Day 13: Huahine Halloween

Happy Halloween!  The tiny Pacific Princess has gone all out for the holiday, with decorations everywhere and not one, but two parties planned for tonight.

Looks kind of like our house will when we return home ;-)

We were up early again today, but didn't rush out on deck to watch our arrival in Huahine. The sky looked quite overcast, and, besides, this was not our first visit to this island. We did, however, step out on the Promenade Deck on our way to breakfast in the Club Restaurant and saw that, in addition to being overcast, it was quite windy.  Fortunately, we had no firm plans for today; we had thought we might take the $8pp (each way) shuttle to the nearest village of Fare (FA-ray) where, we have been told, there is a beach, but the cloudiness and wind discouraged us from doing even that. Instead we lingered over breakfast (I may well turn into a pineapple from eating so much. Or papaya, cantaloupe, watermelon or oranges. Every breakfast is a feast!), and then returned to our cabin for some administrative duties. 

Today is the last time we might have reliable internet for four to six days, so don't worry (Mom!) if I don't post. I will try, of course, but we have two upcoming sea days enroute to Nuku Hiva, almost 1000 miles away, the only island we'll visit in the Marquesas, and then another sea day on our return to Rangiroa. I don't recall that Internet was all that good around Rangiroa, so I'm not counting on it being any better going to the even more remote Marquesas. I will continue to blog, of course, but may have to play catch up in publishing posts when we're back online. 

Anyway, back to today...we started having a conversation that we've been kind of skirting around for the past week ago about what our winter plans will look like after December 18th, when we currently have flights to return home. All along, in the back of our minds, we have considered the possibility of extending our stay on the Pacific Princess. Maybe this explains why, when people ask me if we'll be on the Royal Princess in January, I really don't have an answer. More thought is required, but we used the ship's (relatively) reasonable Internet while anchored between Huahini Nui and Huahini Iti to examine our options. 

By the time we decided we had gone as far as we could today in taxing our brains (we did everything short of putting together a Venn diagram, but I could swear G was secretly drawing one on a scratch pad), it was lunch time. The Panorama Buffet continues to underwhelm, but, for its size, it's as good as it can be. Too many days find me having a salad and then eating the crusts off G's inevitable two pieces of pizza. Little else appeals, but, with such fantastic breakfasts and dinners, we are not starving. The dessert bar is always stocked with lots of choices...but I'm trying to avoid it at lunch!!

G decided to ride a tender to shore just to get off the ship, but I wanted to attend the 2pm folkloric show up on the pool deck, and so we parted ways (such occasional separations are integral to maintaining our sanity).  The Mammas of Huahine were performing, and, once again, the star of the show was the littlest dancer, just 9 years old and cute as a button. 

The dancers are accompanied by several male drummers, but one male dancer does get in on the act...

I recall the first time I saw guys in "skirts"...in Samoa they're called lava lavas, and are actually part of the high school uniform. It's quite normal to see them in French Polynesia, too. The ubiquitous pareo can be worn equally by men and women. 

The bridge connecting Huahine Nui to Huahine Iti (try saying that the times fast without smiling). The current in Maroe Bay is very strong due to the tidal flows narrowing between the two islands. 

The sun did eventually make an appearance, but I limited my time on deck to watching the folkloric show. Then I went to the fitness center for my first significant workout of the cruise. Like everything on the ship, the fitness center at first seems tiny but ultimately proves itself to meet the needs of passengers. And, speaking of the ship and our fellow passengers, I will take some time over the next few days at sea to share some thoughts about both. 

I knew G had successfully found Internet on shore; I had logged in to upload the photos accompanying this post around 3:30pm, while the ship was still stable, and saw that he had copied me on some emails he sent out. We are always looking for Internet on shore. We've never found any that is any faster than dial up, but, at this point, dial up speeds are a lot better than what we're experiencing on the ship. I very much appreciate the emails I'm receiving from readers and home, but, sadly, it's rare that I can actually read one. Download times are so slow that I'm spending the minutes to read Mom's daily update and publish my blog posts; everything else has to wait for faster wifi on land. Thank goodness for those Princess e-postcards we can send for free from the ship...they are my primary form of communication with the real world aside from my blog, and nearly everyone I know has received at least a couple of them (and, with their photos of French Polynesia, they really are beauitful postcards!)

As it turned out, G had caught a $5 ride in the back of a pickup truck into the village of Fare where, as he tells it, he was directed to Internet for roughly $6 an hour. To reach it he had to go through an alley, around a corner, up some back steps and through a curtained corridor where he had to knock three times and know the secret handshake. It was a sure sign of how desperate he is for Internet that he was willing to jump through these required hoops to view the security webcams at home. 

The open terrace behind the Panorama Buffet was closed again today. The explanation by way of signs that were posted is that the closure is due to the insect population in Maroe Bay, but we were told that they have to spray the terrace once per cruise simply to control the insects, and that Maroe Bay is where the insect mitigation practice takes place. It's as good a place as any, with most passengers off the ship during the day. 

