By this Author: Glichez

Monday, August 04, 2025
Port: Savusavu, Fiji

Our second to last stop on the cruise was in Savusavu in Fiji. The day was grey and overcast, masking much of the natural beauty of the island. I could see rolling hills across the water which I could imagine being stunning in the sun. I worried that it may rain during the day, but the forecast didn’t call for any precipitation.

Taking the tender boat across to the port, I was caught off guard by how far east the tender dock was in the small town. I’d expected us to dock closer to the ship, which would have allowed me to walk to a nearby resort that supposedly had a beach. When I got to town, I spent a few minutes walking around the center and checking out the various stores. I didn’t see many restaurants where I could grab lunch, so I decided to head out of town for a walk. Along the way, I stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks (peanuts and a drink).

I decided to walk over to the resort that I’d found on Google Maps. It was about a 40-minute walk from town and the route followed along the waterfront the entire time. Thankfully the road had clear views of the water without any buildings or fences getting in the way. There wasn’t much of a beach to be seen anywhere though. There were some small, narrow bands of dark sand, interspersed between large boulders making up a barrier along the water.

When I reached the ‘resort’ I was disappointed to discover that it was that in name only. It looked like a decent place to stay, but the ‘beachfront’ was laughable. It was the largest stretch of sand that I’d come across, but about the size of a school bus. However, it was not an appealing stretch of sand. It was quite clear that the best or even just the nice beaches were monopolized by the expense resorts throughout the South Pacific. Indeed, many of them brought in the sand to create man-made beaches, which are deceiving people around the world that the entire island is a paradise.

I considered walking further along the road, but nothing ahead offered anything different from what I’d already seen. Turning around, I made the walk back to town. There was a restaurant at the dock where the tender had dropped me off earlier, but it was packed by the time I got back and there was a queue building up. I didn’t feel like waiting, so I hopped on the next tender back to the ship.

Predictably, my afternoon was spent at the atrium, sipping coffee and reading. I had been planning potential trips over the course of the next year as well, which I always find captivating. We set sail in the late afternoon, just as I was heading up to have dinner. For the first time, there were several Asian-themed dishes for dinner tonight! I got fried rice, with stir-fry pork, and General Tsao chicken. … I should have known better. There was zero flavor to any of the food. I’m not sure how one can make a flavorless fried rice, but they accomplished that feat! I ended up not finishing my plate because it was so off-putting. I ended up having my usual salad and pasta. I crawled into bed around 22:00, happily knowing that we were sailing to the final port – this awful cruise was almost over!

 
Tuesday, August 05, 2025 – Wednesday, August 06, 2025
Port: Lautoka, Fiji

The last port of the cruise was in Lautoka, Fiji, located about 45 minutes from where I had stayed in Nadi a couple weeks ago. While Nadi had island charm to it as I drove through to my hotel, Lautoka lacked anything of interest. From the deck of the ship I looked out at the port and was immensely disappointed by what I saw. The port was heavily industrialized – by far the most industrial port we’d called at during the cruise – and there was nothing nearby that offered any interest.

Of course, the cruise offered excursions for passengers, including a day at a nearby Hilton resort… for $200 per person. It was a glorified shuttle to the resort and paid an admission fee. I could not – and would not – justify spending that kind of money to sit around a resort. The other excursions were not eye-catching either. A search on Google Maps showed that there was nothing in or around Lautoka worth seeing or doing. This drab port was the fitting end to this extraordinarily bad cruise.

I spent the morning on board the ship until lunch time, when I decided to head out for a little walk. If nothing else, it would get me out and about rather than just sitting around all day. Walking through the port to reach the main street wasn’t interesting – rows of shipping containers and trucks. When I reached the road, I went in the direction of town. It was an unpleasant walk, with nothing pretty nearby to offer any respite to the dreariness of the industrial area. I came across a McDonald’s where I unashamedly stopped for lunch. Aside from the meal at the café on Samoa, it was the best meal I’d had since the cruise began back in Tahiti.

I soon returned to the ship where I spent the rest of the afternoon in the atrium. It was interesting to people watch as many people were dressed up for the farewell dinners around the ship. The buffet restaurant was serving pork ribs and I decided to give them a try. They were alright, but I soon went back for my usual salad and pasta. I was so happy that this was my final dinner onboard the Norwegian Sun.

