Day 13: Papeete, Tahiti

The alarm went off at 5am and we were on Deck 16 at the front of the ship shortly thereafter.  Moorea was largely obscured by low level clouds, but the sun was beginning to rise behind the familiar profile of the island of Tahiti. We stayed at the front of the ship until it begin to make its 180 degree turn to dock at the first berth in Papeete, and then started down to the International Cafe to meet up with Paul and Marlene. . 

Sailing into Papeete Harbor at sunrise 

A tug approaches to help as the Ruby Princess enters the harbor

That oh-so-obvious reef common to all French Polynesian islands

Fa’a’a Airport, built on reclaimed land

The outriggers stacked at Plage Hokule’a

The Temple of Paofai (the Protestant Church)

Our first glimpse of the Hotel Tiare Tahiti

And that is when things went terribly wrong. I had not taken crutches, nor cane nor hiking sticks for my early morning trek. I knew it would be windy on the upper decks, and likely crowded, too, and didn’t want the walking aids falling over (which they do, with remarkable frequency) or tripping others. Somehow, I must have stepped wrong, and...OUCH! And just like that, there went our plans for the day (to either rent a car and drive around the island, or to go to the Intercontinental Tahiti if no cars were available). 

A bakery shop breakfast in the International Cafe 

We sent Paul and Marlene off for their day, suggesting they go to the Temple of Paofai for their 10am services, just to hear the singing. They did, and reported back later that they found it every bit as amazing as I had on a prior visit. Honestly, those rich Tahitian voices just reverberate deep inside your body. 

We stayed down all day, with me following the RICE protocol. Though I was improved by evening, this re-injury also scuttled our palms for tomorrow in Moorea, which is truly tragic. However, I am taking much solace in the knowledge that we may very well be in French Polynesia again next year, hopefully several times. 

Day 13 dinner menu, page 1

Day 13 dinner menu, page 2

Day 13 dessert menu

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 72: Last crêpe in Papeete (I can't bear it!)

Half a bottle of Pinot Grigio after an afternoon of Hinano beers eliminated any issues with that pesky 'why is my world suddenly still' sleep last night. By 6:15am we were awake feeling refreshed and ready to start the day, which was a good thing, because right after breakfast we were faced with moving ourselves up one deck to a window cabin on Deck 4. In fact, we're right down the hall from our first cabin this season, with the same cabin steward Jackie, and she even had our room rearranged the way we like it and ready to go by 8:15am. Go Jackie!

I promised you I'd fill you in on this 'upgrade', which frankly, if I was a complainer, I might complain about, but because we love our new cabin's location and our cabin steward, we're actually satisfied with. A couple of weeks ago I asked Captains Circle Host/ Future Cruise Consultant (on this small ship one person does both jobs) Tracy to mark our reservation for this cruise to show that we would be willing to accept an upgrade but only to a higher cabin type. In our case, that would be a balcony cabin. We felt certain that, with all the contractors here working on the ship in preparation for the 50th anniversary cruise beginning the day we disembark, December 3, they'd love to have our Deck 3 cabin. In fact, I think we may have been the only revenue passengers on Deck 3 last cruise; the four seamstresses on board to fit the costumes to the new cast, the Tahitian pearl expert, Douglas Pearson...these were a few of our neighbors. 

I was not surprised, therefore, to receive an email a couple of days ago that we'd received an upgrade. I was surprised, however, that it was to another ocean view cabin, granted one with a full window instead of a porthole. If we weren't happy with that, we needed to contact Princess within 48 hours. I suppose we could have asked Tracy to do that for us, but we certainly were in no position to call anyone. In the end, we decided we were happy with the new cabin location and that packing up our things one interim time was worth it. I might have questioned that after our third trip up the stairs from Deck 3 hauling hang up clothes and shoes, but, now that we are settled, we are happy to be here. 

And I still want to know the secret of those people for whom someone else has actually moved their things from one cabin to another. After many cabin moves on many turnaround days, we've never had that offer. 

So, settled and happy in our new cabin by 9:30am, we walked off the ship into sunny and increasingly hot Papeete. The temperature reached 88F today, and, despite a nice breeze off the water, in the sun it was hot. We think of these islands as having a constant temperature year around, and compared to home, they do.  But it is definitely hotter here than it was in late September when we first arrived, and is increasingly reminding us of those very hot days in Papeete last year in late December when we stayed at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti. 

Our first stop was to see Hiro (of yesterday's Hiro's tours) on the pier, where he was selling his trips for Moorea tomorrow to passengers boarding the Pacific Princess today. We had a gift bag with t-shirts and Princess cups we had picked up for our guide yesterday, Maka. Maka is a big guy, but we think the 3XL shirts we bought will fit him or his wife. 

Next we walked over to the Hotel Tiare Tahiti to say a final goodbye and distribute the mesh bags containing our Elite bath amenities for these past four cruises. We wanted to leave them with the breakfast ladies and the lady who keeps the lobby so spotless. On the way back, we stopped at an ATM for what is hopefully our last French Polynesian francs (US $186 for 20000 XPF). We can't easily get money tomorrow in Moorea, but if we do need more, we'll use an ATM in Bora Bora. 

