When was the last time we did something for the first time? Today! In fact, several times today!!
Cooks Bay, Moorea
Cooks Bay on the left of the mountain in the middle; Opunohu Bay on the right.
I knew it was going to be a gorgeous day the second I opened my eyes about 5:30am to find sunshine streaming in our porthole. This cruise started as a bit of a mess weather-wise, but the last few days have certainly saved us. Captain Ciruzzi told us last night at the Captains Circle party that the same tropical depression we dealt with for days had prevented the Paul Gauguin from even docking at Raiatea this week and also forced them to cancel their planned second day in Bora Bora. Two missed port days on a 7-night Paul Gauguin cruise would be rough. I think that Captain Ciruzzi might have wished, in retrospect, that he'd skipped Rangiroa (wait until you see a video I'll be posting of a tender bouncing up and down at the tender pier on shore), but he and the deck crew deserve the credit for the fact that everyone stayed safe and the only adjustment the Pacific Princess had to ultimately make was to cut Raiatea short by 6 hours on Christmas Eve.
As soon as we heard tender boats being lowered, I peeked out of our porthole. Where the heck were we? I had a sneaking suspicion, but we ran up to the Promenade Deck for an up-close view. Moorea has two bays on its northern coast (but you already know that, 'cause you saw my photos from our ATV trip just ten days ago): Opunohu Bay, where we've been anchored for six cruises, and Cooks Bay. And the latter is where we were anchored today. The shoreline was right off the back of the Pacific Princess and tall mountains loomed overhead. Oh my. This was gorgeous.
The views were just behind the ship.
We lingered a bit over breakfast in the Club Restaurant. Our new anchorage location totally changed our plans for the day. We had intended to take a $5 per person shuttle over to Tipanier Beach, the one final thing we wanted to do on Moorea, but the location of the tender pier in Cooks Bay is considerably further from Tipanier Beach than the tender pier in Opunohu Bay. Instead, it is much closer to the eastern side of Moorea, closer to the island of Tahiti, but that's also where the ferries from Tahiti arrive, and we are considering taking a high speed ferry to Moorea one day while we're staying in Papeete. Any eastern Moorea sightseeing can wait until then (perhaps the Lagoonarium?), so we really weren't certain what we were going to do today.
The first thing we did after breakfast was go up on Deck 10 to get one photo after another of the incredible views surrounding the Pacific Princess. Panoramic photos, videos...we just couldn't get enough of it all. Eventually, we settled down on loungers and just sat, taking it all in. I think this was the most beautiful tender/dock setting I've seen in 91 cruises, or at least right up there in the top five. We sat there. And sat there. And sat. Right there. It didn't help that I was dragging from the get-go this morning. Simply stated, 70 days of cruising have caught up with me. Executive Housekeeper Michael Collins told us this morning he'd just scanned next cruise's manifest hoping to see a spare cabin available for us, but did not. That was incredibly kind, but, between you and I, thank God. Sleep. I want sleep more than another round of ports. I know that we don't cruise with the same intensity as those taking just one cruise, but we still stay pretty busy with very limited downtime, and it's finally caught up with me.
We decided to do a bit of packing this morning and then see about getting off the ship. I was glad...it's tough to have a full day in port and then face packing up 70 days worth of living. And couple that with the fact that this is the first time we've ever packed up on a cruise ship knowing we'd be returning to this same cabin in ten days. We needed to pack smartly enough to have what we need in Papeete and still be able to pick up right where we left off when we return. It was a lot harder than just shoving everything in and sorting it all out at home; formal and dinner wear had to be just as neatly packed as when we left home in October. And we had to consider what we'll be doing in Papeete to know what we'd need with us. It took us much longer than we thought it would, so long that we were still at it when we started to get hungry about 2pm. In another first for us this cruise, we decided to phone for room service. I know, it's free, and it's available 24 hours a day, but we don't generally like food in our cabin. Until today. G's tuna salad sandwich and my Moroccan vegetable pot hit the spot, and kept us going until dinner time.
It was 3pm by the time we had everything packed except for what we'd need during the evening. I was really wiped out by then, and we both lay down for just a minute...and slept for an hour. We were showered and ready for the evening by sailaway, and watched it from the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet. That was very aptly named today...the panorama of first Cooks Bay and then both Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay as we cruised north from Moorea was breathtaking.
Dinner was quick and light. I keep telling myself to enjoy the food while it lasts, but I have no appetite at all anymore. It's not that we've over eaten- clothes still fit fine and we actually eat very sensibly- it's just that I haven't actually felt hungry in a few days and I don't enjoy that. Ten days on land to re-set our appetites will be a very welcome thing. I'll warn you now: I'm sure I'll eventually be complaining about being starved but I really believe I could fast for at least two days before I felt my first pang.
Crew members were telling us to "enjoy our vacation". ;-) They are envious of us getting off the ship for ten days...very envious. Ten days on the Pacific Princess means nothing to them; ten days on Tahiti is something to covet.
We were out on the Promenade Deck to watch as the Pacific Princess arrived in Papeete harbor and oh-so-slowly slipped into its berth. Our good weather today in Moorea stretched 22 miles across the Sea of the Moon to Papeete (it doesn't always). The lights of Papeete reflecting on the water were beautiful, and as we stood there, looking over at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti, G turned to me and said, "Wucy, we're home!" Yes, we are.
We skipped all entertainment tonight, instead returning to our cabin to finalize packing. The ship is rather quiet as some people have already disembarked and others are leaving as early as 4:30am tomorrow for a 7:15am flight to LAX. We have no urgency in disembarking but do need to be out of our cabin by 8am, so an alarm has been set. Our move to the Hotel Tiare Tahiti will be on foot, rolling our luggage, and should be simplified by it being Sunday, generally a quiet traffic day in Papeete. This time tomorrow night we'll be in our hotel room, looking at the Pacific Princess docked just a few minutes walk away, and imagining waiter Jose serving flourless chocolate cake to a whole new set of happy passengers.
Pray for us. ;-)