BermudaBound2014

Fakarava - hard to believe that was 5 days ago. I had minimal expectations for this stop and was very pleasantly surprised. I booked with Fakarava excursions and went to both the blue and green lagoons. We were the first ones to the blue lagoon and had it to ourselves for an hour or so. Do the morning trip if you want easy snorkeling from beach. The afternoon snorkel is more open water and was quite rough with white caps at times. This trip is only for strong swimmers. I’m booked on both trips next year too. I believe he is close to full for next year already. There just aren’t that many tour operators here. I should note that if you do book with christophe’ you must be in the first couple of tenders. I got into line for tickets about an hour before they were handing them out and made it in the second tender. There isn’t a mad rush to get off here, but if you book a tour you will need to be assertive. By the time I got on island there was already 4 people waiting to see if those with reservations were going to show up. Christophe ended up waiting until the fourth tender and then left behind 4 people who had reservations as there were plenty of others ready to take their place. For those going next year I can’t stress this enough, many of the tours down here are not like the USA with regular steps and safety rails. There are three rather large steps to get into the boat and one lady had to be physically carried. I’m sure she was embarrassed and it didn’t look like the crew was all too happy. If you walk with a cane, most (all) of the tours I have done will require careful reconsideration before booking. No such thing as Ada laws for tours here. If you are unsure, take a ship tour because they are very experienced in helping those with some physical limitations. Fakarava is basically a giant sand bar. Very rustic and remote. There were a few tables of trinkets at the tender area. There are very minimal cabs. You can rent bikes (see below). You must be able to walk on uneven surfaces and sand as sidewalks aren’t paved.

I hung out at the pool. Had a few margaritas. Had lunch with some friends. Another margarita. Took a shower. Headed to bbkings at 2:30. Figured it would be clear by then. Couldn’t believe I still needed a tender ticket. The first tender went off around 10 and tender tickets were needed until after 3, so a full 5+ hours to get folks off. The story I have by playing the cruise ship telephone game is that a lady got injured getting off the tender. She needed an ambulance. That slowed things down. There are sketchy steps to navigate so, please, if you use a cane or are unsteady on your feet please beware here. I later saw luggage on the pier so not sure if the lady was left behind or not. By the time I got off the tender it was 3:30 and the market was closed. I meandered down to the grocery store and picked up my monoli oil but couldn’t find liquid vanilla. Lots of tikis and black sand beaches near the port. Next year I may take a ship excursion because those folks did get priority tendering to be the very first off. Nuka hiva is a very pretty port but there were issues tendering last year too, so I’d bet on them in 2025. There is only room for one tender at the pier and guests must be able to navigate the stairs. It’s 6:30 and we are sailing away. As I look in the rear view mirror at the experiences I have had here in French Polynesia I am in awe and am absolutely overflowing with gratitude. I take not one minute of this experience for granted.

HaHa- I think I love you Janet :). I’m certainly no HAL cheerleader. I have zero loyalty to anything without its very own pulse and, at times, even that is questionable. 😉 With that, this been has been an exceptional cruise. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely!!! Are there people with legitimate grumbles, sure! IMO, This ship itself is one of my least favorite physically and the entertainment is some of the worst I’ve ever encountered (not counting BbKings who are single handedly saving my nightlife). However, even with its niggles, I’m sailing this itinerary again in 2025 because HaL has delivered what HAL does best. A fairly inexpensive trip (comparatively) with a fabulous itinerary. I continue to be grateful every single moment. Perspective is underrated. We are currently in nuka hiva. This is a very slow tender port. They can only get one tender to the dock at a time. Guests must be able to climb stairs shoreside and there is no wheelchair access at all. It’s currently a cluster tendering. Bbkings is a madhouse. We started tendering 1.5 hours ago and they have just called the first two groups. My guess is it will take 2-3 hours before tenders no longer require tickets and that’s when I will head down. In the meantime I’m lounging at an empty pool enjoying a cool breeze and margarita because while it’s 11:30 here it’s 5:30 back home so technically I’m late. I choose not to fight crowds as the only thing I have planned for today is to pick up some Tahitian oil. Side note- We got in late due to unsafe tendering conditions but we are staying an extra hour. That has added to the cluster downstairs but those on the 2025 cruise should know that tendering here is challenging. Might be a good port for a ship tour where you can get off first. As I mentioned before, between 4 and 5 stars plus all those who purchased priority thru club orange and suites, nearly 50% of the ship has priority (which means no one really has priority). There are some very angry folks right now so please plan to bring your patience to this port.

