Thanks for visiting!
This is a lot of work putting together but I’m mainly doing it for myself so I can look back and remember our experiences but it also allows friends and family that are interested to read, look at pictures, or both. We had pictures on two phones and two underwater cameras, plus writing all the details and working with a blog program that I don’t use everyday- it was quite a big project. Next time I might take a lesson from my travel companion Claire, and do the write up while we are travelling instead of taking notes and writing it up later. This was definitely the best trip we have ever taken … I hope you enjoy!
March 8 – San Diego
We arrived in San Diego a day before we were due to sail… just in case we had travel issues. First time ever we have gotten within 5 rows of the front of the plane on Southwest Airlines and wouldn’t you know it … when they went to open the front door, the emergency slide partially deployed. That meant they had to call maintenance. We waited and waited. They finally decided to pull stairs up to the back of the plane and we disembarked on the tarmac. For our inconvenience SW Airlines gave both of us a $50 voucher for our next trip …. Way to go SW Airlines!!
The weather was a little bit warmer in SD then it was in OKC but it was still windy and chilly. We rented a car so we could come and go easily. Since we have mega credit card miles it didn’t cost anything. Let me tell you, SD Airport has got the rental car thing figured out. Everyone that is renting a car takes a common shuttle off the airport grounds instead of running a shuttle service for every single rental car agency. Anyway, we left the airport and went directly to the SD Zoo. We have been there before but they have since opened up a new section called Africa Rocks. It was a really well done exhibit. We spent a couple of hours at the zoo and shared a REALLY expensive, boring pizza (think $12 for a 6″ pizza, after paying over $50pp to get into the zoo). We also did the tram around the larger pens and walked through all the bird aviaries.
After the zoo we checked into the hotel. We had a really nice room on the waterfront but there was no dinner or breakfast service. We needed to pick up Dr Pepper for Jeff to carry on the ship the next day and needed to also purchase a few toiletry items that I didn’t pack because we were maxed out on airline weight limits. We ended up fighting the crowd for a seat at a Chili’s restaurant right next to the arena where they were having a hockey game.
The next morning we got up early and walked to a nearby by McDonald’s. When we returned to the hotel there were people waiting for the shuttle that had cruise ship luggage tags. We found out that we could ride the hotel shuttle for free to the cruise terminal BUT we had to return the rental car to the airport and get back to the hotel. So we packed up and left our bags with the front desk, returned the rental car, called the hotel for a pickup back to the hotel and then waited in the lobby for the last shuttle to the pier. That worked out really well for us. When we got to the cruise pier the majority of passengers were already on board, we sailed through the check in process and when we boarded our room was already available.
We dropped off our carry-on luggage (including Jeff’s DP), met our room steward and then set off to explore the ship. We had our mandatory life boat training at 4 and sailed about 5:30. We watched the cast off and part of our sail away but decided to head to dinner since it was still kind of chilly on deck.
We always try to get a set dining time and a table for 6 which seems to be optimal for conversations and helps Jeff since he has a hard time hearing. By the time we booked this cruise the early dining time was full and they put us on “anytime dining”. This means you show up and they seat you and usually end up dining with different people every night. We’ve done that on previous cruises but I prefer to get to know people on a deeper level than just spending one evening with them. Our first dinner we ended up at a table for 10, which is too many people to carry on decent conversation, let alone remember everyone’s name. Turned out there was a RV club that had 100+ people on this cruise and we were seated with 8 of them – we felt like the odd couple.
March 9-14 were sea days
The weather was so cool the first two sea days that there was no sitting by the outside pool. The inside pool had a retractable roof but that wasn’t where I wanted to be. We passed the time okay, but it was nothing memorable. I walked the Promenade Deck for two hours on each of the first two days – trying to head off some of the calories I was sure would be consumed. Our companions for dinner were an elderly couple from London. We talked to them about our upcoming trip (in May) to the UK and asked for suggestions of things to do in London that weren’t too touristy. They suggested the theater. Apparently the gentleman had spent his day complaining to management about his room (wasn’t as advertised), the food service and just about everything else. Our table was visited by the head chef and the head maître de before dinner was finished. This just wasn’t how I wanted to spend my dinners. I decided to give the dining room one more try before just eating at the main buffet.
The following evening for dinner we were seated at a table for 6 and the other two couples seemed surprised when we joined them. Turned out the couple that had been assigned to their table only showed up for the first evening and hadn’t been back. We all seemed to get along and they seemed down to earth and NORMAL so when dinner ended I asked if they minded if I inquired about being seated at their table for the reminder of the cruise. They agreed and Larry talked to the scheduling staff to help me get it set up.
Our new dinner companions were Larry and Claire from Winnipeg. They are retired and traveling the world – and escaping the frigid weather at home. Larry had worked for the government in Weights and Measures and had spent a little time on loan to New Zealand. Claire had been an administrator for a health insurance company.
