What, When, Where and How!

We started planning for this cruise nearly two years ago. We dreamed of doing something special for our 25th Wedding Anniversary and came up with the idea of vacationing on the South Pacific island of Boro Boro in French Polynesia. Truly, a trip of a life time, but how do we get there and where to stay. The plan was to fly to Tahiti and take a boat over to Boro Boro and stay at Club Med for 10 days, Cruise to Hawaii for 5 more days then fly home from Honolulu. Well needless to say by the time we figured what traveling over there would involve for only 10 days and the cost of it all, we went back to the drawing board. Then I started researching cruise ships, not considering San Diego or Long Beach for embarkation as most were Hawaii to Papeete, still involving flight of some kind. Then in October, 2008, I stumbled on a cruise that went from Papeete to Los Angeles and gave it some serious thought until I found out how much it would cost to do it and stay on Boro Boro Too. Oh and yes, we still had to fly over there. I finally hit the “Travel Wall” and gave up. By December, 2008, we were all but putting the Boro Boro idea on the bad idea stack and began to rethink where we wanted to go when we received a travel pamphlet from Holland American Lines, announcing their 2009 cruises schedule and low and behold, they had a round trip cruise, from San Diego to Papeete and back to San Diego. After doing some serious surfing on the web, I was able to get the 2010 schedule which showed the same cruise and at the right time the only problem was it was for over 30 days long.

Because of the length of the cruise we had to consider many things before we actually made the commitment to go forward with it. The biggest consideration was the “Canyon Kids”. We have a great support team for our pets but to ask someone to keep them for over a month is another thing. Leaving the house for that length of time was another serious concern. Then there’s paying your bills for that length of time. For whatever reason, we were meant to do this cruise. Sandy was talking with a friend who lives in Nova Scotia who indicated she had rented out her place in Palm Springs and it looked like she would be going back to the snow earlier than planned. “HELLO”, well Sandy was all over it, and the first real sign that this trip might happen started to take shape. Not only did we have a house sitter for the whole period, it was one of our oldest and dearest friends. Not only was the house covered she just happens to love dogs and cats too. So in January, 2009, we booked the cruise of our dreams.

We sail on March 8, 2010 aboard the Holland American Cruise ship, ms Rotterdam, with many beautiful ports of call.

Our Itinerary:
DAY  DATE       PORT         ARRIVE     DEPART

Mon Mar 8 SAN DIEGO, CA US
Tue Mar 9 at Sea
Wed Mar 10 at Sea
Thu Mar 11 at Sea
Fri Mar 12 at Sea
Sat Mar 13 HILO, HI, US 10:00 am 7:00 pm
Sun Mar 14 LAHAINA, HI, US 8:00 am 11:00 pm
Mon Mar 15 HONOLULU, HI, US 8:00 am 11:00 pm
Tue Mar 16 KAUAI, HAWAII, US 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Wed Mar 17 KONA, HAWAII, US 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Thu Mar 18 at Sea
Fri Mar 19 CROSS INTERNATIONAL DATELINE
Sun Mar 21 FANNING IS., KIRIBATI 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Mon Mar 22 CHRISTMAS ISLAND
Tue Mar 23 CROSSING THE EQUATOR
Wed Mar 24 at Sea
Wed Mar 24 CROSS INTERNATIONAL DATELINE
Thu Mar 25 RAROTONGA, COOK ISLANDS 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Fri Mar 26 at Sea
Sat Mar 27 RAIATEA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Sun Mar 28 BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 8:00 am
Mon Mar 29 BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 5:00 pm
Tue Mar 30 PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA 8:00 am
Wed Mar 31 PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA 5:00 am
Wed Mar 31 MOOREA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Thu Apr 1 RANGIROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Fri Apr 2 at Sea
Sat Apr 3 NUKU HIVA, MARQUESAS ISLANDS 8:00 am 5:00 pm
Sun Apr 4 at Sea
Mon Apr 5 CROSSING THE EQUATOR
Tue Apr 6 at Sea
Wed Apr 7 at Sea
Thu Apr 8 at Sea
Fri Apr 9 at Sea
Sat Apr 10 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US 7:00 am

Because it is such a long and special cruise, we opted for a Veranda suit with a private deck. The Rotterdam, of Netherlands registry, is one the flag ships in the Holland fleet. It carries 1404 passengers and a crew of 600. Weighting 59885 gross ton, the Rotterdam was dedicated in December, 1997 and had its last retrofit in December, 2009.

In the coming weeks, I will try to give you the flavor of the trip by providing you Pictures and notes of interest on the different ports of call; food; The fauna ; food; shopping. Oh, and did I mention food.

The beginning!

In the year of our Lord, One thousand nine hundred and eighty five, in the woods of Ingle, and the realm of California, a gallant knight took for his bride, a maiden fair. A celebration was held and the knights and ladies of the realm join them in a feast to celebrate their wedding.

 And they honeymooned by the sea, in Puerto Vallarta!

 

And though they have traveled far and wide, they still longed for a special place to see, the South Pacific.   They wanted to go to Boro Boro and Papeete, to Raiatea and Rarotonga. Places below the Equator like The Kiribati Islands of Fanning and Christmas. So on March 8, 2010, they will fulfill a dream and check off, yet, another item on their “Bucket List”.