Lookie Lookie- lobster tail appeared at the lido again tonight and was accompanied by a side kick of her friend escargot. I ate a very lovely meal of 3 lobsters tails and one escargot outside; all while enjoying a warm breeze and watching a lovely sunset. I know some of you enjoy the formality of the slow paced MDR experience being waited on (and I respect that), but this TomGirl much prefers the freedom of dining on my own schedule, eating at my own pace, enjoying food I have personally selected, all with a gentle sea breeze at my back. For me, immersing myself in the sounds and smells of the open ocean is a huge draw of cruising.

I am now two islands behind but let us just say that Moorea was exceptional and Fakarava exceeded my expectations. Backing up to day 2 in Moorea- My friend knows a guy so we literally took a taxi and showed up at his house. He took the 5 of us out on his private boat for the most amazing snorkeling. Then we hung out at his private pool. The only snafu was our private taxi driver that didn’t show up for our return trip. These are the risks you take for big rewards :). We were prepared to make the 5 mile walk back into town when an angel taxi miraculously appeared and saved the day. That’s twice travel karma has shined down upon me this trip. As fate would have it, I now know a guy on Moorea and will plan a similar trip next year. In fact, I will be researching taking a ferry from Papeete to Moorea and spending one or two nights there instead of overnighting Papeete. Moorea is way more my vibe. If this interests you tag me in the 2025 roll call. In other news, as mentioned, we have earned back our salt and pepper shakers. Ironically, we were granted the privilege of using tongs again a full day before the article about noro was published. Gotta love main stream media. I wish I could upload my GoPro video. We did a tow snorkel over 2 dozen eagle rays, snorkeled with more reef sharks, stingrays, turtles, and a he took us to an unbleached secret coral garden. Pictures don’t do the experience justice. Here are a few screenshots i grabbed from the videos… Side note- the GoPro video I have of the coral garden is 15 minutes long and won’t transfer to my phone. Therefore I can’t share screen shots with you. I’ll figure out how to do that once I get to faster internet so those stunning photos will come later. With all the coral bleaching events taking place throughout the world this place brought back memories of snorkeling in the Caribbean 30 years ago. These guys were that close 🙂 Eagle rays 360 Scenery Dudes private pool

Exactly this ^ I meant everyone on the ship play nice as in washy washy - aka don’t let your guard down. We just got ‘free’, don’t want to go backwards (it’s so hard on the staff).

Yep we’ve been free for over 24 hours now. Everyone play nice please!!! On another subject- WTH is this??? Move clocks 30 minutes? This is the twilight zone. As if the whole crossing the dateline didn’t confuse me enough. They are really testing the limits of the drink package here ;).

That is yet to be seen. According to the cruise director this was the first time they had the orange party outside at the lido. Some people are complaining that it was too hot (and it really was scorching to the point that I went up on the open air jogging track to look down and got a group to wobble outside where it was much cooler). We still have 11 nights and it will get much cooler as we make our way back to San Diego. So far the responses I’ve personally received either verbally or by messenger in both social media formats has been very supportive. I’d guess about 50 people have told me they have requested another outside lido party on the return. The timing of this one was also bad. Not just for the heat but because we had to get up early today for Fakarava.

Really quick post for those who are following this thread and are currently onboard…. The orange party was great! Unfortunately the timing was off for many of us who need to get up early for tours tomorrow. I will be using the “let us know” feature in the app to request another party (or two) on the lido during the long 8 night return trip to San Diego. Based on all the participation, I suspect folks wouldn’t mind another orange themed party. If you agree, please write the request in the navigator app using “let us know” and give this post a like. Let’s turn this place up for the ride home!!!

