So, first, the routine...
G was up early, I slept in a bit, but he was still in the Club Restaurant when I arrived there about 8:45am. We have our dinner waiter, Jose from Portugal, as our breakfast and lunch waiter in the Club Restaurant this cruise, and that always simplifies things. Jose knows by now what we want better than we do.
It was garage sale day today, which means that off-season clothing is available at BIG savings, and which also means that my husband is attracted to it like bees to honey. While we were finishing up breakfast, we started passing by the island of Makatea off the starboard side of the Pacific Princess, and so I ran down to our cabin to get our binoculars because I really wanted to see the 330 foot sea cliffs that make this island so forbidding and isolated. Viewing it with the naked eye from the ship, it doesn't look much different than flat-as-a-pancake, 11.5 feet above sea level Rangiroa. So I was on the Promenade Deck viewing with the binocs when G came out soliciting my opinion on two T-shirts he just HAD to buy, and also to get my ship's card, because he has recently developed the nasty habit of leaving his in the cabin.
I left Makatea (temporarily) to go inside with G and make the required complimentary comments about these Princess Hawaii t-shirts for $6.99 each (which really were a good deal, because when this ship returns to Hawaii in January they'll no doubt cost 2 for $20) and then I dragged G back out on the Promenade Deck where we began studying the sea cliffs of Makatea in earnest and they really were beautiful when viewed through binoculars.
Makatea was once home to 2000 people because of the phosphate mining that took place there from 1908 to 1966, but today only 60 people live there. It is one of the Tuamotu islands, but is unique in that it is a coral reef that pushed upward from the sea floor. What results are these tall cliffs topped by a mostly flat plateau, so, yes, the island is flat-as-a-pancake but only on top. In a few places, the coral cliffs have collapsed and there is a narrow ring of beach around the perimeter, but these are beaches only reachable by boat and, even then, how would one get there, because the ocean was crashing into the side of the island and sending up water sprays so tall that we could see them with the naked eye from the ship. There are no flights to Makatea, and any ships that visit have to dock at the old phosphate loading pier, and from there there is a steep concrete road up the side of the cliff to the plateau at the top. All of these things make Makatea unique among the islands in French Polynesia.
Then it was time to start working on yesterday's blog post, and to do that I sat at the writing table on Deck 5 in the atrium, because Internet there is much better than in our cabin. Still, I was wary, and typed and published the text, and then added photos just one at a time. To upload them all at once seems to overwhelm both the Blogger app and me. It was lunch time when I finished, and I was understandably hungry as I'd had just fruit for breakfast. Today's lunch menu featured one of my favorite salads, with shredded apples and walnuts, so I ordered a large one of those and then had Jose add a grilled chicken breast to it and it was perfect served with blue cheese dressing. And then there was key lime frozen yogurt for dessert ('cause there's always room for key lime anything).
G went off to use a hot tub, and I stayed in the cabin starting this post and taking care of some emails that needed to be sent. Still no word from Princess on the December 28th cruise, and, Carol, still no decision on your cruise, either, but we're leaning towards YES. Despite all our planning, we are still in a bit of limbo on the remainder of our plans for the winter, but that's actually kind of exciting after four winters in the same cabin on the same ship. We'll be in Raiatea tomorrow, and need to make a stop at Champion Supermarché first on our list; we need sunscreen (they have the same Banana Boat Kids SPF 50 we always use, which is like white grease, for twice the price for half as much, but at least they have it). We also need another tube of Genie laundry detergent, which, as it turned out, worked really, really well for hand washing. Who knew?
Then it was wine tasting, dinner, Captains Circle party, production show Cinematastic and bed. They held the Captains Circle party on a non-formal night this cruise for the first time, again trying to ensure that those people who don't bring formal wear and don't want to dress up aren't excluded from these sorts of activities, and I really like that, especially on these itineraries. These cruises are all about the islands, not the formal nights and not parties and not most traveled anything. They're keeping the familiar but doing it differently and it's working perfectly.
Now, on to other things...
Dean from Atlanta recommended we download the app Word Lens on our iPhones, and it has been a treasure. It's also been more entertaining than any video game, and I've been trying it out on all Frnech text I can find. Helpful, but harious too, and addictive. Some of the translations are priceless; I can't wait to use the app in the Champion Supermarché tomorrow in Raiatea!
Our little oasis of peace and quiet on Deck 3 has been taken over by several contractors brought on board to do extensive maintenance, mostly behind the scenes but some things in passenger areas, too. It's still peaceful and quiet down here, but we often see contractors in the corridor, and know that they are working on the elevators and the tiling around the pool. They're doing other things too, like engine stuff that I don't really understand and don't care to, but our steward Bianca, who had half of her cabins empty last cruise now has a full house, but only a few of us are passengers.
We have met a female 3rd officer in the Technical Department named Flora from the UK. We also had a female 3rd officer from Italy on the bridge who has since gone home. You go, girls! I love seeing that women can do more than clean these ships and serve food and drinks (not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just nice to see that they are making headway in other departments on board, too).
I am meeting a few fellow passengers who have been reading my blog, which surprises me. I didn't know anyone who was coming on these cruises even knew about it, but apparently word has spread. It's just as it always is...G is immediately spotted, with his telltale beard and yellow 'caution' shirt and Tilley hat, and, by deduction, it is figured out who I am. I hope someone is able to glean a bit of information of value here, amongst the diarrheal (no, that can't be right. I mean diary-al) musings and ramblings.
I have been asked what camera I'm using for the photos I'm publishing here. If it's a 'dry day' (meaning we won't be in the water or on a beach). I'm using my iPhone 6. For beach or water days, I use my iPhone 4S in its Lifeproof case. Those are harder to post...I have to either upload them directly from the iPhone 4S and then access them from my iPad to type my post, or Bluetooth them from the 4S to the iPad, which takes about 4 minutes per photo and isn't always successful. We've seen many Go Pro cameras being used down here (some days it feels like we're the only ones without one). I may investigate buying a water camera when I return home, but, for blog purposes, it has to have wifi for shareability. Since I've been here, Lifeproof has sent me an email: their waterproof case for the iPhone 6 is finally ready! Just a bit late for my purposes...
And; finally, these helpful translations were in a port guide distributed by Princess for one of the islands we're visiting. Check out the Tahitian translation for getting a taxi back to the ship. By the time I'd managed to get that out in an understandable manner, the ship would have picked up its tenders, sailed on and then put them back down at the next island!
Is that all I have to add tonight? I guess so, but as soon as I hit SEND I'll think of three more things. It is 10pm, and I'm in bed (party animal!), but, heeding Douglas Pearson's advice (more than that, really...insistence), the alarm is set to allow us to be up on deck for our 7am arrival in Raiatea. I'm suspicious, though. Captain Maresca alluded to rain for tomorrow, and cruise director David has already told us that the Children of Raiatea folkloric show will take place at 5pm in the Cabaret Lounge instead of on the pool deck. Has our good weather luck finally come to an end? Time will tell...