There was no notable sunset tonight as there was the last time we sailed from Huahine, which was disappointing, but it had been an up and down day, weather-wise. Still; we stopped by the Elite Lounge before we went to dinner with Jose and Aleksander. We then listened to live music performed by the Pacific Princess orchestra before watching magician Greg Morefield's show in the Cabaret Lounge. He's so good that it's the second time we've seen this show; his passenger participation changes it up a bit and keeps it entertaining. 

We're about to go to the Halloween party being held in the Pacific Lounge. The Pacific Princess is bouncing a bit tonight as it cruises for two days in open seas to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. We are grateful for our Deck 3 midship cabin; it's the most stable place on this small ship. 

Day 12: Moorea

I awoke about 4am today, and noted that the Pacific Princess was still docked in Papeete, but when G got up about 5:30am, we were en route across the Sea of the Moon back to Moorea. The day looked to be partly cloudy and not quite as warm as Tuesday, for which we were grateful.

We went to breakfast in the Club Restaurant as soon as it opened at 7am; we had a mission today.  We were on a ship's tender by 8:30am, packed for a day on the water. Our intention was to take Hiro's 4-5 hour tour, which included an introduction to Moorea by water, swimming with the stingrays and sharks, snorkeling and then a BBQ on a motu for the unbelievable price of US $60pp. We were the first ones to arrive, and so had a bit of a wait while more tours were sold and the boat filled up, but G took advantage of that time to walk down to the little magazin (store) for another big Hinano beer and this time also returned with a loaf of French bread (about $.55 and three feet long) in a narrow plastic bag (which cost more than the bread, about $.60). He said the locals were buying the bread four and five at a time, and simply walking out of the store with them held in their arms, but he's a little too germaphobic to do that. So he paid more for the bag than for the bread, but, in total, it was still a steal. It provided food for us and the fish, and was a great conversation starter. A bargain. 

About 40 minutes after we'd arrived, the boat was filled and we first cruised into Opunohu Bay for a photo op of the Pacific Princess at anchor and an introduction to a bit of island history and geography. Then we swung around to the west and cruised close to the Intercontinental Resort's overwater bungalows. Just off the coast of the Interrcontinental we could see a few other boats moored, and as we pulled up there the sharks and stingrays came rushing over. They obviously associate the sound of a boat's motor with food.  We got into the water (about chest deep) and were immediately swarmed by the rays. The sharks were a bit more aloof...but not much. They, too, swam around our legs but stayed closer to the ocean floor. 

We had swam with stingrays a few times before- on Grand Cayman and Bora Bora- and I've gotten much better about not being squeamish around them.  These stingrays were very friendly, and would swim up our backs and chests in search of the squid the tour guides were chumming them with. We had a good long time with them and then reboarded the boat (nice, easy steps in lieu of a narrow ladder) and continued west along the northern coast of Moorea until we pulled into a motu for a BBQ lunch. 

I took advantage of the time it took to prepare the chicken to snorkel just off the beach, and though it wasn't as "in your face" good as we saw in Tahaa and Rangiroa, there were some excellent coral heads and a nice variety of fish. While I was in the water snorkeling, it started to rain for a bit and I decided that 86 degree water felt better than being wet and cold on the beach. 

Definitely not "in your face":  this flounder nearly blends in with its environment

This coral would close up when it detected something near, then open when it felt safe again 

Eventually lunch was served:  BBQ chicken, pasta, rice, fresh pineapple and plenty of Hinano beer. Why does BBQ chicken taste so good served on a beach?  Also plentiful- live chickens running around everywhere. One of them hopped up on my picnic table and started eating the chicken off my plate which was just...wrong. They definitely had no fear!

After lunch, our guide, Bruno, entertained us with a pareo tying demonstration. The things they can do with the square of fabric are quite amazing!  Bruno, his wife and two assistants really made this excursion for us, and I can strongly recommend it. It has to be one of the cheapest things to do on Moorea.

http://www.hirotour.com

Email:  wtdmoorea@mail.pf

But you can just book it on the Moorea pier, too. They also had a table set up near the pier in Papeete yesterday, too, but we didn't want to commit until we saw the weather today. It was nice to have spent one day doing a land tour and another doing a water tour. If I was forced to choose, I'd have to say the land tour is more valuable for the first time visitor, and it would be difficult to schedule both in the same day. 

Some other things we've learned about Moorea:  the lagoonarium that we wanted to visit is on the opposite side of the island from where the tenders come in and might not be worth the taxi cost to get over there. The ferry from Papeete arrives on the southeastern side of the island, and shouldn't  be confused with where the Pacific Princess tenders dock. There are shuttles running to Tipanier Beach near the Intercontinental Resort for free if you're willing to first go to a black pearl store, or cheap if you're not. That beach looked nice and there were also some water toys there. It might be possible to kayak from there out to where the string rays and sharks are if the wind wasn't too strong. All in all, there are plenty of things to book right on the pier, and the ship also offers several tours on Moorea too (land and sea). 