This evenings entertainment included a ventriloquist performing in the theater. I had not gone to any of the nightly shows during the cruise and I seriously considered heading out to see the one tonight. Then I remembered how cringe the shows were on the previous cruise. They had been so uncomfortable sitting through that I knew going to a show on the Sun would elicit similar feelings. In the end, I spent the evening in my cabin watching TV before bed.

I was up early the next morning so I could get my small bags packed before breakfast. Today was disembarkation day – finally! I just had a small carry-on sized suitcase and my backpack, so it took no time for me to get everything together. As I headed out for breakfast at the buffet, I marveled at the size of the bags of other passengers that had been left in the hallways. Seeing their bags, one would think that they were traveling for months on end.

Breakfast was so-so, but I was glad to have something to eat before leaving. They began calling groups for this allotted disembarkation time. Mine was scheduled for 08:15, but it was delayed by nearly an hour. The stairwell leading down to the exit was backlogged for unknown reasons. When I finally got off the ship, I made my way over to the airport transfer area so I could take the bus arranged by the cruise ship. It was damnably difficult to locate the bus because there were no signs or people to ask for help. So many taxis and private shuttles were in the area, with drivers trying to attract customers. I ended up following another passengers and together we found the airport bus.

At 10:00 we arrived at the airport and my long wait began. My flight to Singapore wasn’t until 23:00, so I had 13 hours to wait around the airport. I ended up going to the Burger King, where I spent must of the time writing and watching NetFlix. I also went to the café next door later in the afternoon. It sounds awful, but I had enough to help me pass the time.

I finally boarded my flight at 22:00 for the ten hour flight to Singapore. I had an aisle seat and I managed to sleep for the majority of the flight. I was so tired after the long day sitting around at the airport.

I was so excited to be heading home. If I had to do it all over again, I would have skipped this cruise entirely and visited the islands on my own. However, the logistics of flying to and from these islands isn’t simple, especially with remote places like the Cook Islands (which is what attracted me to the cruise). I’ve determined that cruises are just not my thing – at least not doing them solo. There are two, maybe three, more cruises that I will take to help me visit some additional countries as they offer the easiest, and sometimes safest, ways to visit. I will endeavor to find someone to go with me on those cruises though – hopefully Thinh will be able to take time off from work to join me. He would have come with me on this cruise, but since he’d just started a new job and we have a trip coming up in six months, he had to stay home.

Now I was eagerly flying home to Hanoi – and my husband! This summer’s trip had some ups and downs along the way. Overall it was not the experience that I’d hoped it would be, but I had some interesting adventures. Now I’m solely focused on relaxing back at home and spending quality time with Thinh.

Monday, July 28, 2025 – Tuesday, July 29, 2025
At Sea

With our stop at the Cook Islands called off, we now had two full days at sea ahead of us as we sailed to American Samoa. My hopes of calmer seas were dashed shortly after I awoke this morning. The ocean was very rough, causing the ship to sway and bob in the water as we sailed. It was affecting me considerably and I was unable to eat much at breakfast out of fear that I would be sick. The pools remained closed during this time as they were unsafe for swimming due to the waves. I spent much of the day resting in my cabin. I’d hoped to go for a walk around the walking track, but the seas were far too turbulent. I eventually went down to the atrium to get a coffee and do some reading before dinner. I ate little at dinner and soon returned to my cabin so I could get some sleep.

The next morning was no better than the previous day and I spent the day doing much the same as yesterday. In the afternoon, the captain made an announcement that there had been a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia. This earthquake triggered tsunami warnings and alerts across the Pacific. The captain reassured us that we were in no imminent danger because it was far safer to be sailing in deep waters – the true danger only occurs the closer one gets to land. Additionally, the danger should be past by the time we reached American Samoa in the morning.

The choppy seas continued to make me feel unwell throughout the day. My previous cruise had sailed in the wake of a typhoon back in February, which had caused some rougher days, but the current sea conditions seemed much worse to me. I eventually went down to the duty free store onboard the ship to search for some motion sickness medicine. As luck would have it, they had some in store and the price wasn’t bad either. Once I took a pill, my seasickness mostly went away. Needless to say, I was looking forward to finally reaching American Samoa and setting foot on land once again.

 
Wednesday, July 30, 2025 – Thursday, July 31, 025
Port: Pago Pago, American Samoa

The ship arrived at Pago Pago in American Samoa early this morning. Happily we were properly docked and did not have to take tenders to reach the shore. When I went up to the top deck to head to the buffet for breakfast, I was disappointed to see that the area around the dock had very little to offer visitors. The general mood on board, from what I could tell by overhearing conversations, was that everyone was unhappy having two days in this port.

