Tour Day 24, Cruise Day 24 – Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu, Tonga – Liku'alofa Scenic Island Drive (3.5 hours) – Explore the island of Tongatapu as you board an island-style bus and travel to the west coast. You will pass the Royal Palace and the Central Business District of the capital city of Nuku'alofa. Take in some scenic highlights, including the Liahona Coconut Plantation, home to a bizarre three-headed coconut tree. The blowholes on Tonga's western coast, called the Chief's Whistles, are widely considered the most spectacular in the entire South Pacific. Then, continue to Kolovai Village, renowned for its flying fox colony. Observe the flying foxes -- these nocturnal fruit bats sleep suspended from trees, heads down, and wings folded. The bats are Tonga's only native land mammal, and their wings span nearly three feet. They enjoy ... read more

Tour Day 19, Cruise Day 19 – Day at Sea Tour Day 20, Cruise Day 20; Rarotonga, Cook Islands – NO SHORE EXCURSIONS AVAILABLE – Initially, I wondered why we were stopping if there was no good reason (shore excursion) to leave the ship. After doing a little research and then hearing, on the day before our arrival, a cautionary “don’t get your hopes up” from the Captain, I now have a guess. The seas are rough in the anchoring area near Cook Island, and many cruise ships planning to tender to the island have been unable to do so because the operation was too dangerous. Indeed, our Captain launched one of the tenders early on the day of our arrival for a reconnaissance mission before making his decision. Fortunately, we did make it to shore ... read more

Tour Day 17, Cruise Day 17 - Island Drive & Belvedere (3.5 hours) - Tour the island of Moorea by bus. It is 38 miles around, and along the way you will stop at lookout points and special landmarks. From the Belvedere Lookout Point, located up in the mountains between the two main bays of Moorea, you will take in the sweeping views of Cook and Opunohu Bays. Pass some inland pineapple fields and stop at a marae -- an ancient, sacred site -- to learn about Polynesian culture. Heading down the east coast, you will come to the Ia Ora viewpoint, showcasing the clear blue lagoon of Temae Beach nearby and the island of Tahiti, only 10 nautical miles away. Notes: The guide will comment on daily life on Moorea but will not offer a ... read more

NOTE – On 15 OCT 2023, we had made port in Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii, but most of the tours on this rugged island involved hiking or snorkeling. Even the pier area looked industrial and uninviting for a casual stroll, so I stayed aboard ship. No photos from aboard ms Noordam. Tour Day 9, Cruise Day 9, Honolulu, Hawaii – Pearl Harbor, Honolulu & the Mighty Mo Tour (6.5 hours) – Re-live history with a visit to Pearl Harbor and view the battleship, USS Missouri. At the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, view a 20-minute film depicting the events of the 1941 pearl harbor attack. Don't miss this chance to visit the battleship USS Missouri -- the grand ship also known as Mighty Mo. This is where the Japanese signed the surrender document that ended World War ii ... read more

Tour Day 1-7, Cruise Day – 1-7, Phoenix, Arizona to Hilo Hawaii – The flight to San Diego was just over an hour and totally humdrum. Retrieving my luggage and getting the shuttle to the hotel was routine. Breakfast at the hotel and the shuttle to the cruise port was uneventful. Upon arrival at the cruise terminal, I realized the luggage tags supplied by Holland America (complete with the wrong cabin number) were for a different ship departing San Diego in 2024. The baggage handler reacted as though I wasn’t the first person to queue at the Holland America incompetency line and promptly got me a new set of tags so my baggage would get to MY cabin THIS year. Half way through the boarding process, we were told the facial recognition function of the computer ... read more