The end and beginning of the year are a transition celebrated worldwide.    The first nation to celebrate New Year 2025  was Kiribati, at 5AM ET.  This is because the International Date Line where the day begins is in the Pacific Ocean. At 6AM ET came New Zealand. Then at 8AM ET, Sydney, Australia.  More than million watched, live. 10AM, Tokyo, Japan. 10AM ET, Seoul, South Korea. 11AM ET, Hong Kong. 11AM ET, Beijing, China. 11AM New York, Taipei, Taiwan, their tallest building, Taiwan 101. Midnight New York, Bangkok, Thailand. 3AM New York, Dubai, UAE, Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world. What are the final places to see the new year? Baker Island and Howland Island.  However, no one lives there. 6AM ET, American Samoa hits midnight. 5AM ET, Hawaii. 4AM ET, French Polynesia and Alaska. 3AM ET, the Pacific Coast of U.S. and Canada. Maybe the most seen new year celebration occurs at Times Square in New York City.   The following list is from...

 But first,  Donald Trump's trial in Georgia will be televised .  When?  Perhaps in  March of 2024. So on to the Pride of American on Maui.   From   The Discovery  blog site : In addition to 137 islands, islets, and  atolls, the archipelago of Hawaii is also home to eight major islands, six of which are open to tourists. Although it’s hard to go wrong on a trip to Hawaii, each island is so unique, it’s best to do your homework ahead of time. To help you out, we’ve taken into account the cost of accommodations, variety of attractions, crowd levels, and general island vibes, to rank every Hawaiian island open to tourists . That article ranked the six islands for tourists.  You can  read the presentation , but Molokai was #6, Maui #2 and Kauai #1. I'll get to Kauai at the end of the cruise, but TheDiscoverer.com said about Maui: With its endless white-sand beaches and swaths of thick, jungle forest, Maui is easily one of the most recog...