Flush with cash (we had been down to the equivalent of US $13), we walked over to Le Marché for the last time, and G helped me find just the right shade of Tahitian pearl earrings for the right price. It was funny...G was looking at hundreds of pairs and two men were trying to push one pair or another, but when I took off my sunglasses, they suddenly knew what we were going for. And by then I had three men, in addition to my husband, holding earrings up to my eyes to compare colors. What we ended up with might be a shade more blue than green but they are really pretty close to perfect. Success!

I picked up a few gifts for friends while we were there, and was tempted to buy some scented coconut (monoi) oil for me, too, but I still have some from last year. I can really only use it in the summer at home because it solidifies around 72F, which is not a problem they are familiar with in French Polynesia. ;-) 

Flags (French Polynesian and French) at half staff in Papeete. :-(

We were back on the ship by noon, just in time for our final embarkation day lunch, at least for awhile. G happily ate his beef tenderloins and orange soufflé with banana ice cream and I had the delicious salmon and happiness reigned. Afterward, we took the time to get the new cruise paperwork straight in our cabin. With ten sea days, and more Elites on board, we will be having an MTP luncheon this cruise. Captains Circle Host Tracy is all over this stuff, and we had invitations for MTP and Captains Circle party already today. We also had a notice in our cabin tonight that laundry will take up to 72 hours to be returned. Considering I was always getting it back no later than the following evening and sometimes even the same night up to this point, it will be interesting to see if that changes. 

Finally, we gathered up our iDevices and walked over to Chaplins bar for the last and final time to use their WiFi. Or, as a comedian put it last cruise, we paid $8 for a bottle of water to get 20 minutes of free WiFi. Actually, Chaplins has always been good to us about that, and their waitress (the same person as last year) lets us stay as long as our batteries and bottoms (the seats are hard) hold out. But the speed there has just not been as good as it was last year. I remember uploading videos to YouTube from there; I could never do that this year. I started uploading photos from yesterday's Moorea excursion and finally gave up before I even added them all. It was taking so darn long. :-( Additional photos will have to wait until Hawaii, and then until I return home, which leads me to my next bit of news...

We had been told that a new internet provider was installing a new system on the Pacific Princess today. We were not surprised at this news; G has said at least 100 times, "Just wait until those Princess execs get on this ship on December 3 and see how crap this internet is". We were both incredulous that there would be no improvement to this system for the 50th anniversary cruise. In fact, Princess CEO Jan Swartz had been on the Pacific Princess last summer and promised the crew that improvements were in store. Well, the day has finally arrived, and isn't the timing coincidental? ;-) The Pacific Princess now has the Princess@Sea service, making internet log ins at least ten times easier and faster. Note:  I didn't say the internet speed was ten times faster. I'll have to use it before I can say it's an improvement. Also, as of tonight, the message service is not working, and the only person in the Internet cafe is the system installer who says he doesn't know how it works. (???) I'll let you know if things change on that note. 

We returned to the ship just in time to get showered and go to dinner. This first night, it was open seating, as muster drill was taking place at 8:15pm, but we were still seated at our usual table with Melvin as our server. But his assistant Larry Mark moved to a different section, and we now have Sebastian from Mexico. I passed on the flourless chocolate cake (there will be more in my future), and, instead we walked off the ship after dinner during the muster drill to go to the creperie food truck. And sitting there, enjoying a salted caramel crêpe in the much more comfortable evening air, I realized just how much we will miss Papeete. We've probably spent close to four weeks here in total, and will never forget its wonderful people and all the incredible experiences we've enjoyed here. 

The back of the Pacific Princess at night 

The alarm is set for 4:30am. We sail at 5am and want to watch, one last time, as the Pacific Princess leaves Papeete harbor and sails across the Sea of the Moon en route to an 8am Moorea arrival. Just two more days...and then we have five sea says in a row we sail almost due north to Hawaii. 

After 72 days, we are homeward bound. 

Life is good. :-)

Day 63: Papeete piety

It is late as I'm starting this post, and something tells me I might not get it finished tonight, but I will give it a go and pick up tomorrow if necessary. 

We awoke to a sunny and beautiful day in Papeete this morning. I had a definite plan for the morning, but slept late enough that I didn't even have time for breakfast. I dressed in slacks and a tropical shirt; stuck a flower behind my left ear and wrapped two shell leis around my neck and walked off the ship, bound for a final Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral, just a 10 minute walk away. 

By now, I'm used to the the way things are done at Notre Dame Cathedral...Père Cristophe and his cast of robed deacons, etc. were gathered on the sidewalk in front of the church. I took a seat in the last pew, hoping for a breeze from the wide doors, the church bells pealed at 8am and the processional started. I realized, when the group reached the altar, that this Mass was going to be concelebrated by Father Jesus and two additional priests. Oh boy. These Masses always last a long time; this one would likely be longer. But everything else remained the same: lots of incense, lots of singing (French and Tahitian today), and the entire Mass was said in French. It was longer (until 9:30am) but, by skipping the juice served in front of the church afterward, I was able to get to my next destination. 

