Jan 16 - Home! Blog updated with photos!

We're home after our flight from Tahiti to L.A., L.A. to Houston, and Houston to Tampa followed by an overnight stay in Tampa.  We arrived home in the early afternoon today. Traveling is a wonderful adventure that we'll continue to do as long as we can, however there's still no place like home!

The blog is now completely updated with formatting and captioned photos on every page. So, if you have a few minutes you can go back through the blog and view photos of lush tropical scenery on islands, like the one below, we had only dreamed of.  This trip was a dream come true for me -- thank you, Denny, for making it happen.  I love you. 

Jan 14 - Last Day in Tahiti

Today we were up early in order to get to breakfast before it closed.  Cheryl and Roy met us at our room, then we walked up one flight to the buffet (way too convenient...) and had our last meal on the ship -- with vows to cut back on eating as soon as we all get home!  After breakfast the four of us went back to our room, where all the carry-ons were located, and went our separate ways until after lunch.  We left the ship before 9 am, got a taxi and went to Le Meridien Hotel for the day.  After checking in and getting to our room we did some exploring of the hotel grounds as you can see by the photos below!

Large swimming pool surrounded by sand -- looks like a beach but is actually a concrete-bottomed pool

Over-water bungalows

Partial hotel grounds with the main building on the left

Neat Polynesian statue in the outdoor dining room

View of poinciana tree tops and distant hills from the balcony outside our room door

During our explorations outside we discovered that none of the three dining areas were open yet -- no food at the pool bar or outside French dining room until noon (and it was amazingly pricey), and the indoor restaurant wasn't open until evening.  So we did the only sensible thing at this point and went back to our room to relax, read and snooze! After our nap we went back outside to the pool bar for sandwiches.  Since this was theoretically bar food we expected Denny's hamburger and my fish sandwich to be less than wonderful.  However his burger was great, and my fish sandwich was a real fish sandwich -- not frozen with breading and dropped in a fryer. What a pleasant surprise!

Roy and Cheryl joined us shortly after 1:30 to cool off after their morning of exploring Papeete.  We all relaxed, they explored the hotel grounds then came back to the room to cool off, and we went for a cocktail before getting ready for our fancy dinner yet to come.  After checking out we all took a cab to the Intercontinental Hotel where our restaurant was located.  The cab dropped us off, and a small truck with enclosed seating in the back picked us up to take us to Le Lotus -- it was quite a drive, as the hotel grounds are extensive.  We entered Le Lotus toting our various pieces of carry-on luggage, however it didn't seem to phase the restaurant staff at all -- they're evidently very accustomed to the many travelers that pass through their doors.

Since our reservations were early -- 6:30 pm -- we were one of the first two parties seated.  That was great, because we had the full attention of the wait staff for the first 15 - 20 minutes.  We were seated in one of the two over-water rooms with thatched roof and open sides with all tables around the perimeter and the service station in the center. Everyone had a wonderful view of the water and the sunset.

One of the two thatched restaurant rooms

Sunset from restaurant - note the thatched roofing at the photo top edge

Thatched roof looking up from inside the restaurant

The food at Le Lotus was definitely gourmet - the choices were fascinating, the presentation eye-appealing, and the food was beautifully prepared and very different from anything we'd ever had before.  We each had an appetizer and a main course only, as we were very aware of time and the need to retrieve our luggage and check-in.  I had a parrot fish appetizer (I've never seen that on a menu!) and mahi-mahi with a marvelous sauce.  Denny had a cold pea and mint soup with shrimp and red snapper with sauce.  We agree that we'd return there in a heartbeat!

Love!

 Our new friends - Cheryl & Roy

Before leaving the restaurant, I headed for the ladies room to change from crops, tank top and sandals to compression socks, tennis shoes, jeans and a top.  Talk about hot!!! After dinner we rode the conveyance back to the hotel reception area and picked up a taxi fairly quickly for the short ride to the airport -- this was about 8:30 pm.  When we arrived at the airport we discovered all the ship's luggage was sitting under cover in an open-air area manned by airport personnel at the entrance and exit.  We were able to quickly locate our luggage, stuff a few items in it like the clothes I'd changed out of at the restaurant and Denny's dress shoes and sandals and get in line to check in.  And I do mean get in line.  There were two huge long lines of people -- one for the 11 pm flight and one for the 11:59 flight.  We were would around outside under roof but open air and moving slowly.  The pictures below don't do justice to the length of the lines, but they should provide some idea of the wait everyone had.

