Greetings from the South Pacific!

I have not been sending out emails since New Years but is because I have been traveling a lot! I decided to check off some bucket list destinations before I got much older. Traveling while wonderful can get challenging as well.

In January we went to Antartica on a 16 night cruise. Buenos Aires to Santiago. Five days of scenic cruising the Antarctica peninsula. Oh my what a beautiful and amazing region. The air is so clear and fresh! So peaceful and calm. The beauty is beyond words! While the region is a cold climate, if you plan your clothing it is quite doable.

Our next big adventure was New Zealand and Australia. These two regions have been long time bucket list destinations. We cruised around New Zealand to see the Milford Sound. Incredible waterfalls and fjords. We followed up with a cruise up the east coast of Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef. Now we are on a transpacific cruise that takes is to Fiji and Tahiti. We have loved this part of the world not only with its beautiful scenery, the people of New Zealand and Australia are awesome! So very kind and friendly.

The flights are long to Australia. We flew to the west coast and over nighted a few days, then flew the 15 hours easily. We left at 11pm so it was very easy to sleep.

I arranged for us to hear a Symphony in the Opera House on our arrival day. An awesome start for our trip.

We stayed a few nights in Melbourne and took a hotair balloon ride over the Yarra Wine Valley at sunrise! What a fun experience.

In a few days we will arrive in Tahiti. We will leave the ship and take a ferry to Moorea where we will stay one night in an overwater bungalow. I can hardly wait for that!

The world of cruising and travel is constantly changing. It is important to keep up to date with these changes. One of my big take a ways is to plan - plan - plan! I have seen so many people disappointed by not planning. I speak of shore excursions here. Countless people did not book their excursions before they joined their ship. They had in their mind places to go and see. But once onboard the best excursions were sold out! So they were left walking around ports and not really seeing the destination they had paid good money for. My mantra is plan - plan - plan! Do your homework, because your travels will be memorable by knowing your destinations.

What else is new with cruising? Not only is it important to plan excursions, but choosing your destination. Norway comes to mind. The government has instituted a policy that large cruise ships will not be able to go into their gorgeous fjords after the 2025 season. So plan now to see some fabulous scenery before it is gone!

Plan ahead. The days of taking last minute cruises is gone. Most cruises are sailing full. At the start of 2024, 75% of available cabins for the year had already been booked! Bookings are up already for 2025 and inquires about 2026 are coming in. To get your best pricing and cabin location, you need to plan! There will always be those cabins for the weekend getaway, but for real destination experiences, you need to plan.

Start thinking where you want to be in 2025. Put a refundable deposit on a cruise. It is the best way to get to that destination and check it off your bucket list! Dreams come true when you plan. Let me know where you want to go next!

Happy Travels

Kathy Hays