And, good grief it feels soooooo good. Soooooo cool (temperature-wise). And good.
As you know, we were up early to watch the Pacific Princess sail into Papeete harbor and never did go back to sleep. It's amazing how exciting it is to have a cruise ship you'll soon be boarding docked just outside your balcony, even if you've just spent 70 nights on that cruise ship. Yes, it's an addiction and we've got it bad.
We packed a few things, and went to our final breakfast at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti. I really can't say enough good things about that hotel. It's basic, as you've seen from the photos, but it was spotless, and that's a big thing for both of us. I know bleach was used daily to clean our room, because we'd smell it when we first re-entered the room. The lighting in the bathroom was dim but we managed. Every person who worked there was very pleasant and welcoming. Our little refrigerator worked perfectly and the little freezer section kept sorbet frozen for a week. The bed was a queen size, but that's what we have at home, and the air conditioner, after it ran for awhile, cooled the room very comfortably. But, oh, when we opened our door to the corridor, the heat would blast us.
I think the biggest issue we had was that we only received housekeeping one time a day, and with the heat and humidity our towels never dried and felt musty when we showered for a second time (and we always needed to). But our breakfast was included in our rate and was wonderful (as a reference, breakfast at the Manava Suites Hotel was 3200 CFP daily, or about US $33 per person). And the location could not be beat. We got a lot of pleasure from watching the harbor activity, especially the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Tijuca, a freighter carrying 8000 cars that was tugged into place and took up half the space in the harbor. And, on a related note; blog reader Jason sent me some information on the Chinese ship still in port with us. "The Yuanwang-class (远望; meaning "Long View") are used for tracking and support of satellite and intercontinental ballistic missiles by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). ". For more information, see: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Wang-class_tracking_ship. Thanks, Jason.
So...back to today. We returned to our room and finished packing up. We said our goodbyes and checked out of the hotel and made the five minute walk to the cruise ship pier pushing our luggage. It was easier going back than when we had first moved over to the hotel; then, we had about three cruises' worth of minibar items to carry, and we used all that up during our ten days at the hotel. We arrived at the pier about 11am, and were told that check in would start about 11:30am. While we waited, we met Captain Ciruzzi and his family walking back to the ship. His wife and two young sons were able to spend the holidays with him, but they are flying home to Italy tomorrow morning. That's a long flight with a 2-year old!
Just for the record, we checked our large suitcase with a handwritten luggage tag, and checked in with no boarding passes at all, just our passports. It's entirely possible. Shortly after 11:30am we were on the ship and in our cabin. Woohoo! It was so much fun to see everyone again, and to be welcomed back. The two suitcases we had left on the ship were already in our cabin, so G started unpacking them (for just 16 days...is it even worth unpacking ;-)) while I made tracks to the laundry room on Deck 7 with ten days worth of dirty clothes. By 1pm it was all done and put away and we went to the Club Restaurant for lunch. Surprise! It wasn't open today (don't know why), so lunch was instead in the Panorama Buffet. I think I drank three glasses of fuzzy water- I've missed it!!
We could tell by looking down at the pier that check in was a bit of a mess today; the line to board the ship stretched almost the length of the pier. I don't know what that was about, but our suitcase didn't arrive until 5pm, nearly six hours after we had dropped it off on the pier and we heard many more tales like that. Captain Ciruzzi apologized for that in an announcement after muster drill, and we all received a glass of wine at dinner to compensate.
We're back at our same table for two for dinners in the Club Restaurant and chose to purchase a 7-bottle wine package for $217, good for bottles of wine up to $45. With ten sea days and ten lunches in the dining room, the pace of this cruise will be significantly slower. And that's probably a good thing. The passenger demographic seems to have gone up about 20 years in age, and we've seen many more walkers and canes. But the biggest surprise is that there are 200 Elite passengers on board, quite a change from the cruises where we had fewer than 40. The Elite Lounge has been moved to the Pacific Lounge for more space. At least we'll still have a view from there.
After dinner we walked off the ship one final time, walking over to les roulottes that have become so familiar to us. I enjoyed one last crepe for a long time...forever? We're not sure; we'd love to return next year, but that's a long time away.
Our early morning caught up with us and we didn't make it to the folkloric show Tahiti Nui at 10pm. That's okay...for us, it's a repeat. ;-)
And, finally, here's the itinerary for this cruise. Highlights for us will be the Crossing the Line ceremony (our fourth!), all the Hawaiian ports (we've not been there since 2006) and Coming to America!
1/08/15: Moorea
1/09/15: Bora Bora
1/10/15: At Sea
1/11/15: At Sea
1/12/15: At Sea
1/13/15: At Sea
1/14/15: At Sea
1/15/15: Hilo. Hawaii
1/16/15: Honolulu. Hawaii
1/17/15: Lahaina, Maui
1/18/15: At Sea
1/19/15: At Sea
1/20/15: At Sea
1/21/15: At Sea
1/22/15: At Sea
1/23/15: Los Angeles
Heaven help us!