This line is the farthest out from our destination and was the beginning of the line snaking around inside the open-air area

The large group of people to the left of center will be on our plane.  There's another equally large group of people on the right, and not in this picture, who will be on the later plane. 

When we finally arrived at the check-in counter, our bags were weighed (and they were a bit over the limit, but we weren't charged), our boarding passes were issued (Air Tahiti doesn't allow you to print them -- you have to go to the actual counter), and we were ready for the next step.  We stood in another long line to get through security -- still outside, not air conditioned.  People, including me, were dripping wet including our clothes.  It didn't make any sense to wipe the water off, it just returned immediately.  So we all looked like we'd just come out of a shower!

Finally we made it through security into the lobby (still no air conditioning -- we'll remember that heat fondly any time we get cold in the future) and joined yet another line to get on the plane.  Once we got to our seats we were exhausted and hopeful we could actually sleep on this flight!

Jan 13 -- Rangiroa

Today we're anchored near Rangiroa on the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia and will need to take a short tender ride in to the dock after breakfast.  We've been very fortunate with the tenders as we haven't had to wait more than a minute or two for them. We had read on Cruise Critic that we might have to wait several hours -- glad that information was not accurate.

Once we arrived at the dock we checked the few tour vendors for one that was offering glass bottom boat tours, however none were available, as our cruise line booked them all. Since we didn't have our snorkeling equipment with us we opted to follow the road to the other side of the island.  Once there we looked back the way we'd come and could see our cruise ship in the harbor.  That's how narrow the island is!

If you look very closely at the end of the road in the center of the picture, you'll see a little spec of white at the convergence of the trees and the road -- that's our ship at the other side of the island.

Typical home along the road from the ship to the coral beach

One of the nicest homes along this same stretch of road

There was a small beach composed only of pieces of coral -- no shells were visible. However there were vendors at the dock selling shell jewelry, so the shells obviously came from one of the bays or another beach on the island.  We climbed around on the beach and selected a few small pieces of coral to take home.  It's amazing how heavy the coral is, even a small piece.

Coral beach

Coral, a few rocks, and sand - no shells

We'll have to cleverly pack our suitcases later today, as we were originally only a couple pounds under the 50-pound limit per person.  Evidently Air Tahiti is very picky about total suitcase weight, so it's a good thing we each only carried one item on the flights out here. Now, if needed, we can each carry another item to reduce total suitcase weight.  We brought our little suitcase-weighing gadget with us, so we should be able to manage nicely with no over-limit charges - we hope!

Before tendering back to the ship we checked out the dock vendors and purchased a small clay painting from the artist.  He collects various colors of clay from around the islands to create his earth-tone colored paintings.  There were also numerous vendors selling shell and pearl jewelry and not much else.  We tendered back to the ship and spent the time before lunch relaxing in our room.

This afternoon we spent packing suitcases which have to be placed outside our suite by 10pm and will be taken to the airport and locked up all day tomorrow.  We'll retrieve them when we get to the airport tomorrow night.  This created an interesting challenge, as we disembark from the ship tomorrow morning around 9 am, however our flight doesn't leave until 11 pm -- what do we do all day, and what clothes do we need to do it in?  We spent considerable time while packing discussing what clothes we needed during the hot day, what we needed in the evening for dinner at Le Lotus (the nicest restaurant in French Polynesia), and what we were going to wear on the plane.  That's actually three different outfits with related items like shoes - way too much to schlep all day and evening.  So we eventually each landed on some clever combinations to reduce the number of clothes and shoes we'd need to carry -- two pairs of shoes each, 1 to wear, 1 to carry, etc.  

On the far right is the coral beach we were on earlier today - photo taken as our ship left the island

Once packing was completed, we met our friends for Happy Hour and made plans to meet up for breakfast.  Our solution for tomorrow, for the 14 hours between the time we leave the ship and board our plane, was for the four of us to rent a room at Le Meridien Hotel for the day, so we can relax and stay cool before our dinner together and our respective flights (they're flying out 59 minutes after we are).  The four of us separated for dinner, as Denny and I made prior plans to have dinner served in our room by our butler.  We ordered from the outstanding Asian Fusion restaurant that we enjoyed so much earlier in the cruise.  It was truly decadent being waited on in our room rather than just having a room service tray dropped off for us to deal with!

Lobster medallions on dried lotus

Denny with a shrimp appetizer and my spring roll -- check out the amount of silverware for each of us

Denny's stir-fry

After dinner we decided to attend the last show of the cruise.  We're not big on the cruise shows on any cruise and seldom attend them unless it's something that really sounds interesting.  Tonight's show was dedicated to the Rat Pack in Las Vegas, so we expected it to be quite good -- unfortunately we were disappointed with the show, especially the lead vocalists.  However there was a Russian couple who performed several times during the show that were amazing.  She must have been triple-jointed and was incredibly graceful, and he made lifting her into all types of positions appear effortless.  She would start out in one position he lifted her into then would wrap herself around him in another position -- he wore her beautifully.  They were well worth sitting through the show to see!

