odblnt

I had the opportunity yesterday to do a "ship tour" of the Regatta while it spent the night in port. They hosted one of our local travel agencies as well as the local AAA office and they, in turn, invited interested customers. Now this was one of their old, small ships, but I really noticed several of those items in your review. We started out in the lounge, and it sure was dark (granted, they were showing a PowerPoint presentation, but...). Even the stairs going up from the gangway level to the lounge were like an old hotel. We then split into small groups to see a variety of cabins. I noticed what you meant about size. I thought it was about European riverboat cabin size on some of those. I haven't been on VO yet (we are going this October), but we did do the Mississippi which has the same categories of cabins and we loved our PV. The V-Miss is sort of "VO Light" in its layout and we loved it. Last night I was looking at the website for the VO ships and we just loved the Scandinavian design. They did take us in for a very delightful lunch. If I was on an Oceania ship for any length of time, I'd have to spend a lot of time in the fitness center. It would have to be a very good itinerary that would woo me away from Viking.

I notice that Walvis Bay is on your itinerary. Please be sure to read the following trip report from the "infamous" Sailorjack:

It's only around one vertical bar of the ladder, but I would normally stop so they could use it safely.

I plan on bringing my ankle swim tether (leash). You can look them up on Amazon. Fasten them to your ankles, loop the bungie through a ladder on the side of the pool and paddle away. I use them at hotel swim pools to get my exercise.

Or they were on their phone with voice "recognition".

@GTXgal01 Hope you made it back to the ship ok and met up with your cousin (?). It was good to help a fellow CC member. Pete

Being there overnight will give you a tremendous opportunity to do a manta ray snorkel dive. Can't really recommend an operator, but it's worth checking out.

Looking forward to gazing longingly at the ship in less than a week. Unfortunately, it's just over 9 months until we get to set foot on it's decks. Clay & Mike - did you finally figure out what you're going to do here in Honolulu? Pete

I don’t think it’s difficult at all, just a little curvy. The Halemaumau Crater on the Big Island is more impressive (and active) though.

I've done it several times. Sunset is a much more civilized time to visit instead of getting up in the middle of the night to go up there for sunrise. I've even done the bicycle ride down once.

And of course for Honolulu - the Arizona Memorial.

Looking forward to following your journey and seeing your wonderful ship when you dock at my home on January 14th.

I wouldn't mix that with the champagne at all. 🙄

La Mariana if you like kitch and Magnum, PI. Restaurant 604 food is better. I just realized that you are talking about Thanksgiving Day. Always look up their phone number (Yelp) and call to make sure they're open!

For Maui, I have had good experiences with B&B Scuba out of Kihei. It looks like a lot of the dive scene is on hold due to the fire that wiped out Lahaina. Not sure when you'll be here on your cruise, but going out of Kihei to Molokini Crater is a wonderful dive. On Oahu I second Island Divers Hawaii out of Hawaii Kai. Their afternoon dives do the shallower reefs and are wonderful.