September 12, 2024

Resident origins demographics - by Basia

One of my favorite residents is Basia I love her BLOG and she has some great content. I am sharing the work she recently put together on where all the Residents are joining the Ship from. This data reflects the 306 Residents that were signed up, as of the end of August 2024.  VVR just announced once we set sail, we will actually be sold out or rooms! I'm excited to see how the data below changes.  My number one concern when deciding to do this was how I would mesh with the other residents, since I am doing this totally on my own. I can happily say to date, I am very happy with the mix of people and pleasantly surprised at the larger number of solo travelers over couples. The common travel dreams, we all share is our bonding element. The comradery I have already experienced, in our brief trips to the Canaries and Liverpool, has reinforced that I made the right choice for my retirement dreams.

PORT DEARAU, FIJI - Naidiri Village

By Patricia Patrick • December 4, 2025
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.

LAUTOKA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!

RIVER TUBING DOWN THE NAVUA, SUVA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!