We returned to the ship and started the process of washing and rinsing and cleaning us, our gear and our swimwear. I'm happy to report that my new mask and snorkel are doing perfectly. I haven't had a second of trouble from either one. And, for the first time today, despite the clouds we had most of the day, my face got a bit sunburned. I'd managed to limit any redness to legs and feet and hands but maybe I was simply more lax today about applying sunscreen. In fact, we've come up with new lyrics to an old song (no doubt influenced by Motor City two nights ago, and sung to My Girl):

I got sunburned

On a cloudy day

When it's cold outside

I have the warmth of May

I'd guess you'd say

What can make me feel this say?

Sunburn (sunburn) sunburn

Tahitian sunburn!  Sunburn!

Sung using large Hinano bottles as microphones, we laughed and laughed. (More Hinano anyone?)

By the time we were done showering, a steady drizzle had settled in. I took the time to start this post while G went to a Cruise Critic gathering. We were hungry, but caught in that timeframe where any snacking would ruin our dinner, and so just decided to stay hungry, a not unpleasant feeling on a cruise ship.  We briefly dropped by the Elite Lounge and then headed to dinner at our new table, a table for two by a window (yay!) with Jose from Portugal (we knew him from the Emerald Princess) and Aleksander from the Ukraine. It was a wonderful meal, but that side of the dining room is freezing, and I picked up an Americano coffee from the Club Lounge en route to a warm cabin and warmer bed. The show tonight is a repeat for us; I'm going to lose myself in a book instead. 

Day 11: Papeete, Tahiti (turnaround day)...

...in which I sleep until nearly 9am and spent much of the day getting caught up with Internet and publishing last night's blog post about Moorea.

Since the Pacific Princess was docked in Papeete by 8pm last night, and our cabin on the starboard side of the ship is away from the pier, and I had the forethought to pile the decorative pillows in front of our porthole before retiring last night (not wanting to scare the passengers on the Papeete-Moorea ferry at the next pier with any early morning nakedidity), it stayed quiet and dark and cozy in our cabin, and, somehow even the inevitable announcements on disembarkation morning didn't wake me. I finally (!) managed to sleep past 6am and woke feeling as rested as I have in weeks ('cause those last couple of weeks at home were certainly not restful, and our early morning arrivals have had us bouncing out of bed early every day). 

I slept so late I missed breakfast in the Club Restaurant, and didn't want to do battle in the Panorama Buffet on disembarkation morning, so I skipped breakfast altogether. Instead, G and I took advantage of today's sunny skies to walk off the ship and across the street to the Vaima Shopping Center, which up close is more inviting than it appears from the ship. While the purchase of a drink would have bought us 30 minutes of wifi in any one of several bars, we instead opted to purchase an entire day's worth for $10 each from Cyber e-space. Unfortunately, the wifi was only passable (but it was consistent), and Cyber e-space, like every place on these islands, either doesn't have or has something against air conditioning. We did have shade but even in the shade it was warm; still, G paid bills and checked the webcams at home (which we haven't been able to do from the ship) and I checked on future travel plans and finally was able to iMessage some food photos to the twins (more!  They want more!). Finally I started to tackle getting last night's blog post published and initially had no luck on land either, but eventually deleted all the photos from it, uploaded the text and added back the photos one at a time. It took awhile...

G returned to the ship long before I was done, and when I finally got there, I went directly to the Panorama Buffet for a slice of pizza. Not finding him up there (but every crew member told me he had just left). I found him in our cabin. He got cleaned up for the 4pm Cruise Critic gathering; I chose to nap. Once again, the heat had drained me. I was showered for the evening by the time he returned, and the 5:15pm muster drill was just finishing up as we went up to the Elite Lounge. 

This is a good time to mention the obvious difference between this cruise and most other cruises...on turnaround day, disembarking passengers are allowed to stay on the ship until 8pm or so. The primary reason for this is that many passengers are flying back to the US on the 11pm Air Tahiti Nui flight (the aircraft that arrives just after 9pm as we did 10 nights ago is serviced and turned around for a flight back to Los Angeles). With no place to go, passengers who purchase their transfers back to the airport from Princess get a place to stay (and keep their carry on luggage) until it's time to leave for the airport. They have to vacate their cabins by 8am, but can use the entire ship and its facilities all day long. The only exception is that they are asked to just dine in the buffet, not in the Club Restaurant so that newly embarking passengers also have a place to eat. 

I thought it would make this ship feel extra crowded today, but it really didn't. Many people chose to take island tours; still other new passengers aren't arriving until 10pm tonight (as we did). It's all very workable. The only funny thing is that when we see someone from last cruise, we're not sure if they're leaving or staying. Still, most are leaving: there were only 25 or so "in transit" passengers- those staying on for another cruise (like us). 

And, speaking about in transit passengers, being in transit in Papeete is the easiest thing imaginable. No immigration, no schedules...we didn't even need new ship cards as the ones we have are good into December. Gosha, the ship's administrative manager, stopped by our cabin with in transit passes in case we needed them when we left the ship (we didn't). No new security photos...nothing. It was just another port day for us. Easy peasy!

