Author: Maria

Worst Airports

Queenstown – New Zealand

We had the absolute worst experience when we landed at the airport. They should advise you on the plane that they will hassle you! They made us take our shoes off and they scrubbed the bottoms and then they took this handmade purse that was given to me while we were in Bora Bora. I wouldn’t rush to visit New Zealand again because of this!!! Traveling is stressful enough they shouldn’t add more drama to it.

Antananarivo – Madagascar

This was an interesting airport for a few reasons. When we first arrived and walked outside with our luggage we got swarmed by men who were grabbing our luggage to carry it to our taxi. At first, we had no idea just how poor Antananarivo was. We were completely shocked that 7 men carried two bags for us and then they all stood there with their hand out waiting for a tip. Technically we didn’t even need help with our luggage but we gave them all a tip anyway.

When we were leaving our passports and our carry on bags got checked at least 5 or 6 times. The corruption is real! If you can’t trust the airport workers it’s really sad.

 

Helicopter Rides

If you would like to skip to any particular area please on the links below.

Oahu Hawaii – September 16, 2013

Skagway, Alaska – July 20, 2015

Hamilton Island, Australia – February 15, 2015

Livingstone, Zambia – June 8, 2016

Big Island of Hawaii – March 1, 2017

Oahu Hawaii – September 16, 2013

Maria
Maria & John
John
Maria
USS Arizona

John

Maria

Skagway, Alaska – July 20, 2015

Maria
John

Maria

Hamilton Island, Australia – February 15, 2015

Maria
John

Heart Reef

Livingstone, Zambia – June 8, 2016

Maria

Big Island of Hawaii – March 1, 2017

Maria & John

Maria & John

New Years Eve at Times Square – NYC 2018

December 31, 2018 – January 2, 2019 

John and I both grew up in New York and we have never seen the ball drop in person so this was a HUGE thing for us to do! It should be on everyone’s bucket list. You hear all the stories and you see it on TV how the pens are filled up and how you can’t get out of the pen once you are in it so to see it in person was something else.

We had the best time and met some really great people. We will do this again one day!

If you would like to see what and where we ate while in NYC.

New Kids On The Block Performance

Christina Aguilera Performance

Rory, Shannon & their dad
Rory, Betty Who, Shannon & their dad

San Juan, Puerto Rico

November 27, 2018

Today John and I took a taxi into Old San Juan, and we walked around a bit. We decided to grab a drink at this place called El Asador Restaurant. While we were there, the bartender gave us a taste of the mushroom risotto, and we were blown away by it, so we decided to have lunch there. We ordered the shrimp risotto and Puerto Rican style pork chops with rice and beans. The entire experience was great. I highly recommend going there. 

The weird Chucky doll was on someone’s luggage cart so I took a picture of it.

If you would like to see what and where we ate while in San Juan.

St. John’s, Antigua

November 26, 2018

Today John and I rented a car and drove around St. John’s. We saw this pretty church called St. George and then we drove to the Devil’s Bridge. We then drove to Our Lady of Perpetual Help on the way to the rainforest. After driving through the rainforest, we drove back to St. John’s Harbor.

St. George’s Church

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Bridgetown, Barbados

November 25, 2018

Today we grabbed a cab, and he drove us to Harrison’s Caves. The tour through the caves was different we were on a tram, and it was about an hour long.

The taxi then picked us up and took us around Barbados he showed us the expensive homes on Sandy Lane where supposedly Rihanna purchased a villa for $22 Million. Afterward, we went back to the ship.

Maria & John

Devil’s Island, French Guiana (Guyana)

November 23, 2018 

Today we took the tender onto the island with a friend of ours named Jan and we walked around the island. While on the island we saw the prison, solitary confinement,  the chapel, and other highlights. It was hot so we decided to stop at the hotel restaurant and we had a cold beer which was very refreshing. On our way back to the port we saw a whole bunch of little monkey’s and goodie’s which are Big Rodents they look like little dogs.  

Chase giving a Monkey a Mango. Photo Credit: Samantha Iveyy

Maria & John

Sailing to Barbados – Oceania Cruises decided to have some fun on the deck.

Parintins (Amazon River), Brazil

November 19, 2018

Today we anchored in Parintins and we took a tender into town. When we got to the port we hitched a ride with a pedicab and he took us around for an hour. We saw this church in town and then he took us to see some artwork that’s a wall which was pretty cool.

The last stop on the tour was this warehouse that has huge parade floats that were tremendous and very colorful. This is an annual Parintins Folklore Festival.