The other couple was Dennis and Carol from Phoenix. Dennis was a retired police officer, former military, who had also worked undercover, and Carol had the hardest job of all – a stay at home mom. They ended up also being snorkeling enthusiasts so we had lots of experiences to share.
The next couple of days the temps would warm up a little more each day so you could actually be out by the pool in a swimsuit instead of a blanket. We easily fell into a comfortable routine that included dessert after every meal (including breakfast!).
March 15 Honolulu Hawaii
The last time we were in Honolulu we found the best snorkeling stop on the very last day. We got off the ship as soon as we could, grabbed a taxi and headed to the airport to get our rental car. The taxi was kind of spendy but the guy was nice enough and gave us his card to call for the return trip. We got our rental car and headed directly to Hanauma Bay. It is a sheltered cove filled with coral and colorful fish on the southeast coast of O’ahu. The bay limits daily the number of visitors and once the parking lot fills up they close and only reopen when spaces are available. Even though we were here on a Friday I was surprised that there was only about half a dozen parking spaces available when we got in. We had to wait to watch the mandatory video about the park and how to treat the coral before we could go to the beach. Once the video ended we made our way down to the beach which meant walking down the equivalent of a steep 5 story embankment (paved roadway). We knew we wanted to make entry on the left side because from above it looked like the center entry was too shallow because the tide was out. We dumped our stuff on the beach, donned our snorkeling gear and headed into the ….. CHILLY water! This is Hawaii, it’s not supposed to be chilly! The water temp was probably about 65 degrees which is kind of cool for me although it was perfect for Jeff.
Didn’t take long to remember why this was a fav spot. The fish variety was great, the size of fish were from tiny minnows all the way up to 3 to 4 foot long parrot fish. We snorkeled for about an hour, got out for a while so I could warm up and then got back in for another hour. On our second trip in we spotted a turtle and directed other snorkelers to the spot. By this time because the tides coming in or there are so many people in the water, the clarity is starting to suffer. We got out, collected out gear, rinsed off and paid to be driven to the parking lot rather than climb the steep route back up.
Disclaimer: At the time I thought the underwater pictures that we took in Hawaii were good … BUT wait until you see the pictures from Bora Bora and vicinity. You will definitely understand why the snorkeling was so incredible in Bora Bora …. the pictures don’t lie!
We changed our clothes in the car (which is always an interesting experience), stopped at a Walgreens to pick up some bar soap and lotion, then a Safeway to pick up more Dr Pepper, ate lunch at McDonald’s and still had 3-1/2 hours until we had to be back on board. We decided to head to Waikiki beach to take a couple of pictures. We knew from last time that we could park in the zoo parking lot for $1 an hour, which is right across from the beach. We strolled, shopped, took some pictures and then decided to head back to the rental car return.
Couple of comments about Honolulu. When we were here a couple of years ago I was appalled at the number of homeless that were camped under the highway by the airport. They had built a little city and the smell and sight were beyond believable. I noticed this time when we drove by that the homeless camp was gone. Our taxi driver said they city had built low income housing and had cleaned up the area. On Waikiki Beach there were still a lot of people that were apparently homeless and/or mentally ill. One guy, who was filthy, was walking down the street talking to himself at the top of his lungs and every other word was f*** (although I found it interesting that he had the wherewithal to wait at the crosswalk for the light to change). I even saw one guy walking down the street in his Jockey underwear.
OK, back to car rental return. We had an hour and a half to get the car rental back and get to the ship. It took us 10 minutes to take the taxi from the cruise terminal to the airport and all we have to do is put gas in the car and return it. Easy, right? I put the address in goggle maps and it said we were 17 minutes away. I checked UBER and there wasn’t anyone close by so I called our taxi driver from the morning and told him we would meet him at the car rental return. The closer we get, the more I realize that nothing looks familiar. We ended up in China town which is really close to the cruise terminal … as a matter of fact, we passed our ship. Turned out that I didn’t put NORTH in the address. So I corrected that and we are off again, 10 more minutes away. BUT we are in the midst of Friday afternoon, going home traffic, and it is the worst gridlock EVER. We finally get close and thanks to Goggle maps, which cannot work in multiple dimensions, we ended up on an elevated highway when our car rental return lot was UNDERNEATH the highway (nearly threw the phone out the window when Google announced “your destination is on the right”). By now, 40 minutes of our hour and a half has vanished. Jeff is starting to stress and we are on the overpass in non-moving traffic going the WRONG direction. I called our taxi guy, told him we took a wrong turn. He asked where we were and his response was “You are WHERE?” and then strongly suggested we make an illegal u-turn at the very first opportunity. We seriously, made the most illegal u-turn, with no turn lane and 4 lanes of traffic going each direction and then had to cross over 4 lanes to get where we needed to be. When we finally pulled up to the rental car return we had ½ hour to get to the cruise pier and the traffic was bumper to bumper and still just inching along. I asked our driver if we were going to make it and he assured me that we would, but as the minutes ticked away you could tell HE WAS GETTING NERVOUS too. HE was weaving in and out of traffic, getting off the main drag and taking back streets where he could to get ahead of the traffic. Just when we thought we were going to make it there was a wreck in front of us. At this point I’m already thinking if we are going to miss the ship, this is the port to do it. We only have to get to Hilo (the next stop). If the next stop had been Bora Bora, that would have been way too expensive – literally a trip ender. So, we get around the wreck, and all eyes in the taxi are on the clock! We made it to the pier at 5:26 for a 5:30 all aboard, paid the taxi guy and tipped him the amount of the fare, hugged his neck and headed for the gate. When they checked us in I told the gate agent I didn’t think we were going to make it in time … his response “You didn’t need to hurry. They’re having a problem refueling and you aren’t leaving until 8:30 tonight.” ARRRRHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, we didn’t make it to dinner this evening and when we finally got around to it, it was of the liquid variety.
