Day 18: Rangiroa

Rainy Rangy. We had our worst weather day of the cruise today but before I get started talking about downpours and deep puddles, I wanted to point out that I've just added some tour information for Nuku Hiva to my post two days ago. I have no information at all on the quality of this tour or what the tour consisted of, but since information about Nuku Hiva is so hard to come by, I'm passing this on:

Nuku-Hiva Tours

Tel/fax:  +689 40 920750

NukuHivaTours@gmail.com

Owner:  Kevin Ellis (cell: +689 87 22 68 72)

Tour Guide:  Phillip Beardmore

Also, just to give you some idea of how difficult Internet is in this part of the world, this is the quality of the Internet we were able to get on shore in Nuku Hiva...and we were thrilled with this!!!  By comparison, our download speed at home is 60+ Mbps, more than 30 times as fast as at this restaurant, which itself was better than anything we've had on the ship. G was amused at the number of "hops" the signal was taking (22) to get to us on Nuku Hiva. It was originating in LA and probably getting to us via Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, Paris and Des Moines. Ssssooooooo sssllllooooowwwww.

I opened my eyes this morning at 6am, and G had already vacated the cabin and there was wet laundry on the clothesline. He had been a busy (and quiet) boy!  It was overcast but not yet raining, and we met up on Deck 11 forward, where port lecturer Douglas was holding court in his usual (approaching an island) manner. G and I remarked to each other, as we were standing up there, that it would be an entirely different, and far less rewarding experience to come into port without the background and knowledge Douglas was imparting. 

I am not going to post photos I take on subsequent cruises if I've already posted earlier ones; Internet is too precious for repeats. So, Tiputa Pass appeared in front of us and dolphins (the same ones?) raced toward the bow of the ship to surf its wake. I was glad I mentioned to Douglas last night that I was going to sit on the terrace behind the buffet as we went through Tiputa Pass to watch the dolphins surf the ship's wake.  He corrected me, telling me to be in the front because they surf the bow wake, the water displaced by the ship's bow cutting through the water, not the aft wake. 

This little reef lies just beyond Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa's lagoon, and after navigating the pass, the Pacific Princess must immediately head to port to give a wide berth the gorgeous reef under the water. This is the area called The Aquarium, and was the location where we drift snorkeled last cruise. 

I love this view of the curving ship's wake against a darkening sky as it made its way to its anchoring location to begin tender service. 

The Catholic Church in the village of Tiputa on the non-tendering side of the Tiputa Pass. 

Once we were anchored and tendering operations began (I watched today; three tenders are lowered, each holding 120 tender passengers, so you can see why we quickly go to open tender), we went to the Club Restaurant for our usual "huge fruit plate" breakfast, with cottage cheese and toast for me. We then went up to the buffet where Mr. Pizza, who is Mr. Omelet in the mornings, had specially saved pepperoni for a pepperoni and cheese omelet at G's request (we are so spoiled!). Pepperoni and cheese omelet?  I wasn't convinced until I had one bite, and it is a winner. So breakfast #2 was taken on the terrace behind the buffet and it was while we were sitting there that the rain began in earnest and never really stopped.

Still, we took a tender over to the island with the intention of walking down to the public beach, about a 45 minute walk, but the rain chose that moment to really pick up. We hid out in the little bar/restaurant adjacent to the pier drinking Hinanos and waiting for the rain to stop, but it never did. Finally we decided to walk anyway- after all, it was a nice, warm rain- but we quickly learned that, on a coral island just 11.5 feet above sea level, rain does not soak into the ground. Instead it puddles, in ever-deepening and widening puddles, until walking becomes like wading In a shallow pond. We ultimately cried "uncle" and gave up, returning to the tender looking like two drowned rats. Fortunately, we'd were not alone. Even the pop up canopies covering the tender pier could not keep up, and the security crew members were standing under them holding umbrellas. One of Rangiroa's many dogs decided to camp out under the canopy, and luckily the security crew members were feeling hospitable, because the dog got more and more comfortable until he finally just plopped down next to one and shared his umbrella. 