I am several days behind because this Girl Is On Fire!! Literally speaking because it’s extremely hot and metaphorically because this place is paradise. No really- PARADISE!! Our first day in Moorea i complete the photography tour offered by the ship. I had higher expectations for actual help with photography. The guide, while lovely, discussed composition only. Nothing in focal point, aperture, settings adjustment, etc…just elementary composition. If you have a setting tab on your photo with grids in your camera you already know everything she taught us. We did make 5 stops which were beautiful but the heat was oppressive and the oblivious elderly lady who kept standing in front of everyone’s photos was enough to make me want to poke my own lenses out. All in all I did 3 HaL tours this cruise. None of them good. The Hollywood movies in Kauai was ok. The “lagoon snorkeling” on ohana catamaran in Papette was very poor and not to description. I’m still waiting for HAL to address my written concerns. I’ll keep you posted. The photography tour was probably just me having too high expectations. I don’t recommend that ship excursion for anyone but the most very beginning photographer. I suspect her day tours for those actually staying on island are more detailed because it’s clear she is a wonderful photographer herself. This is why I hardly ever do ship tours and likely won’t be booking any next year. Here are some of the photos she helped me to compose- This first one she actually took with my camera as an example.

IMO- Cruise prices will go down when credit cards tighten up their lending. Right now Credit cards are a free for all and US Consumers are trillions in debt and that debt keeps rising at a record pace. It’s a game of musical chairs if the music stops. The thing with HAL long itineraries is that I suspect most people taking those long cruises are old school with their financial approach and carry little credit card debt to begin with. I don’t see the longer/unique itineraries reduce in cost much unless we get another crisis.

I can’t access those documents until I get home as they are on my desktop. They are posted in this years roll call thread if you don’t want to wait. And please don’t take this the wrong way, i do not want to come across as bossy (which is sometimes easy to do online without voice inflections and a smile). I am just trying to be able to keep up and when your quote includes all my photos it actually slows down and sometimes freezes up the ships internet. If folks could please try to remember to delete photos in their responses it helps all of us who are posting from the ship. I know it’s hard. I’ve made the mistake myself.

Photos from yesterdays tour around Tahiti. Booked with Eden tours. I’ll add all the contact info/prices for those interested once I get back to my desktop and can access my pdf files, but you can google it if you want the info sooner. We did an entire circumnavigation of the island. Most tours do east coast one day and west coast another. It was a full 6 hours. Very comfortable air conditioned van. Our driver was the owner of the company. He is retired military. Born and raised in Tahiti. Gave great background on the island including the politics involving France. We visited an ancient sacrifice temple, tikis, grotto, 2 waterfalls, Paul Gauguin park where he painted, a blowhole, and black sand beach. Information/history was on point. Bottled water provided. I’d Recommend it for first time visitors - unedited Pics below… IMG_3516.MOV

of course! I am getting all the days confused. I swear I’m getting dumber by the day. I was not impressed with the snorkeling tour I did on Papette. It was nothing like Raiatea. Would you do Tahiti by boat again?

@canadianbear those were from tahati by boat not the excursion you went on (Bruno). @Arizona cruisers I have quite a few thoughts on this. Be sure to tag me and ask this question in the 2025 roll call once I get to Maui and have more time and can give your questions more thought. In the meantime, if you can find the pdf file in this years roll call I’m sure that explains how I paid. I’ll post those in our roll call also once I get back to my desktop. @ljgordon54 please ask me these questions in the 2025 roll call where my answers will be more relevant. I’ll be sure to answer all questions the best I can once I can catch a breath. These last few days have been a marathon. I’ll have lots of time once I get to the condo in Maui. Yesterdays recap- I do not recommend snorkeling in Papeete and especially not with catamaran Ohana. I’m giving HAL a chance to rectify before I type out everything that I was disappointed with. Because of all the fresh water that dumps in the ocean on this island (Tahiti) there is virtually no coral comparatively. This is why I rarely book any HAL tours, but I needed to spend some OBc. Tahiti is a great island for a land tour which is whAt I just completed. Lots of waterfalls and flowers. Photos later, I need to jump in the pool and cool off. I will say this also, there are quite a few people complaining about heat. It is hot. Much hotter than Hawaii. Think Florida in July hot times 2. I love the heat and am doing fine, but do not forget your water bottle anywhere. I did witness one lady suffering from what appeared to be heat related illness as they were pouring water on her head.