I took my time getting ready this morning as I was in no rush whatsoever to go ashore since we had an abundance of time in Pago Pago. When I finally left the ship, my first impressions of the area were quickly confirmed. What few buildings there were in the small town were mostly office and administrative buildings. I could find nowhere for a coffee or an open restaurant for lunch or even dinner this evening. I went for a walk through the town, which took less time than I’d anticipated (or hoped). There was not much else to do around Pago Pago, so I returned to the ship.

My mood and opinion of this cruise was worsening by the day. Each new stop, every meal, brough more disappointment. The cruise did have organized show excursions, but they were outrageously expensive at $150 to $200 per person for a three to four-hour tour! The ‘tours’ were little more than glorified shuttles to beaches, with perhaps a stop for souvenir shopping or to see some farm. I had done several such excursions on my last cruise and had not enjoyed them. The idea of the excursions sounds far better than the reality because they don’t go to the fabulous beaches where the resorts are located.

I remained aboard the ship for the duration of the second day in Pago Pago. With absolutely nothing to do on shore, the vast majority of passengers appeared to have done the same. Everywhere I went on the boat was packed with passengers! I ended up napping and watching movies in my cabin for much of the afternoon. It was a dull, waste of a day.

When we set sail this evening, we had a short journey to reach the nearby country of Samoa. However, we would be crossing the international dateline in the process and thus losing an entire 24 hours! When I went to bed, it was July 31, but it would be August 2 when I awoke only a few hours later.
 

Saturday, August 02, 2025
Port: Apia, Samoa

Country 139: Samoa

As I walked to breakfast this morning, I looked out over the port of Apia in Samoa and I was pleasantly surprised by the view. The town was large and there appeared to be quite a few places to go for a walk. I even spied a large park along the waterfront that looked pretty. It was a shame that we’d been forced to waste an entire day in the wasteland of Pago Pago, when the time would have been better spent in a port like Apia!

It was quite warm out by the time I left the ship. The port was located a fair distance away from the town center, but the walk was nice enough and followed along the water. As I approached town, I veered right so I could walk around the large park that I had seen from the ship. The views across the water were very pretty. I was surprised to not see anyone else walking around this area – it was so peaceful and relaxing!

After leaving the park, I went in search of something to eat in town. There was an abundance of places to eat and I was a bit overwhelmed by the choices after the meager (or zero) offerings in recent ports. Settling on a cute café, I went inside and was warmly welcomed by the staff. For lunch, I ordered from the breakfast menu and had a egg, bacon, and cheese toasty. I coupled that with a banana-peanut butter smoothie that was divine. The food was delicious and I was happy to finally get a decent meal after the poor options onboard the cruise. I spent some time reading before ordering a banana maple syrup cupcake for dessert.

I enjoyed my walk back to the ship this afternoon. Surprisingly, I came across a McDonald’s in town – I had not expected to find one in this remote part of the world! The place was obviously popular, with the drive-thru line stretching down the street. I decided to get a frozen Hawaiian Punch to cool me down from the afternoon heat.

I returned to the ship and made my way to the atrium café, where I hung out for the remainder of the afternoon. We set sail around 16:00, leaving for our final full day at sea. When I was at dinner later in the evening, the captain made another announcement: we were skipping our stop in Dravuni, Fiji and would now have a extra full day at the final port, Lautoka, Fiji. They claimed the Dravuni port sustained damage from the recent tsunami, though I could find nothing online to corroborate this claim. The tsunami, such as it was, was so small, especially by the time it reached this part of the Pacific, that I found the story from the captain a bit hard to believe. I was not alone either – many passengers were angrily talking about this latest cut to the itinerary over dinner.

 
Sunday, August 03, 2025
At Sea

With the return to sea, the ships was once again rocking and rolling in the choppy waves. It wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier in the cruise, but I did need to take more motion sickness medicine. This was the last full day at sea of the cruise, and I was eagerly looking forward to the entire experience coming to an end.

I spent the day lazily around the ship. After breakfast, I took a short nap back in my cabin, before watching some TV. Per my usual routine, I returned to the atrium in the afternoon to do some reading while enjoying a coffee. Dinner was a letdown, as usual. Recently, I’d settled into having salad and sometimes pasta for my dinners. I found that if I arrived at the buffet at the start of dinner service, the salad bar didn’t look as sad. The pasta was hardly what one would consider fresh cooked, but if I added enough parmesan cheese and some tomatoes, it became okay. I considered going to see the evening show at the theater, but I ended up hanging out in my cabin instead.