The torrent didn't stop the locals in their outrigger canoes from surfing in each tender's wake. 

We returned to the ship cold and wet, and it was hard to imagine that, on our last visit here less than three weeks ago we were sweltering in the sun. Hot showers were the first thing on tap, and dressing for tonight's tropical island theme, which I had a strong feeling was not going to be taking place on the pool deck. It was port and Stilton night at the Elite Lounge, another favorite, especially on a cold, rainy day, so we swung in there before dinner in the Club Restaurant. There was no sunset and no view tonight (in fact, all was foggy outside the floor to ceiling windows), but the pre-dinner drinks and hor doerves are always enjoyable. 

Dinners with Jose and Oleksandr are a highlight of every day. The service level is superb, I'm getting my food HOT, which makes for a happy me, and maitre d' Luigi has already informed us he's keeping us- and them- at the same table for two by a window for next cruise. Always something to look forward to....  Tonight was Italian night, which we had missed last cruise due to our meal at the Steakhouse, so it was nice to get my penne arrabiata fix, with limoncello sorbet for dessert. 

We had already seen tonight's show (vocalist Claude-Eric) and didn't see ourselves staying up for the tropical night party, so we're settled into our cabin at 8:30pm. G's found a wonderful documentary on TV on the geological origins of the US's natural resources, which is right up his alley, and I will be quite happy tucked into Robert Louis Stevenson's In the South Seas. We have a late arrival into Raiatea tomorrow, for a reason I will go into in my next post (as I'm unsure whether we'll see anything different on our approach to that island, so it may be a short report on an unusual occurrence).  I think everyone involved, and everyone on this ship, is hoping for a better weather day. 

Day 17: At Sea

I managed to sleep in today. As predicted, our cabin was on the opposite side from the sunrise and that made all the difference. For me, at least. ;-) G was still up and out, but not as early as usual (I think). I took advantage of my "alone time" to do some hand laundry and gather up other dirties to send out our fourth submission of free Elite laundry.  A word about that...on our first three submissions, laundry has been returned, in good condition, the next evening when we are at dinner. We are happy campers...er, cruisers.

G eventually came back to collect me, and, since I had missed breakfast in the Club Restaurant (it is open 7:30am to 9:30am on sea days), we went up to the Panorama Buffet, where I had just fruit and spinach and a grilled tomato, because I knew I'd be having a full lunch in the Club Restaurant in just a couple of hours. It continues to be fun that we see the same waitstaff over and over, as there aren't that many of them on this ship. I suspect that, within another cruise or two, we will know them all by name, as many of them know us by name already. 

Love it!

It was wonderful on the covered terrace behind the buffet this morning, and we saw a few flying fish jumping up out of the ship's wake. But, other than that, we've seen nothing en route to Nuku Hiva or so far on our return, and that kind of surprises me. I really had thought that we'd see multiple uninhabited islands or at least islets on these days at sea, but we have not. Perhaps we're missing them, as we don't spend all day every sea day looking at the sea, and, even if we did, we'd most likely be looking off just one side of the ship, not both. And perhaps we are passing them after dark, and we have about 12 nighttime hours out of every day, so that's entirely possible. But the lack of islands has been different than I'd expected. I mean, how many days have we spent while cruising in the Caribbean with Cuba or Hispaniola off the port or starboard side of the ship for an entire day at a time?  And, after leaving port in the Eastern Caribbean, we'd frequently see the lights of the various islands we were passing even after dark. It's very different down here. So ships, no islands, no jet contrails overhead...it's like our transatlantic and transpacific cruises in that respect. 

So, moving on from that observation (that I've been meaning to mention for a couple of days)...