Dinner tonight was open seating, so we were not at the table we have been assigned to starting this cruise. Still, Antonio and Gerald stopped by (Gerald several times) to make sure we were being well looked after by Joaquim from Portugal and Yash from India. It was comical, these four waiters falling over each other to serve our dinner, and it was nice to feel so comfortable and at home after only 10 days. 

Entertainment tonight is primarily a Tahiti Nui Folkloric show being held at 10pm in the Cabaret Lounge.   Did this group perform the first night of last cruise?  We have no idea; we arrived on the ship that night and crashed. Our cabin steward Bianca just told us she has no late arriving passengers tonight, which is the best a steward can hope for on turnaround days on this itinerary. She's going to sleep, but, well rested after today, we're planning to stay up for the show. The Pacific Princess sails at 5am tomorrow morning, cruising back across the Sea of the Moon, to anchor again in Opunohu Bay in Moorea.

Day 10: Moorea

Prepared Tuesday evening, October 28th. I exhausted my remaining 24 minutes of Internet attempting to publish this post with no luck. Instead I am paying $10 for all day wifi at the Vaima Shopping Center by the Pacific Princess in Papeete. 

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Asked which of these French Polynesian islands is the prettiest, the locals claim it's Huahine, most visitors think it's Bora Bora, but the Pacific Princess captain, Captain Servillo and a very knowledgable port lecturer who asked to remain anonymous ;-) both told us that they believe it to be Moorea (Mo-oh-RAY-ah). I guess differences of opinion are bound to occur when every island down here is postcard beautiful, but I definitely agree with notable authorities that it has to be Moorea. In fact, Moorea is so consistently, perfectly pretty that it's as if it was built by Disney; it's hard to believe that this utopia is real life. 

Moorea is clearly visible from Papeete, Tahiti, just 21 km away across the Sea of the Moon. The 125 sq mile island is actually the surviving south rim of a volcano that was once 3000m high. Moorea is twice as old as Tahiti, and the weathering is noticeably more advanced. Several mountains on Moorea top Bora Bora's Mount Otemanu, with Mount Tohivea over 3600 feet tall. 16000 people live primarily along the coast, with the southern part of the island being more residential and the northern part where most of the larger resorts are located.  

Source:  Moon Tahiti Guide

Though not a virgin island for us, we were up on Deck 11 at the front of the ship to watch as the Pacific Princess sailed into Opunohu (O-poo-NO-hoo) Bay, one of two large bays on the north side of Moorea.  I was reminded of my first visit here on the Sapphire Princess in 2004; that nearly new ship briefly lost power and drifted towards the reef for what our captain later described as the "longest four minutes of his life". Divers were sent down, and damage, thankfully, was very minimal. Today lacked the drama of that first visit, but I eyed the barrier reef surrounding Moorea with a healthy respect. When all one sees for miles and miles are waves crashing on coral reefs, it's amazing these ships find any passes to sail through. 

We were once again blessed with a sunny day, one so hot that even the locals were fanning themselves saying, "tres chaud, tres chaud". Yes, it was hotter than Hades today but for water sports or picture taking, the weather couldn't have been better. 

We had no definite plans for the day but, despite the heat, were leaning towards a land tour instead of a water activity. We're trying to space those out a bit, and have had two days in a row in or on the water. Instead, after breakfast in the Club Restaurant (I was shamefully hungry after last night's feast and had a plateful of assorted fresh fruit, a big dollop of cottage cheese AND two slices of six grain toast) we left the ship dressed in shorts and Ts (instead of swimwear)

Let me take a moment to talk again about the sun, specifically the intensity of the sun. In the Caribbean, we're always careful to wear sunscreen on our faces, chests and backs, and our Tilley hats become a permanent part of our anatomy, and those actions are usually enough to be sun safe. Not so down here. Every square millimeter of untreated skin quickly burns. The little valleys between toes, the inside of a knee, knuckles on a finger...while the recommended shot glass-full of sunscreen seems like overkill in most of the rest of the world, here it is just a starter dose.  I have yet to wear a swimsuit without a long sleeved SPF 50 rash guard covering it; G has, at least temporarily, abandoned wearing sandals and is leaving the ship in socks and sneakers. We're having to be extra cautious, otherwise our skin will be trashed in two months. 

Our room with with a view on the Pacific Princess

The tender ride to the pier in Opunohu Bay was a longer one- maybe 10-15 minutes- though the pier was right around the hillside from the ship, simply because we had to pass back through and around the barrier reef to get there. Once on the pier, there were the expected musical greeting, samples of island fruits, tiare blooms and canopies under which were set tables selling all sorts of abalone and black pearl jewelry. There were also several tour options right on the pier:  Hiro's snorkel with the stingrays and shark boat trip ($40 or $60 with a motu BBQ), Julienne's circle island tour (3500 CFP for 2 hours or 4500 CFP for 3 hours), scooter and car rentals and taxi services.