March 16 Hilo Hawaii
After our harrowing close call with the rental car in Honolulu, Jeff said he was never driving again! Guess what? We rented a car here too! This time there was a shuttle from the cruise pier to the airport and we only had to wait for about 15 minutes for it to show up. We had a nice ride to the airport with a very informative driver. I had a full day of excursions planned for this day. We picked up the car and headed for our first destination with me driving and Jeff navigating. Our first stop was the Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo and botanical garden. It was a small zoo but it was very well done. The botanicals were exquisite. They had a white Bengal tiger and an African anteater, two unusual animals you don’t usually see. We spent about two leisure hours here.
Our next stop was Rainbow Falls. The parking lot was full so we drove down the road a little ways and found a makeshift overflow parking area and then worked our way from the top of the park down to the parking area. It was a beautiful venue but crowded with lots of people from the ship on excursions.
Next we went to Boiling Pots Park which is above Rainbow Falls. There were only 3 other cars in the parking lot so this apparently isn’t one of the excursion stops. More beautiful falls and rapids but you couldn’t <legally> get close to the water and Jeff wouldn’t jump the fence with me <insert frown here!>
Kaumana Caves was next. Not really a cave, but actually part of a 25 mile long lava tube and the entrance is part of the lava tube that collapsed. It was formed from the Mauna Loa volcano flow in 1881. You have to descend about 20 very steep steps to enter the cave/lava tube. At the bottom of the stairs you can go left or right. We choose right because the ceiling was more collapsed in that direction and we could walk a little further in the natural light. There is no artificial light provided so we were working off the flashlights on our cell phones inside the tube (pretty worthless). It was distinctly cool inside the tube; we could see our breath. The plant life grew in as far as the daylight could reach and then it was just rock. Some of the rock was smooth and some was very rough and looked like just poured cement. After about 100 feet the tunnel veered off to the left and it was total darkness. This was really cool but if I get the chance to come back I will make sure to have a more powerful flashlight so we can explore further into the darkness.
Next we were heading to Onomea Trails. This is a scenic turnoff that goes through a residential area and has very limited parking. We were lucky and got a space (wide spot on the side of the road). Similar to Hamauma Bay from yesterday, you walk down a very steep trail (walking the treadmill on a 10% incline actually helped here). Then the paths for the botanical garden (paid admittance) cross our trail but they had people watching to make sure you didn’t sneak into the botanical garden area. We continued on the trail to get to the beach access and then crossed a water outlet to get to the trail on the other side. The trail was a major tripping hazard, we couldn’t tell where it was going and we forgot to put on bug spray so we turned around and headed back down to the beach before climbing back uphill to the car.
One final stop, the Farmer’s Market was open today so we headed to downtown Hilo and worked our way through a few shops picking up souvenirs for the kids before returning the rental car. Lucky us! … we got back to the ship with an hour to spare – must have been because Jeff was navigating!
March 17 – 19 more sea days
Chill time! I love sea days. It’s finally warmed up, so the routine is walk, eat, pool, eat, walk, eat, show, and sleep, then repeat for a couple of days. During this part of our journey we didn’t see another ship, or an airplane or even a bird, but occasionally we would see flying fish. We were literally out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and had it all to ourselves.
March 20 Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) Kiribat
We were told that Fanning Island was primitive (no cell phones, no electricity, no running water, no restaurants, no bars … you get the picture) and they suggested we don’t swim in the water because it was uncertain what they did with their sewage. It was raining off and on the entire time we were on the island. Fanning Island is actually a circular atoll (made of coral). The entrance to the harbor was blasted in 1888 (called the “English Channel”) to allow access for ships and through this cut the tide flows. Our tender could do 16 knots and the current was moving through the cut at 14 knots. Because of this and the narrow passage, only one tender could go through at a time. The land area is just under 21 square miles and the maximum elevation is 9 feet above high tide. The interior of the atoll has white sandy beaches and we could see puffer fish and other fish right up at the shoreline. The exterior, or ocean side of the island, is covered with large pieces of coral which is hard to walk on. Tabuaeran means “heavenly footprint” in Polynesian. Anyone remember Gilligan’s Island? The closing scene was filmed here with the beautiful white sandy beach and the coconut trees … truly spectacular.
