We Always “Dreamed of Parking the RV at a Cruise Terminal” and Taking Off! We Finally Did It on January 7th 2023 thru January 31st 2023.
From the time I (Mark) took my first cruise in March of 1989, I was hooked! It seemed like the perfect way to immediately get into vacation mode by just “showing up” and having all the planning already done and handed to you. I always tell folks that the best bang for your buck to travel in style, with low stress, great food and constant non-stop high quality entertainment is by cruising! I took my own advice and cruised a total of 12 times up until retirement.
Planning & Changing Things Up for Retirement
In around early 2016, Sue and I started to seriously think about what retired life should look like. I recall being “jarred” into the urgency of starting to live my final chapter purposely by watching the quick progression of my father’s dementia demise while in a nursing home. We both decided to do something BOLD to get out of our self-imposed mold. We had a great home, many fun friends, and a great life! We just wanted to create another great “mold” that was brand new, UNFAMILIAR, and EVER EXPANDING!
Packing Up & Storing Motorhome
After we started RVing, we always talked about being able to park the RV near a cruise departure port, and not have to spend airfare money just to get into position. We wanted to see how this whole process of “being near a cruise port”, preparing the RV for storage, and then actually going on a cruise would work!
Could We Live on a Cruise Ship?
We intentionally selected the longest cruise we could find that was reasonably priced, and the Holland America Line’s 24 Day Mexican Riviera & Circle Hawaii Cruise was perfect! In the back of our minds, we were using this cruise as a small test to see if maybe we could live on a cruise ship for a year!
After 24 days, we could see ourselves doing this many times in the future. We started talking about an Alaska Excursion Adventure, leaving out of Vancouver B.C., in Canada or Seattle Washington. We were actually quite surprised how quickly we missed the versatility our motorhome provides us overall, and re-evaluated that maybe shorter “Less Than 60 day” cruising would be our sweet spot!
Check Out Our Experience Cruising
Want to see OUR ENTIRE Holland America Line 24 Day Mexican Riviera & Circle Hawaii Collector Cruise EXPERIENCE to see if it is something you would like to try? Come along with Sue & Mark and see it from the average passenger’s standpoint. We ended up breaking up our adventure into (5) separate videos that covers port, the ship, the shows, the food as well as the “day to day” life on board a luxury cruise ship.
👇 Video #1: Departing from San Diego, CA. in Holland America’s Koningsdam Ship, this episode captures days 1 thru 4 of our 24 Adventure! We will show you the flurry of activity the first day when you are still “discovering” the ship. And of course after a day at sea, will take you to the first two of three Mexican ports of call. Relaxing Cabo San Lucas MX and the vibrant Mazatlan MX!
Holland America Line Mexican Riviera & Circle Hawaii Collector Cruise | Days 1 Thru 4 of 24 | EP259 ⬇️ 👇
👇Video #2: This video episode will capture days 5 thru 7 of our 24 Adventure! We will take you along on our excursion exploring the culturally rich city of Puerto Vallarta MX. And show you the true meaning of relaxation and luxury with all the activities during our two “at sea” days before returning to San Diego CA ending the first “Mexican Riviera” leg of our journey before embarking on the “Circle Hawaii Collector Cruise Tour” portion!
👇Video #3: Departing from San Diego, CA. in Holland America’s Koningsdam Ship, this episode captures days 8 thru 13 of our 24 Adventure! We will immerse you in the feel & pace of “at sea days” as you travel 5 days to get to your Hawaiian destination! Next week’s video will show you all the things to see and do once you get there!
👇 Video #4: After 5 days at sea, we are finally ready to start touring the Hawaiian Islands on days 14 thru 17. Come along with us as we take (2) Shore Excursions our 1st day in Honolulu Hawaii. The Pearl Harbor Museum, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Germaine’s Luau®, the Original Backyard-style Hawaiian Luau in Honolulu Hawaii are must see stops! Then it’s on to a “Discover Kauai Hawaii” Shore Excursion Bus Tour, a Maui Hawaii Beach Day Shore Excursion, and finally just a lazy day walk around Hilo Hawaii on our own. Of course in between all these tours, we will continue to show you the “day to day life” aboard the Holland America Line Koningsdam cruise ship.
👇 Final Video #5: Returning from our final port of call in Kona HI in Holland America’s Koningsdam Ship, this episode captures the final days 18 thru 24 of our cruising adventure! We will immerse you in the feel & pace of “at sea days” as you travel 5 days to get to Ensenada MX. This is the last port before returning to San Diego, our cruise departure port for BOTH the Mexican Riviera as well as the Hawaiian LEGS of our tour. This video ends showing us bringing our 2014 Newmar Dutch Star motorhome “back to life” after being stored for 26 days,…..and returning to our normal FULL-TIME RV LIVING LIFE!
Thanks for joining us and hopefully we’ll see you on land… or sea!!
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