10 or 1 or 4 (and I use the term activities lightly). Having the orange party on a day when we all needed to get up for an excursion (and during the hottest part of the cruise), having a formal night before a port day when there are well over a dozen sea days to choose from, and canceling dance class with two full days left leads me to believe that whomever is making the schedule isn’t paying attention to guest feedback. Not the end of the world but absolutely room for improvement if Hal ever wants to shed the stereotype that their cruise are for the “nearly dead”.

With that, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t shed a little tear at the end of class today. Grant has single handedly saved me when it comes to onboard activities and I will miss him terribly. I won’t ever be able to do the electric slide without fondly remembering is open heart and good sense of humor. A true asset to HAL. He will make a fabulous cruise director one day!!

March 21st

Good afternoon from the magnificent Koningsdam where we are meandering along at 13 knots heading toward San Diego under bright blue skies and glass like sea conditions. Folks, it’s glorious!!

I’m in shorts and a T-shirt and it is nice and toasty in the sun, but the minute I sit in the shade I’m chilled. Temp in the app says 66 at 2:00 pm so we definitely aren’t anywhere near the equator any longer.

Sadly, I have given up my playpen for the remainder of the cruise because with several towel blankets it’s still quite chilly. Even my exposed nose got cold yesterday while peaking out. A big difference from last week where the only way to chill a nose was to stick it on ice. Not sure how to advise others to pack other than to say both the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser have made an appearance (BTW, that’s still one of my favorite Christmas tunes if that tells you anything about my state of maturity).

Since there was no dance class today I decided to channel my inner Forest Gump and walk 5 miles up on deck 11 where it’s full sun with a gentle breeze. There literally isn’t a cloud in the sky today. Have I mentioned it is simply glorious? Well, It’s simply glorious.

Yesterday, I discovered lime salad dressing at the deli and ate not one but three caprice salads (ok, one for lunch and two for dinner- they are small, stop judging). Took 33 days for me to find it, but this stuff is legit. Nice and light, super refreshing type of dressing. Can’t be a lot of calories either which is a bonus. Don’t make the same mistake I did and be sure to try this out earlier in the cruise. I’d do shots of it if they’d let me.

Last night was more of the same. BBKings had the night off so we were all in Rolling Stones. The last set wrapped up at 11:15. Most folks were already in bed. Nightlife just isn’t HALs strong suit which is part of the reason they just can’t shake the dreadful (yet well known and decades old) stereotype as the cruise line for the “newly wed or nearly dead”. It’s a shame really because there are many very active people onboard who are ready to help HAL put that negative image in the rear view mirror! HAL is trying too with the music hall, and they are getting really close. A few more tweaks and HAL can appeal quite strongly to the retired Gen Xers.

IMO there is no better cruise line for offering unique itineraries at affordable prices and even though the entertainment schedule is lacking (my personal desires), I am excited to announce that a large group of us have had so much fun together that we have booked this itinerary in 2026!

For me, the timing of this trip is perfect. I can travel with hubby all of January (his slow month at work), jump on this girl for a spin around French Polynesian by myself, then meet hubby in Maui for 7 more weeks of sunshine and exceptional golfing. Life.Is.Grand.

There are at least a dozen of us booked for 2025 and an other dozen booked for 2026 if that tells you anything about how much we have all enjoyed this cruise. When I say I have met life long friends onboard, it’s no joke. Many of us have become a cruise family over the last 33 days. Not only are we planning to cruise together again, but some of us have made plans to visit each others homes this summer and one couple may come meet hubby and i in Maui next month. Not sure if all long cruises are like this or not, but I will be forever grateful to both CC and social media for connecting me with “my people”. They have elevated this cruise beyond measure. When things are all said and done, it’s the connections i have made that I will cherish mostly. I will be crying disembarkation day.

Tonight is dressy and the third time they will be serving unlimited lobster at the lido. I can’t imagine anyone having a single complaint about the food or service onboard. It’s simply the best….

March 22nd

fternoon!! I have lots more to summarize and I promise to get to all questions; but today has been a whirlwind between packing and all the goodbyes. Yep, already shedding little tears. Sure there are areas for improvement, but this has been a remarkable cruise with amazing people. I am overflowing with gratitude.