We were greeted at the pier by local musicians and singers. Most everyone from the tenders was going through the center of the island but we took off and headed for the ocean side beach (no sand, all rock and coral). During our exploration we got caught in the pouring rain a couple of times and got soaked to the skin. We enjoyed having the rocky beach to ourselves and spent the next couple of hours hunting for shells – lots of them stayed behind because they were inhabited by critters. We eventually made our way inland and found an unpaved road that we followed heading back to the pier but veered off on a path toward the interior beach. Along the way we passed a school, chickens, pigs, and open style housing where it appeared that the people slept on elevated tables. There was no electricity but locals did own a few trucks/motorcycles and we did see evidence of a few solar panels so they look like they are trying to modernize. There are approximately 2000 people living here. The only evidence that we saw of local produce was coconuts. On the path we passed a “plantation” growing elephant ear plants.
Our free souvenir haul was a 4 pound clam shell and a couple of cool shells that I thought were unoccupied at the time but over the next couple of days the inside of the baggy has developed condensation so needless to say, I haven’t opened it, I’m sure the smell will be really ripe when I do.
When we got back on board the ship and were enjoying happy hour and watching the final tender make its way back,we got to view a full rainbow over the atoll.
Fanning Island was our only destination on the other side of the International Date Line.
March 21/22 Sea Days
March 21 Groundhog day??
Because we crossed the International Date Line twice we got to experience a real life “Ground Hog” day and repeated March 21st TWICE. How cool is that? On this day we not only crossed the International Date Line, but we crossed the equator, it was the Spring Equinox AND it was a full moon. That’s a pretty momentous day in my book! Besides that the captain kept telling us he had a surprise for us this day. That afternoon we were directed to look off the Port side of the ship at a tiny island called Starbuck. The captain said there have been numerous ship wrecks in the area, probably because the island only rises 12 foot above sea level. There is no commercial fishing allowed within 12 miles of the island, it is uninhabited by humans although at one point there was an attempt made at guano mining (yes guano, bird/bat shit!) – I don’t know what it’s used for, if you’re really curious I suspect you can look it up <insert smiley face>. There were about a dozen coconut trees visible as we passed but the coolest fact of all … we were the first CRUISE ship to formally record passing by the island.
On one of our two tries at March 21st we also had the ship’s Neptune ceremony. This is a naval tradition for sailors who cross the equator for the first time. Before crossing they are referred to as Pollywogs and after crossing they become Shellbacks. It is a fun time for the crew to share with the guests and involves a “kiss the fish” ceremony as well as being slimed and tossed into the pool.
General Information on French Polynesia
There are 5 island groups in French Polynesia and we visited 3 of those. They are Marquesas, Tuamutus, Societies, Gamblers and Australs (we didn’t see any islands in the last two). Because of the reef formations and the cuts in the islands they are not affected by lunar tides but are affected slightly by solar tides. The cuts in the islands greatly diminish any large tidal swings.
March 23/24 Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia
Hands down, Bora Bora was the highlight of our trip. The main island is surrounded by smaller islands but there is one channel through the reef that allowed the ship into the lagoon to anchor. Because of the reef system and only one large pass, the tidal inflow and outflow is very diluted which allows the locals to build right on the shoreline and allows places like the Four Seasons to build bungalows over the water because there is very little difference between high tide and low tide.
We were here for two full days and required a tender ride to get to the island. We had an afternoon snorkel excursion booked with a local guide but got off early and checked out the shopping situation (can you say “black pearls”? … they are EVERYWHERE) and made a run through the local grocery store looking for Dr Pepper (no luck … can you see the continuing theme of hunting for the very elusive Dr Pepper?). We were in a town called Viatape. Looked like a typical, very small town. Two lane road, no traffic control because not much traffic, lots of foot traffic from the cruise ship, dogs running loose, not primitive but not over commercialized.
I had booked our excursion with H2O Bora Bora based on the reviews on Viator that said how the guide, David, found the manta rays for a group. Being able to see manta rays in the wild is on both of our bucket lists. Beyond the review I didn’t know anything about the size of the excursion. I was more than pleasantly surprised when we met our guide’s wife on the dock and we were directed to a small boat that had only one other couple on it. Wow, 4 of us and the guide … that’s awesome! We didn’t waste any time letting him know that manta rays were at the top of our list. They normally feed at night so I knew if we found them we would be extremely lucky. David, first thing, took us to an area where he had spotted manta rays the previous day … no luck. Then we went to a different area for snorkeling where we had to swim against the current to get over some coral and then drift back to the boat. This was also a common theme in French Polynesia – the water flows over the reef through the islands and allows for drift snorkeling. Although there was a current here, in hindsight it was not the strongest current we encountered on the trip.