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

I was flying from Fiji to Tahiti in French Polynesia today an I was happy to be leaving Fiji behind. I would soon be returning to Fiji on my upcoming cruise, stopping at several ports so I could see more of the island nation. At 09:30 I caught the hotel shuttle to the airport. When I arrived there, it as virtually empty and I breezed through check-in and security. For a small island, the airport was much better than I had anticipated! There were several places to eat and plenty of seating for passengers waiting for their flights. I had a couple of hours to wait and the time flew by as I sat watching NetFlix.

My flight to Tahiti departed at 12:50 and lasted just over four hours. The airline provided basic amenities, though none of the entertainment screens were working or turned on throughout the flight. I wasn’t bothered though because I had oodles of things downloaded on my phone to watch.

When I landed in Tahiti, it was 19:15… on Tuesday the 22nd of July! The flight had crossed the international date line and I was now a day behind where I was this morning! Passport control at the airport was a total nightmare this evening. The queue for non-EU citizens was quite long and moved at a glacial pace, despite five or six customs agents processing people. I waited for nearly 90 minutes before it was my turn. It took less than one minute for me to get processed and my passport stamped. I hurriedly grabbed my suitcase from luggage claim and went out to meet my shuttle driver. He was thankfully still waiting for me (I was worried he may leave since I was so late getting out). After about 20 minutes, we pulled up to my hotel.

The hotel seemed quite nice and I had booked a cabin bed, which I assumed was in a dormitory. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was actually just a tiny, private cabin room! The bed was elevated (about the height of a bunk bed), and there was a small table area. The only negative was the WiFi because it was incredibly weak. I eventually bought an esim for my phone that could double as a hotspot for my computer. The sim ended up being far superior to the hotel’s WiFi. The hotel had a large outdoor terrace on the same floor as my room, where I spent some time blogging this evening before heading to bed.

When I woke up in the morning it was once again dawn on the 23rd and I had the entire day at my leisure. Around lunch time I went out for a walk around town. My hotel was located directly across from the port and I wanted to scout out where I would go tomorrow to board the cruise ship. As it happened, the ship was already docked and the terminal was only a five-minute walk from my hotel!

Cruise ship location accomplished, I continued my long walk for the rest of the afternoon. The city has a large park all along the waterfront and I headed I that direction. It was a very pleasant area to stroll and I played Pokémon Go there as well. The only detracting factor was that the area wasn’t very picturesque, both the city and the port weren’t very pretty. It was only later that I realized I hadn’t taken a single picture during my time in Tahiti!

Everything in Tahiti was rather expensive, so I opted to get some fast food for a late lunch today. It was relatively inexpensive when compared to the restaurants nearby. I’ve never been a big “foodie” and have never prioritized finding the best cuisine during my travels; as long as I can have a decent meal that fills me up, I’m set for the day. I spent the rest of the late afternoon relaxing back at the hotel, grateful for the air-con after the long, hot walk! Other than going out for dinner later in the evening, I didn’t go out much for the rest of the day. I’d hoped to get a coffee at the hotel café and spend some time there reading, but it was closed by the time I returned from my walk.

 
Thursday, July 24, 2025

Today was embarkation day for my second cruise! While I had not exactly loved my first cruise experience back in February, the cruise line had given everyone onboard travel credit due to scheduling changes and missed ports along the way, so I needed to use those before they expired. This second cruise would sail through French Polynesia, then head to the Cook Islands, American Samoa, Samoa, and finally return to Fiji. I had picked this cruise because it visited both the Cook Islands and Samoa, which would be two new countries for me!

My boarding time wasn’t until 13:00, so I stayed in my room until check-out time at 11:00, and then had brunch at the hotel’s café. The coffee there was very good, as was the food. It was a very nice way to pass the remaining time. At 12:45, I left the café and walked over to the cruise terminal. Boarding this ship was much easier and quicker than my previous cruise. I was able to walk right up to the desk, get checked-in and then make my way on board (back in February, I’d had to wait for over an hour in an extremely long queue).

Once aboard the Norwegian Sun, I did the obligatory check-in at my designated evacuation point, and then made my way up to the buffet restaurant. Passenger cabins were not quite ready and so I spent the time waiting in the restaurant. The food options were okay, but nothing remarkable. I was surprised to discover that the buffet on this ship was much smaller than on the Norwegian Dawn. I wasn’t too worried though because this was just the afternoon snack time and I hoped the full meal service would offer an improvement. Oh what a fool I was…

An announcement was made at 14:00 that cabins were ready, so I made my way down to mine on deck four. My cabin was surprisingly large, with a queen bed, a small love seat, and the standard desk area. I had a window for this cruise and I was lucky to have an unobstructed view of the ocean! I was very pleased with my cabin.