I plugged in to an audio book and moved out to Deck 10 to walk before it got too hot (too late!). There were plenty of non-hogged chairs available about 11am, which was very nice, but it was really too hot to spend extensive time in the sun. Most passengers had pulled loungers into the shaded areas by the Grill, but not on the other side, which is where the ping pong tables are located. We have a handful of kids on board, and we walk by the two ping pong tables dodging errant ping pong balls (it's quite comical). Every so often when I walk by I take a paddle and tap the canvas awnings stretched over that area, and ping pong balls caught up there come raining down. (I'm tall enough that I consider it my personal responsibility to do that). ;-)

It didn't take long for the heat to force me inside, and I met up with G in the Pacific Lounge on Deck 10 forward. There we sat, surrounded by the wide expanse of glass, searching the horizon for any sight of the aforementioned missing islands, and we stayed there until trivia started and the intense vibes from those participants coupled with the bounciness of the ship in that location motivated me to move down to Deck 4 in the atrium by the Passenger Services Desk. And I sat there for a few minutes, reading, until remote control car races started and those same "ping pong boys" had obviously been waiting for that, and were driving poor cruise staffer/dancer Warren absolutely nuts trying to keep them herded into the atrium and away from the stairways and elevator lobby. As someone who works with kids,  I understand the futility of that "herding kittens" feeling and extended my sympathies to Warren. 

I should mention here that these little ships lack the structured children's programs of the larger ships, so the dancers really have to do triple duty as entertainers, cruise staffers and children's program staff, and deserve medals for all they do. And I don't mean to imply there are a lot of kids on this cruise; there are probably just a handful of them, but a few of them are boys in the 8-12 age group so they just appear to be simultaneously everywhere all the time.  You know, they're normal kids. 

We were in the Club Restaurant for lunch as soon as it opened at noon, and were seated at a table where we enjoyed wonderful conversation for nearly two hours. One tablemate had taken an expedition cruise to Antarctica and I was very happy to hear what he had to say about that trip (he couldn't recommend it highly enough). Unfortunately, G had gotten chilled by the cool temps in the dining room, and had eventually left us to sit in a lounger on the warm Promenade Deck, which does not bode well for him accompanying me on an Antarctica cruise in the future. 

After joining him for a short time on the Promenade Deck (plenty of chairs available!), we returned to the Club Restaurant at 3pm for this cruise's wine tasting. We had given our souvenir Princess shot glasses to the drummer on the pier yesterday in Nuku Hiva, and he seemed thrilled, so we have to now decide whether to add to his collection or share these new shot glasses with another local resident. One thing is for certain:  we cannot take these sorts of things home on the plane.  No room or weight!

A lounger on the Promenade might have felt nice after the wine tasting, but we instead rested in the cabin for a short time  before we needed to get dressed for the second formal night of this cruise. We caught another bit of the movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable on TV. We'll never see it from start to finish in one session, but, by the time we go home, will have seen parts of it as often as17 times as it loops all day long on one day of every cruise. 

It's a good time to talk about formal outfits. G has one, his tuxedo, of course, and though he is in the minority in wearing it, he has never been alone. I brought one dress and one silk kimono I wear with my 'every night' black slacks and I can also wear the jacket from the dress with a black tank and the slacks so somehow, by bringing just one dress/jacket and a silk kimono, I have three different formal outfits. Works for me, and it's so simple. 

There was no Elite Lounge tonight, but we entered the Club Restaurant as soon as it opened at 6pm for a wonderful dinner of escargot, Beef Wellington and mandarin sorbet for dessert. We couldn't dilly dally, as the Captains Circle party was taking place at 7:30pm in the Cabaret Lounge, and, once again this cruise, we're the most travelled passengers!  We asked port lecturer Douglas Pearson and his sister Margo, who has been visiting him from England but who is returning home after this cruise, to join us, and were honored they agreed.  Captain Fabrezio Maresca is proving to be a character, and I can see that we will really enjoy cruising with him until he leaves on December 8th. 

Afterwards, we watched the production show Cinematastic for the second time, but you know we seldom tire of that sort of entertainment. There are several things going on later this evening, including a champagne waterfall (I'm telling you, this experience is just like the big ships but better!), but tomorrow is Rangiroa, and the opportunity to see dolphins again as we approach Tiputa Pass early in the morning is too appealing. It is 10:30pm and we are settled in for the night. 

I will not add any photos of our sea day: instead, I'm rationing my internet minutes to stay in touch with Mom and add photos from our island visits to those blog posts. So far this cruise, my frugality is working...with just three days remaining in this cruise, I have over 90 minutes of Internet left plus free wifi (with the price of a beer) in Raiatea. Go me!

