December 28, 2025
RAIATEA, FRENCH POLYNESIA was our Port for Christmas & Boxing Days. Our ship pulled right into the town center. We love these kind of Ports, where we can walk right off into the center of things. I have to admit I only went out on my balcony on the 25th, as we were quite busy and it was a bit rainy. But I went for a nice walk through the town center and outlying area today.
View more
The buzz around town was that the Mayor got married this morning in town under a big white tent, I only saw a black police SUV decorated with white tulle and flowers. The windows were tinted, so not sure if bride and groom were inside. I was just admiring the art murals, tropical flowers, rooster crowing and general peace and serenity along my walk. I had to check out the local catholic church of St. Andrew ( Sadly, we got into Port too late for there one Christmas mass at 8am yesterday).
BORNEO ISLAND is a fascinating place, that I had honestly only heard of from the reality tv show Survivor. I'm still learning so much, but I had no idea it is the largest island in Asia and 3rd largest island in the World! It is a mini continent, with 3 different Countries sharing the island's land mass ( Indonesia 73%, Malaysia 26% and Brunei 1% ). We are only going to 2 ports in Malaysia now, one in each of the states of Sarawak and Sabah . Below is a video that highlights and explains thing well.
The Port of Singapore is massive and thus deserving of it's own post!
Right next to the Flower Dome in Gardens by the Bay is the Cloud Forest Dome .They sell the entry tickets as a joint package. The Cloud Forest currently has a special exhibit, Jurassic World The Experience incorporated into the forest.