The service at the Protestant Evangelical Church, located across from the Jardins de Paofai, the beautiful waterfront park was starting at 10am, and, after listening to the beautiful music coming from the Protestant church on Taha'a last Sunday, and seeing the people walking home from church wearing traditional Tahitian clothing, I knew I had to get to this service today. 

The Evangelical Church was about a 15-20 minute walk from Notre Dame Cathedral, and I walked along the waterfront to get there. Such a beautiful morning, and there were already many people in the park, walking, cycling, fishing and launching the outrigger canoes stored at Hokule'a Beach. 

The outriggers at Hokule'a Beach with a Moorea in the distance

The Papeete Evangelical Church

There are two signs, one in each direction on the road in front of every church in French Polynesia: Silence Culte  ;-)

Now, while Mass at Notre Dame was pretty familiar, this was entirely new territory. I walked in the large door on the side of the church and took a seat in the pew right there. I wanted to stay on the side aisle in case I needed to leave early (I had no idea how long this might last), but, though the church did fill considerably, I was able to stay right there. Immediately I saw what I had come for...women dressed in beautifully handmade Tahitian dresses all wearing the most exotic straw hats decorated with flowers.  This is what I had read to expect before we came to French Polynesia, but had been somewhat disappointed by the attire worn in Notre Dame Cathedral. Though there was tropically printed clothing and single flowers in hair, there were no traditional dresses and hats. After seeing both last Sunday, I knew I had to branch out. The men were all wearing slacks with tropical shirts (so I fit right in with them). For some reason, the men seemed to generally sit in one area (where I was sitting) and the women sat in groups of 10 or 12 all around the church, where there was much socializing until the church bells rang at 10am. 

Immediately the choir in the choir loft began singing, with no instrumental accompaniment. Tahitians have strong, loud voices, and they love to sing. Without any music books to read from, everyone seemed to know the lyrics and sang along and it was a glorious thing to hear. Over the course of the service, three different men wearing suits went to a low pulpit and spoke, all in Tahitian (no French). And that was another major difference between the Catholic and Portestant services. I had read in my guide book that, since the 1980s, all the Evangelical church leaders have been Tahitian and the services are conducted only in their language. And while there usually seemed to be some French people at the Catholic Mass, this congregation was all Tahitian. 

Over the course of one hour, two men seemed to read from Bibles, while, toward the end, the third man just spoke, apparently saying something amusing. I understood not a single thing being said, but the very frequent singing kept me very entertained. One song, in particular, gave me chills. The men seemed to sing a baritone, percussive sound, while the women sang the melody in their strong voices. I could actually feel the vibrations from the music, all vocal. It was all I could do to refrain from launching the candle app on my iPhone and waving my arms in the air. Wow, that was an experience!

For every song, people would sing in several part harmony, again without words or music books. What a beautiful sound. In the end, I decided that the genders sat rather separately simply because they all formed the different parts of a choir of sorts, not as structured as the one in the choir loft, but just as loud and beautiful. 

I was kept nicely cool by the strong breeze coming in from the harbor. I have to say the Protestant Church (built in the 1980s) has much better ventilation than Notre Dame (built a hundred years earlier) but their pews are downright uncomfortable, which may be why their service was shorter. It was very relaxing watching the families in the park across the street. At one point,15 or so Harleys drove by, making lots of noise and no one seemed to mind. My mind wandered during the Tahitian readings, remembering how, when I was in Catholic school in the 1960s, our classes used to save up money to "adopt" mission babies from islands in the South Pacific and we'd vote on a name for them, names like Bernadette Marie and James Michael and then we'd pray for their faith the rest of the school year and here I was sitting on an island in the South Pacific thoroughly enjoying this non-Catholic religious service. And then I wondered how people could differently interpret the same book so much that one service had robes and incense and repeatedly standing up and sitting down but the other had none of these but did offer even more enthusiastic singing 

Ain't life funny??

At the end of the service, nearly everyone sitting around me (all men) came and shook my hand and said something (I'm not sure what), and to each I responded "Merci" (because I knew nothing else to say), and it was all very welcoming and genial and I didn't self-immolate because I attended a service of a different faith. Frankly, I loved it. 

But I was getting hungry by then, and so walked the 20 minutes or so back to the Pacific Princess, where I changed into shorts. Before I could even go up to the Panorama Buffet for breakfast/lunch, G returned from using internet outside Chaplins (they aren't open on Sundays but he was able to sit on the curb in front of it) and he joined me for lunch, enjoyed on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet. 

Afterward, we both went back to Chaplins for an hour or so, and I managed to do all the important app updates on both my iPhone and iPad. We're both still running iOS 8, because even Chaplins WiFi isn't good enough for that update, but overall we're in good shape for our last 25 days. 

Back on the ship, we took advantage of the muster drill time to shower and get cleaned up for the evening, and were up on the open decks for a gorgeous sailaway from Papeete (our last one where we leave at 5pm) :-( :-(. The champagne waterfall was held, followed by the introduction of the ship's senior officers and it was immediately obvious that this cruise will be a party cruise. Our fellow passengers seem to be about 8 years younger, on average, than on the last two cruises, and the pool deck was filled with people dancing and having a good time. 