Day 16: Nuku Hiva

There may have been a time or two, over the last couple of days, when one or the other of us might have grumbled a bit about spending TWO DAYS AT SEA going to an island that didn't offer a single Princess excursion. What could be so important there that we needed to visit it, and yet once we'd arrived there would be nothing to see?

Now we know. 

There are 10 islands in the Marquesas, but only six of them are populated. They are grouped into the northern, or drier Marquesas, and the southern, or wetter Marquesas. Nuku Hiva (NOO-koo HEE-va), in the northern Marquesas, is the largest (339 sq. kilometers) and most populous (2650 inhabitants) of all the Marquesas Islands. Still, all 10 of them could fit into the island of Tahiti, so these are not large islands. 

Source:  Moon Tahiti Guide

Source:  Moon Tahiti Guide

We could have spent the entire day today sitting on the Pacific Princess in Taiohae (TAY-oh-HAY) Bay and just the approach to Nuku Hiva alone would make it worth the 800 miles we cruised to get here. 

Sailing past Hakatea (Hah-kah-TAY-ah) Bay on Nuku Hiva. The sea cliffs were beautiful, rising right out of the water, which is why there are limited beaches on this volcanic island. 

As we approached Taiohae's deep water bay on the southern shore of Nuku Hiva, we were welcomed by hundreds of dolphins. See those white crests in the photo above?  Each of them is another dolphin coming to the surface. In fact, though the water here was very deep and dark blue, it was also very clear, and we could see the dolphins streaming along 20 feet or so below the surface before jumping above the waves. What a thrill!!

A close up view of just a few of them

Taiohae, on the southern coast of Nuku Hiva is the administrative and economic center of the Marquesas. Taiohae Bay is actually what remains of the caldera of the volcano that formed this island, and is guarded by two separate tiny islands, one on each side of the bay, called the Sentinals (G calls them the ancient gods of the Department of Homeland Security, giving me my daily giggle).  

The Sentinals on the east and west heads of Taiohae Bay

It was amazing to think that the Pacific Princess spent the day anchored in a flooded caldera that had collapsed on one side onto the ocean floor!

We had no firm plans for the day, but knew more what we didn't particularly want to do, and that was bounce around in the back of a local resident's 4x4 and get bit by mosquitos in the mountains. Instead we took an early tender to the island to simply walk around the village of Taiohae. We were very pleasantly surprised by what we found, and, in fact, we both remarked that Nuku Hiva reminded us a lot of Funchal, Madeira in the Atlantic, a kind of garden paradise in the middle of where we'd least expect it. It wasn't as colorful, but the sea cliffs were the same and the people just as friendly. 

This little guy was mesmerized by G's beard (is that you, Santa Claus?)

This big guy mesmerized me with his tattoos

Marquesas are known for their tattoos, wood carvings and stone carvings and one thing I must say about Polynesians...they are not shy about public displays of the male anatomy. 

The black sand beach of Taiohae village

The information for a Nuku Huva tour guide that we received on shore...I have no information at all on the quality of this tour or what the tour consisted of, but since information about Nuku Hiva is so hard to come by, I'm passing this on:

Nuku-Hiva Tours

Tel/fax:  +689 40 920750

NukuHivaTours@gmail.com

Owner:  Kevin Ellis (cell: +689 87 22 68 72)

Tour Guide:  Phillip Beardmore

We returned to the Pacific Princess on one of the last tenders of the day, having spent the remainder of afternoon using wifi available at a small restaurant on shore (poor quality wifi, but our standards are quickly dropping, so we coped) and drinking the freshest mango juice imaginable. By then a gentle rain had once again developed, and we opted for showers and clean up over watching sail away on an open deck. We were 12 hours into our day and starting to wear down a bit. 