After getting settled into my cabin, I went out to explore the ship and familiarize myself with its layout. I soon discovered that the Sun is the oldest ship in their fleet and thus had an older layout that didn’t fit well with the more modern, spacious designs of newer ships. The atrium area, where the coffee shop was located, was okay, but it seemed small and claustrophobic. The upper deck pool area was adequate. I never discovered where any of the other restaurants onboard were located. Everything on this ship was so spread out – it was a very illogical design!

At dinner time, I returned to the buffet hoping I could find something good to eat. I was disappointed. The buffet has two different serving areas, along with soup, salad, and pasta stations. Rather than serving a wide variety of foods, the two main serving areas just offered the exact same food. There were about ten different hot dishes available (including the side dishes of vegetables, gravy, etc), none of which looked particularly appealing. They didn’t even have pizza available! What I did try was flavorless and bland. Needless to say, I was unhappy.

The ship set sail at 23:00 this evening for the short voyage over to Mo’orea.

 
Friday, July 25, 2025
Port: Mo’orea, French Polynesia

I was up early this morning and went up to the buffet for breakfast, having little hope that I would find anything appetizing on offer. To my surprise, the breakfast spread was rather good! They had pancakes, French toast, piles of bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, etc. This was also the only meal where the entire buffet was open and running. I had discovered that there was another area of the buffet at the rear of the dining area, outside on the rear deck. Here there was ample seating with great views over the sides of the ship, along with a huge buffet area, all under a tarp covering to shield passengers from the elements. I was baffled as to why this area was not utilized during lunch or dinner meals.

To get from the ship to land we had to take the tender boats. Since I didn’t have a prebooked tour, and I hadn’t gone to get a tender ticket yesterday, I had to wait for the preassigned groups to go ashore before open boarding was called. The process moved quickly and, by 11:00, I was able to get ashore.

I needn’t have hurried because there was absolutely nothing to do in this port or anywhere nearby. It was the tiniest of villages, with just a few buildings around the ferry. The cruise ship had docked nowhere near any local beaches either. In order to reach the closest beach, one had to either take the overpriced cruise excursions or haggle with a taxi driver (though they appeared to be snatched up by the passengers who had already disembarked).

From what I could see on Google Maps, there appeared to be a pretty path for walking heading out of the village, so that’s where I headed once I got off the tender boat. What had appeared pretty from Google Maps was nothing more than just a road with only a few random places with pretty views. Most of the time I was hemmed in by small houses, fences, etc on either side of the road, giving me nothing worth looking at during my walk. There were a few scattered clearings where I could peek out over the water and see the surrounding countryside, and that was very pretty.

When I returned to the ship, they were serving afternoon snacks at the rear buffet. They were minimal, but it did include scones, cookies, and a variety of sandwiches (I quickly learned to avoid them because the open air had dried them out considerably). Later on, for dinner, I was again disgusted with the food that was served. I ended up just eating hot dogs and fries. By this point I was getting hangry and already over this cruise. The food on the previous cruise hadn’t been much better, but it had a much larger and varied menu for dinner. The next two weeks would indeed be very rough.

 
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Port: Raiatea, French Polynesia

After sailing throughout the night, we reached our next port in French Polynesia, the island of Raiatea. I had breakfast at the buffet and then prepared to disembark the boat. The ship was able to properly dock at this port, so I was able to just walk off the ship rather than waiting for a tender boat. The port was larger than Mo’orea and the town had several streets with shops, restaurants, and bars.

I went for a walk around the waterfront, heading in the direction of a nearby beach. The walk was pleasant enough and pretty, with plenty of views out over the water. When I reached the beach, I discovered that it was very tiny and there was nowhere around there to truly hang out (aside from laying on the sand, which was already crowded with visitors). After snapping a few photos, there was nothing else to do but return to town.

Upon reaching town again, I stopped at a small grocery store to get a snack and a cold drink. I had hoped to find a restaurant or café somewhere in town (preferably along the waterfront) where I could spend some time reading, but the town had nothing of the sort. The only place with cafes was at the port, directly in front of the cruise ship. Most of the places only accepted cash, but the last one accepted credit cards, so I decided to spend some time there this afternoon. I had an iced coffee and some ice cream as I passed the time reading. It was a shame that the café was right next to our cruise ship because there was absolutely no view whatsoever.

