PACIFIC PRINCESS

NOV 13-DEC 4, 2015

PAPEETE SATURDAY

Wasted time waiting in Qantas check in. Air Tahiti Nui was smooth and was a happy airplane. Taxi to Hotel Tahiti Nui was easy and hotel is nicer than expected and very modern in a seedy area but very close to ports and ocean. Farmers market is very local. Nice vendor gave us free desert, orange and purple mochi in coconut milk, after buying coconut poke from him. Karen drops shot glass and makes a scene.

4x4 tour into back country and mountains with Sebastien of Ciao Tahiti was okay. Sat in back of open air Land Rover with five local French speaking folks. All very nice but language barrier limited amount of discussion. The flora is identical to Hawaii and many geographical sites also very similar. Tahiti words similar to Hawaiian like Vahine vs Wahine, Vane vs Kane, Punaruu vs Punaluu. Lunch was a spinach and goat lau lau dish with poisson cru (poke) at a pretty view but run down hilltop restaurant, La Marota. Tour was very bumpy at times and steep grade to top of mountain. Some sites were interesting but kept nodding off between stops. Overall very average excursion and happy to get back to hotel.

Dinner at Les Roulatte food trucks by the pier. I liked it. Interesting venue with outdoor seating, unusually large number of Chinese food trucks. Had special chow mein and Nutella crepes for desert.

 

MOOREA  Sunday

Mou’a Roa peak

Decided to take a taxi to the ferry that cost $15. Bad decision. We were early enough to just walk on the first trip of the day. The ferry was very nice and modern with a full cafeteria. Moorea is much prettier and less crowded than Tahiti. Moorea is generally shaped like a heart, steep mountain peaks and jagged skyline are uniquely stunning and beautiful. Rented an Avis car and had to drive a stick for first time in 25+ years? Stopped by Hilton to drop off bags but was allowed to check in at 11am. Room is fantastic and water is great, lots of fishes just off the back porch. Karen's fish food made for amazing fish pictures. The resort is eerily empty of tourists, don't know if it's just slow season. The Hilton is in between Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay where Mutiny on the Bounty occurred.

Had poisson cru at Snack Rotui and opa moonfish at Les Tipaniers Dela Plage. Picked up mangoes and papaya from a local beach vendor. Had salmon crepes at Cook Cafe for dinner with Nutella banana coco for desert. Missed getting a picture of a bright red sunset. During the day we went to Belvedere lookout for panoramic view of the island.

Note: custom is to get food bill and pay at restaurant counter. It does not come to your table.

La Orana (Aloha) is hello, Maruuru (Mahalo)is thank you.

 

MOOREA Monday

Woke up just after 5am to see sunrise. Karen was in the water by 7am. Very spectacular variety of fish. Saw a flounder, shark, puffer, and many others. I'm not sure but hope the GoPro worked. Did a second snorkel around 0930. Off to Snack Mahana for lunch to find out it's closed Sundays and Mondays. Ate poisson cru again at Les Tipaniers dela plage, it was fantastic, huge portions. Met an Indiana couple on their sixth trip to Moorea that were very friendly and had a lot of good advice. This was our only English speaking conversation on this trip. After another snorkel at the Hilton, we watched the sunset before going back to Les Tipaniers, but this time at the main restaurant.

Notes: People eat later in the day in FP. Lunch opens at noon and dinner at 6:30 and they close in between. Mondays seem to be dark with a lot of restaurants closed.

 

PAPEETE Tuesday

Karen woke up at 5 again to picture the sunrise and had a sore throat and congestion. Windy this morning so we didn't snorkel. Checkout was flawless at the Hilton and Avis so we waited for the 1130 ferry longer than planned. Very short walk from the ferry terminal to the Pacific Princess where we were able to check in immediately.

