Land! I see land!

After 11 days straight with only 1 (very stormy) day in port, I was sooo happy to step foot on dry land! We arrived in Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia around 7 a.m. Land! I see land! After 11 days straight with only 1 (very stormy) day in port, I was sooo happy to step foot on dry land! We arrived in Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia around 7 a.m. Being a small island with a shallow bay, a large cruise ship is unable to dock, making it necessary to tender in.  Everyone on the ship was ready to get off, as evidenced by the wait inside hot tenders to carry us back and forth to the island.

 

At only 127 square miles, Nuku Hiva  is the largest of the Marquesas Islands. This island was the inspiration for 2 of Herman Melville’s novels, one in which he summed up Nuku Hiva as a “country that no description could fit the beauty.” I must agree with him – the island is gorgeous! Hot and humid, but gorgeous! 

 

lots of color

lush and tropical vegetation

We did not book an excursion there, but were happy just to walk around and take in its beauty. Upon the arrival of our tender, we were greeted with plumeria blossoms for our hair, local dancers, drummers and ukulele players performing. 

 

friendly native dancers

4, 6 and  8 string ukuleles

 

From there we went through a small market where locals were selling their arts and crafts, along with local produce. Some offered wood carvings while others offered an array of handmade jewelry and souvenir type items.

 

 

Regarding the locals diet, it tends to be breadfruit, taro, manioc, coconut and many kinds of fruit which grow there in abundance. Goats, fish and (more rarely) pigs are the main sources of meat, but there is a growing amount of local beef available. By the way, Ronnie learned in trivia that the most fattening fruit is….guess what? Coconut!

mango tree loaded with fruit

 

acai berries on palm

 

Once on the island, we weren’t sure whether to turn right or left, so we ended up walking both directions. First we turned to the right and climbed Tuhiva Hill, where we saw many large stone carvings. 

 

The largest, which overlooks the bay of Taiohae was the Tiki Tuhiva. It is a 40 foot sculpture of 2 Tiki people, the female and tallest of the two representing the guardian of tradition and knowledge and the male representing a warrior imposing his power. 

 

side view, Ronnie under Tiki warrior

front view, female guardian of wisdom and knowledge

Coming back down and heading back the other direction, we walked at least a mile (felt like more) to see the Notre Dame Cathedral of the Marquesas, an open air church known for its unique Polynesian architecture. It is famous for its massive wood-carved pulpit, local stone statues and wood from all 6 of the Marquesan islands. Of course I took lots of photos.

entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral grounds

large carvings stand on either side of front doors

 

elaborately carved pulpit

Between the heat and perhaps a little dehydration, I had to take several rest stops on my way back. Ronnie, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to run on land back to the tender dock. 

 

Vista from my shady resting spot

Worrying about what was taking me so long, he came to meet me with water. I was so thankful that we took one of the earlier tenders because there were still people arriving as we were leaving. I can’t imagine how they handled the mid-day heat!

I forgot to mention that Survivor Season #4 was filmed on Nuku Hiva.

 

 

a change of plans

In light of the current political situation in the Gulf States, we want to provide you with the previously promised revised itinerary from Singapore to Southampton. The safety and security of our guests and crew is our #1 priority, and given the current state of the conflict in the Gulf States, the most prudent course of action is to official alter the itinerary at this time.

On April 27, Vista will now set sail from Singapore en route to Southampton via Cape Town in lieu of Dubai and the Red Sea. After an overnight stay in Phuket, you'll sail to Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and Madagascar. The voyage will continue to South African with calls in Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay and overnight stays in Durban and Cape Town. 

From Cape Town, the voyage continues up Africa's west coast, visiting Namibia, Angola, Sao Tome and Gambia, then on to the Portuguese islands of Cape Verde and Madeira. After a call in Lisbon, Vista sails north to Vigo, Spain and then across the Bay of Biscay to Southampton in the United Kingdom. 

Oceania Vista will resume her previously published schedule from Southampton, sailing to  New York and Miami via the British Isles, Ireland, the Faroes, Iceland and Canada.

So now we know. 

Where on earth are we going?

It's Day 72 and once again we're crossing the Equator. Thankfully, there are no initiation rites for us this time, as we have been Trusty Shellbacks since our first crossing in 2023.

Friends keep asking us "how will your itinerary change, given the war in the Middle East?" Good question! We too have been wondering how the current situation will affect our itinerary. So I will share a letter we received from Oceania a couple of days ago.

Dear Around the World Cruise Guests,

In light of the current political situation in the Gulf States, we want to provide you with an update on our robust security protocols and the airline disruptions that have arisen due to the situation. 

First and foremost, the safety and security of our guests and crew is our number one priority. In addition to the security teams onboard, we have a highly experienced shore side Security Operations team that works hand-in-hand with the foremost law enforcement, security, intelligence, and military agencies across the globe. 