Following the show we went back to our suite for our last night sleeping at sea to the gentle rocking of the ship.  It's been a wonderful trip!

Jan 12 -- At Sea

Our day began with breakfast in the room (this is getting to be a delightful habit). We learned last night that we are entitled to one champagne breakfast in the room,  so we're taking advantage of that today.  It's been a relaxing morning catching up on blog writing and selecting what dishes we'll have served in our room tomorrow night by our butler.  Although we were allowed to make only one reservation per specialty restaurant,  we can order in our room from their menus. We haven't taken advantage of that option yet but will definitely enjoy it on our last shipboard night tomorrow!

We spent most of today relaxing and reading -- it was great to have some "down time" again.   These days at sea are wonderful!  Shortly before 4 we headed for the culinary classroom for our second cooking lesson.  Today's was titled "mastering fish" and was very intense -- it lasted for two hours.  We learned numerous ways to prepare fish including deep poaching, shallow poaching, searing (scallops), pan frying,  curing salmon, scampi,  and more, plus we got to eat everything we made.  Good thing our dinner reservations weren't until 8pm!

Carrot decoration used on many dishes

View from our room as we passed some land

We met our friends after cooking class for cocktails then went back to our room to wind down after cooking and get ready for dinner.  Tonight we ate in the last of the four specialty restaurants, the Polo Grill.  Maine lobster was on the menu,  so I couldn't pass that up -- it made my day of fish dishes complete!  After dinner it was already past 10, so we retired for the night.

Tomorrow we'll be in our last port before beginning the long trek home starting on Wednesday at 11pm.  The time change getting here was rough,  as we turned or clocks back 5 hours.  However I suspect going the reverse direction will be even more challenging!   We leave Papeete at 11pm Wednesday then leave L.A. around noon Thursday arriving in Tampa at 10:30 that night.  We're staying at a hotel there and completing our trip home on Friday.  It's always great to get home -- we're looking forward to it!

Jan 11 -- Nuku Hiva - Day 2

The tendering process from ship to shore takes some time management if one is not going on Oceana-sponsored tours. People on their tours have seats on the tenders first, so people going on their own often have to wait a couple hours to get ashore.  That can make them very late for any tours they've booked on their own. However if one gets to the assembly area for tendering very early, they can sometimes get on the first tender.

Originally we signed up for multiple excursions with the cruiseline which ended up totaling almost $2,000 -- an outrageous amount compared to what we've paid for excursions in the past. We began searching for other options several months prior to the cruise and canceled the ship-sponsored tours we'd booked.  As it turned out,  we saved hundreds of dollars and have done everything we wanted to do!

This morning we got up at 5:30 to prepare for the breakfast delivery to our room at 6:30, so we could then get to the tender meeting area before 7:30 and be ashore before our 8:30 tour meeting time.   We made it!  Our tour caravan had a van,  a Land Rover and a bus, and only the van was air conditioned.  We booked very early for this tour,  so we not only ended up in the air-conditioned van but in the front seat by all the main vents.  It was wonderful!

Our guide was from France and had moved here 16 years ago with her husband who is from here. She met him while he was serving in the French military,  and the rest is history!  We spent almost four hours driving around the interior and stopping for some breathtaking views. The population is very scattered -- we saw one small village of a couple hundred people.  The terrain is mountainous,  since the island was formed originally by volcanoes.  The flora is spectacular with many plants being the same or similar to those we have in SW Florida.  Fruits are abundant are form a good portion of what the locals eat. 

View of our ship as we climb the hills

Lovely bay - Nuku Hiva was formed of volcanic rock

Interesting short road with a stone marker at the end

Small town of about 200 people

...and the views just keep coming!

The side of the island and mountains we were focused on was very lush and tropical.  It included thousands of palm trees that were planted and are cultivated for the island's main crop, coconuts, from which copra is produced. The other side of the island,  which we saw a small slice of is totally different with its many pine trees. A large percentage of the flora was brought here over the years. and planted,  like the pines and coconut palms.

Palm plantation 

When we returned to the ship we had enough energy to go to lunch then sit and read for the afternoon.  We each dozed off periodically but roused ourselves enough to meet our friends for tea followed by Happy Hour then dinner.  Denny and I went to the casino for less than a half hour before retiring for the night.