The first thing we saw when we got into the water was a clam (that’s a first for both of us). They appeared to embedded in the coral and the area between the two shell halves had the most vivid colors of royal blue, purple and green. The clarity of the water was incredible. I have always equated snorkeling in the Caribbean to being in an aquarium; this was like snorkeling in a bathtub! Besides the clams we saw numerous new fish we’ve never seen before. We spent about an hour in the water here.
I’m not sure why, but the coral here is hard coral, you don’t see any soft corals like sea fans or sea whips.
Our next stop was to try and locate the manta ray again. We first returned to the original spot, once again no luck, then on to another possible location. When we pulled up to the area there was a boobie (bird) on a channel marker (the blue footed boobie from Galapagos is on my bucket list and I had no idea that boobies were in this part of the world). There was another boat anchored in the area and that captain indicated to David that there was a manta ray in the water. That’s all we had to hear, Jeff and I wasted no time getting in the water. We were in about 30’ to 35’ deep water and I can’t even begin to explain how I felt when this huge, majestic creature came into view. I was stunned. It was about 18 to 20 foot across and swimming slowly and effortlessly right off the ocean floor. It is really hard to truly judge the size because of the depth and there is nothing to compare to for size. We followed her for about half an hour as she glided slowly and then she turned around and headed back our direction and as if this experience couldn’t get any better we watched in awe as another huge manta ray swim into view. Pinch me … I’m done, it just doesn’t get any better than this!
Our next stop was another coral garden on the other side of the island. During this excursion we circled the entire island. We passed the Four Seasons resort with the overwater bungalows that you always see advertised for this part of the world. These are NOT on the main island of Bora Bora, rather they are on one of the small islands that surround the main island. These rent for XPF 157,704 per night which is about $1600 in US. If you want a ride on a water taxi from the resort to the airport (7 minute trip) it will cost you $250 (one way). We passed another house that rented for $13,000 per night and a home on a private island with 1200 coconut trees for sale for 69 million euro. We also watched as paragliders sailed around and past the highest peak of the island, Mount Otemanu, which stands at 2385 feet.
At the next coral garden we saw more clams, a moray eel and a sea snake. We spent about 45 minutes here and then made our way to our last spot where eagle rays are known to hang out. Jeff had caught his knee on the coral at the last stop and was bleeding a little bit. As soon as we got in the water we spotted a black tip shark which didn’t seem interested in Jeff’s bloody knee and then we spotted the eagle rays. There were probably close to a dozen of them swimming underneath us.
On our snorkeling excursion today, for the most part it was only the five of us in the water so it felt like the experience was very unique. Only with the manta ray and eagle ray spots were there other snorkelers in the water with us.
And that ended our first fantastic day in Bora Bora. We returned to the ship for dinner and then ventured off first thing in the morning for our last day in this paradise. I had rented a two seater, electric car called a Twizzy. David, our guide from the previous day, couldn’t believe the price – $115 for 8 hours! This is an open air car with no side windows. After moving the front seat as far forward as possible the back seat passenger has to crawl in and your feet straddle on both sides of the front seat which is moved back so the driver can get in. It’s similar to driving a golf cart … except nowhere near as roomy <insert smiley face>. David had told us where the best beach was to snorkel on our own but we wanted to explore the island first and then snorkel in the afternoon. We headed off in a counterclockwise direction which kept us closest to the water side. There really isn’t a lot to Bora Bora beyond the beautiful water but there was one place where we could hike out to the point and see two cannons that had been installed during WWII to protect the island during the South Pacific campaign (but I don’t think they ever saw action). We found the location and pulled off the side of the road and paid the woman who owns the property XFP 500 each or about $10 total. It was a steep hike with the first quarter of it on a muddy dirt road where we passed a tour vehicle bringing a group out. It soon transitioned to a muddy path and it wasn’t long before we were covered in sweat from the humidity. We passed a lot of tropical flowers and foliage and as we gained altitude we could view the water and the surrounding islands. The path got even narrower and more overgrown so we quickly surmised the tour groups probably don’t come this far (plus we didn’t see evidence of footprints in the muddy trail). We finally reached a cement bunker and then spotted the two cannons further off on the point. We took pictures, marveled at how far we could see and located the spots on this side of the island where we had snorkeled the previous day. We reversed our course and made our way back to the road having passed not another soul …. which is unusual considering the ship has increased the island population by nearly 25% (island pop = 10,600, Eurodam = 2100) and there isn’t that much to see or do here.
We continued on around the island making a few stops for pictures but mostly enjoying the beautiful scenery passing by and the cool breeze and no engine noise. From the time we rented the car, about 4 hours have elapsed and we have circumnavigated the entire island and hiked. Snorkeling is calling but before getting in the water we head back to an establishment that Bora Bora is famous for …. Bloody Mary’s. It is a quaint, sand covered floor restaurant with tables and stools made out of local hardwoods. We stopped first at the t-shirt shop and made a few purchases and then since it was lunch time decided to sit down, cool off and have something to eat. Jeff had a hamburger and I had fish and shrimp … both were delicious and the cold bottled water was welcome since the temperature outside had continued to climb.
