Day 74: Bora Bora - Farewell to French Polynesia

Oh, this was a day I'd been dreading for a couple of weeks. Not all of it, of course; the day was absolutely perfect until about 5pm. But that Bora Bora sailaway was wrenching. At least last year when we left French Polynesia we knew the Pacific Princess would eventually return, and, if life was kind, so would we. But today...

We started the day the way we have so many days this year, with an early alarm (5:30am). The sun was already up when we looked out our (large) cabin window, and we could see Bora Bora in the distance. We hurriedly dressed and went up first to Deck 10 to take some photos ('cause the 292 we already have of our Bora Bora arrivals are simply not enough), but then went to the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet for a different view of our transit through Teavanui Pass. 

The day was sunny and the lagoon was at its best, showing us its 50 shades of blue. We were surprised to see the Peace Boat from yesterday already at anchor, and the Pacific Princess ended up a little further north in the lagoon, near the now defunct Bora Bora Lagoon Resort on Motu Toopua. It's where we anchored when we were in Bora Bora on the larger Diamond and Sapphire Princess ships, and it makes the tender ride slightly longer. 

We ate breakfast in the Panorama Buffet and returned to the cabin to pack for a beach day. We were on one of the first tenders to shore and arrived to a frenzy of activity on the pier. A group of schoolchildren greeted us on shore, welcoming us to the island in song and handing out tiare buds. We were told it was because this was the last time the Pacific Princess would be in Bora Bora. I saw Patrick's daughter Vaitiare, and she gave me a big hug, telling me they would fit us in today if we wanted to do Patrick's tour one more time. It would have been a wonderful end to our French Polynesian odyssey, but we had other less ambitious (and less expensive) plans for the day. 

We took a taxi down to Matira Beach before 9am. It was never our intention to spend the entire day there, but we ended up renting two cushioned loungers and settling in. At least in the morning we had some shade, but I applied buckets of sunscreen and made it through the day without a burn. However, someone else forgot that the sun reflects off the sand and water and can burn a face shaded by a Tilley hat. He may feel it tonight!

Love this pic!  Camera half in and half out of water

G soaking it all in

We spent the day moving between floats on the water and loungers on the sand, watching the many crew and officers from the Pacific Princess and the Japanese passengers from the Peace Boat also having fun. I think that a majority of the crew got at least a little time off today to go to Matira Beach, and it was wonderful to see them enjoying themselves. We even saw some of the ship's senior officers on the beach. It seemed like everyone wanted to have a perfect day in Bora Bora before leaving French Polynesia and five days at sea.

I swam waaaaaayyyy out and took this photo looking back at the beach

We were entertained by Iti playing a ukulele and singing and then by G playing Iti's ukulele and not singing ;-)

We stayed on the beach until 3:30pm and rode back to the tender pier in Vaitape, never taking our eyes off the beautiful lagoon along the way. It was at that point when it really started to hit me that This. Was. It. and I got a lump in my throat that lasted for almost two hours. We've traveled many places in the world, but have never enjoyed any of them as much as French Polynesia. 

Once back on the ship, we got cleaned up for dinner and took a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne up to the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet. Douglas Pearson's traveling companion, Beverly, who was on the Pacific Princess most of this French Polynesian season as well as last year's, joined us in repeating our last sailaway from Bora Bora last year. We all toasted a fantastic season and watched as the Pacific Princess turned around in the lagoon, blew its horn repeatedly (answered by the Peace Boat), and sailed back through Teavanui Pass.

For the first time, we saw the pilot boat come out to the ship to pick up the French Polynesia port pilot. One pilot stays onboard for the entire ten days of each French Polynesia cruise, and then switches with another pilot when the ship returns to Papeete.  As the pilot boat headed back through the pass to Vaitape, the Pacific Princess again blew its horn several times to say goodbye, and we all stood on the deck returning the pilot's waves. Bittersweet, for sure. 