At the moment, we are making daily assessments of the impacts of the ongoing situation in the Gulf States and Eastern Mediterranean region, and with this in mind, we may need to adjust ports of call and associated land programs or shore excursions.

At this time, there are no changes to our published Around the World voyage itinerary. However, as we communicated to you in June 2025, thoughtful contingency planning is essential.

The first planned ports of call in the Gulf States and subsequent passage through the Red Sea are not scheduled until early May, and if a revision is to be made, our goal is to make that decision by end of this month. The most likely adjustment would take effect with our departure from Singapore on April 27. In this scenario, Oceania Vista would sail to Phuket for an overnight stay, then onward to Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, and Madagascar. The voyage would continue to South Africa, with calls in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay and a two-day stay in Cape Town.

From there, the ship would journey up Africa's west coast, visiting Namibia, Angola, Sao Tome, and Gambia, then on to the Portuguese islands of Cape Verde and Madeira. After a call in Lisbon, Oceania Vista would sail north to Vigo, Spain and cross the Bay of Biscay to Southampton on the south coast of the United Kingdom.

From Southampton, the ship would resume her originally published itinerary, sailing around the British Isles and Ireland before crossing the Atlantic to Iceland, Halifax, New York City, Charleston, and  ultimately concluding in Miami. 

In an abundance of caution, our itinerary planning team is currently finalizing a detailed day-by-day itinerary and confirming port and short excursion availability for the alternate passage around Africa if needed.

On behalf of all of us at Oceania Cruises, we hope you continue to enjoy your Around voyage and thank you for your patronage.

Warm regards, 

Jason Montague 

SO...there you have it. None of this above comes as a surprise. We've had a very strong feeling that this will indeed be our itinerary going forward. It's disappointing in that we will miss some of the places we thought we would get to visit, and we will re-visit some places along the west coast of Africa that we visited in 2023. But either way, we feel privileged to get to see so many beautiful people and places while developing friendships all along the way.

Sailing, sailing....

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The following was sent to me today, and I liked it so much I'm sharing it here. 

As a missionary in Ireland, St. Patrick boldly lit an Easter fire on the hill of Slane, defying pagan tradition and proclaiming the light of Christ. Continuing his mission, he established the first Irish Christian church at Saul – now honored as the birthplace of Irish Christianity. Over 29 years, Patrick baptized more than 120,000 people and founded roughly 300 churches.

He left the Church this enduring prayer: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”

Lots of people are wearing green on the ship today. I don't have anything green in my closet, either on the ship or at home, so Aggie Maroon will have to do. 

I'm ready to get off this ship! I do enjoy being on it, but not this many days in a row. We were scheduled to be at sea for 5 days, then 2 days in Hawaii before another 4 days to the Polynesian islands. But as I shared in my last post, the Kona storm changed our plans so instead of another day in Kona, we headed straight for our next port, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. That means 1 day out of 11 at sea!

I haven't been posting because I haven't had anything very exciting to share. However, we are safe and well, the sun is shining again and we are staying busy. The ship brought on some "cultural ambassadors" in Honolulu that give destination related talks and offer different kinds of classes.

Yesterday I took my first (and last) hula lesson. I happened to be the only one who had not been to an earlier class. It was well attended and I was on the back row. The instructor asked for a show of hands for those who had been before. All hands went up except for mine. Then she asked who was there for their first class (moi). Since I was so far back and couldn't see her moves, she had me move up and before I knew it, I was on the front row directly in front of the instructor! I will say, it was (kinda) fun, but my back was protesting before the class was finished. Overall, my back is MUCH improved since the intracept procedure I had last October. However, it's not ready for all the gyrations required by the hula, so I decided it unwise to go back.

I missed the lei making class (didn't know about it) but signed up for a bracelet making class the next day, then later I blew it off in favor of a nap! 

Today Ronnie attended his first ukulele lesson. Apparently lessons have been going on for a couple of weeks, but it was not announced so he just learned about them through word of mouth yesterday. So today he joined maybe 9 or 10 other players (ukulelists). I tagged along and thought he did a great job. There were 2 other guys (one younger, one about his age) and the rest were women.

 

practicing the strum

 

ukulele and hula demo

There have also been some interesting afternoon lectures - The Real Robinson Cruiso: Alexander Selkirk, The Mysteries of Easter Island and Nuclear Testing in the Pacific. The nice thing about the talks is that they are recorded and can be watched later on our room TV.  

Additionally, we are both really enjoying our Bible study at 1:30 on sea days. Our teacher is excellent and we've spent the last 2 days learning what God is trying to teach us through the 29 parables in Luke. 

As time goes on, we're getting to know more of our fellow passengers. We've especially enjoyed getting to know some who will be with us for the duration.