After lunch we found a deserted spot on the beach that David recommended for snorkeling and after our lunch settled we made our way into the water for an afternoon swim. We had cell phone service on the island so after we got out of the water, Sienna and I traded views … mine of blue skies, bluer water, sand covered toes and hers of her bedroom ceiling <insert smile>.
We didn’t hear this news until a couple of days after it happened but I’m fairly certain it was at Bora Bora … one of our shipmates had finished a water tour and had on black water shoes and was swinging his feet in the water off the side of the boat and was bitten by a shark. He had to have 50 stitches and he flew home from Tahiti.
March 25 Raiatea, Society Islands, French Polynesia
You can literally see Raiatea from Bora Bora but it took us all night to get here. Someone said that the ship’s water system only works when the ship is moving so we had to go out into the ocean to replenish the water supply (desalinization system on board).
Our excursion today is a drift snorkel and Dennis and Carol from our dinner table are going to be on it with us. We had a group of about 16 per boat and 3 boats. We got on the first boat and they staggered the arrival time as we were all going to the same location. The boat stopped in water about 2 foot deep and we got out and walked a path along an island shoreline toward the ocean side, then gave our shoes to the guide and entered the water about one person every 10 seconds and then let the current take us through coral garden back to where we started. Compared to Bora Bora, this current was very strong and in hindsight was the strongest current we encountered.
The next time we did the same thing except this time we swam over to another island and repeated the process on the other side. We did this about 4 times. It was amazing how fast the current was flowing between the islands. The information provided about this tour said you had to be an experienced snorkeler/swimmer but that wasn’t the case for some of the people on this excursion. I managed twice to get behind a couple who kicked me in the face more than once (you literally could not stop and it was essentially single file around the coral). Every time we went in the water I would to try to stay as far behind them as possible but they would end up “latching” onto coral and you couldn’t get around them.
On one of our drifts I spotted something bright red and asked our guide what it was, it looked like an exploding tomato. He said it was an anemone and he would take us by it again so we could get pictures. Well, the couple in the previous paragraph staked out a spot and would not move. When they finally left and we got some really good pictures of the anemone with a clown fish, but the clown fish here are blue with gold stripes not orange like Nemo. Another thing to mark off the bucket list <insert big smiley face here>.
March 26 Bahia D Opunoha, Moorea, Society Islands, French Polynesia
This was a beautiful island. Our excursion here was swimming with string rays and sharks, followed by a beach picnic and an area where we could drift snorkel. There were 3 boats of people for this excursion all going to the same place and about 40 people on each boat. Our first stop was similar to the typical “feed the sting rays” in the Caribbean where you get out of the boat in water that is chest deep and the boat operators feed the sting rays to bring them in, the difference here was there were also black tip sharks in the water with the sting rays. The sharks snatched up any food that the sting rays missed. The sting rays were rather aggressive. Twice they “swam” over me …… that’s a really weird feeling. Anyway, typical touristy stuff here but we stayed in the water as long as we could because …. we were in the water!
Next the boats motored very slowly along the coast and past some bungalows built over the water similar to what was in Bora Bora. Then we went across a channel and got out in foot deep water next to a picnic area … think covered cooking area with covered picnic tables. We were told that lunch would be served in an hour and you could sit in the picnic area, swim in the water or walk up the beach and drift snorkel back. We grabbed our snorkel gear and walked up the beach. We got into the water and the current wasn’t as strong as the drift snorkeling we had done the previous day, we were actually able to swim against the current somewhat and cross the channel and get closer to the island next to us. We worked our way back and forth in the water exploring every nook and cranny, marveling at all the different kinds of fish, and how clear the water was.
We went back to the picnic area but lunch wasn’t ready yet so we walked back up the beach and repeated the process. When we finished snorkeling this time they had already served lunch so we got out of the water and since everyone else had already been served the guides wanted to really load up our plates; we definitely ate our fill. There was chicken, fish, rice, beans, potatoes and water and lemonade. We found our guide after we finished eating and asked if we had time to snorkel some more. He checked his watch and said we had another hour, so off we went again. We stayed in the water the whole time. Only one other guy in 3 boatloads of people was in the water with us the entire time we were here … everyone else was sitting at picnic tables or standing in the shallow water. We had the whole place to ourselves and it was wonderful. Jeff got my attention and pointed off in the distance. I turned around and looked and there was a sunfish swimming against the current away from us. A sunfish is one of the heaviest bony fish in the ocean and is also called a mola. It looks like a fish head with a fin on the top and a fin on the bottom they are very distinctive looking (that’s a nice way to say “ugly”!). We were in water that ranged from a foot deep to probably 20 foot at the deepest. This sunfish was definitely a little one, probably 18 inches for the body part, top to bottom. I tried my hardest to swim after him to get a picture but after 10 minutes I gave up and decided it would just be one of those memories I wasn’t able to capture with a camera.