Speaking of which -- numerous people have asked me how I like retirement so far.  That's a tough one to answer, since we left on our trip my first day of retirement.  If this is what retirement's like,  I can honestly say I love it!

We've talked a bit about our upcoming doggie search that will start when we're home.  We'll be looking at Wheaten Terriers as a possibility.  Who knows what awesome dog we'll end up with!

Jan 10 -- Nuku Hiva

Today we awoke to a slowly moving ship heading into Nuku Hiva's harbor.  The scenery was incredibly beautiful and lush with hills and shorelines untouched by humanity (until we arrived at the harbor,  of course).  We sat on our balcony and watched the parade of scenery until the ship dropped anchor out in the harbor.  This is another of the ports that isn't deep enough for the ship to pull up to the dock,  so tendering in using several of the ship's lifeboats will be the method for going ashore over the next two days.  

Arriving in Nuku Hiva

The beauty just doesn't end!

Sailboats in the harbor

Once the tenders started shuttling passengers ashore it was fun to watch several guys in outrigger canoes waiting for a tender to leave them paddling like crazy to pull themselves into the wake of each tender.  It looked like a fun ride once they were riding behind the tenders!   In most of the ports we saw men in these single passenger outrigger canoes paddling all over the harbor and sometimes racing each other.  We were told there's a big competition coming up that has contestants from all over the islands competing for a large cash prize.

Tender shuttling passengers to shore

Since we had no excursion planned today we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast,  watched the scenery,  and read.  After lunch we went ashore just to explore the small harbor area.  Although Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, the islands itself is not heavily populated with primarily Polynesians and a small proportion of Europeans, mainly from metropolitan France. The original inhabitants were cannibals who lived in the central valley. 

This island was the inspiration for Herman Melville's books Typee and Omoo, and was also the site of the 4th episode of Survivor. When Survivor was being filmed the crew took over the entire island so no one could either arrive or leave for over two months!   They put in cell towers,  so the natives have had cell service ever since.  All hotels and tour companies (of which there are very few -- of each) were paid as if they were fully booked for the entire time the episode was being prepared for and filmed.  They loved it -- paid more than they usually brought in for doing absolutely no work!

The harbor area is very small as is the main town there. Locals have a couple of tents set up with carved wood items,  some jewelry, and stone items -- many were very interesting but would be very difficult to get home.  Many of the men here appear to have adopted wearing large necklaces and earrings that look like they're made of bone.  In addition they have tribal tattoos that are much more detailed and extensive than those we've seen on the other islands. 

Greeting arrivals from the tenders

Jewelry for sale

Wood carvings

Refreshment stand surrounded by hanging bunches of bananas

Pineapples for sale

Nearby beach

Gorgeous poinciana trees

After walking to a nearby beach just to see it and enjoying the beautiful trees and flowers along the way,  we tendered back to the ship for Happy Hour with our friends then dinner in the main dining room.   We retired early again, as we've been doing almost every night. Tomorrow is an early day,  so hopefully we'll be rested up for it!

Jan 9 -- At sea

Since we're sailing for the next 20 hours, we decided to have breakfast in the room. We placed our order by leaving it outside our room last night in the message holder provided and, like magic, our butler appeared at the requested time with a tray full of food.  After spreading a tablecloth on our little dining table he set up our breakfast then left us to enjoy it.

View from our balcony

We relaxed after breakfast by doing such exciting things as going to the laundry room to dry our wet bathing suits,  talking to our concierge to confirm our day room in Papeete on the 14th before our 11pm flight home, reading the paper and getting ready to go to bingo.  We enjoyed playing bingo but didn't win -- darn!  After bingo it was lunchtime then time for an afternoon rest after our strenuous day...!

Our dinner reservations tonight are at the Red Ginger serving Asian fusion foods. We're very much looking forward to it,  especially after cooking some dishes from their menu in our first cooking class. The restaurant's atmosphere is calm and restful,  and the food was as wonderful as we expected.   Our meal started with edemame accompanied by a little white disc.  After finishing the edemame, a server came by and gently poured hot water over each white disc.  The discs grew taller and a bit wider -- they were hot towels to wipe our hands!

I had a lobster appetizer, miso soup with silken tofu, baked sea bass, stir-fried udon noodles and a small piece of cake.  Denny had a miso shrimp appetizer,  watermelon and duck salad, coconut soup,  baked corvina and lemon sorbet.   We were stuffed and just couldn't go to bed while full,  so we went to the casino to play penny slots for a while then back to our room to read before bed.

What a relaxing day!