The Evangelical Church as seen at sail away

Tomorrow is a day at sea en route to Rangiroa. We're doing this cruise in an order we've not done so far this year, and, after we sailed from Papeete, the Pacific Princess continued to follow the entire north coast of Tahiti, and we sailed right by Point Venus, Captain Cook's Tahiti landing spot and were so close we could easily see the lighthouse there. 

I decided on the Pad Thai for dinner, but asked Melvin to add several grilled shrimp to it (it was also surf and turf night so they had them already prepared). G has purchased the Ultimate Kids Package this cruise, and enjoyed two mock piña coladas with dinner. Nothing adds calories like the UKP!

We had met comedian/magician Lorenzo Clark and singer Claude Eric at Chaplins this afternoon. We all recognized each other; we've seen Lorenzo at least twice already this season and Claude Eric performed several times last year. While we couldn't help them with the Chaplins WiFi password (they enter it in our devices so we don't know what it is), it was fun to see Lorenzo at the Welcome Aboard Show tonight looking very different. As proof that this is a party crowd this cruise, Lorenzo's show was received with wild enthusiasm and, as a result it was his best show we've seen. We also saw the new cast perform two songs/dances and it's taken one cruise, but I am finally adjusting to the new faces (but I miss our friends from the old cast!!). 

Our Internet was screwed up again this cruise. Even the fix didn't work, so I went to the Internet Cafe after the show tonight to work with the Internet Manager in getting it fixed. We've never had this issue before, and we've done a fair number of back to back cruises. I think there is a procedure required to close out the old accounts that is not being done...but what do I know?

I made it through all this and it's only 10:30pm. Go me!! I mentioned that tomorrow is a day at sea; no early wake up is required and we might even sleep until 7:30am!!  Right...

Day 62: Posting pics in Papeete

(So happy to have another alliterative opportunity!!!) ;-)

Our internet on the ship has not been re-set, so I couldn't post until I arrived at Chaplins (which is closed...I'm sitting on the curb!) for WiFi. But this was prepared last night. 

It is a very different thing to sleep on a ship that is not moving. G finds he sleeps better when we are docked overnight. I can't say it's better or worse to be docked, but I do find the change difficult (quelle surprise!!). At any rate, G slept well and was up and off the ship very early this morning, heading to Le Marché, which is at its liveliest really early (like 5:30am) on Saturday mornings. I awoke feeling shockingly better, nearly recovered from my cold. That was certainly a fast moving virus!

I grabbed a very quick breakfast (just fruit and cereal) in the Club Restaurant before 8am. The timing is critical on turnaround days...passengers who are disembarking today must be out of their cabins by 8am, and, at exactly that time, there seem to be more people than we've seen all cruise, going to the Club Restaurant, going to the Panorama Buffet and checking hand baggage for the day in the steakhouse (as we did when we disembarked and flew to Rapa Nui). I've learned to avoid those areas!

So, it was just me and one other couple in the Club Restaurant, enjoying the attention of ten waiters around 7:15am. I could see the day was not going to be a particularly pretty one; the skies were overcast though it wasn't raining. We really hit it lucky last turnaround with the weather we enjoyed for our trip to the Moorea Lagoonarium!

We had a 'kind of' plan for today, to take a circle island tour with our friend Harold, who offers tours for four couples in a very nice van, in addition to arranging cheaper tours for more passengers in a bus. We knew Harold, who is Mormon, doesn't work on Sundays, so it had to be today or we'd have just one more opportunity on our next turnaround day. I gathered up my iPad and walked off the ship (determined to upload some photos today) and looked for Harold at his usual spot near the Visitors Center. He was not there today (which has me a little concerned) and that, combined with the lack of sun, convinced me that today was going to be a WiFi day, instead of a touring day. 

I did immediately find G, however, returning from his Le Marché trip, talking with some of the disembarking passengers. I had left him a note in the cabin but informed him in person of my planned whereabouts (Le Marché, the post office and the Hotel Tiare Tahiti). Papeete is much like home for us, and, while we stay in touch, we are not joined at the hip.

Let me put this as nicely as possible:  after 61 days, a brief, worry-free separation is not an unwelcome thing. ;-)

G informed me that the WiFi at the little cafe on the second floor of Le Marché had been really fast for him (and free, since they weren't actually open yet). The man has all the luck. By the time I arrived, it was neither fast nor free. I paid 500 XPF for a fresh squeezed carrot juice and 200 XPF for an hour of Internet and sat at a stool, ready to upload blog photos at lightning speed. 

Ha!

My favorite carrot juice...finally!

The WiFi was frustratingly slow. I felt obligated to stay for my purchased hour, and it was an arduous exercise to watch as each photo was taking 20 to 25 minutes to upload. Two waiters, Joseph and Amorn sat down next to me but didn't stay long. They don't have the luxury of time on turnaround day to deal with slow WiFi.  Finally, I took care of paying a couple of bills online and left. 