A quick note about the local time vs. ship's time...the Marquesas Islands are far enough east that their local time is 30 minutes ahead of the rest of French Polynesia, but the ship made a point of making sure we stayed on SHIP's time, or Papeete time, not local time. That certainly explains why sunlight has been streaming in our porthole before 5am the past couple of days, but tomorrow is a sea day and our cabin is on the right (west) side of the ship heading south, so with nothing to get up for, maybe we can sleep in a bit. Right ...

We swung into the Elite Lounge for just a few minutes, had a light dinner and made it to comedian Tom Briscoe's 7pm show. By 8:30pm, we are back in the cabin, ready to call it a day. 

Party animals, we are not, in any time zone. 

Day 15: At Sea

One of us (not me) was stirring at the ridiculous hour of 4:45 this morning, as the first light of dawn came pouring through our porthole window. As we head east northeast from the Society Islands, sunrise is occurring earlier each day. I will give G his due; he dressed and left the cabin as quietly as possible (where he went at that hour, I have no idea). But I snoozed on peacefully until closer to 7am, and we met up in the Club Restaurant when it opened for breakfast at 7:30am. We ate lightly (but drank lots of coffee); we had been invited to the Most Traveled Passengers luncheon today at noon. We spent some time after breakfast simply relaxing on the Promenade Deck, and that is one of the nicest things about this ship. The Promenade Deck isn't used for promenading at all, and it simply runs down each side of the ship and doesn't wrap around. And it's wide, wide enough for cushioned teak loungers with room to spare. And, finally, even on a sea day, there is always a lounger available...how great is that?  So there we sat, watching the sun glisten on the waves, totally relaxed.

Finally, though, we made our way to the Cabaret Lounge for Douglas Pearson's 10:15am lecture on the Marquesas in general and the island of Nuku Huva in particular. I have to say that, of all these French Polynesian island groups, the Marquesas really have the most fascinating of all the fascinating island histories. It's fairly accepted that the first settlers in what is now French Polynesia came to the Marquesas from Asia via Tonga and Samoa, and then moved south and west to the other island groupings. But what is really fun is that in 1813 American Commodore David Porter claimed the Marquesan islands for the US, naming them the Washington Islands, but the US Congress was simply not interested enough to ratify the claim. How different our travels in this region would be today if they had!

The history of this area is really good stuff!

We returned to our cabin just long enough to get dressed a little more nicely for the MTP luncheon, which is always a fantastic effort on the part of the galley and dining crews. Really, it's a good thing we don't have them on every cruise (only if there are at least 40 Elites, we were told) because such pampering and attention could really give one a warped sense of entitlement and those of you who know me know I am not all comfortable with that sort of stuff.  I was lucky enough to sit next to our new (this cruise) captain, Fabrezio Maresca, who we knew from the Emerald Princess when he was the Staff Captain under Captain Pomata. He told us of the challenges he had just faced as captain of the Diamond Princess sailing in Japan when it was affected by not one but two typhoons.  I also asked him why, in all the time I have spent on an upper deck watching the Pacific Princess approach these islands, I have never seen the local pilot being brought out to the ship by boat. Apparently there is a local pilot on the Pacific Princess the entire 10-day cruise on these itineraries. When we return to Papeete, that pilot disembarks and another one joins the ship. Interesting!  It was an excellent meal with fun conversation, and, as always happens at these sorts of things, our table was the last to leave.

But then it was 2pm, and G's early morning was catching up with him. We retired to the cabin for me to start this post and him to nap. The day's bright start had ended as clouds rolled in bringing a few brief showers. I started my second book of the cruise, Robert Louis Stevenson's In the South Seas, which I have on my iPad and which seems particularly appropriate given that he and his wife traveled to the Marquesas Islands. I do love the classics, in movies or literature!

I had received an email from one of Mom's dearest friends this morning, telling me she was ok but would not be able to send me her morning email update until later in the day, but not to worry. So, of course, I worried, checking emails every 30 minutes or so until I did finally hear from Mom by mid-afternoon, and she really is OK, or, at least, better than she had been, so thank you, Lois, for keeping me in the loop, and, Mom, did you really think that telling Lois to tell me not to worry was going to make me not worry?  Puh-lease. In the end, there were a few stressful hours but all is fine again, which is good because I probably couldn't get home for nearly a week regardless of what was happening. 