I went back onboard the ship in mid-afternoon and took a nap in my cabin as we prepared to set sail once more. When I woke up later, I went to deck five where the walking/jogging track was located. For the next hour or so, I walked several laps of the ship. During that time, we were sailing away from Raiatea and the sun was setting. The colors of the sunset were so vibrant and stunning this evening!

Dinner was another abysmal affair. I won’t waste time describing the craptacular food that was served. The ship was sailing to Bora Bora next, which was very close to Raiatea, but from some strange reason we sailed far to the south this evening before turning back north towards Bora Bora. The seas became increasingly rough as we sailed, turning the kids pool on the upper deck into a mini wave pool. I went to bed early this evening, hoping to sleep through the rough waves (I was feeling slightly seasick).

 
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Port: Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bora Bora was our final stop in French Polynesia and I was ready to move on to another country. From the ship, the island looked pretty, but it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the previous islands. I was a bit surprised by this because Bora Bora is so hyped up for its beauty – the resorts on the island must be truly spectacular. As I ate my breakfast this morning, I spied what looked like a resort with a restaurant along the waterfront in the distance. Google Maps said it was about an hour’s walk from the port, so I decided that was going to be my destination for the day.

Open call for the tender boats was called around 10:30 and I soon made my way down to the embarkation platform. The port area was small, with a smattering of souvenir shops located nearby. I set off on my long walk to reach the distant resort, following the lone major road as it would around the island. The road following along the coastline, so I was able to admire the natural beauty of the island as I walked. I had expected Bora Bora to be remarkable (something akin to the Maldives), but the area I was in was just okay – not stunning, but not awful. Again, I assumed the true beauty of Bora Bora was held exclusively by the upscale resorts.

It was very hot walking under the sun today and there was scant shade along the road (I knew that I would be sunburned after today). As I got closer to my destination, which indeed was a resort, I discovered that it was still under construction! It was impossible to see from the ship as the exterior of the resort was entirely completed, including about a dozen huts along the waterfront. While the buildings were done, the interiors were still being furnished and completed. I was immensely disappointed because I’d hoped to find a place for lunch before heading back to the ship (I wanted a decent meal!).

I walked a little further past the resort so I could walk along the waterfront a bit more. This was the prettiest part of the walk today. The water was clear and beautiful. The only downside from the walk was that I couldn’t really walk out along the small sandy areas next to the water because it was covered with crab holes. Almost the entire area was covered with where the small crabs had dug their dwellings, and I didn’t want to disturb or destroy them by walking around. I did see several crabs scurrying about, before zipping into their holes for safety as I approached.

There was a beach about 30 to 45 minutes further ahead and, while I had the time to walk there, the sun was wearing me down and I decided to turn around. When I reached the town again, I tried in vain to find somewhere to eat, but there was nothing open. I did manage to find a small grocery store where I grabbed a cold Root Beer and some snacks. I sat down at a bench near the port to enjoy my snacks since I could not bring food back aboard the cruise ship.

After taking the tender boat back, I sought refuge in the refreshing air-con of my cabin. The shower I took was so wonderful, but, in the mirror, I saw that I was indeed quite sunburned! I was still relaxing in my cabin as we set sail from Bora Bora in the late afternoon.

Eventually I went down to the atrium café where I bought an iced coffee to enjoy as I did some reading. It was during this time that the captain made an announcement to the entire ship: our stop in the Cook Island had been cancelled. The reasoning they gave was that the weather was so bad that it would make our tendering operations unsafe. They claimed there were gale-force winds and large ocean swells, which, if true, did make sense. I was skeptical about the validity of their claims though. To visit the Cook Islands would requite us to sail quite far south, before returning back northwards to reach Samoa. Several passengers were wondering if the port was cancelled simply to save some money. I was very upset because the Cook Islands was one of the two main reasons that I picked this cruise (the other being Samoa). The captain said that we would instead have two days at our next port in American Samoa, as if that was supposed to somehow compensate for the loss of the Cook Islands.