I think I saw a few of these fish last turnaround day at the Moorea Lagoonarium! ;-)

I walked behind Le Marché to look at the tables selling cheap Tahitian pearl jewelry. I'm still on the lookout for a pair of earrings, preferably $25 or less, and I saw several pairs today that qualify, but I am unable to judge their color next to my eyes and need to wait for G to accompany me next turnaround day (since the tables won't be there tomorrow, a Sunday). I walked the back way, a block back from the waterfront and cut through a small arcade to get to the post office, where I mailed another post card to Mom. She is finally receiving those we've sent to her, including the one sent from Rapa Nui, which took the longest to be delivered. 

I backtracked then, just a couple of doors down to the Hotel Tiare Tahiti. I had a 'thank you' note to drop off for Monique and wanted to use their ManaSPOT WiFi router to use up the last hour or so of the 10 hours of WiFi I'd purchased weeks ago and have used in Papeete ever since. I'd always had really good luck with the speed of the WiFi in our room at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti, but, despite the strong signal, it was snail slow today. Again I sat for an hour, uploading just two photos. I tried downloading a magazine, too, and that exercise went nowhere. 

What I did manage to do is use a lot of my iPad battery, and so I returned to the ship just before noon to re-charge. On my way back to the Pacific Princess, several crew members informed me that they had just seen G while using WiFi at Chaplins Bar. "Was it fast?" I asked. Very. Well, I knew where I'd be going after lunch. 

G returned to the ship just minutes after I did, so attractive is the embarkation day lunch in the Club Restaurant. There were only a few of us in the Club Restaurant, and we were served by Amorn who laughed. He had seen me at Le Marché and then went to Chaplins and saw G there. Yep, when it comes to turnaround day WiFi, we're elbow to elbow with the crew. G had the beef tenderloins and I had the salmon and we both enjoyed a wonderful orange soufflé for dessert (hey, I deserved it. It had been a tough morning!). 

By the time we finished, my iPad was fully charged, so I took iPad and iPhone and all our French Polynesian change (heavy!) and headed off to Chaplins. G said he'd be less than an hour behind me when his phone was charged. I bought a 400 XPF Perrier and there, finally, I was able to upload several photos using both my iPhone and iPad (I think the iPhone uploads appear smaller, but I'm not sure). While I was watching that little circle indicating internet activity spin and spin, I suddenly remembered why I had been able to upload photos from the ship last year...with all the changes to our travel plans, I kept purchasing extra Internet on the ship, $85 for an extra 600 minutes. Well, of course I had time to upload photos!  They had taken forever, but I didn't care. But I refuse to pay extra for ship WiFi this year. It's just not worth it, regardless of price. 

G arrived as planned, and we sat there and continued our interneting. Based on recommendations on Cruise Critiic (I learn so much on that forum!), I signed up for a free membership to a website called Bookbub.com, offering daily deals for free or deeply discounted e-books through Amazon.com. Each offer is only good for one day, so I at least try to download the email I get every day. There are usually one or two free offerings (ok, most of them are romances) but occasionally there are more substantive books. I recently purchased a biography of the Astors but hadn't been able to download it, and so took care of that and a couple of other downloads today. I was also able to download several magazines (i am desperate for sports news!  (And People magazine)). I am now in good shape with reading material for the ten sea days back to Los Angeles (which is coming up soon...weep!). 

We returned to the Pacific Princess around 4pm and got cleaned up for dinner. The Club Restaurant was open seating tonight from 5:30pm to 9pm. We arrived at 5:30pm before any crowd hit. Though many people arrived at the normal dinner time of 5:45pm, the dining room was still half empty. Those passengers who are disembarking this evening (for late departing flights to Los Angeles) eat lunch and dinner in the Panorama Buffet on this last day, and many passengers aren't arriving until 10pm tonight. Before we did these cruises, we thought these turnaround days, with an overlap of passengers, would be crowded on the ship. The opposite is actually true. With many passengers taking tours of Tahiti today, the ship seems half empty. Only tonight, when we walked out on the Promenade Deck, did we see the loungers full of passengers with late flights. As we did when we flew to Rapa Nui, they are trying to catch a bit of sleep. 

We attended Douglas Pearson's Introduction to French Polynesia lecture at 6:45pm in the Caberet Lounge.  You'd think it would all be old news to us by now, but I learned three new things tonight. I always do when listening to him. Everytime he gives a lecture, it's a little bit different. 

We are going back to the Cabaret Lounge in a few minutes to watch the Tahiti folkloric show at 9:45pm. After a soufflé at lunch and flourless chocolate cake at dinner, I think we'll skip going to Les Roulottes tonight for crepes, but may walk out there just to listen to the live music. Our opportunities to do that are dwindling down. 

Sigh. 

Day 53: Papeete Two

I am referring to these two days in a row in one port the way that the crew does: today was our second day in Papeete, known as Papeete Two which will be immediately followed by Bora Bora One and then Bora Bora Two. Overnights in port...it's not just the crew that likes it. We do too!  It allows us to use the Pacific Princess as a hotel when we're cruising in a very expensive part of the world.