I’ll be at the Hyatt in San Diego for a few days as I have a friend from Grad School driving down from northern CA to spend a long girls weekend. From there I’m flying to Maui where I’ll have lots of downtime to wrap up this report. I also have GoPro footage to upload once I get to stable internet. So much left to discuss :).

March 23rd

Debarkation was a cluster. It started with immigration coming on ship about 20 minutes late which put everything behind schedule. Of course passengers were behaving poorly too (showing up early, cutting in line, etc) but HAL could have done a much better job with crowd control and communication.

For one thing, i was never once asked for my disembarkation color. The lines for immigration

started at the forward elevators, snaked back to the atrium, did a 90 degree turn and wound up in the theatre. The line moved fast but there were sooooo many people. There were also people cutting in line. Some on purpose, some because there was no where to tell where the line began. People would unload from the elevator and jump in line, even thought that was cutting. There wasn’t any clear signage and the white coat officers that were there stood in groups of 2/3 instead of spreading out and helping to direct people. At one point the tensions were high. I’ll post a photo of the immigration line. The coughing got me more than the line itself. I have no doubt that covid is in onboard.

At 9:00 (when i was supposed to head to the line), Grant

Announced to anyone without a plane to catch to please not come down to immigration until after 9:30. At that time, they had only called 4 colors to debark. By the end of it I would estimate they were a full hour off schedule.

Once I saw the line, I decided to just chill in billboards. I squirreled away a couple shots of bailies last night to enjoy with my coffee and since I didn’t have a plane to catch, there was no way I was joining the chaos.

Once the crowd thinned I got in line and it did move fast (but was still snaked down thru the atrium). The announcements were very hard to hear. Not totally HALs fault as people simply don’t stop yacking, so if you are in a crowded public area the chance of actually understanding Grant were slim to none. This could be mediated by instructing lido workers not to talk thru announcements too (it’s as if they don’t even hear them). Even the white coats didn’t hush for Grants announcement so that really doesn’t set an example. I had no idea what color luggage tag they were on when i got thru immigration so I just went back to my cabin, grabbed the carryon, and proceeded off the ship. It was 10:15 and I was supposed to disembark by 9:30. Figured I was safe. I was wrong.

Unfortunately when i got to the luggage area I found out they hadn’t even unloaded blue luggage from the ship. There were at least 100 people mulling around a closed cargo door. More kept piling in. The long shore worker explained that our luggage was past the door, but they couldn’t open it because there was heavy machinery still in operation staging the luggage. He kept insisting we all write HAL to express our frustration because it wasn’t the long shore workers fault. Since I still wasn’t frustrated, I’m not writing anyone.

The blue group waited about 30’minutes before the cargo door was opened for us to enter the area and grab luggage. Interestingly, this area was open air. The rain held off until this afternoon but that would have been a nightmare had the luggage been sitting outside. Moral of the story, if there are two ships in port and it’s supposed to rain, you might not want to pick one of the later colors as there just isn’t enough sheltered space for all the luggage and the late colors sit outside.

IMO HaL really should update the announcements much more frequently (constantly) so people are certain what number/color they are on. I also feel that more white coats directing the line would have prevented some of the obvious anxiety passengers were experiencing.

Me? Well I was two shots into Bailies and the Hyatt texted me at 9:30 saying my room was ready so I was under absolutely no stress…..at all. Zero. Zilch. No way was I going to have my last memories of the ship be negative. I suspect I may have had a different perspective if I was catching a plane.

Keep in mind, all this chaos is because there was also a Disney ship in port and the two ships share resources. Next week there will be THREE ships in and my porter said that while it doesn’t happen often, it is an absolute nuthouse when that happens.

My porter who was wonderful. I had two large suitcases and a roll aboard (I’ll pack different next year). I used a service recommended here called luggage forward. It’s not cheap, but I hate traveling heavy so I sent one large suitcase home so I am only taking one case with me to Maui.

I am very pleased with luggage forward. They met me right outside the gate. Texted me all morning. The porter couldn’t exit the area but she waited for me inside the gate while I dropped off one luggage with luggage forward, then she wheeled me to the taxi line, where I spent $25 to travel a couple blocks to the hotel. Be aware that taxis don’t want to pick up short rides. They must wait in a very long line to even get into the port pick up area so they want a bigger fare. I settled on $25 with the taxi driver before I even got in, which made it worth his time. Otherwise, I may still be standing there.

