June 6, 2025

HONOLULU, on O'AHU ISLAND, HAWAII - Our first port in the USA!!

  View from surfer's vantage point on Waikiki Beach as the ODYSSEY sails into Honolulu Cruise Terminal #2  around 8 am on                   Sunday 6/1/25. Our eight day crossing across the Pacific from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico  was super smooth!

  • Diamond Head

    First views of O'ahu from my balcony heading into port.

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  • Waikiki Beach


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After everyone on the Ship cleared customs, we were free to go a shore, which was about 11:30 am. I met my friend and Honolulu resident Patrick Jeppeson  at the pier, he picked me up in his car and greeted me with a gorgeous lei! We drove up to the north shore, chatting the whole way and catching up since my last visit just before Covid shut the world down. Patrick is an actor and very resourceful at also working behind the camera doing props, carpentry and electrical work. Above are the only pictures I took of North Shore area, because we were so busy chatting. The Japanese truck is latest fade per Patrick, lots showing up on the roads here. After cruising the main street of Haleiwa we headed back to Waikiki beach area and Patrick's condo.


We went for an early Sushi dinner. A friend of Patrick's recommended Doraku Sushi  and it was so yummy!! Then I went back to the ship to clean up and get ready to go back out and meet him at the Cirque du Soleil  show Auana.

The show was based on Hawaiin culture, the music and visuals were great. The theater is on smaller side, holds about 700 and the seats were roomy and comfy and there are no bad seats to be had. The performers do some crazy balance, aerobatic, daring and scary stunts. The lady who does sand art from AGT was part of the show too. Two thirds of the way into the show, they had a sound misfunction and the fire alarm went off. We all had to evacuate the building and go outside and await fire department to  reset alarm. After about 20 minutes we went back in and the show finished.

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Afterwards we walked along beach hotels and admired all the night decorations.

COLONIA, YAP STATE, MICRONESIA

By Patricia Patrick • October 16, 2025
Got to love a place that sells shirts saying " Where the heck is Yap? " Colonia ( population 3,100 ) is the Capital and Harbor town of Yap State ( population 11,600 ) one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia. We are in the Pacific Ocean or Philippine Sea just north of the equator, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

TERNATE, INDONESIA

By Patricia Patrick • October 13, 2025
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.

CEBU, PHILIPPINES

By Patricia Patrick • October 10, 2025
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.