We kept an eye on our group and headed back in when they brought the boats back to shore to pick up everyone. There was one lone stingray in the shallow water begging for food like a puppy while the people were lined up in the water to get on the boats. I still can’t believe that we essentially had the snorkeling all to ourselves.
March 26/27 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
We arrived in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, at about 10pm. Some of the passengers got off that evening but we didn’t. We didn’t have an excursion planned for the next day so we slept in a little and since we were docked at a pier we were free to get off at any time. We decided to get off fairly early (8:30) before it got too hot since we knew we were just going to be walking around. Papeete is the largest city in French Polynesia with a population greater than 25,000. Walking around it seemed that the city was much more crowded than that. This was a very metropolitan city, lots of traffic, lots of people, stop lights (haven’t seen those since Hawaii), and multiple lane roads … you get the idea. Just like being at home except they speak French.
We came across this statute while we were walking and wondered why it had a chicken on top. ??? Anyway, half an hour later a rooster crows. Jeff says …. “yeah, yeah …. we saw your statue!”
We walked to Notre Dame church (that’s a common theme too, all the Catholic churches are named Notre Dame), passed by the Presidential Palace, spotted a grocery store and checked for …. yep, the illusive Dr Pepper (nope!) and then worked our way through all the shops by the pier and the farmer’s market and picked up a few souvenirs.
This was definitely too modern of a city for me and definitely not the highlight of the trip. When we were leaving that evening we passed a unique area in the water where the water was creating wave action over the reef and kayakers were “surfing” the waves.
March 28 Fakarava, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
Fakarava is actually another atoll, which I guess is technically an island but to me an atoll is a rather narrow strip of land, usually circular overall or semicircular with a protected lagoon. You could literally see across the entire land mass to the other side from our balcony. The width of Fakarava couldn’t have been ¼ mile wide but it was 25 miles long. It is a cute little slice of paradise where the palm/coconut trees outnumber the inhabitants. There was a nice wide cement paved road that looked like it ran from the airport at one end (think landing strip, not airport) to a resort at the other end. There were the typical local greeters who were sitting in a shady area playing drums and singing the entire time the ship was in port.
We had the last excursion of the day which was a 2-1/2 hour snorkel at the “cut” where the ship came through but the excursion wasn’t scheduled to leave until 3 pm so got off the ship early to explore without having to drag our snorkel gear around. They had a free WIFI area set aside which appeared to be a popular spot, a small convenience store (but inside it appeared to be their grocery store) and you could rent bicycles which a number of passengers did. We choose to walk and started off in the direction of the airport where we could see a lighthouse that resembled an Aztec temple but passed somebody from the ship who said there was nothing to see that direction. So we headed the other way and kept to the side of the road (to stay in what little shade was available, not to stay out of the way of cars, because we saw only one or two vehicles the whole time we were there). We passed one elderly woman out “cleaning” up her yard … with a machete! She would stab the fallen coconuts and gave them a toss up to the fence line. She looked to be about 90 years old and she was flipping those coconuts like they were nothing.
We walked a couple of miles until we came to a really nice resort. We walked through and checked out the individual casitas, the bar on the beach, the perfect water, the perfect shoreline and one topless guest. A lot of people from the ship got in the water there even though there were signs up that said it was for use of customers only. We decided to walk to the other side of the island (the ocean side). We had to walk through some gravel filled areas and scrub foliage but ended up on a beautiful beach with lots of wave action and lots of large coral (hard walking). NO ONE was on this beach. It amazes me that you travel half way around the world and most people are content to stick to the beaten path … nope, not us! We want to see what everyone else is missing. Just about every cool shell we picked up had a critter in it AND none of them were scared of us. You would pick up a shell that has a crab in it and it would stick its legs out to see who had a hold of it. We did manage to find a couple of unoccupied shells and some nice pieces of coral to bring home.
By this time it has started to really warm up. We passed Larry and Claire out exploring and we headed for the convenience store to see if they had … wait for it …. Dr Pepper! Nope! So we caught the next tender back to the ship, ate lunch, changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the atoll about ½ hour before our excursion departure.
Turns out the previous excursion wrapped up early and all our people were there so we headed out early. We went out to a low spot marked by a buoy that we had passed on the way in. The water went from really shallow on top of the coral and then dropped off deep the further you got away from the buoy. Here we saw two different kinds of starfish, one poisonous, one not, but neither one looked like any starfish I’ve ever seen before. It appears that the poisonous one might have been a Crown of Thornes starfish which is one of the most efficient eating/breeding machines in nature and eats only one thing – coral. It destroys coral reefs and it is unknown how it arrived in the South Pacific.
As soon as we got off the coral we started seeing sharks and lots of them. There were nurse, black tip and white tip sharks. I lost track of counting but of course, you couldn’t tell how many times the same one swam by. There were beautiful fish too but we kept watching the sharks swimming by and even though we were told they weren’t aggressive, well, they were SHARKS. Jeff said while I was taking a picture of one shark, another shark swam over my flippers … AH, TOO CLOSE!! So after about 45 minutes in the water I was ready to get back into the boat and realized why the earlier excursion had ended early … you just get tired of swimming with so many sharks!