Champagne for sailaway served by Janet from Peru

The Peace Boat on its world cruise from Japan

Waving goodbye to the pilot boat. Waving goodbye to Bora Bora. 

Waving goodbye to French Polynesia. 

Sigh. 

We went to dinner in the Club Restaurant, excited to see if the menu was a new one for us (it was). I had a crab cake starter and vegetarian korma topped with grilled shrimp, followed by mango sorbet. We went to the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:30pm performance of production show Stardust, the first time the new cast has performed it. As soon as we left Bora Bora and started heading almost due north toward Hawaii, the ocean got rougher than we've seen since we arrived in French Polynesia in late September. It was the first time 5 of the 6 dancers had performed on a rocking ship, and they did a fantastic job. That had to be a scary thing for them; when we stood up afterward to leave the Cabaret Lounge, we could barely walk a straight line. 

Bora Bora (in the middle) is left behind as the Pacific Princess sails past Maupiti and heads almost due north. 

G is still out listening to music, but duty called and I wanted to prepare this blog post. The alarm clock is turned OFF, and it will stay that way for at least the next five sea days. We are following about a 355 degree course almost due north and will cross the equator on November 22, arriving in our first Hawaiian port of Hilo on November 25.  As hard as it was to leave French Polynesia, we're thrilled to finally be coming to America!

Day 68: Bora Bora One

It is 9pm as I start this post, after a day that began well before 5am. Ain't cruising relaxing?!? ;-) Luckily, today we had some of the best WiFi we've had so far, and I was able to upload multiple photos throughout the day as things unfolded (it was kind of real-time, like Facebook or Instagram, neither of which I actually use). But they will definitely help to walk me through a recount of our day. 

We didn't make it up when the alarm went off at 4am, but after just a few snooze extensions we were up on Deck 10 by 4:45am. It was early twilight; the sky to the east was brightening. We were scheduled to depart Raiatea at 5am but didn't leave on time. We suspected we had to wait for a small freighter to leave first, and once it did, the Pacific Princess was quietly pushing away from the pier by 5:20am. 

We watched as we slowly cruised past the Uturoa sights for the final time: La Cubana, Champion, the marina, the hospital, the airport, and the imposing Mt. Tapioi loomin over all of them. 

A freighter leaves Uturoa through Pai Pai Pass just ahead of us

A first peek at the sunrise

The Pacific Princess started curving through the lagoon between Raiatea and Taha'a just as the sun rose. The ship drew closer to the Taha'a coastline, and there was enough light for us to make out the now familiar landmarks on that island. I'm very happy that we were able to spend a day over there last cruise. 

Yachts moored off the coast of the island of Taha'a 

Part of the southern Taha'a coastline does not have a road around it, so we couldn't get to it with our rental car, but it appears to have a narrow beach. 

A pocket beach on Taha'a

I had downloaded the map for the Society Islands while we were in Chaplins on turnaround day and I've marked the path the Pacific Princess took after leaving Uturoa. 

The course from Uturoa, Raiatea, through Pai Pai Pass

Cruising through Pai Pai Pass

The reef as seen at the narrowest part of Pai Pai Pass

Once through Pai Pai Pass; the Pacific Princess headed northwest through open ocean en route to Bora Bora. 

Once we moved away from the Taha'a coastline, we sat in loungers on the Promenade Deck with the Bora Bora mountains growing larger in the distance. It was already a hot day, and it wasn't even 7am yet. By the time the Club Restaurant opened for breakfast, we were getting hungry; we'd been up for nearly three hours by then. 

We arrived in Bora Bora just before 9am, and for once we didn't watch our entry into the lagoon from the upper decks. Instead, we were in our cabin packing for a beach day. We were on one of the first tenders and were on the island by 9:30am, and took a taxi for 500 XPF per person to the Sofitel Marara Beach Resort that we had visited last cruise. Once there, we received day passes for the Sofitel Private Island on Motu Piti uu Uta, about a 5 minute boat ride way. 