Our first stop, as usual, was the little grocery store near the pier. Not nearly as well stocked as Raiatea's Champion Supermarché, it did sell large bottles of cold Hinano beer, and G bought his fourth of the cruise. After wandering around and discussing our options, we decided to join Julienne's 3 hour circle island tour, but had about a 90 minute wait before she was returning from her morning tour.  Those were 90 sweltering minutes, but we buoyed our spirits with the knowledge that Julienne's van was air conditioned and almost new, and kept rewetting the cool washcloths available on the tender pier with ice water being served there. I've never before seen the Philippino and Indian security and deck crews also cooling themselves off with the washcloths between tender boats; when the Phillipinos are hot, you know it's HOT. 

Finally, though, Julienne returned from her morning tour, and G and I along with two couples from New Zealand gratefully piled in her cool van and started the tour. Our first stop was to go up to the famous Belvedere Lookout, with its views of the entire northern coast of Moorea, including Opunohu Bay and Cooks Bay. 

Let me inject, at this point, that I have bravelyo struggled to narrow down today's photos to an uploadable quantity. I could include at least 50 more, equally beautiful, but, of course, that's impossible...at least until I return home. I think I will eventually return to this post and embellish it with more photos of the breathtaking scenery we enjoyed today. 

Opunohu Bay from the Belvedere lookout

Cook's Bay from the Belvedere lookout

My first panorama photo with my new iPhone!

We made our way back down the coastal road and started traveling clockwise around Moorea, with frequent stops for photo ops and fruit juice samples. 

The Tetiroa marae (sacred site) near the Belvedere lookout. The mosquitoes were fierce here, the first we've personally encountered so far. 

The Pacific Princess in Opunohu Bay, Moorea

We loved this!!

We thought we had viewed scenery as good as it gets...and then we started down the eastern side of Moorea.

Papeete, Tahiti across the Sea of the Moon as seen from the eastern coast of Moorea

The Sofitel Moorea

OK, OK, OK. Must. Force. Myself. To. Stop. Adding. Photos. Will. Be. All. Night. Getting. Them. Uploaded (but do you see what I'm dealing with here?  These photographic constraints are killing me!!).

Edited the next day:  although our $10 all day wifi was not fast (not at all), I was able to add a few more of these photos, uploading one at a time. This post took about 80 minutes to publish today. But Moorea photos are so worth it!

We returned to the ship after 4pm, and had just a few minutes to put our feet up and admire our photos before we had to get ready for our final evening of this cruise. Our photo was on the front page of today's Princess Patter and we were surprised by the number of people who did a double take as they walked by us on the ship tonight (I guess people really do read the Patter, certainly more than I do!). It was our 15 minutes of fame; tomorrow, there will be all new people on board and we will once again blend into the woodwork. 

We actually sailed a bit before our scheduled time of 5pm. I will say this about Captain Servillo:  that man is prompt. We've sailed a few minutes early more often than not.  Unfortunately, we were still getting cleaned up for the evening when we sailed, but that's why we do more than one cruise at a time. It simply takes us longer to have the same experiences others manage to squeeze into 10 days. We spent just a few minutes in the Elite lounge to say goodbye to friends who are leaving tomorrow and enjoy the still-stunning views of Moorea as we sailed on to Tahiti. It was nice to go to dinner starving; we hadn't eaten since breakfast and it had caught up with us. 

I enjoyed the rest of the bottle of Merlot we had started last night, and decided that spaghetti and meatballs ordered off the children's menu would go best with it, but assistant waiter Gerald remembered that, just one time several days ago I had mentioned that I like mussels, and not one but two entrees was placed in front of me. This caused me to comment to G that, inevitably, we start every cruise thinking that we'll never have dining service as good as we enjoyed during our most recent winter at sea. Suttipong was like a son after two winters with him; Darko and his family are like family to us. I convince myself not to over expect, to be prepared to settle for less...but it never happens. Within a few days it's the same thing all over again...waiters who go way above and beyond to make each dinner a celebration, and it's one of the biggest reasons we return to Princess again and again. 

We were lucky during dinner, to have Moorea on our side of the ship, and it was a beautiful thing to see as the setting sun cast shadows in that beautifully clear blue water. As we were finishing dinner, the lights of Papeete appeared off both sides of the Pacific Princess, and we could feel the thrusters spinning the ship into position aft first as it was docked. We overnight in Papeete tonight and tomorrow night, and don't sail until 4am on Thursday, with our first port on the next cruise being Moorea at 8am Thursday. We might have enjoyed walking off the ship for a bit tonight, but, once again, we arrived in Papeete after dark in a pouring rain, reminiscent of our arrival nine nights ago. 

Instead we were happy to watch the production show Motor City in the Cabaret Lounge. We have missed it since we last saw it on the Island Princess in 2012...after countless viewings, it is still our favorite, and it was nice not to have it "dumbed down" to 30 minutes; shows are still nearly 50 minutes long on the Pacific Princess. It was also interesting to see Motor City performed with just six dancers and two vocalists, on the small stage on this ship. 

After that, it was time for fuzzy water, blog and bed. Hopefully, the stable ship will allow me to get these photos uploaded (ETA:  HA!!!); our number one plan for tomorrow in Papeete is to find fast, cheap wifi to get caught up with our lives at home. 