March 29 Sea day
March 30 Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands French Polynesnia
Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands, but with a population of only 3000 people. Someone said the French have to pay people to stay here – I don’t know if there is any truth to that or not. They had decent roads, nice houses with air conditioning and a lot of the kids that we saw were riding Arabian horses. Before we got here the captain told us not to get into the water because there were too many sharks. Then when we got on to the tender we were reminded not to get into the water. Message heard loud and clear (and why was it okay at Fakarava but not here?). The captain also told us that a couple of manta rays had been seen in the lagoon. Sure enough, from our balcony we were able to see two smaller manta rays flipping their wings out of the water. That was way too cool.
We didn’t book a tour because it looked like everything worth seeing was within walking distance. The first thing we did was climb to the top of Tiki Hiva which boasts the highest contemporary sculpture in the Pacific. It was on a beautiful hill overlooking the harbor, well-manicured with lots of flowers and flowering trees.
Then we walked about a mile down the road to the church of Notre Dame (same name, different church) which contained beautiful woodwork. We continued on the road for a couple of miles, stopping under the nearest tree whenever the sky opened up, and then continued on to the end of the road where the black sand beach was. It was really hard not to get in the water! We walked to the end of the beach and managed to scare off a bunch of crabs and along the way we kept finding pieces of beautiful shells that had a purple interior. There was a lot of wave action here but I couldn’t imagine the force necessary to break these shells. When we reached the end of the beach, perched up on a rocky outcrop was a women with dozens of whole shells in front of her and a hammer. She was methodically busting the shells open and extracting the critter …. must be dinner, but mystery solved.
We had passed a sign for a pharmacy earlier and decided to try and find it because I had broken a crown the day before and thought I would hunt for some dental wax. We managed to get directions from a local, where we had taken shelter under one of his trees to get out of a downpour, and made it to the pharmacy just as the woman locked the gate and drove away. Oh well, a mile out of our way but beautiful scenery.
This island seemed to have its own eco system. When we came into the bay the outer part of the island looked brown and dried up but the mountains in front of us were shrouded in clouds all day and we encountered heavy rain at least once an hour. As we walked back from the pharmacy it came to me that this island just smelled really good. The rain, no pollution, few vehicles, tropical vegetation … it all added up to the most amazing smell.
April 1 we crossed the equator …. we’re getting good at this!
April 5 Guadalupe Island, Mexico
The day before we returned to San Diego the captain told us he had another surprise. It turned out that he took us sailing past Guadalupe Island (we didn’t stop) which sits off the Mexican coast of Baja California and is known for diving with Great White Sharks. …. I’m all sharked out, I think I’ll pass.
Apr 1-6 our final sea days
Started off warm and then turned cooler the closer we got to San Diego. I don’t think we spent any time by the pool the last two days, it was just too chilly.
General notes
This was a 28 day cruise on Hollard Eurodam, during school, so the population of the guests on board probably averaged 75, if not 80. We did see one child on board. The entertainment is definitely more “mature” than what you find on a Carnival Caribbean cruise. We joked that the entertainment at 11:30 each evening was “Dancing to the hits with Micaela” and we threatened to show up to see what kind of crowd she was drawing but because of the time change I’m fairly certain we were in bed each night by 10:30, at the latest, and never made it. The main stage entertainment had its ups and downs. There were a couple of good comedians, a mentalist that we had seen on the Amazon cruise, guitarist, singers and unfortunately for me … a professional accordion player. That was an hour and a half of my life I will never get back! There were two separate groups of Tenor Quartets that were probably the highlight of the entertainment.
We had 4 Gala nights – one a week. The food in the dining room was good. We found on the previous Holland cruise that you can get the same dinner menu in the Lido Buffet and not have to dress up, but what’s the fun in that? They must have gotten a really good buy on Prime Rib because during our 28 day cruise it was offered at least 8 times.
Our wait staff and room stewards were exceptional. Those guys work their tails off and I sincerely hope they get the gratuities that we pay. We ALWAYS leave them an extra tip. We have so much to be thankful for and they are so far away from their families working a minimum of 12 – 15 hour days.
The one major drawback was there was no self-service laundry on board. They would do unlimited laundry for you for about $100 a week but the laundry bag was about the size of a shoe bag. We ended up washing out what we had to have and hanging it in the shower to dry overnight.
Larry and Claire introduced us to a card game called Five Crowns. It is similar to Gin Rummy and lots of fun. I’ve already ordered and received our card set from Amazon and can’t wait to play it with family.
When we arrived in port at San Diego at the end of the cruise the customs officials came on board the ship and met with all non-US passengers. Then when we disembarked they just made a cursory glance at our passports.
This is by far the BEST cruise we have been on to date. We will definitely repeat this itinerary again.
Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoyed our tour of French Polynesia.