My mind finally at ease, I turned on the TV in search of football scores, and was thrilled to see the Broncos-Patriots game was being shown and was in the 4th quarter, and then I saw the score and my happiness balloon quickly deflated. Not pretty. In the back of my mind, I'm feeling I won't be watching the Broncos play in the Super Bowl on the Royal Princess MUTS in February, but whether that's because they won't be there or I won't be there, or both, I'm not certain. 

It was Breeza Marina night in the Elite lounge. Bartender Tyler, one of only two American bartenders in the Princess fleet, was teasing me that I am there, like clockwork when he opens the doors only one night out of ten on these cruises. Hey, I know what I like!  We ate a quick dinner in the Club Restaurant, wanting to go to the 7pm show in the Cabaret Lounge (vocalist Claude-Eric) and then be early to bed. The alarm is set for 5:30am tomorrow; so we can be on the open deck to watch our arrival into our last virgin island of these cruises, Nuku Hiva. 

Day 14: At Sea

No surprise, we were up early today (an amazing amount of sunlight streams in our little porthole when the ship is positioned the right way), and waited, drinking coffee, in the Club Lounge until the Club Restaurant opened at 7:30am for breakfast. We were joined again by port lecturer Douglas and his sister Margo (an education, PLUS a lot of fun!), and then attended Douglas' 10am lecture in the Cabaret Lounge on Polynesian history and culture. I could attend his lecture five times and it would be different every time; he does not follow an outline, but offers stories about life in French Polynesia as the spirit moves him.

We separated for lunch: G wanted to attend the British Pub Lunch in the Steakhouse but I wanted the Greek salad on the menu in the Club Restaurant. Still, he joined me for dessert (as he never misses an opportunity to have ice cream). 

I wanted to share the schedule from today's Princess Patter to show you the huge variety of sea day options that exist, a real surprise for us on this small ship. Frankly, I think they do just as well, and in many ways better, than on the larger ships. I've included some of the TV programming (the programs that appear in the Patter) simply because so many of them are specific to the South Pacific itineraries. However, I have left off the sales seminars- both jewelry and spa- because they are very similar on all Princess ships

6a-11a:  The Wake Show with cruise director David and deputy cruise director Michael on Channel 21

6a-6pm:  Gavin McLeod, a biography on Channel 20

6a onwards:  Port presentation on Rangiroa by Douglas Pearson on Channel 30

7a onwards: fitness classes in the Lotus Spa

9:45a:  Basic photo seminar in the Casino Lounge

10a:  Enrichment lecture with Douglas Pearson on Rangiroa in the Cabaret Lounge

10a:  Latin dance workout with dancer John in the Pacific Lounge (not called Zumba but very similar)

10:30a:  arts and craft- paper flowers with dancer Natalie in the Atrium

11a:  fruit and vegetable carving in the Casino Lounge

11a-2p: Magnum PI on Channel 21 (Tom Selleck bare chested is always appropriate)

11:15a:  trivia in the Pacific Lounge 

11:15a:  remote control car race in the Atrium (a hit with the young boys on board this cruise)

11:30a-1:30a:  British Pub Lunch in the Steakhouse

12p-2p:  Brain Waves quiz in the library

12:15p-1p:  music by the pool with Great Escape (very nice easy listening)

12:15p:  singles and solo travelers meet at the pool bar

1p:  close up magic lesson with Greg Moreland in Sabatinis

1p:  gaming lessons in the casino

1:30p:  line dance class in the Pacific Lounge

2p:  champagne ring toss in the Atrium

2p-6p:  From Here to Eternity on Channel 21

2p:  Bridge players get together (unhosted) back of Steakhouse

2:15p:  golf chipping into the pool

3p:  veterans get together

3p: beginning merengue class with dancers Cameron and Shannon

3:30p: carpet bowls in the Atrium

4p:  snowball jackpot bingo in the Cabaret Lounge

4:15p:  afternoon quiz in the Pacific Lounge

5p:  LGBT get together in the Pacific Lounge

5:15p-6p:  piano melodies with David Crathorne in the Casino Lounge

6p-9p:  recorded hits of George Benson in the Pacific Lounge

6p-7p:  recorded music of Oscar Peterson (who??) in the Casino Lounge

6p onwards:  movie Belle on Channel 21

6p onwards:  The Blue Lagoon, a snorkeler's world with Douglas Pearson on Channel 30

