2025 was one of my most memorable years for my travel adventures. And really, thats what they are, true adventures. I really try my best to step out of my comfort zone a little bit, try new things, meet new people from all walks of life and of course take as many pictures as possible without going overboard.
January through March is often pretty slow for me travel wise. I like to be in the office and meeting the high popularity energy of cruising and travel. This is always the busiest time of year. I did manage to take a two night cruise with a friend of mine on Norwegian Joy.
The Joy was lively and fun, with great food and service. Some places felt a bit crowded, but not too bad. I would say the main pool deck is kind of strange the way it is laid out, but its alright. A giant hot tub in the back of the ship. This ship has a lot of great areas to relax indoors and watch the scenery. This ship normally doesn't do 2 night cruises, but it had a charter that week so they had to fill the space somehow. Look for this ship doing 9 night cruises this year in Alaska!
In April, I went to Boston for what was supposed to be two nights on a Norwegian ship visit of the VIVA. However, it was cancelled due to weather issues on its way from Europe. I ended up touring Boston and going to a Red Sox game for opening weekend! An amazing experience. After that, I took a 5 night cruise from Miami on Virgin Voyages. The ship visited one of my favorite ports, Puerto Plata, Dominican republic. There, I spent the day with my friend and driver, Santiago. We went to Cabarete and just relaxed and visited some of the local bars and restaurants. The DR is quickly becoming an expat paradise, new condos, houses and investments from all corners of the world. The other port was Bimini, really a beach day or a stay on the ship day. I like Virgin Voyages. They have great food, a really unique vibe and fun approach to cruising. The ship layout has some issues, but some of the little nooks and crannies add to the charm of the ships.
The Second half of the year really started to take off in late May. I made my way to Greece for a Signature hosted cruise on Explora Journeys. This was truly an honor as I was selected to host a cruise for guests who booked through Signature, our premier partner in cruising and travel. I stayed for 3 nights pre cruise in Athens downtown at Hotel Stanley. This is a great hotel for anyone to stay, but is often used for tours such as Tauck, Globus, Trafalgar and others. I was really happy with my room and the staff was absolutely top notch. In Athens, I did a few food tours, a bike ride and a guided tour back up to the Acropolis. That will be the last time I head up to the site, it looks the same as it did ten years ago. Its much more fascinating to look up at it from the town. On the last night before I went to the ship, I had an evening food tour that included a couple from England, the states and myself. We all ended up going to a local bar and met up with some girls from Philadelphia! A really fun and one of a kind time in Athens! Enjoy the food, people and energy of Greece!
During the cruise in Greece we visited a lot of amazing ports and sites including; Mykenos, Volos, Thessaloniki, Kavala and ended in Istanbul, Turkey. I spent 3 nights in Turkey exploring religious areas like the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque, hidden gems on a great walking tour and some beer and wine with cats at some local pubs near my hotel the Hagia Sofia mansions, highly recommended! However, the hotel does not have an elevator, so keep that in mind.
July I spent one month living in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. A boomtown on the North coast, which I lived in during college, has changed! A Lot more tourists, expats and hotels everywhere. It still has that Cabarete charm and is a great place to enjoy. My day to day life there, aside from working, was walking on the beach and in town, enjoying some fresh fish and local music. Fun times.
The end of September marked the start of an unbelievable two month journey. Starting in Seattle, I spent a couple days boating, walking, exploring and attending Mariners baseball versus the soon to be World Series champion Dodgers. A great weekend!
The afternoon of the 28th, I boarded the beautiful (and now refurbished) Westerdam of Holland America Line. This was a 14 night Pacific Ocean crossing cruise with a stop in Juneau, Alaska. I chose this cruise because it had two stops in Japan that I wanted to see before we reached Tokyo. The day to day life on the ship was fairly simple, work, gym, lunch. Lots of sea days on this cruise. In Juneau, I did a bike ride and short hike, it was really cool. the other two ports were Aomori, Japan and Kushiro, Japan. Aomori is a small town with nearby ski resorts and its famous for apples! Kushiro is an even smaller area, famous for marshes and bird watching.
On October 12, we reached the final destination of Tokyo! We had a walking tour set up for today with our lovely guide, Ken and Maru! Ken handled the day portion, took 5 of us to a restaurant in the Shibuya area after that we had stops at the Meiji shrine and some local Japan shops. In the evening, we went bar hopping including Tokyo Confidential (great views of Tokyo Tower) then onto Golden gai in Shinjuku! An amazing historical area for neat little bars and hideaways. I cant wait to go back!
The next day was the day most of the group was arriving at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. In the morning, I had a bike ride and then planned on meeting up with the rest of the group for introductions. We met at a place near the hotel which I fondly called RED bar because the entire inside was red. Its open 24 hours if you need a nightcap at 3am!
For the next few days myself and the group got acquainted, and enjoyed the hotel and local sights of Tokyo. On the 17th, all of us converaged on Yokohama to board the Celebrity Millennium. For the next 12 nights, we are sailing Japan!
Port stops and highlights included; Mt. Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka, Hiroshima and South Korea, among others. Every single port has great sights and memories that I will think about for the rest of my life.
The next leg of the cruise was 14 nights from Tokyo to Singapore. This cruise had a few hiccups. Starting the cruise our first port was Kagoshima, I did a sand bath onsen excursion. FIrst, they bury you to your head in sand which is naturally warmed by the thermal spring below the ground, after that you go into the onsen for a nice shower and sauna. The Cruise was supposed to be Hong Kong overnight, which was one of the days I was supposed to spend in Macau, Celebrity botched the paperwork and I was not allowed to go to Macau! This was after those of us on a back to back were asked to visit a special room a week earlier to set up our back to back paperwork, Celebrity still botched the process. An awful job. After that, two stops in Vietnam on our way to Singapore. Sadly, we ended up missing Vietnam entirely. One port was cancelled due to flooding after a storm rolled through. After spending 3 nights in Hong Kong, that included horse racing, Buddah Visits, cable car ride and bar hopping with guide Ashley, the ship was supposed to sail to Ho Chi Min city. The port was full! Not sure how this happens as it seems the cruise line laid the fault on the local authorities in Vietnam, however, this wasn't announced until the morning we were going into Vietnam. I blame Celebrity for not being certain the port would have space for us to dock that day. They did give us another day in Singapore, I did elect to get off the ship the day before the cruise was to end. Celebrity tried to tell me if I was disembarking, that I MUST tell them, which was another point of contention. A really sloppy job on the part of the ship staff and Celebrity in general. Overall the ports we did go to were awesome! I loved all the stops and made the best of it when I could. The on board experience did leave something to be desired. The hot water in my room didn't work, the sliding glass door to my balcony was faulty and the wifi was spotty.
In Singapore, I met up with Alina, a guide friend of mine I met in Tokyo a couple years prior. I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore, which was absolutely amazing. Incredible comfort, service and experience, worth every penny. We did a bike ride around Singapore, enjoyed the rooftop pool, had some great local foods and just enjoyed the city.
After a couple nights in Singapore, I went back to Tokyo for a week, spent some time with a guide I knew in Yokohama and had a birthday dinner with Alina at a local restaurant. After 54 days in Asia, I made my way back to Florida.
All in all, 2025 was my favorite year ever for Travel. Met so many kind and interesting people, awesome new experiences and places. Looking forward to the next adventure! Stay tuned!