Sofitel Marara Resort on the mainland, near Matira Beach, Bora Bora

We were greeted with scented cloths and juice (i love that!) and given a brief tour of where the various facilities we were entitled to use, and by 10:30am we were settled in some strangely shaped lounge chairs on a sandy beach. 

Our view for the day, with mainland Bora Bora in the distance

The location of the Sofitel Private Island

We could have kayaked or snorkeled, but instead discovered we had free, fast internet and being able to check on things at home and upload photos to my blog posts starting Day 63 in Papeete held more appeal. While the day was hot, we had a wonderfully steady breeze, and, sitting in the shade of a palapa, never felt too warm. We occasionally swam and floated in our Swimways floats, and walked around the grounds of the resort, and by 1pm were ready for lunch. 

Our three-course lunch was included with our day pass, and, frankly, I wasn't expecting much but, oh boy, it was a feast. First, with that view I would have been happy with a hamburger...

Our view at lunch (looking two directions)

...but we had a huge meal. For a starter, I chose poisson cru and G chose a vegetable turrine. Then, because I knew he really wanted it, and we both had to order it, we got the beef; and two huge rib steaks were delivered to us, accompanied by fries and salad. 

Poison cru starter

Half a steer of beef ;-)!! This was our shared entree. Wow!!

For dessert, G had a chocolate volcano cake with ice cream and I had three scoops of sorbet, in mango, pineapple and passion fruit. And all this was included in the day pass!

There was no snorkeling after that; I'd sink like a rock!  Instead we returned to the beach to finish out the afternoon. We watched as a kite surfer (from Montana) inflated his kite and launched over the lagoon. And I added Motu Piti uu Uta to the list of places where I've flown my Konvertible Kite. :-)

Watching a kite surfer launch and catch the wind

Shortly after 5pm, we took the boat back to the mainland Sofitel Marara Beach Resort. We had asked the taxi that dropped us off to meet us again at 5:30pm, and, like clockwork, at 5:28pm our driver arrived, waving at us through the windshield. I love it when things work out!

We took a waiting tender back to the Pacific Princess and boarded the ship at 5:45pm, just as the first seating for dinner was beginning. Fortuitously, headwaiter Josko was walking by as we boarded and we asked how late we could enter the dining room. He assured us that even 6:30pm would be ok tonight, so we did a quick unpack of our bags and took fast showers and made it just in time. The Pacific Princess is overnighting in Bora Bora tonight and there were many empty tables in the Club Restaurant. We ordered just starters and sorbet and were stuffed (after that lunch...!). 

We attended the 7:45pm performance of comedy magician Lorenzo Clark and were quick to bed afterward. We can sleep in tomorrow; for once, there won't be an early island arrival...we're already here!

Day 55: Bora Bora Two

I was moving a bit more slowly this morning (gosh, I wonder why?!?), but made it to the Club Restaurant to join G (already out and about) for breakfast shortly after 7:30am. It was fun to see the Club Bar and the dining room totally decorated for Halloween, and I was immediately reminded that, last year, we had also been on the Pacific Princess for Halloween, and were on the island of Huahine that day. But instead of a Huahine Halloween, this year we have a Bora Bora Halloween. Honestly, either one is just fine by me.

The Club Bar again was the repository for an entire collection of Jack o'Lanterns, intricately carved and artfully arranged by ice carver/ fruit and vegetable carver Samuel from the Philippines. We continue to be so impressed by his work!  Waiter Ricky had headed up the team of six waiters in charge of decorating the Club Restaurant; and it was filled with black and orange balloons, lots of spider webs and spiders and Halloween garlands. What a lot of work!

The crew immediately started asking us if we would be wearing Halloween costumes during the evening (as they would be), and, of course, we brought nothing with us (packing for three months in various climates required all the creativity we could muster), but, after all the men he's seen wearing pareos in French Polynesia, G decided he would wear my black and white pareo to dinner, and I thought I just might be able to buy another pareo (that's a joke!) somewhere today in Bora Bora and wear that. 