Hyatt had already texted me that my room was ready (I love Hyatt status) so when it was all said and done I was in my room by 11:00. I consider that a very successful debarkation day.

I’m on the 32 floor with a lovely view of the bay. I am club Hyatt which means they feed me breakfast, snacks, and dinner with 24 hour soda/coffee/etc.. drinks are on the honor system. It’s a bit like being on the ship :).

Tonight’s complimentary dinner was salmon with a cuscus side. An extensive salad bar with very high quality shaved Parnassian cheese and some cucumber slices with ahi poke’. My favorite was the blue cheese mousse with fig and Bouchée. It’s a high class joint. So much for me being done eating, cause this stuff is tasty!

I just watched the Disney ship pull away from the pier (5:20). Going to wait for the Koningsdam. It was a rainy cold day today but the sun is shining now and this weeks crew should get a nice sail away.

It’s 5:45 so they are running late (I believe they were supposed to set sail at 5:00) I’ll upload some pics of today and come back when she does sail away.

Line just outside forward elevators. This is not the start of the line it was snaking thru billboards at this time.

She pulled away from the pier at 10:30. Photos aren’t so good due to glare (and a we bit o wine).

I sincerely hope everyone on this weeks 7day trip has a great time (although I don’t know how I’ll ever do a 7 day trip again, 35 wasn’t enough for me)

I still admire that your first cruise was 35 nights!! Love the fearless commitment. I think you will find that the disembarkation process was pretty chaotic when compared to other cruises. You stated you waited 45 minutes to get thru immigration. That’s pretty much unheard of at other ports. Much of this was caused by the lack of physical space at the San Diego terminal, but imo Hal could have handled things better too.

I agree that by the time folks got to the disembarkation line it was too late to check colors. IMO that should have been done at the entrance to the immigration line (just past the library). If you got to that point before your color was called, one of the white coats could have easily sent you to the side in a nice chair in RSRR or Billboards to wait your turn. Just my idea, maybe there are others, but I do know that compared to the two ships I disembarked last month (one holding 6,500 passengers and one holding 4,000 passengers), yesterdays process was significantly more disorganized and crowded even though the ship only held 2,500 passengers.

The line snaking the entire length of the ship was difficult on those with physical mobilities too, not to mention extremely crowded and prime for passing along the corona virus that was onboard. I avoided lines the entire trip for a reason. hAL can do better.

It sounds like we both had decent experiences because you were quite early in the process and I was quite late. My advice to others is to either line up first or wait things out patiently.

Also, there is double the luggage to manage on a 35 nights cruise. Double the workers needed and double the space to store it once off the ship. San Diego just isn’t built to handle that.

We also agree that the entire experience was EPIC! So epic I’m doing it again in both 2025 and 2026, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t areas where HAL can improve. IMO, yesterdays disembarkation is one of them.

March 24th

Good morning from a very sunny (but windy/chilly) San Diego. The club room breakfast here at the Hyatt reminded me of the lido with yummy omelets and chocolate croissants (among other things). I really need to stop eating.

The views here are wonderful!! My friend arrives this afternoon. I have no idea what we are going to do but I suspect last nights bottle of wine won’t be the only casualty.

For anyone familiar with San Diego, the back entrance to this hotel literally opens into seaport village. Any happy hour suggestions within walking distance? Bonus points for calamari.

March 26th

We stayed at the Hyatt Manchester. Literally attached to seaport village. They do an amazing breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the club suite rooms- I highly recommend the upgrade for both the chow and views.

Sunday was rainy and downright cold. Monday and today have brought bright blue skies but temps in the mid 60s. Light jacket weather for sure and it’s a good thing the pool is heated.

We were going to do the Hop on hop off trolley, but everything in San Diego is pretty close and I really wanted to walk since I’ve been eating so much. 30k steps later we explored little Italy. We also walked to the gas lamp district for drinks and taco Tuesday :). We managed a harbor tour too. Time literally flew by!!