Wouldn't you know it...G was up ridiculously early this morning, before 5:30am. I've always said that, when we cruise for long periods of time, I most miss people and high speed Internet, in an order I won't admit to (besides, high speed internet makes it easy to stay in touch with people). But I have to amend that now; I also miss sleeping past 7am. A lot. 

I didn't jump right out of bed when G left the cabin, but I did take the time to finish my blog post from last night. I guess I do spend at least an hour preparing my posts each night, because it was 6:45am by the time I finished it. I don't usually pay attention to how long it takes me to document each day; I just type until I run out of things to say (which sometimes happens quickly, but mostly doesn't). ;-) I logged in to WiFi for the first time this cruise and was surprised to see that I was considered a returning user (not a new user) and that I had 13 minutes of WiFi remaining. Usually everything resets at noon on turnaround days. I used those minutes to publish my blog post and then checked emails, depleting my remaining minutes. 

G had already had an omelette in the Panorama Buffet but had a fruit plate with me in the Club Restaurant. I added scrambled egg beaters and called that breakfast; I knew there would be lots of opportunities to eat today. G was already able to inform me, over breakfast, that he was unable to sign up for Internet for this cruise. I tried and had the same result:  I was considered a returning user and was not offered the usual 250 free internet minutes we get each 10-night cruise for being Elite. This perturbed G enough (he was not able to get check our Nest thermostat for two days in a row) that he went to see the Internet manager. Apparently, the manager doesn't know how to reset our accounts, but someone is arriving the next two days who does. Hopefully. 

The Nest thing was heavy enough on G's mind that we walked off the ship to use some of the ManaSPOT WiFi minutes we have remaining from the packages we had purchased when staying at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti. And, happily, once we had decent WiFi, there was no longer a Nest issue. Internet is an ongoing struggle on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia. I've had issues with Hotmail and iMessage just since we reboarded the Pacific Princess on October 18. 

After some time spent checking accounts and paying bills, we returned to the ship where that pile of damp swimwear from yesterday hadn't magically disappeared overnight. I gathered it up, and added the embellished long sleeved T-shirts I wear sometimes at dinner and our Tilley hats and went to the passenger laundry on Deck 7 to do a load of delicates (remembering to add detergent this time. Go me!) These are things that I don't want dried in a dryer, so I returned with a pile of damp, but clean smelling clothes and proceeded to hang them from everywhere I could in the cabin to dry. It was breezy today in Papeete and things would have dried outside in a heartbeat; where's a sailboat railing when I need one?

G napped while I was doing laundry duty, so I took advantage of that time to get the glitter polish off my toes for the first time since we left home. That is a job for a blow torch...or pure acetone on cotton pads covered for five minutes with aluminum foil. I had been thinking ahead, and got some foil from headwaiter Josko this morning at breakfast. Finished with these mundane tasks, I read until G awakened and we went to the Panorama Buffet for lunch. Papeete looked so pretty from ten decks above the water, bright and sunny, and the steep mountains overlooking the city were verdantly green. It's easy to forget, when I'm dealing with crosswalks and traffic and French ambulance sirens, that Tahiti is actually no slouch, even when compared to its prettier Society Island sisters. 

We got back off the ship after lunch and took a walk along the waterfront past the yacht harbor to the Jardins de Paofai and then crossed Pomare Boulevard on our return for a quick frozen yogurt and to say Bonjour! to our friends at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti. We were back on the Pacific Princess and dressed for dinner before muster drill at 4:15pm. (we don't have to attend again on this cruise!), and so spent the time on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet. After it was complete, we moved to the pool deck for the champagne waterfall and introduction of the ship's senior officers during a beautiful sailaway from Papeete with the sun setting over Moorea in the distance. Gorgeous!

We still have our table for two next to a window, and enjoyed meeting our new 'next door' table mates at the next table. One of my favorite parts of doing several cruises back to back instead of one long cruise is all the energy and excitement that new passengers bring on board. It re-energizes us, too. 

We attended just the singers and dancers and cruise director portions of the Welcome Aboard show after dinner but left before impressionist Sean O'Shea started his performance. We had just seen it a few days ago, and wanted to get our things packed up for our day on Bora Bora tomorrow. The alarm is set (6am), the swimwear is clean and dry and the sunscreen is packed. Here we go again...

Day 52: Papeete Turnaround

I had set the alarm for 5:15am (oh my, we have a lot of early wake ups on this cruise), but got up at 4:55am to use the bathroom and when I stepped back into the cabin, G was up and the ceiling lights were on. No going back to sleep after that!  He took care of morning ablutions and went to the Panorama Buffet; I did the same and met him there by 5:30am. Groan!  But it was kind of like at home when we have to arrive at the airport at 4am to catch an early flight...we feel like we're the only ones up in the entire city until we see that the airport is already packed with people. So it was with the Panorama Buffet at 5:30am. Turnaround days in Papeete start early and end late (especially for the crew!)