7:15p-8:15p:  live music with the Pacific Princess trio in the Casino Lounge

7:30p-8:15p:  Captain's Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party in the Cabaret Lounge

8:45p and 10:15p:  production show Do You Wanna Dance? in the Cabaret Lounge

9p-9:45p:  live music and dancing with Chico and Dawn in the Pacific Lounge

9:30p until late:  David Crathorne entertains at the piano in the Casino Lounge

9:45p:  Majority Rules game show in the Pacific Lounge

10:30p-11p:  live music and dancing with Chico and Dawn in the Pacific Lounge 

11:15p-1:30a:  DJ Yu in the Pacific Lounge

The Elite/Suite Lounge is held in either the Steakhouse or in Sabatinis (Deck 10 aft), whichever restaurant is not open that night (the specialty restaurants alternate evenings)

There is also the standard Princess television programming, which, I'm happy to report, has been updated this winter after the same fare the past two winters. As I've already mentioned, Seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey are being shown (on the Comedy Channel, which is harious), a most welcome addition. Every day, there is at least one classic movie with a South Pacific location shown on TV, and Magnum PI is also being shown. 

The total of all this, with Douglas Pearson's port lectures (which are always rebroadcast on TV) have kept us thoroughly entertained so far. We haven't even touched the videos on our iPhones and I've only read one book so far, most of it on the Air Tahiti Nui flight coming down here. For such a small ship, the variety of entertainment options is quite impressive. 

I walked after lunch on Deck 10, for 45 minutes or so. Today was mostly sunny, but with occasional brief rain showers. The water is just bumpy enough to confirm that this ship is not quite as comfortable as the larger ships in rough seas, and I am grateful for our low, mid-ship cabin location. 

G went to this afternoon's veterans get together, but I got involved with preparing this blog post and watching From Here to Eternity on TV. I love classic movies, and have really appreciated those that have been shown on these cruises. When he returned, G got equally caught up in the movie, and we spent the rest of the afternoon in our cabin watching it. Tonight was the first formal night of this cruise, and there was no Elite lounge due to the Captain's Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party later in the evening. At 6pm, we went directly to the Club Restaurant for dinner at our table for 2 by a window (the only one in the dining room; we feel very fortunate).  Seating in the Club Restaurant is fairly tight, though. Our table for 2 is only a foot away from a table for 6. This is not the place for intimate honeymoon conversations.  However, we been lucky to have lovely table mates at the next table on both cruises so far. We currently have two couples from New Zealand "next door". One of them was celebrating their 56th anniversary tonight and it made our evening to be able to share it with them. :-)

The Captain's Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party was held just once this cruise, at 7:30pm, in the Pacific Lounge. We then had to vacate it a bit for clean up afterwards, and then returned at 8:45pm for the first production show of this cruise, Do You Wanna Dance?  We had missed this last cruise, due to our early mornings and evenings, and enjoyed it very much tonight. Getting to know the dancers in their cruise director's staff roles really adds to our enjoyment of their performances.  After that, it was fuzzy water, blog publishing (hopefully, fingers crossed) and bed. (I am not taking any chances tonight with publishng any photos...I'm saving those Internet minutes for island photos.)

And, finally, some thoughts on the Pacific Princess, specifically about cruising on a ship this size...

Simply stated, we love it. It is not as elegant and showy as the larger ships, especially the Royal Princess, and it took us a day or two to fully appreciate what it does offer. Our first thought is that it reminds us of an older, downtown boutique hotel in New Orleans, with lots of darker woodwork and carpeting (probably because of all the wrought iron and faux wrought iron railing on the ship). Everything is close, just a minute or two away, and we can easily find each other by looking in just one or two places. Also compact:  the atrium and elevator lobbies, but what it offers in abundance are a lot of comfy seating areas all around the ship. 