I did witness my very first smash and grab. Technically it was just a grab but pretty surreal for this midwesterner. The guy was quite polite explaining that he wasn’t planning to pay (he had a variety of grocery items from the CVS on Broadway and 4th street). The worker just let him pass. Someone asked if she was going to call the police and she explained that they don’t report if the person was non violent. She also explained that it happens daily and that she is instructed not to intervene. At the risk of sounding political, wth is happening to our big cities? San Diego is a lovely town, but I’m afraid visitors maybe quite shocked at the amount of homelessness and general disarray.

In spite of that little reality check, I enjoyed my time here very much and think San Diego has much to offer the cruise community. As with all large city’s it is best to always be aware, but I’ll be back next year. Unafraid and absolutely unwilling to let a few jerks dull my sparkle :).

With that, just a quick 6 hour flight and I’ll be in my happy place (Kapalua, Maui) tomorrow. All of Maui is nice, but for me Kapalua is home. There is a resounding level of spiritual energy in the Aina’, and I look forward to laying my head down there tomorrow night. I can think of no better way to end this epic adventure than spending another 6 weeks on Maui.

I promise that I have not forgotten your questions. Hubby arrives on Saturday so I should have several days to wrap up this review. In the meantime, here are some photos from San Diego…

March 27th

’m currently half way across the pacific on my way to Maui and getting bored so I’ll take a stab at this one now :).

Truth be told I don’t snorkel much on the south side since the condo is on the west in Kapalua with some of the best snorkeling on island nearby.

however; I do not recommend you cross the Pali to snorkel on the west side. I didn’t recommend that for a one day cruise stop prior to the fires and it’s worse now due to tremendous traffic on the only road into/out of the Lahaina as the clean up efforts commence.

That leaves you snorkeling around Kihei. Any of the Kams are popular but my favorite spot on that side is Ulua. Some nice coral last time I was there and it’s an easy beach to enter the water at.

Of course you could look up Trilogy from Ma’alaea and see if you can make an excursion to Molokini based on your timeframe.

If things work out like this year I’ll be on island in April again since I plan to head to Maui after the 2025 Tahiti cruise too. If I’m on island, and not entertaining that day, I maybe able to come pick you up :).

Last year I was seeing whales right up until the last week of April (although not as abundant). Based on reports I’m getting they are still around right now. I’m heading out next week and hope to get to encounter some fun comp pods. End of season comp pods are a blast!

I know the question about my disappointment with HAL tours has been asked a few times so let me tackle that question. Of course this is only my experience. Ymmv

The HAL Hollywood in Kailua was ok. I paid $179. HAL raised the price to $279 for those on next years cruise. It’s a rip for $279 but they do take you to lots of pretty spots. Our tour guide wasn’t the best but I was on the bus with a great group of friends that made the time go by nicely. It was my favorite of the three Hal tours I did.

I can not recommend the next two HAL excursions. The first was Ohana Catamaran from Papeete (note, they also have Ohana catamaran from Moorea which will likely be much better because the water in Moorea is much better for snorkeling. The description says you snorkel in a lagoon. Be aware that in FP, a lagoon is everything inside the coral reef. Basically we anchored in a boating lane in water that was about 25-30 feet deep. There was minimal coral and fish. The hygiene standards on the catamaran weren’t great either. People with me on the tour got $25 rebated. I did leave a note in navigator and asked them to call me. They never did. I could have followed up too, but for a measly $25 I didn’t want the negative energy. The tour is not as described. I’d give that one hard pass if you want snorkeling. It’s a nice boat ride.

I should also mention that I do not recommend any snorkeling in Papeete for the very same reason (you don’t snorkel in a lagoon, you snorkel in a boating lane). Tahati by boat went to a very similar area. I know people pleased with tahiti by boat but there were also those who were not pleased. The waters off Papeete are not in the same league as our other stops. There were turtles, but there are turtles everywhere. There are also dolphins at the entrance way to the lagoon, but you can see these from the ship at sail in. iMo the best thing to do when in Papeete is a land tour because the water here just isn’t as nice. I used Eden tours (pdf information file is in this years roll call and I’ll repost when I get home). I do recommend Eden tours for a lovely circle island tour.

Next year I hope to skip Papeete entirely and head to Moorea for a few extra nights. More on that in another post.