I endured another awful dinner before calling it a night. As we sailed, the seas became increasingly worse. Seasick bags appeared at all of the stairwells for passengers who were feeling unwell. From my cabin, I could hear the waves crashing against the side of the boat. I was glad to head to bed this evening, hoping to wake up with calmer sailing conditions in the morning.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Just as the start of this trip began with an early morning flight from Hanoi to Singapore, so too did this next segment. Thinh had stayed the night and went with me to the airport this morning. We got a Grab at 04:15 and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Since I wasn’t checking a bag, we didn’t have to wait in a horribly long queue. However, I was required to get a paper boarding pass because the Hanoi security people don’t let passengers use digital boarding passes for reasons which escape me. Thankfully there was a very short line for passengers who had checked in online, which helped expedite the process. It was then time for me to head through passport control and security. I kissed Thinh goodbye and he waited until I went behind the wall to the passport control area.

Once through security, I waited for Starbucks to open and got myself some coffee. Thinh had taken a Grab bike home from the airport, which made me happy. The first bus that could get him home wasn’t leaving for another 90 minutes and I didn’t want him waiting at the airport for so long, especially since he was so tired. My flight took off at 07:35 and I was asleep before the plane was done taxiing to the runway.

I landed back in Singapore shortly before noon and had a nine hour layover until my next flight. I grabbed lunch at the airport and then went to the Jewel mall for a little while. At 15:00 I discovered that I could do early check in for my flight, which meant that I could go through security sooner than planned. Changi is an amazing airport and there are plenty of ways to pass the time at the airport, especially after security. The time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to board my next flight.

I was flying to Fiji this evening, where I would spend the next several days before my cruise. I had an aisle seat located near the front of the aircraft. Since it was an overnight flight, I had only enough energy to stay awake for the dinner meal service before I drifted off to sleep.

 
Sunday, July 20, 2025

Country 138: Fiji

I landed in Nadi, Fiji shortly after 11:00 this morning. The airport, while small, was nice. The walkways to the boarding ramps were all outdoors, which I found interesting (thankfully it wasn’t raining when I arrived!). Clearing passport control was easy and, once outside the terminal, I found my transfer driver. The drive from airport to hotel took only 15 minutes and I was warmly greeted by the hotel staff.

It was too early for check-in, but I left my suitcase at reception and went out to the beachside restaurants to pass the time. There were three restaurants all next to one another and they all had the exact same menu (they obviously had a shared kitchen). The one in the middle had the more appealing atmosphere and shade under some trees, so I chose a table there for the afternoon. I did some reading and watched Netflix as I ate my lunch. The chicken fried rice I ordered was alright, though nothing outstanding.

At 15:00 I was able to get checked in to my room, which turned out to be an apartment, completed with kitchenette and a washer/dryer. The bed was insanely comfortable! The balcony didn’t have a great view and I knew I wouldn’t utilize that space. I curled up in bed and spent must of the afternoon relaxing since I was so tired from traveling.

I eventually dragged myself out of the room and back down to the row of restaurants for a late dinner. This time I decided to eat at the restaurant associated with my hotel. I wasn’t very hungry, so I ordered a chicken wrap for dinner. The service was very slow and a bit bizarre – I was told to sit anywhere, but then discovered that the waitress was waiting for me to return to the bar to place my order, rather than coming to the table. The wrap was so-so, but just enough for this evening. Then I returned to my room and crawled into bed for the night.

 
Monday, July 21, 2025 – Tuesday, July 22, 2025

My time visiting Fiji was primarily focused on relaxing at the hotel/resort. Though, truth be told, calling it a ‘resort’ was a bit of a stretch. True, it was a beachfront hotel, but the property was very small and the only places to spend any time were at the restaurants lining the beach where I’d hung out on my first afternoon. The beach itself was mediocre – nothing like the idyllic beach that one envisages when thinking of Fiji. Rather, it was a wide and empty area, devoid of any beach chairs or umbrellas, no other beachside cafes or restaurants aside from those at my hotel, etc. It wasn’t a white sandy beach either, but had a darker color that made it appear dirty. I saw no one out enjoying the beach or the ocean during my stay. For the price I had paid for this ‘resort’, I’d expected more from the property and location.

A hotel next door to mine had a coffee shop and I went over there for breakfast my first morning. I had an iced latte, along with pancakes and honey. The portion was large and the food was good. However, the vibe of the place wasn’t relaxing and I didn’t want to stay there very long (I’d hoped to spend some time reading). I ended up back in my room for some of the morning before heading down to the beachside restaurant for lunch, where I hung out for several hours. This was much more conducive to relaxing with a good book, though the staff hovered around and I felt as though I should constantly be ordering something. I had dinner at the restaurant as well before calling it a night.

