I think it's a given, since we're now three for three, that several dolphins greet us when the Pacific Princess arrives, and wave goodbye when we leave, by doing jumps and flips above the water. I will never tire of seeing that.
Smith amused us with his and hers doggy origamis (the girl doggy on the left has eyelashes). ;-)
The public beach on Rangiroa
School boys waiting for a boat transfer to Tiputa village on the other side of Tiputa Pass using a container as monkey bars
Surfing the wake of a boat
A 6-person outrigger canoe like we saw in the Hawaiki Nui race
Breakfast was in the Club Restaurant, where we learned waiter Rickki from the Philippines has lived in Annapolis, Cincinnati and Jacksonville (he says he has relatives everywhere in the US) and waiter Smith (pronounced Smit) from Thailand was Suttipong's cabinmate several years ago. I must email Suttipong about that!
Smith amused us with his and hers doggy origamis (the girl doggy on the left has eyelashes). ;-)
An aside...I hope the Apple Store in Honolulu is stocked up with iPhone 6s and 6 pluses when the Pacific Princess stops there in January. Half the crew members we've talked with are planning to buy a new phone that day (Rickki among them, which is what made me think of that).
We gathered up a few things for a beach day, and made our way via tender to Rangiroa (open tender was called before 8:30am today! They do a great job getting people off this ship!!). There is a boat that will shuttle passengers to the public beach for $10 round trip, or you can take the free shuttle to the pearl farm for a tour, and be dropped off on the way back, but we chose to walk down to the beach. It's what we had wanted to do last time we were here, the day of the torrential downpour. It was probably about a 30 minute walk or so (take water and wear a hat, 'cause when the sun is out, it's hot here!! And I used DEET and didn't get bit, but G didn't and did.), but it took us longer because we stopped into Chez Josephine, a pension right on Tiputa Pass, and then took several photos on the ocean side of the atoll.
Douglas Pearson has issued serious warnings against trying to swim on the ocean side of the island, but there is a bit of a sandy beach there, and, as long as one stayed within the reef (meaning, just sit in about a foot of water), it's probably safe. We saw other passengers doing that. You can't swim per se...more of a soak, and the danger point is clearly visible where you see waves crashing on the reef.
Finally G said he thought the dirt road off to our left was to the public beach on the lagoon side of the island, which IS safe. Thank goodness he spotted it, because it wasn't as if there was signage or a parking lot or beach umbrellas or even a beach bar. No, this is one rustic, but beautiful beach. There are picnic tables and some shade shelters, but that's it. No chair rental, no beach bar (though there was one off to the left a bit). I think there might be some snorkeling off of the right side, too. But, really, if you've come all this way, do a boat snorkel trip to The Aquarium!!
The public beach on Rangiroa
Three views of the lagoon
We stayed there for quite awhile until we started to feel cooked. As we made our way back to the coral road, we could see that clouds were starting to build off the ocean side of the island. Still, where we were, it remained hot and sunny, and the walk back started to feel a bit tiring (but I did well considering I was just up after two days in bed).
We returned to the ship for lunch (and I found THREE things I liked in the Panorama Buffet today and didn't have to resort to pizza!!), intending to go back over to Chez Josephine for Hinanos, but the clouds had reached the island by then, so we talked ourselves into a hot tub session instead. We were showered and ready for the evening by our 5pm sailaway, listening to duo Great Escape play on the pool deck as the dolphins raced towards the Pacific Princess.
It was Breeza Marina night in the Elite Lounge, luckily on the sunset side of the ship tonight (it alternates between Sabatinis and the steakhouse). I made it to dinner in the Club Restaurant for the first time in three nights and was welcomed with open arms. Offers had been made to have dinner sent to our cabin the past two nights, but I needed to get out a bit, and the buffet had been perfect for me.
The main show tonight was a new (to us) comedian, Steven Scott, and he was probably the best comedian we have ever seen in a cruise ship. No humor about cruise ship toilets or showers. No henpecked husband humor. Just really innovative and creative humor and an uncanny ability with accents and sounds had us nearly rolling in the aisles.
I simply cannot believe the quality of the entertainment we are getting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on this tiny ship. It rivals anything we've seen on larger Princess ships. Tonight there is music and dancing under the stars, not the Tropical Deck Party, but another musical venue taking advantage of this cruise's gorgeous weather in a new and different sort of entertainment. We're heading up there in a few minutes.
15 hours into the day and I'm still going strong. I'm obviously feeling much better, which is a good thing. We have a lot of activities planned for the last few days of this cruise. I hope the weather continues to cooperate. And we're hearing news of wicked weather in a large part of the US, an abrupt end to fall for many people. Stay safe and warm!