The last tour I did with HaL was the photography tour in Moorea. I had improper expectations for this tour as I was hoping for info on aperture and focal length. A more in depth class like other photo tours. Instead, the host concentrated solely on composition. She showed a couple cool tricks but it just wasn’t my vibe.

All in all I was very disappointed in HAL tours and was reminded why it’s been many years since I purchased a cruise line shore excursion. I do acknowledge that ship tours are much easier and if you don’t make it to an island you are refunded. Given the medical emergency we had that prevented us from Fanning island, and the weather that prevented the cruise before ours from docking in Maui, it’s important to read all terms and conditions of any non-ship tour you may book as port stops just aren’t guaranteed.

March 31st

Sorry I’m so far behind. I do have many notes I want to contribute to wrap up this live review but this weekend was “Celebration on the Arts” here at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua.

So far I’ve had the honor of participating in the traditional Hawaiian Ceremony of “Hi’uwai” (purification) and “E Ala E” (awakening) held at sunrise to open the weekend festivities. I even learned the proper chant Hawaiians use to call up the sun. I learned how to carve Koa, how to basket weave, sat in on a presentation of natural Hawaiian healing plants, and stamped my own “art” with volcanic ash.The whole weekend has been devoted to learning about and celebrating Hawaiian heritage and I feel so blessed to take part each year. This years theme was

Here are some photos (totally unrelated to my cruise review, but I feel like Maui is one big shore excursion lol). Also a couple links for those who maybe interested in learning more.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theresachristine/2019/07/30/what-is-a-hiuwai-ceremony-all-about-this-reenergizing-hawaiian-tradition/?sh=4684351c2f9e

https://www.flipsnack.com/98C95F99E8C/celebration-of-the-arts-2024-program/full-view.html

April 1st

I have it in my notes to write about the Koningsdam Ball and Chocolate Surprise. This was held on the last formal night. Be warned, this is going to sound really negative, but I honestly believe this is a place where HAL needs some improvement.

My group got to BBkings 2 hours before the Ball started. There was some type of game show (maybe it was trivia?), but we didn’t dare leave to make sure we had seats for the evening festivities. Lots of others did the same. I don’t think there was a single table open an hour before the show.

HAL can’t really do much about the Kdams poor design. This ship just doesn’t move crowds well. As I’ve said, we were on a 6,500 And 4,000+ cruise ship a few weeks before I embarked on the Kdam, and both those ships felt FAR less crowded due to their design. Even though the Kdam is a medium sized ship at 2,600 passengers, her space ratio is poor. In other words, she feels more crowded. Often.

I’m not sure who designed RSRR, but whoever thought it would be a good idea to put a wall extending half the width of the venue needs to have their design diploma reviewed. I’d guess that about 20% of the seats in this lounge are totally blind to the band. Useless.

It’s also a very poor use of space to have BB, RSRR, and BBkings so closely connected. Music bleeds between bbkings and RSRR. I get the theory, put the rooms close together so people don’t need to walk far, but what this does is create terrible traffic jams because everyone is competing for limited space all evening. If you want a good seat- show up early.

The Kdam is also lacking a lounge where they can hold a party that everyone can attend. The orange party on the lido was great! Everyone fit. Sure it was super hot because the roof malfunctioned, and the timing was off because we had to get up in the morning for an island, but everyone fit in one venue! This created a unified high energy atmosphere.

BBKings just can’t do that. There were many people who could not attend the Ball or the St Patty's day party because all seats were taken hours before the parties started. And in spite of my attempts to get another party held at the lido (I would guess in excess of 50 people asked for another deck party after the orange party), the request fell on deaf ears. That is a shame because the limited space of BBKing does ensure that some are left out.

I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to move the parties to the lido. Not every night of course, but the Kdam Ball (or any formal party) would have been perfect for the lido. It was a cool night so heat wouldn’t have been a factor. They could open or close the roof as temperature dictated. There would have been more room to disperse chocolates around. I just don’t understand the hesitation. On a traditional tropic cruise there are three lido deck parties in 7 nights. Certainly the Kdam could have offered three in 35.

I can testify that there were chocolates, but the servers brought out trays and handed them to the first tables. That meant 99% of the guests never saw chocolate let alone tasted it. There wasn’t nearly enough chocolates or servers to go around and the venue was so crowded it made it hard for them to serve. And don’t even get me started on how crowded the mosh pit (I mean dance floor) became.