My second full day was spent similarly to the first, though I skipped breakfast entirely. I was up very early this morning and managed to see a stunning sunrise! The day was alright, though I was slightly bored. I’d hoped that this hotel would be a proper resort along a better beach (the photos online did not match reality), so I’d not planned any activities for my stay. The hotel offered several daily tours, but they were insanely overpriced and none of them captured my interest. In the evening, I got my bags ready for departure in the morning.

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Thinh’s flight back to Hanoi was at 09:00 this morning, so we had to get up at 05:30 in order for him to get ready. I too was flying to Hanoi today, but not until the afternoon. When my original plans do some island hopping in the South Pacific ahead of my cruise had fallen through due to the airline cancellations, I had booked flights back to Hanoi instead. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get on the same flight back with Thinh. We would still have the next week together, which was a wonderful treat that had us both very excited!

At 06:00 we went downstairs and ordered Thinh a Grab to the airport. I remained at the hotel so I could get some more rest. It made little sense for me to go to the airport with him, only to return to the hotel for a couple of hours before once again going to the airport. It also didn’t make much sense for me to go with him to the airport and wait there for several hours, waiting to check in for my flight. We said goodbye and planned to meet tomorrow for lunch.

I returned to the hotel room and relaxed for the next several hours. I had planned to get some more sleep, but I was unable to get back to sleep. Around 10:00 I too ordered a Grab to the airport. My flight departed Changi at 13:00 and landed in Hanoi a few hours later. The line for passport control wasn’t too bad this time and my bag was waiting for me when I reached baggage claim. When I exited the airport, I looked around for Thinh just in case he had come to surprise me. We’d planned to meet tomorrow because it made no sense for us to meet up again this evening. I then took a Grab car back to my apartment.

When I reached my apartment, I noticed a pair of shoes outside of my door… Thinh’s shoes. I excitedly opened the door and there he was, sleeping on my couch waiting for me! He is so cute and sweet and loving! I was so surprised to see him waiting for me – and was so glad that he had come over. We hung out for a little while, but he had to get back home for dinner this evening. Even though it was just a short time spent together this afternoon, it was still wonderful.

For dinner this evening, I went over to the Moose & Roo since I had no food at my house. Several of my friends were working this evening and I was happy to see them all again. They were surprised to see me since they hadn’t expected me for another few weeks. I was so happy to be home in Hanoi – I love the city so much – and back to my routine life, even though it would only be for five days.

 
Monday, July 14, 2025 – Friday, July 18, 2025

This week was spent following much of the same routine each day, so I will combine it all into one entry. I got up around 10:00 each morning and then went into the city center, to the Moose & Roo Smokehouse, where I would have my morning coffee. Thinh’s new office was just two blocks away and his lunch break started at 11:00 each day, so he would come over and meet me at the Smokehouse. We would then go have lunch somewhere nearby. On Monday we got bun cha, my most favorite of all Vietnamese foods. One day we went to a Japanese place where the dish I ordered came out with dried fish on top of it (there was no mention of fish on the menu). I didn’t eat the dish since I cannot stomach seafood, which I think upset or embarrassed Thinh. I felt bad, but I just cannot each fish.

The afternoons I spent at the Smokehouse, working and chatting with my friends. This is exactly what I would normally do on weekdays at home and I was enjoying this short return to normalcy. I was able to see almost all of my friends throughout the week and we all enjoyed catching up.

Thinh and I met for dinner most nights after he finished work as well, though there were two nights where he had to go home for dinner. The first such night, Tuesday, I planned to see the new Superman film and bought a ticket online. When I showed up at the cinema, I discovered that I’d bought a ticket for a different location and there was zero chance of me getting there in time for the movie. I was rather upset with myself. On the second night Thinh ate dinner at home, Thursday, I once again bought a ticket for Superman and made sure it was the correct location this time. Thinh is not into the superhero movies, so seeing it by myself spared him from having to sit through a long movie that he probably wouldn’t enjoy.

Thinh came over to my apartment Friday evening so we could have dinner and finish watching the second season of White Lotus. We had started the show before I’d left on my trip and had two episodes left. I’ve seen the entire show before and had introduced it to Thinh, who was hooked. This was our last night together before I left for the South Pacific, where I would be taking a cruise. I would be gone for three weeks and I was already feeling very sad about leaving Thinh again.

This week had flown by so quickly. Though nothing remarkable had happened, I had enjoyed the respite from traveling. Thinh and I had squeezed in every last minute together that we could during this time. We both knew that the next three weeks would fly by and we’d be back together soon enough, but I was still feeling guilty, as well as deeply sad, about being away from my husband again.