The Blog

I have now spent One Year and One Month aboard the Odyssey. I can't believe that I have visited 40 different countries and I have no idea how many different islands/ports/locations that we have visited. All I know is that I have loved waking up each and every morning to a new horizon. It is late January and we didn't have a January 25 because we crossed over the International Dateline and lost the day that we gained back in December. Last week was a pretty hard time for al

After leaving the Fijian Islands in early December we had a few minor changes to our itinerary again. But the plan to spend more time in Samao, American Samoa, and French Polynesia certainly made up for it. I'd never even heard of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, so I don't think I missed anything.. We spent three full days in Apia, Samoa. A small island of about 40,000 local residents and Apia is the capital city. The entire country (island) has around 220,000 people. I

As the first successful Residential Cruise ship that is actually working its way around the world, there are always surprises. For instance, several months ago, we (the Residents) were told that we were not going to be spending 6 weeks visiting the waters or coastal vistas of China. Who would have thought that they have a restriction against ships older than 50 years old entering their waters. VVR team tried for several months to present proof that we were a safe vessel an

It has been about a month since I last posted. Seems like only yesterday but actually it has been: 4 countries, 6 different stops averaging 3 days in each port, and 14 Sea Days. It has been a different collection of experiences this month. Some good, some which could have been better, and some disappointing. But that is Life, isn't it? It isn't always a box of chocolates. We stopped in Koral, Palau. I think, maybe, I had heard of a place called Palau, but that was the

I'm sure you weren't expecting a post from me so soon, but I have visited 2 very different and unusual places in the past week and I was afraid I would forget some of the details or the excitement I felt. Five Sea Days after leaving the Philippines we arrived in Ternate, Indonesia. Pronounced Ter-Nah-Tay. It is my first Muslim country. It was a one day visit and we were advised to be good citizens. Women could not have bare shoulders nor wear trousers above the knee. Men