I realize that HAL can’t do much to fix the physical design flaws of the Kdam. The theatre, music walk, lido, etc are just too small to accommodate all passengers. BUT- they can improve the scheduling/location of events to compensate. The lido was grossly underutilized in the evening. They weren’t even offering movies each night. The lido is the one venue that can move large crowds and you just can’t get the same unified party vibe when you split people into 3 separate lounges.

Ok -Off soap box. I did put similar comments in my review. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I have to believe that some people who wanted to attend the Ball (or get chocolate), simply couldn’t because of poor venue scheduling .

April 2nd

Yep, Grant was a 10+, born to be in front of crowds with a mic. So warm, welcoming, and inclusive. He really had a positive impact on my cruise.

I’m still a little miffed that dance class was cut short 2 days early because Grant was needed in the world stage. Sure, the world stage was a great presentation, but couldn’t dance class have been offered sometime in the 9-10 hour block? After Tai Chi but before the “life at sea’ presentation? If you added in the folks participating in the balconies, dance class had to be approaching 100 participants and it was the ONLY activity offered for those of us who want a little more high energy. I get that Grant is only one person and can’t be everywhere, but there has to be a work around besides cutting out an activity that had such high attendance. Again, a scheduling blunder.

Regarding movies at the lido. I do agree that during the day would be invasive on all the folks enjoying the pool. But why not throw on some music videos? That large screen showed a drop of water for 35 days (well there was some gold chain thing too for variety). I asked every single day in the app for music to be played in the lido. If only for a couple hours. If not the lido, then the sea view. Offer one pool with a bit livelier atmosphere. I do understand that on this particular cruise that might have been difficult since the majority of passengers likely grew up without MTV, but every generation likes music. Again, not both pools. Leave one for those who want silence. If HAL wants to rid itself of the decade old ugly stereotype of the cruise line for the “newlywed and nearly dead” then they need to pay attention to those of us who are asking for more energy. Somewhere we can find a compromise between radio silence and Guns and Roses.

Oh, about the speakers. I did notice one speaker was blown. Easy enough to fix. Nearly every other cruise ship I have been on in the last decade has had movies/music videos at the lido with no sound issues. Since every single movie that was shown at the lido was also available on stateroom TV, the lack of movies wasn’t a copywright issue. I get that movies at the pool require more staff and I am the last person who wants to make more work for the crew, but HAL really should address the lack of space issue that the Kdam design created. Seems easy enough to press play every night; again a scheduling issue.

I would like to know who was in charge of scheduling events. Based on the conversation @anniegb had with Kristin, it wasn’t the cruise director. So who was it? Typically it is the cruise director but apparently not on this cruise. I hope they can learn from our surveys because my requests in the app went no where. After ignoring my 22nd request for some light music during the day, I think they would have preferred it if I volunteered to walk the plank. 🙂

Finally, these are certainly first world gripes. I mention them here to help prepare future cruisers for what they might encounter, and I mentioned them in the survey (and app) to help HAL better meet the needs of the up and coming population of cruisers. Make no mistake; the good far outweighed the bad. I had an AMAZING journey on the K’dam. Largely due to all the relationships I was able to form with like minded travelers and the incredible places we visited. Most importantly, I most certainly made life long friends and that trumps listening to Bon Jovi at the lido.

April 5th

I was very pleased with the standard of service onboard. There was a bit of service inconsistencies (most complaints appeared to be in the MDR which I didn’t attend). There were a few misses with room service and I did get a glass of ice dumped on my head while I was sleeping in my playpen, but other than that, I thought service was outstanding :-).

About the ice incident. It was a total accident and my guy was literally in shock! That could have happened regardless of training. I took it like a champ, assuring him that I needed to wake up anyway (and have witnesses that I was more concerned about the young mans ego than I was about my abrupt waking @Rhonda and Keith haha). I’m just thankful he didn’t dump a glass of ice on some of the CrankyMcCrankisters I saw around the ship who would have most certainly went after his job, or asked for OBC ;-)

But here’s the thing. This young man (who will remain nameless just in case someone wants to be a jerk about the dumping) was going above and beyond in service when he had the little ooopsy. Since I had the same playpen daily he learned that I liked Arnold Palmers. In this instance, he was bringing ice to my Arnold Palmer so that when I woke up the drink would be fresh and cold! How Sweet Is That???? He and I are social media friends now and we will forever laugh about the time he woke me up from a leisure nap by dousing me in an ice bath :).