Between you and I, G had been dying to find a way to wear shorts in the dining room for dinner ever since, last cruise, this young, shapely woman was allowed in for dinner with short short cut offs and a bare midriff. G has been teasing Maitre d'Oscar and the headwaiters about how shorts are not allowed at dinner...unless one happens to be a 21 year old female. He walks up to the entrance of the Club Restaurant with his slacks rolled up to the knees and everyone gets a laugh out of that. Here was his opportunity...he would dress as a French Polynesian guy tonight, but instead of a pareo over a G-string, he'd wear one over shorts and a tank top. 

By 10:30am, we had our Halloween costume plans in place and had done some hand laundry from yesterday's outing. I had noticed that the floatation strap on my new waterproof camera was threatening to slip off the camera (which would be disastrous when snorkeling in 50 feet deep water), and G took some time to address that issue, utilizing the tiny screwdriver he packs to fix glasses.  It was funny yesterday...three of us on the same boat on Patrick's tour had the same camera in the same color, all purchased at Sam's Club. It's a great camera, but we will return ours for a new one when we get home only because of the strap issue. 

G headed to a hot tub, and I headed to Deck 4 in the Reception Hall (atrium) to try to upload some photos. I am getting seriously behind with that, which presents not just a problem with getting caught up but in keeping the various photos straight in my camera roll on my iPad, especially as they are imported from my iPhone, my Fuji XP-80 camera, and G's iPhone and appear out of order. Was that snorkel site in Moorea or Bora Bora or Rangiroa?  Do Bora Bora stingrays look different than their Moorea cousins?  You can see my dilemma.

I sat right under a router and managed to upload a few pics from the Moorea Lagoonarium trip, one at a time, and used 25 minutes of WiFi just doing that. I simply don't have that kind of Internet time on the ship. Photos, except for one or two, are going to have to wait until we return to Papeete. We have plans all day tomorrow in Raiatea, and WiFi at any price does not exist on the tender dock on Huahine, Rangiroa and Moorea. 

We grabbed a quick lunch and then took a tender to Bora Bora, with only one plan for the day:  to return to Matira Beach but also walk beyond it to the Intercontinental and Sofitel Resorts (the only major resorts on mainland Bora Bora) to check out the current year prices of their day passes. All of these day passes include a three course lunch:  the Intercontinental day pass ($65pp) does not include the pool or watersports equipment; the Sofitel mainland resort day pass ($50pp) includes both; and the Sofitel special motu resort day pass ($95pp) includes the boat transfers to/from the motu, a more private beach and a coral gardens snorkel opportunity. We may do one of these next cruise. 

Matira Beach

The Bora Bora mountains look different from ever angle

The Sofitel Bora Bora 

Lots of outrigger activity today

It was hot by that time, and very sunny, and walking between these resorts on the southern tip of Bora Bora was getting tedious. G flagged down a taxi and we rode back to the tender pier in style, arriving back on the ship at 4pm. I helped G get dressed in his costume (including a floral crown on his head!) and I wore the new pareo I'd just bought on the tender pier for $10.  I have to admit...he attracted far more attention than I did!  After a quick Elite Lounge visit, we were off to dinner to test the 'shorts are okay for dinner in the dining room if part of a Halloween costume' theory. Oh yeah, shorts were mild compared to what Maitre d' Oscar, the headwaiters and the waitstaff were wearing. Most of them had purchased their outfits (and blood and gore makeup) in Honolulu in September and were well prepared for the holiday. 

With waiter Melvin

With head waiter Antonio

With maitre d' Oscar

Even G's Coke was decorated!