The sun was rising behind the island of Tahiti as we docked in Papeete. When the ship was cleared by the local authorities at 7am, G ran over to the ferry dock to verify the schedules. We had checked online yesterday but one repository of current Papeete to Moorea ferry information does not exist; there are two ferries and old ferry schedules for both pepper the Internet. 

It was hard to say goodbye to so many new friends that we met on board this cruise, and we saw many of them this morning in the buffet. We especially love meeting the honeymoon couples (and not all of them are young kids). While we all look to those seniors married for many years for inspiration, the newlyweds also remind us of what love was like in those early days (so very, very long ago!). They are so cute!

Nearly everyone faces a long flight- or two or three- to get home, although several people are extending their vacation with stays on Tahiti or Moorea or Bora Bora. G commented to me that this was our first 'easy' turnaround in French Polynesia this year. Although our first turnaround in Hawaii certainly required no effort on our part, since then, every ten days we've been faced with disembarking or embarking and/or flying somewhere. Today we could just play!!  And, boy, did we!!

We were loaded down with G's wetsuit and both of our snorkels, masks and fins, towels and enough sun screen to sit on the sun itself, and walked off the ship and over to the ferry terminal about 7:45am. We rode the 8:10am Terevau ferry over to Moorea with fellow passengers Scott and Lynn, who were flying home that night but wanted just one more day on Moorea. They rode with G on the bow of the ferry and actually saw two whales (!) but I sat inside with all our gear. It is way too windy on the bow to be controlling bags of things. The ride to Moorea takes about 25-30 minutes, and once in Vaiare, where the ferry terminal is located, G and I looked for the Moorea Lagoonarium shuttle van that we had read meets the ferries, but didn't see it anywhere. In the interest of time, we just caught a taxi for 1500 XPF instead. 

Papeete ferry terminal

Leaving Tahiti in our wake

Coming in to Vaiare Bay, Moorea

The ferry enters Vaiare Bay through Vaiare Pass, one of 12 passes through the reef surrounding Moorea

We have been reading online about Moorea's Lagoonarium for two winters, but it had never worked out for us to get there. It's the second highest rated thing to do on Moorea on Trip Advisor, and people do rave about it, but it is in a most inconvenient location on the island for cruise ship passengers. While cruise ships anchor in either Opunohu Bay or Cooks Bay on the northern coast of the island, the Lagoonarium is located south of the tender dock at Vaiare. Taxis are very expensive on Moorea and getting one from a cruise ship tender dock to the Lagoonarium, though possible, would take a lot of time and money. It's easier to do the Lagoonarium while staying on Moorea or as a day trip from Papeete. We had wanted to do this while staying in Papeete between Rarotonga and reboarding the Pacific Princess but the weather didn't cooperate. Today's weather was sunny and calm and couldn't have been better. 

We were dropped off by our taxi driver at a dirt and gravel parking lot with a one room building on it, and that is where we bought the tickets for the day. The price was 32000 XPF, just under US $31 per person, and only cash was accepted. With the U.S.$ continuing to strengthen, I am getting a better exchange rate every time I get cash. If you're coming to French Polynesia from the U.S., definitely don't pay for things in US $ !! We waited just 5 minutes or so for a motorized outrigger canoe to pull up, and walked through about one foot deep water to board it. Our pilot was Wilfred, who runs the Lagoonarium and was our host for the day, and also one of the nicest guys around. 

Lagoonarium motu as seen from mainland Moorea

As much as I had read and heard about the Lagoonarium, I could not picture it in my mind. I knew it was located on a small motu off the eastern coast of Moorea, and that the strong current required that snorkelers hold on to ropes to keep from being swept away. I knew there were fish feedings twice a day, so it wasn't entirely a naturally occurring population of fish, stingrays and black-tipped reef sharks.  But I guess I was picturing a fenced in aquatic population. And it's not like that at all. 

It was just under a five minute ride over to the motu, where the canoe pulled up against a dock. I was immediately stuck by how darling everything was...driftwood hand railings and shell curtains everywhere. Driftwood 'trees' were decorated with more shells, there was driftwood furniture and a series of little huts for shade. It was obvious that this place had once been a campground or hostel or something. Each hut had two elevated wood sleeping platforms with shelf storage above them, but mostly they offered shade and a place to change, if needed. Wilfred gave us a tour, showing us where the one bathroom and shower was located, and pointing out the little kitchen area where there was cold water and hot water for coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It was already a hot day, and I remember thinking that only the French would want a tiny cup of hot coffee on a hot day, but, boy, did I change my mind later!

Tahiti in the distance

Wilfred settled us in a hut that we had to share later in the day, but that had been the reason we'd got there so early. Later arrivals don't get the use of the huts, which are important to have a place to store stuff and also for shade, because there is none on the motu. We were shown how to navigate the snorkel course; it was an entire maze of ropes and buoys and we could explore the outer perimeter or cut across the middle using the shorter path. Our only cautionary instructions?  Wilfred asked if we were strong swimmers (G told him I was a fish and Wilfred corrected him. "She's a mermaid"). And he asked that we stay within his vision if we took the kayaks out. In 20 seconds I was in that water and taking the longest route around the coral gardens. 