When I compare the service on HAL to the service we received on Carnival and NCL just a month prior, HAL’s service was significantly better. More servers walk around offering drinks (that was non-existent on carnival). Sure there were instances in busy venues that it was difficult to get a drink, but I am more concerned about the amount of watering down that HAL is doing to the drinks than I am about waiting an extra 20 minutes. I’m not a huge drinker. One evening I polished off three gin/tonics pretty quickly. On land I would have been seriously impaired. Onboard, I felt the tiny tiniest of a buzz. It happened several times. I actually stopped consuming alcoholic drinks because I could keep drinking (and drinking) with the only measurable result being the calories were making fat. By the end of the trip it was wine or beer for this girl.

Back to service: My cabin stewards serviced the cabin twice daily (no longer the case on carnival or ncl). They were exceptional. I told them they did not have to do towel animals for me nightly and they insisted! I got chocolates on my pillows (was that a function of it being a legendary cruise or are all HAL cruises getting chocolate?) Also, the service in the lido was exceptional for me. I sat on the opposite side of the line that was open and, again, got to know the same person daily. He always had my drink ready and that guy would have gotten me anything from the buffet had I asked.

I guess my super long winded point is that with or without the service excellence program, I would rank service on HAL a solid 9/10, especially when compared to NCL and Carnival. I did not see anything service related that I thought needed serious revision.

I do believe that they need to bring back the uniformity of excellence training when it comes to programing onboard entertainment. Lack of physically active and fun things to do (especially with those long stretches of sea days) was really the only area I thought in need of significant revision. If HAL wants to grab the attention of the soon to be retired Gen Xers, they need to rid themselves of their reputation as a cruise line for the elderly. And note that, imo, elderly isn’t a number~ it’s a mindset.

April 24th

Let’s finish with the rest of the black tip shark videos. As most of you know there are very few blacktip attacks on humans. It’s almost unheard of.

With that, I wouldn’t recommend splashing around on the surface like an injured fish. I watched a local “call in” a shark on motu Otefro and used my new skill to call one in at the blue lagoon on Fakarava. By calling in I just mean making repeated circular splashing patterns at the surface of the water to get the shark to abruptly turn around and come check out dinner. It’s fun 🤙

This is snorkeling with black tips in Moorea which was my favorite because we were on a very small tour (only five of us). The bottom was Sandy and shallow so we could stand and this lent itself to a much more stable encounter.

If you are looking to snorkel with black tip, reef sharks, I can highly recommend either Raitea or Moorea. But if you don’t know how to snorkel and just want to get in the water with black tip brief sharks, you can probably do that easier in Moorea where no swimming is involved and you can stand for the encounter. Just Look at this guys eyeball …..

May 13th

Honey I'm home!! Winter 2024 is in the rear view mirror and so is this review. Time to wrap it up.

In keeping with my goal to avoid Michigan Winter, in 2025 Hubby and I are booked on 22 night Oosterdam to Antarctica and then I'll be repeating this 35 night Koningsdam cruise followed by another couple months in Maui. Why fix what isn't broken?

Continuing to book with HAL should speak volumes about my overall opinion on the product. Obviously I very much enjoyed this cruise and feel that HAL offers a tremendous value. However; In a perfect world these are the things I would change for next year:

1) More activities offered for those of us who don't want to spend all day laying in the spa. I like a little spa action as much as the next girl, but I like to mix relaxation in with high energy. Get up and get moving! Things like aqua aerobics, pool volleyball, an additional yoga class, would be most welcome. The dance classes and TaiChi were so well attended just doubling up on those in the afternoon would be a major improvement. And for the Love of God, play some music at one of the pools for a just couple hours a day.