The PP is more elegant that prior ships with dark woods everywhere and the room configuration is better. The ship is definitely much smaller with only the capacity for 671 passengers. It makes you wonder about how smooth a ride it will be on the Pacific. Very windy day where napkins were being blown off the tables. Relaxed and saw South Pacific movie in the lounge with Mitzi Gaynor then met her first cousin, Fred, and wife Penny at dinner. What a coincidence. The buffet area and the restaurant all have a more private seating arrangement with smaller tables and more space.

 

MOOREA Wednesday

Departed Papeete at 0520. We learned that Cook Bay, named for Captain James Cook, is not where he landed, which was adjacent Opunohu Bay. Opunohu Bay is deeper and has a wider and straighter mouth that makes it more navigable. Opunohu Bay is also where the “Mutiny on the Bounty” occurred. We heard how UC Berkeley came to own some hillside and beachfront property in the bay because Stanford administrators were overheard talking about selling the property while thinking the donor alumni was drunk on the floor. We heard from other passengers that the Marquesas Islands are the most attractive in all FP. We met Gail and Tony that have been sailing in FP since January 4. Also met Jonathan(wife Jennifer), a retired NASA scientist from Colorado Springs and Vicki from Arcadia on the snorkeling excursion. Jonathan is also a guest speaker on the cruise.  Swimming with stingrays and black tip sharks was amazing for the abundance and proximity of the sea life. The snorkeling cove past the Intercontinental was gorgeous even though the fishes were unimpressive. Bought some black Tahitian pearl necklaces at the tent vendors near the tender dock.

Dinner mates for the next 16 days are Mort, 89, and Joyce, 83, from San Francisco. Mort will be celebrating his 90th birthday on Dec 3, the last day of the cruise and he reminds me a lot of Ed Asner. Ricky and Larry from the Philippines are the best servers I can remember.

 

BORA BORA Thursday

Bora Bora was a significant island for US military operations in WWII. They created the roads and infrastructure that supports the inhabitants today. BB was more easily defendable than Tahiti therefore chosen as a military base. There are so many over water bungalows here, even saw a multi story bungalow.

Got up ready for a fifth day of snorkeling. Vaiatiare of Maohi Nui recently moved to Bora Bora from San Bernardino to help out her dad. A colorfully decorated boat took us out to the first stop to swim with Lemon and Black Tip sharks. After 5 minutes the current took us so far out, one of the boat captains was yelling to come back in. I started back but barely made any progress against the current. I started to struggle and worried about being able to get to the boat. I finally made it to one boat but was so exhausted I had to be pulled to my boat 30 yards away. Luckily I wasn't the only one since Karen and at least 2 others needed help. For some reason, fighting the current made me seasick. Next stop was only 5 feet deep where we swam with sting rays and more sharks. Third stop was in 20 feet of water to see reef fish and I wasn't going to chance floating to Papeete again. Finally we travelled to a private motu, a coral island, to meet Patrick the owner and Vai’s father. In a shallow lagoon, looking at Otemanu, the highest peak on the island, pretty much perfect spot. Lunch of Kalua pig, chicken lau lau, poisson cru, grilled tuna and mahi, plantains, and banana poi really hit the spot. Patrick concluded the day with a Tahitian fire dance. Throughout the day, the boat captain sang and played the ukulele while Vai did the hula. Overall a very good excursion except for almost floating away.

 

SEA DAYS Friday thru Tues

Medium to high seas made for a slightly uncomfortable ride the first couple days. The doldrums provided calm seas when we crossed the equator. First time equator crossers by sea are called polywogs. Got to know the Hawaiian entertainers on board, Tui and Maile, and her dad Al, a retired engineer from Rockwell that worked on the Space Shuttle. Met Werner and Christina, fellow world sailors with Gail and Tony. Werner is from Austria and Christina is French. Finally met the third couple at our dinner table on the 6th night, Joe and son Katie, a TG, are from Palmdale.

