Cruise to French Polynesia - February 14 to March 16, 2014

Statendam - Holland America Cruise Itinerary

We're off again on a new adventure!  Marie-Elisabeth and I have both been to about 90 of the Century Club list of countries and territories - BUT - believe it or not - we have never been to Hawaii (unless you count the airport in Honolulu on the way to Jakarta).  Guess we were saving it for our old age - I know - that time has come!  :)

This 30 day cruise seemed ideal for relaxation. We love sea days and the joy of doing nothing in particular - except reading from our "full" Kindles, going to lectures, movies, cooking demonstrations, shows, and trivia (for me). Having someone else cook, clean, make the bed twice a day, do laundry, etc. is our idea of a real vacation.  We love having our hotel move with us, packing and unpacking once, and having someone else do the driving.

We'll have two days in Honolulu and then one day in Hilo, Kona, and Lahaina.  The stop on Fanning Island in the country of Kirabati - (formerly known as the Gilbert Islands) should be very interesting. This isolated atoll is quite poor and the Cruise Critics group we are members of has organized donations of books and school supplies to the island.  A previous cruiser noted that the school only had a dozen books on the library shelves.

During the cruise, February 28 will be about 48 hours long....and February 27 will be almost non-existent....???  We cross the International Dateline on the way to Fanning Island - spend the 28th on Fanning. When we leave there, we cross the Dateline again going back to February 28!  Someone with Cruise Critics has a birthday on February 27 so he has decided he will not get a year older this year!

Our other stops will be in French Polynesia and the Marquesas.  The day we are in Papeete is a National Holiday - Missionary Day.  This  is the day when missionaries arrived from the London Missionary Society. The place where they landed is north of Papeete and is the sight of an annual reenactment.  This year Missionary Day is on March 5 which is also Ash Wednesday.  This should be interesting!

I'll be posting Blog updates when I can so stay tuned!