2) I'm hoping for a better band in rolling stones rock room. That music is my chosen genre, but I ended up in BBkings for the dance energy. The band in Rolling Stones had a habit of playing a couple tunes to get the dance floor rolling and then jumping into some Hendriks. As mentioned, I like cowbell as much as the next girl, but the sets just didn't flow. And while I can't remember why I walked into the kitchen, I do remember the lyrics to almost of the songs from the 80s. Unfortunately, too often, it took until the chorus before I could recognize the actual song being played. The music walk is an excellent concept, but it doesn't work if the band/piano players don't motivate the crowd. More often than not, billboards and RSRR were empty by 10:00 and BBKings stopped between 10:30-11:15 most nights.

3) For me, even the low energy entertainment options were often really low budget. Obviously entertainment isn't a priority for HAL (as evidenced by only 3 playmakers on a ship this size). The arts classes were a joke. The Hal dots was literally a hand out to connect the numbered dots to reveal a ship. The watercolor class offered no instruction, but did provide an inspiration and some paint. With the exception of a couple shows, my local high school offers better evening shows and I still can't figure out why they don't utilize the big screen at the lido, if not during the day, at least offer a nightly movie.

Now; I get it. Many long time HAL cruisers sail HAL for the very serene atmosphere I'm recommending be changed. But, these are the very same reasons HAL's long time reputation is a cruiseline which appeals to the 'newlywed or nearly dead". If HAL wants to shed that stereotype (and I think they do), I believe just a few minor tweaks could go a long way drawing in the newer retirees who seek a bit more spice but want to skip the amusement park on the sea concept (side note, I still love a good water slide but don't expect that on HAL).

Generation Xers are entering retirement and have different wants/needs than what HAL is currently providing. Evolution. I'm not suggesting turning HAL into a family cruise line. I mean really, how can that possibly work? They don't even have a water slide ;-). But I believe there is an energy level that exists somewhere between the library and a Metallica concert. Just pump it up a bit without turning into Disney. I think this slightly pumped up version maybe the sweet spot as HAL struggles to identify itself. I certainly don't envy Hal trying to find that elusive sweet spot and, as mentioned, none of the above suggestions stopped me from booking 57 nights on HAL in 2025. Their interesting itineraries at reasonable price points keep drawing me in. That's the niche HAL does best.

As far as the good, I have not one complaint with service. It was stellar. Very personal. Several crew asked to friend me on social media (not visa versa) proving that they really are interested in us. I did hear complaints about service in the MDR but I did not partake.

I think the food was terrific All you can eat lobster on the buffet on dressy night! It was like a step back in time to cruising pre-covid. I really enjoyed all the fresh to order grill items at the lido nightly (steak, chicken, or rotating types of fish). The Asian wok station to individually select protein and veggies and have it cooked while you wait assured food was fresh and hot (same with the pasta station). The salad station was exceptional!! Hint, there is a lime vinaigrette dressing that is low in fat/calories at the deli and it's soooo yummy. Why they don't offer this dressing at the salad bar in the lido is beyond me but I started having my salad made downstairs and carried it up to the deli for the dressing.

The ports were amazing, but I'm a water girl. To me, the draw of this itinerary is the water. Next year I will do absolutely zero land tours and spend my entire time exploring reefs that are actually still quite vibrant (and snorkeling with sharks of course). If you aren't in the water, it's hot. As in makes Florida in August look tepid. If you aren't planning on being in the water, perhaps consider a small battery operated fan. Many folks were resorting to wetting wash clothes, putting them in their freezer overnight, and bringing them on excursions to help stay cool.

But, for me, the absolute BEST part of this cruise were the friendships made. Friendships that are still going strong! Of course, social media helps, but I've spoken on the phone with a few of my 'gal pals' already. Dozens of us are planning and booking future cruises together. A couple folks are meeting me in Maui next year and I'm having beers with another couple here in Michigan in a few weeks.

If you were on this cruise, and are still reading this ridiculously long review, please accept my deepest thanks for helping to make this trip one I will remember for life!!! When it all boils down, it's the relationships made that make any vacation exceptional and this certainly was an EXCEPTIONAL cruise!

I promised to post the pdf files I created for tours once I got back to my desktop in Michigan so here they are. These are obviously old now. I have also posted these in the 2025 roll call but I believe someone was inquiring for their fall French Polynesia trip. These should get you started if looking for independent tours. There isn't a tour here that I would not highly recommend.

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