 

HILO Wednesday

We debated between driving to Volcano or to Hawi to see the Ipu guy. We ended up taking the Belt road along the shore to Hawi. Many stops due to road work and it took over one and a half hours to Waimea and another thirty plus minutes to Hawi over the mountain road. Then to find out the Ipu guy was in Kona and his shop closed. Luckily he called his wife to the store and we were able to get a nice honu Ipu. I didn't realize how much of an art enclave Hawi was with so many local art stores. We admired a koa table at $16,000 with each chair at $1,200. The wife recommended heading back to Hilo taking the faster route to Kawaihae and the saddle road through the middle of the island. That shortened the return trip by about forty minutes. Ate lunch at Hawaii Style café in Waimea where we should've have shared the huge portions instead of ordering separate meals. Great crack seed and general store next door where the nice clerk gave me some alae salt for the li hing mango. Made it to Hilo with an hour to spare.

 

HONOLULU Thanksgiving Thursday

Made it to moms house by 0830 and had the mandatory papaya breakfast. Rainbows and most of the stores were closed. Was upset with myself for bringing the wrong Windows version and forgetting the Verizon software for the PC Card. Starting the Smart car also took longer than expected. Went to Longs and bought lots of Mac nuts and snacks to take back home. Poke lunch from Times. Drove around in the rain looking for an Internet café to no avail. Decided to have turkey dinner with mom and got to Times three minutes before the food counter shut down. Made it back to the ship by 8 to see the very nice keiki hula show. Wish I had looked for a ukulele sale in Honolulu.

 

LAHAINA Black Friday

Got off the ship with no real plans but found a local guide to take us around the west side of the island. Nice guy but over zealous about Hawaii sovereignty. He maintained that Hawaii was annexed without a vote so we are still a monarchy and not part of the US. Shared the van with couples from Switzerland and Ontario, Canada. The road from Kapalua to Kahului was recently paved so it was a little wider and much newer since our last trip. Spencer beach was pretty and had some big surf but Honolulu Bay was closed due to a surfing competition. The blow hole had some big geysers due the same surf conditions. I noticed the beauty and the depth of the valleys much more as a passenger than as a driver. Had the best mango passion smoothie just before “hidden” village. Karen remembered the Waihee ridge hike with the Garcias after we passed the turnoff. We stopped at the Maui Tropical Plantation for a potty break before the final leg home. Stopped at McDonalds to dine and catch up with events using their internet. Ricky and Larry surprised us at McDonalds after buying gifts for their family at the outlet mall. Leisurely walked back to the ship on Front street after stopping at Foodland.

 

SEA DAYS Saturday thru Thursday

Slow uneventful days. Amazed at how uncrowded the ship feels, everything feels more relaxed. Glad to hear that Gail, Tony, Werner and Christina had a great time on Oahu and Maui following our guide. They went around the island on Oahu including going to Wailua. They said it rained all day and Giovanni’s was closed but they ate at another shrimp truck. They did the Makapuu lighthouse hike but opted out of Diamond Head to Gail's dismay. Apparently they enjoyed the cactus garden at KCC. They convinced themselves that they didn't have the time for Hana on Maui so they enjoyed the west side drive and tried to do the swinging bridges hike that was closed permanently. Sounded like they enjoyed it greatly.

Still haven't seen John and Kate at dinner again but see them around the ship and on land frequently. They were at the Sterling Grill same night as us.

Monday is an incredibly glassy ocean day. Exchanged emails with Kean & Lin Engie, moving from FL to WA, who recently took a cruise from Tokyo to Sydney, and James & Nyla Day from Hilo, who will be cruising South America in January. The Day’s son played volleyball at USC and they stopped to talk with me after seeing my USC windbreaker. Also met Rick, an Oregon fan from AZ. Melanie from Van Nuys and her husband are good friends with Al from Torrance, father of Maile the entertainer. Melanie an Nyla seemed to know a lot of the same people through Kamehameha School.

Joyce and Mort were trapped in the elevator during a generator outage on Saturday so they shared the free bottle of champagne that they got from Princess with us.

 

Met Shelly Bonus, guest speaker and astronomer at Mt Wilson observatory. She works for Mt Wilson Institute and didn't go to college and start in astronomy until she was 40.