Tonight at 8:30pm was the final performance by the production show cast we've gotten to know so well, Do You Wanna Dance, one of our favorites and one where the dancers really shine. We were there in front row seats, enjoying every minute of it, and, afterward, as Cruise Director Sammie was making her close out, she called back Company Performance Manager / Dancer / Entertainment Staffer Alex for special accolades. We were still in the Cabaret Lounge when we could hear the cast behind the curtain in tears, as they will be going their separate ways after this cruise. We will miss them!!

There was a then big Halloween party in the Pacific Lounge, but we are having to miss it. We are on day 7 of 9 port days in a row, and have two all-day excursions planned for the next two days in Raiatea and Huahine. Just two more days and we'll have a much-needed day at sea. We can do this...but only if sleep remains a higher priority than partying. ;-). We sail at 11pm tonight (I think...does it matter?) and once again will go in circles until we arrive in nearby Raiatea early tomorrow morning. 

Day 54: Bora Bora One

I know I've said several times lately that we had had the best day EVER, but I was wrong every time, because, without a doubt, TODAY was the best day ever!

Picture it (Suzan and Greg)...Sun glistening on the crystalline blue water of the world famous Bora Bora lagoon. Bora Bora Patrick. Sweet champagne. Stingrays, black tip sharks and tropical fish galore. Bora Bora Patick. A motu next door to the Four Seasons. Sweet champagne. Suckling pig and poi eaten off of woven palm plates. Fire baton twirling. Bora Bora Patrick. A final stop on white sand in thigh deep water to finish off the champagne, with the gorgeous mountains of Bora Bora behind us. Bora Bora Patrick. He's an icon for a reason. And it really was the BEST day ever. 

However, it started in the way that so many days have started recently, with the light coming in our porthole and both of us awake long before 6am. We started the day with coffee from the Panorama Buffet and then joined the legions of fellow passengers who are FODs (Friends of Douglas) on Deck 11 forward, where we were able to see five Leeward Society Islands at one time:  Bora Bora, Raiatea, Taha'a, Maupiti and Tupai. It was exciting to watch another splendid day on the Bora Bora lagoon unfold before us as we cruised through Teavanui Pass. Weather-wise, the day was picture perfect...sunny, blue skies and minimal wind. The lagoon surface was mirror-smooth. 

Well...yay!!

We ate a quick breakfast on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet and then took the third tender to the island. We were met by Patrick's daughter Vaitiare, who, until September, was living in Los Angeles. Patrick had hoped last year that she'd return to become involved in his business (called Maohi Nui), and she has. There were three boats (motorized outrigger canoes) with 12-passengers each going out today. Patrick was in a Coast Guard-type (the French equivalent) safety class this week, but stopped by to meet us all and kick off the excursion. It was fun to spend the day with so many people from the Cruise Critic roll calls for this cruise, a few of whom had been following my blog and knew as well as I do what we've been up to lately.  

We were with boat captain Ari'i today, whose father was American and who had lived in California for awhile (and so spoke perfect English), but Maretto from last year was on another boat. As we left the Vaitape tender dock area, we immediately saw several (upwards of ten) dolphins right in front of our boat. We circled around and they stayed with us for awhile, just a hint of what was in store for us. 

Our first stop was outside the reef, very close to Teavanui Pass in about 30-50 feet of water, clear as air. Here, we swam with black tipped reef sharks and I was thrilled to see, deeper in the water, a large lemon shark and a smaller baby. They are more dangerous than the black tipped reef sharks but it doesn't make any difference because they tend to stay well away from snorkelers on the surface. 

Next we crossed back in the lagoon to an area with about waist-deep water where there were several stingrays. These were chummed with fish parts, one of G's favorite activities, and there were a few reef sharks trying to get in on the action, too. One of the stingrays, called Caroline (I think. Or Charlotte or Catherine or some name that starts with a C) is pregnant. Ari'i said he can tell because she is lumpy on her back. Stingrays usually have two or three babies, each about 6" long, and once they are born, they are on their own. 