Day 9: Raiatea

Today was one of those days that I'll remember forever, for all the best reasons from start to finish. It would have been a great day anywhere, but to have a day this good in paradise...priceless!!

We had another early morning (shocker!) and were up on the open decks for our arrival into Raiatea (Rye-ah-TAY-ah) . After leaving Huahine last night, the Pacific Princess slowly sailed around that island and then west to approach nearby Raiatea from its west side. We watched this morning as our ship entered Apooiti (Ah-POO-oo-EE-tee) Bay between Raiatea and neighboring Tahaa (Ta-HA-ah) and docked (nice!) at a cruise ship pier in the village of Uturoa (Oo-too-ROW-ah) on the northern end of the island.

Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands; only Tahiti is larger. It has a surface area of 105 sq. miles and there is a 93 mile long road that encircles the island along its deeply indented coastline. Raiatea and Tahaa share the coral barrier reef that surrounds both islands.  Uturoa (population of 4000) is the largest town in French Polynesia after Papeete on Tahiti. It has a nice wharf area, with shops and restaurants (one of which has 30 minutes of wifi with the purchase of a beer). But, even more exciting for us...we could see the Champion grocery store just across from the cruise ship pier.  We knew what was on the agenda for this afternoon!

The Uturoa Maritime Wharf, built in 2001

It was hot and crowded in the Panorama Buffet, so, after watching as the Pacific Princess docked, we went down to the Club Restaurant for a cooler and quiet breakfast of a plateful of fruit and cottage cheese. Then we returned to our cabin to enjoy the best wifi we've had to date on the ship, good enough for me to make a quick phone call to Mom using Vonage (for free!  Get the app!) and also to call Princess in California to get some recently established cruise credits applied to an upcoming cruise.  Administrative duties completed, we stepped off the ship and were hit with an oven-like heat and bright sun. There is no getting around it on these islands:  sun equals heat equals sweat. Drenching, enveloping sweat. There is no sense trying to stay dainty and dry. Most buildings and buses lack air conditioning, and, without it, in the ocean is the most comfortable place to be. 

View of Huahine from Raiatea

We met up with our pre-arranged dive operator, Te Mara Nui Plongée, right at the Maritime Wharf area in Uturoa at 10am for a one tank dive on the reef between Raiatea and Tahaa, within sight of the Pacific Princess. Still, it required a short boat ride, barely long enough to get our equipment together, to reach the dive site. We spent 40 minutes at a depth of about 50-60 feet viewing some of the healthiest coral and abundant sea life we've ever seen. The ubiquitous black- and white-tipped sharks, rays and many different kinds of fish...wow!  The vis (visibility) seemed endless, and the bright sun accentuated all the colors. It was a perfect dive morning!

After our return to the marina, we walked right back to the Pacific Princess. We were starving (diving always does that to us), but didn't want to eat too large a lunch; dinner was going to be at the steakhouse on board at 6pm.  Instead, we showered and went up to the buffet for a light lunch of pizza (G) and salad (me). It didn't go far, but then we didn't want it to, either. The view of Tahaa and the reef from that open deck behind the buffet was simply stunning, and we could see several excursion boats moored inside the coral reef where we had just been. 

Tahaa in the distance and the surrounding barrier reef

While we were eating lunch in the buffet, we could feel the air temperature suddenly drop by at least 15 degrees and a rain shower moved in. What a relief that was!  Raiatea this morning was one of the hottest places I've ever been.  We were lucky to have dived during the hottest, sunniest part of the day. 

After lunch, we walked around Uturoa, and eventually made our way to the Champion grocery store, which, we were excited to see, is as fully stocked as anyplace we've seen in the Caribbean or French Polynesia. Mouthwash!  Nail polish remover!  Fabreeze!!!!! And at prices not too, too much higher than at home!! We were able to stock up and pick up a snack for our cabin steward Bianca (French madelines), and then made our way back to the Pacific Princess. 

Orange bell peppers, imported, for over $8 a pound

French baguettes made locally and subsidized by the government (really), about $.60 each. 

Just outside the security gate (which was the same kind of laid-back security we've seen throughout these islands), a local lady was selling gorgeous leis and crowns of fragrant, colorful flowers for $5. We've been seeing more floral crowns every day on the ship, and it was finally my turn. I had a beautiful one to wear this evening on the ship, and even had a colorful top to wear with it. 

By then we were ready for a nap (yes, even me, can you believe?!?). We had several plans for later in the afternoon, starting at 5pm when a children's folkloric group was coming on board to perform on the pool deck, then dinner at the specialty steakhouse on Deck 10 at the back of the ship, then another folkloric group was performing at 9:45pm this evening. The Pacific Princess wasn't sailing until 11pm, and it was nice to have the opportunity for more local entertainment to come onboard. 

We went directly from the first folkloric show to dinner at the Steakhouse, and what an experience that was!  We were seated at a wonderful table overlooking the back of the ship, the Windstar Wind Spirit docked just behind us and a beautiful sunset over Tahaa with Bora Bora in the far background.

Discussing steaks with waiter Mariana from Poland (nearly every woman is wearing a crown!)