There are still a few chair hogs around the pool on sea days, but there is so much seating on the open decks that it really doesn't matter. All of the venues are large enough to accommodate the passenger load. In fact, only the Panorama Buffet occasionally feels crowded and then only on port day mornings for breakfast. There is ample seating in the Cabaret Lounge, and shows are still 45-50 minutes long (or, as I like to call them, "adult-length"). We like that the cruise director's entertainment staff is supplemented by the dancers from the production shows; we know them all by name and love that they make a point of being on the open decks during sailaway, simply to talk with passengers. Port lecturer Douglas Pearson adds so much to these cruises; I hope Princess never (ever) does away with a port lecturer on these itineraries. 

The Pacific Princess manages to blend the best of what is Princess, without the inevitable structure of being on a larger ship. It manages to feel simultaneously familiar and new. We could easily spend months on this ship, but that newfound awareness does not make us any more willing to book a World Cruise. Part of what we're enjoying so much about these French Polynesian itineraries is that there are so few sea days, and we appreciate those that we do have simply because they provide a chance for R and R and to get caught up (with blog posts such as this one!).

As far as our obstructed ocean view cabin on Deck 3, we love the location, and, since we've rearranged the furniture, the layout is perfect for us. There is plenty of storage (although, as I've mentioned before, I could do without the closet doors), and I appreciate the drawers in the vanity and closet, but miss the drawers in the night stands. We are making good use of the ledge under the porthole window for storing lesser used bulky items.  The bathroom layout is not my favorite; the handle for the sink stopper is hard to access; but I do, twice a day, when I deal with my contacts.  As suspected, our suction cup shower bins (which we managed to fit in our suitcases at the last minute) don't work in the shower but are proving very useful stuck to the mirror in the bathroom, easily reached from the shower. The shower at first seems a bit larger than on the Grand Class ships, but narrows on one end so that it isn't really. We're coping just fine with that, too. And we're really enjoying having a love seat in our room, not that we spend a lot of time sitting on it, but because it does provide a nice alternative to sitting on the beds (and does a fine job holding clothing overnight to be worn the next morning). 

I am happy to report that I've sent laundry out three times without a single fail yet. In fact, I discovered, after we'd arrived on the Pacific Princess, tiny holes on the back of a tank top, courtesy of the Emerald Princess laundry. But there have been no new holes, just as there aren't holes in the sheets or tablecloths or napkins on the Pacific Princess. We think there were burrs in the Emerald Princess washer or dryer drums, and are happy that, so far, we've noticed none on the Pacific Princess. On this ship, the free Elite laundry is proving to be a valuable perk. There is one passenger laundry, too, but we've not yet used it. We do some hand washing, such as swimsuits, nearly every night in our bathroom sink, and hang it on our ever-present travel clothesline. 

Not so valuable:  the priority tendering perk. Open tenders are usually called by 8:30a, meaning that tender tickets are not required for anyone from that point on. Only once to date have we actually used our priority tendering; there are simply no lines. And thank goodness for that, as we have so many tender ports on these itineraries. 

Our fellow passengers come from a wide variety of countries (29 last cruise) and most announcements are made in multiple languages. Outside of the US/Canada, the largest group seems to come from New Zealand, which is, after all, the closest country. There have been a few passengers from French Polynesia; and several from South America, Mexico, Europe and even China. Age-wise, I would have said last cruise that the average age was active 60s, but this cruise seems a little bit older. There are a few young honeymooners, and fewer families, but, so far, we've seen no scooters and only one walker. Regardless of age, this is a physically mobile passenger mix, no doubt due to all the tendering. In fact, passengers must be able to physically move themselves on to the tenders without the use of any mobility devices, which sadly excludes a number of the passengers we see on Caribbean cruises. 

There are many first time Princess cruisers...the ability to see these remote islands without paying the exorbitant prices of land resorts or even the Paul Gauguin or Windjammer cruise ships that we've seen down here is obviously the draw, more so than the Princess name. Still, it's nice to know that, for many passengers, their first experience with Princess Cruises will be such a positive one.