I was immediately reminded that the current is strong...I lost myself in chasing some huge fish and had to swim my way back to the rope, which wasn't easy without fins (I had brought them but didn't figure I needed them with the rope to hold on to). I didn't do that again, but became very adept at holding on to the rope by wrapping my legs around it, giving me freedom of movement. I knew I was getting tiny scrapes and scratches from it, but didn't care. I was in snorkel heaven!

The coral around the Lagoonarium is in the best shape of any I've seen since Klein Bonaire in the Caribbean. In fact, it's even better than there. The difference is that, by installing the rope system, Wilfred has insured that the coral doesn't get trampled. It's a pet peeve of mine that people who can't swim feel they can use coral to stand on while snorkeling. No!!!  While it's inevitable to rarely brush up against coral, especially in a current, any contact damages it for years. This coral was beautifully healthy and colorful. 

I lost myself in snorkeling until G floated by in a kayak asking how I was doing. When I looked up, I was shocked. I was at the furthest point of the rope course, just feet away from the waves crashing on the reef. I thought the current was getting stronger and stronger!  By then, I was pulling myself along the rope with two hands, with my camera slung around my wrist. I had never been that close to a reef before (because I wouldn't dare without the protection of something to hold on to), and it was quite a rush. After the waves crash on the reef and pass over it, there is a secondary, smaller wave that forms that was passing over me. So cool!

But the best was yet to come...out there, at the furthest corner of the rope course, right against the reef, I found clown fish. Nemo!!!!  There were at least four of them, in that same soft car wash coral I'd seen them in near the reef in Raiatea. I held on to the rope with my legs and watched them for a long time. They are so cute the way they hide in the waving coral, but then peep out. By themselves they made my day. 

By the time I returned to the motu, I had been in the water nearly two hours and was freezing. And that's when I figured out why Wilfred had hot beverages for us to drink. I sat in a plastic Adirondack chair next to G in the sun, fully covered, of course, drinking hot chocolate and warming up. 

While G did kayak a bit, much of the time he sat in an Adirondack chair with this as his view 

At 11:30am, Wilfred did the first of two fish feedings, and some people only get in the water to watch this (and some don't get in the water at all, but watch it right from shore). There were thousands of fish, and several stingrays and lots of sharks all getting in on the action. While you know that G is the stingray whisperer, I am all about the fish and sharks, but have to admit that seeing the stringrays swoop and dive in that deep, healthy coral was a beautiful sight. The feeding lasted until noon or so; and then I headed back out for another lengthy snorkel, and returned to the far corner to see "my" clown fish again. :-)

Wilfred's dogs liked to get in on the act...

...but when this one got tired of swimming, he hung out next to G

Smile!

It was the best snorkeling I've ever done and I would compare it favorably to the best dives I've ever done. I was one happy camper!

I returned to the motu again about 2:15pm. I was starting to wear down a little, battling that strong current for several hours. Wilfred did another fish feeding at 2:30pm, so I stayed in the water for that one, but around 3:30pm we asked him to take us back to the mainland. We knew the last Terevau ferry was at 4:40pm; but didn't know if we might have to wait for a taxi to take us to the ferry terminal in Vaiare. As it turned out, we didn't. The Lagoonarium shuttle was waiting to take us back for 800 XPF. That gave us almost an hour wait at the ferry terminal, but a rain shower passed over while we were waiting, and we stayed nice and try under the roof. We were starving, and bought a plastic sleeve of the freshest Moorea pineapple imaginable for 250 XPF and ate them to get us through to dinner. While bus terminals in the U.S. might offer candy bars and sodas, on Moorea we had a choice of mango or coconut or pineapple in narrow plastic bags. 

We mostly rode in the inside of the ferry returning to Papeete, so tired were we. And I have to admit that the beautiful Pacific Princess at dock in Papeete harbor was the very best thing we'd seen all day. It was only a five minute walk from the ferry back to the ship, and we re-boarded it 9 1/2 hours after we'd left that morning. After quick, but very hot showers, we went to the Club Restaurant (open seating the first night of the new cruise) and ate prime rib (G) and pasta with chicken (me) and drank merlot and had flourless chocolate cake for dessert. And, once we were full, we immediately realized how exhausted we were. 

We crashed in bed, and were asleep in seconds. It had been a fantastic, but long day, and G pointed out over dinner how often I've been saying "This was the best day EVER!!" lately. However, I will confess to having felt a tad melancholy (I was sooooo tired) on the ferry ride back to Papeete, but hadn't said a word about it. Only 35 more days on the Pacific Princess! (Only...I can see your eye rolling from here!) We are 52 days into this incredible adventure and I couldn't help but feel it was nearing the end. But G can read my thoughts, and at that same moment said, "Isn't it amazing? We've had 32 days on the Pacific Princess so far this season. We're not even half way through yet!  Just think about all we have to look forward to!"  

That's my guy!  And the fact that he can see the glass as more than half full when I see it as almost empty is why he's my guy!!

Life is soooooo good. :-)