The island on the right behind the Wind Spirit is Tahaa; to its left is Bora Bora's Mount Otemanu. Pinch me!!!

We each had superbly prepared starters (tiger prawns for me; carpaccio for G), the famous back and blue onion soup, then tender filet mignons and a bottle of merlot. By the time dessert dishes were cleared away, we were as sated and sleepy as could be.  We'll have to catch the 9:45pm folkloric show next time around; we've already squeezed as much enjoyment as possible into today and need to recharge for a wonderful tomorrow. 

Day 8: Huahine

We were entering virgin territory again today, and we were up early and on the front of Deck 11 to listen to port lecturer Douglas Pearson tell us a bit about Huahine (WHO-ah-HEE-nee or WHO-ah-HEE-nay) and describe what we were seeing as the Pacific Princess made its approach into the island's largest deepwater bay. Douglas, in case I haven't mentioned it enough, really makes this cruise. I love his enthusiasm for all things, but especially all things Polynesian.  The Pacific Princess approached the island from the east, navigating through narrow Farerea Pass before anchoring in beautiful Maroe Bay. 

Source:  Moon Tahiti Gude

Huahine is comprised of two separate islands, Huahine Nui (Nwe:  big) and Huahine Iti (EE-tee:  little) connected by a bridge. Their combined surface area is 28 sq. miles, and they share a common barrier reef with several passes providing openings from the sea. About 6100 people live in Huahine, mostly along the coast in the little villages. There is a shuttle that runs all day from the tender pier on Huahine Iti to the village of Fare (FAR-aye) on Huahine Nui for $8pp each way. 

       

Because today is Sunday, and because we had never previously been to Huahine, we opted for a Princess excursion to Hana Iti Beach. The afternoon excursion was already booked, which at first disappointed us, but we finally decided we could tolerate going at 8am. In the end, this was our best choice. Today was so sunny and beastly hot that we would have fried on the beach this afternoon. Furthermore, a local folkloric group, called the Mammas of Huahine, performed on board at 2pm, and we would not have wanted to miss them.  

We had about 24 people in a motorized outrigger canoe decorated with beautiful tropical flowers for the 20-minute ride to Hana Iti Beach. Once we arrived, wooden steps facilitated stepping from the boat to the water, and there were loungers and chairs and some umbrellas for shade. While water, fruit and fresh coconut were provided for free, large Hinano beers and homemade rum punch was available for $5 each (a bargain). Most of us were imbibing before 10am on a Sunday morning (horrors!). 

The beach was rustic and natural, the water was a gorgeous blue and we could hear the crashing of the surf on the reef that surrounds the island. Raiatea (Rye-ah-TAY-a) and Tahaa (Ta-HA-a) could be seen in the distance (we're in Raiatea tomorrow). We dragged our chairs into the water and drank rum punch and generally had a wonderfully relaxing time until shortly before noon.

We were starving by the time we returned to the Pacific Princess, but stopped in our cabin long enough to drop a beach-full of sand on the carpet and shower. Poor Bianca...she was vacuuming in the corridor and made another pass through our cabin to clean up our own personal sandbox. Lunch was vegetarian pizza and (of course) more pineapple, and we made our way poolside about 1:30pm, to get front row loungers for the 2pm folkloric show. Before and after the performance, there were local crafts, mostly jewelry but a few other things, too, for sale poolside, and fragrant tiare flower leis for $5 and the head wreaths we're seeing more and more of everyday for $10 each. It smelled incredible around the pool!

The show was fantastic, with about 8 male drummers and several dancers of varying ages (the youngest was 9). They were very well received, and stuck around after the show ended for photo ops with passengers. I didn't stay long afterward, though; it was burning hot in the sun, almost unbearably so, and that's made me appreciate the overcast skies and intermittent rain showers we had in Bora Bora. 

G stayed on the Lido Deck long enough for 3pm ice cream, but I retreated to the cool comfort of our cabin. For as cold as this ship is on sea days, it's hot today, and the terrace behind the buffet is closed due to the large insect population in Maroe Bay. I continue to be bite-free (thankfully) but other passengers haven't been so lucky. 

We were up on an open deck for our 5pm sailaway out of Maroe Bay. I continue to enjoy watching our arrivals and departures; the difference in light from early morning to late day causes a dramatic change in each island's appearance. We then enjoyed port wine and Stilton night in the Elite lounge before sunset over Huahine warranted a stop on the open deck behind the buffet for picture taking, and we were not alone. This was one of the prettiest we've seen so far this cruise. 

Too much sun and fun today was catching up with us over dinner, and we skipped tonight's show in favor of an early bedtime. We're grateful tonight that we have no firm plans for tomorrow in Raiatea...it might be time for at least a partial day off. 

Day 7: Bora Bora Two

We slept until after 6:30am (yay!), and after last night's Tropical Deck Party, this was a slow moving ship this morning. We had stopped at the bar at Bloody Mary's last night after dinner for a drink. Bloody Mary's is the world-famous bar and restaurant on Bora Bora, often visited by celebrities since its opening in 1979.   It is only a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the Vaitape (Vi-TA-pay) pier where the Pacific Princess tender boats come in, and while I wouldn't recommend it for a meal (too over priced for what you get), it's fun to kick off your shoes and walk across the sand floor to the bar.