We reboarded the boat and sped across the Bora Bora lagoon, with everyone (especially those of us wearing polarized sunglasses) repeatedly remarking about the water's 50 shades of blue. I don't think it's ever been prettier. Our third and last snorkel stop was at the Coral Gardens, beyond Matira Point on the southern end of the island. This was in about 15 feet of water, with large coral heads and thousands of fish and (my favorite at this site) hundreds of colorful clams. They remind me so much of belaying rope. On the ocean floor, someone had piled coral and ocean detritus in the shape of a large heart, and an 'I (heart) Bora' (the repetitive Bora was MIA).

At both this site and the shark site, G didn't snorkel but instead floated on his Swimways lounger. He was thrilled to sit on the bow of the boat between sites, and Ari'i put him to work hoisting and throwing the anchor at each site. He was a good First Mate (just call him Gilligan...the G still works!) ;-) We pulled into shore after that third site and picked up Patrick, who had finished his class for the day (or else played hooky...I'm not sure). 

G, working on anchor management ;-)

We were entertained by Patrick playing the ukulele and singing, accompanied by Ari'i as we passed the gorgeous (and expensive) resorts on motus on the eastern side of Bora Bora: the Sofitel, the Le Meridian, the St. Regis and the Four Seasons, with their collective hundreds of overwater bungalows costing $1500+ per night. Oh, we will miss having the opportunity to visit this beautiful island on the Pacific Princess at a fraction of the cost!

Patrick's family motu is 24 acres right next to the Four Seasons (I can only imagine what it's worth). Like last year. Patick uncovered the oven in the ground in which lava rocks were heated for two hours and then a split suckling pig cooked for three hours. Breadfruit, poi, plantain and tapioca root was also baked in the oven, while tuna and mahi mahi were grilled and spinach and chicken served too. We ate with our fingers off woven palm frond plates covered with large leaves and sat at a picnic table in the water drinking champagne and enjoying the amazing view of the Bora Bora mountains. Pinch me, please!

Everyone who works with Patrick is just as welcoming and gracious as he is, and cups were constantly refilled with champagne. After we had eaten, Patrick stripped off his pareo and tied back his hair and performed an energetic and dangerous fire baton routine that included passing the lighted baton under his legs and balancing it on his feet. Ouch!  Patrick had said last year that he was getting too old to do this, but he must be doing a lot of cardio because his routine this time was longer and even more complex. 

Maretto being Maretto

All too soon it was time to leave the motu, but Patick had another surprise in store. On the western side of Bora Bora, the three boats stopped and we swam in about thigh deep water and drank yet another large bottle of champagne as we took in the view. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment. 

Champagne with a view

Then it really was the end, and we were delivered back to the tender dock sometime after 3pm, most of us a little tipsy. The funniest thing was that, before we'd left the ship this morning, G had said he wanted to go back over to the island after we were cleaned up after Patrick's tour, perhaps to go to Bloody Marys. I had to remind him that this was Patrick's tour we were doing, and we'd be in no condition to do anything but perhaps go to dinner after spending the morning on the water and the afternoon drinking. 

We showered and made it to the Elite Lounge a little after 5pm, not to drink, of course, but it was Stilton night, after all, and between that and the view of Bora Bora we just had to go. G ate just two courses at dinner and left to go to the 7pm show; I stayed behind to eat more ;-) and talk with Peggy and David and Justin from Australia who had been on the excursion with us today. Waiter Melvin was concerned about G skipping his usual ice cream deasert, and so had four scoops sent to our cabin at 8pm. We are so spoiled!

By 9pm I am finishing this post and will be asleep as soon as I publish it. G spoke with Captains Circle host Tracy this morning about our Internet situation and she had it straightened out and had left a message for us by 10am this morning. I logged in for just a minute when we returned today and saw that I've received the 250 minutes we're entitled to on this 10-night cruise, so I have high hopes I'll get this published tonight. As for photos...I have a LOT to share, both from today and the Lagoonarium on Moorea. I will try to get them uploaded in the next few days and will let you know when I do.