The last tender back to the ship last night was at 10pm, but we returned earlier than that. I think there are a number of passengers who stay on Bora Bora over night, as these people were asked to identify themselves to the Passenger Services Desk. That's an appealing thought, but overwater bungalows on a Bora Bora motu start at about $600 per night, so it's not appealing enough. Our little cabin on the Pacific Princess costs far less, and is already paid for.

This morning, after coffee from the Club Bar and breakfast in the Club Restaurant (the usual:  fruit and egg beaters) we packed for...well, we weren't certain exactly how to pack today. We wore swimsuits and took masks and snorkels (but no fins) and beach towels, and took an early tender to shore. This morning was pretty and sunny, so we had several options open to us. We heard high praise last night about the $80 snorkel with the sharks and stingrays tour available right on the pier; there was also a $35 circle island tour in a minivan with only six passengers. Since we have already snorkeled here twice before on past trips, and will again on future visits, we decided a circle island tour and then a Matira Beach drop off sounded good for today. 

We were lucky to get Dino as our driver, a 43-year old Bora Bora native who has also lived on Venice Beach in California, so his English was perfect.

He took us on the island's 20-mile perimeter road, occasionally venturing off it on a side road to point out the many local trees, flowers and fruits. We had several scenic stops for photo ops of the gorgeous blue water and distant resorts on the surrounding motus. I was surprised the Bora Bora, as small as it is, has a distinctly wet side and a dry side, and most of the high priced resorts are on motus off the dry side of the island. 

The road around Bora Bora was built by Americans during WWII. They also left the airstrip and about 200 Polynesian-American babies behind when they left. 

Matira Beach was a smidge of a disappointment; I can point out many beaches in the Caribbean that are much nicer. And that's the reality of Bora Bora...the best beaches are on the motus (which is why the resorts have been built on them), and the best views of the island are from the water. We already had known the latter, which is why we took the airport shuttle yesterday, but now we know the former. It had started to rain a bit by the time we got to Matira Beach, so we decided to just continue on back to the Vaitape pier to board the tender back to the Pacific Princess. Had we chosen to stay at the beach, we could have just caught the $5pp shuttle back to Vaitape. 

We returned to the ship and got cleaned up before catching a late lunch in the Panorama Buffett. It had stopped raining by then, and we were able to sit on the outdoor terrace behind the buffet. Pasta arrabiata was being made in the buffet, and that is always a tasty lunch, so I just had that and still more fruit. I'm sure Princess is getting the pineapple locally...it is the sweetest I've ever tasted. 

We opted for a bit of a rest in the cabin in lieu of sun time on the pool deck. I am amazed at how much sun we have already gotten, while covering ourselves in SPF 50. I guess being so close to the equator makes all the difference. Also a fact of being so close to the equator: days in French Polynesia are generally 6am to 6pm all year around. I had never considered that, but it makes sense that it would be the opposite of being in Alaska, where days are temporarily either infinite or non-existent. 

We were up on the open deck for a gorgeous, sunny sailaway from Bora Bora. It would wrench me to leave, if I didn't know we'll soon be back. This is one beautiful place!  Then, as we returned to our cabin to dress for the evening, we spotted a rainbow in front of the island from our porthole window. 

We had a big evening planned...first, it was our second formal night of this cruise, but there was also a Captains Circle party tonight at 7:30pm, and you'll never guess who the most traveled passengers are for this cruise.  Yep, it was our first time (G was calling it our debut all day today)!  In addition to having a photo taken with the captain at the party, we also had a formal portrait taken tonight with the backdrop of our choice, and that will be the photo used on the front page of the final day's Princess Patter.  We were asked if we wanted to invite anyone to join us for the party, and we chose table mates Dave and Brenda and Sandy and Jeannette.  Us!?!  What a hoot. 

After a wonderful dinner with Antonio and Gerald, it was party time. We were gifted with an etched glass commemorative...I don't know what to call it. Paperweight?  Plaque?  Whatever, it was very nice and I'm certain we'll enjoy the bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne (something tells me it's of higher quality than the Francoise Montand on the flight down here) too.  But I was really thrilled that this happened on this cruise, to get a Tahiti paperweight. We may never get back here again.  We did find out that, as there are fewer than 30 Elite passengers on this cruise, we were all given a complimentary dinner at a specialty restaurant in lieu of an MTP party. Next cruise there will be an MTP luncheon with the ship's senior officers instead. I like doing it both ways, and it's nice to have a bit of variety. 

And, finally, I am trying to be a bit smarter about using ship's wifi, and took the time to upload some of the photos in this post before we sailed from Bora Bora today at 5pm. It is definitely a bit better when the ship is anchored and not bouncing along the waves; even so, it took 20 minutes to upload the first six photos. Still, if Bora Bora photos are not worth spending internet minutes to upload, I don't know what are. After adding the final two photos and the text tonight, publishing this post should be rather quick. Fingers crossed...