Trying to catch up. Nothing to report on the ship other than Laundry is going a bit faster (2 days instead of 3). I did a snorkeling excursion with Bruno. Highly recommend. I have an information pdf I can post when I get home with all the deets for booking, or you can go look in this years roll call. I just don’t have the files saved on my phone or i would post for those booking in 2025. Here are some photos (which do not do French Polynesia justice). We circled Taha’a in 6 hours with a stop for swimming with reef sharks, two coral gardens, a drift snorkel (in quite strong current, not for weak swimmers) and lunch on Gilligan’s Island :). The pouring rain on return trip was nothing but a fresh water shower. Unfortunately most of my great photos are video or taken with my GoPro and cruise critic doesn’t like the format. Hope these give you a little idea what this was like!

Just a quick post for you Elizabeth- there is no price on the laundry slip for by the bag. I have unlimited and it’s been great, but not a one day turn around like most people say. It’s been 48 hours most times abs one time it took 72.

I don’t have any ship info for you because I didn’t spend anytime on the ship. Some of my people and I hired a water taxi to take us to a Motu just south of the ship. It’s where locals hang out. It was basically like landing on Gillian’s Island. For the most part the island was deserted with exception of a friendly black tip shark and sting ray (although there were more people as the day progressed). The motu is advertised as having showers but they were fibbing. There were restrooms (bring your own toilet paper). The snorkeling from shore was excellent (bring fins, strong current). We were only planning on staying a few hours but ended up there the entire day. By the time we water taxied back to the ship all the stores were closed. I was hungry, did the lido. Fourth time this cruise they have had prime rib on the buffet and not in the MDR. They were also fresh grilling mahi mahi again. I’ll make it into the dining room at some point, but I am totally satisfied with the lido fresh grill and yummy salad bar. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, I have no words….:l Tonight’s dinner menu-

We already did. We had no Feb 29 but two March 3rd. It’s March 5th now (same as North America). Apparently we move clocks 30 minutes in a few days. Not sure what that’s about other than to keep guests in a perpetual state of confusion 🙂

@pmjnh nope, but I love lots of Scottish folks. I’m 💯 Polish and proud, but we get a lot of 10 minute showers in Kapalua, Maui so it’s pretty standard term we use there. We have arrived at Gillian’s Island (aka Raiatea). The Captain opened up the bow at 6 am for the sail in. Took us 2 hours from when we crossed into the reef at Tahaa (see photo below for where we crossed into the reef area) until we docked. Just spectacular! Current location we entered the protected reef area in the north west section of Tahaa and sailed south East to our current location. This was our route (sorry, I don’t have time to make the red line perfect but you get the jist- enter north in Tahaa and sail south and across to Uturoa, Raiatea.

Hasn’t this always been extended annually (as opposed to 6 months)???

We have entered the waters of French Polynesia. Pool has been busy today. The water was actually warmer after they drained and cleaned the pool due to the Neptune Ceremony. Lunch menu 3rd dressy dinner menu had a bit of liquid sunshine pop thru… Daily’s for March 4th. We have finally put that international dateline chaos behind us (literally).

I’m in picture posting jail again. Will catch up later. @canadianbear it has nothing to do with your package. Cruise critic doesn’t like videos. I have premium. I can sometimes get a very short video to post.

This trip is simply decadent. D.E.C.A.D.E.N.T— The weather is lovely. Pool temp is perfect, and there is enough of a breeze to keep me cool in my cocoon on deck 10 when I’m not participating in Tia chi, morning dancing, or swimming. Last night was a dance party at bbkings. I can’t tell you how much I am loving that band. The vibe is just perfect for dancing all night. As i mentioned, i am more suited to the playlist in Rolling Stones, but the band in BBKing brings exceptional talent and way more energy. I think the two story venue is perfect for the level of sound produced. I can’t imagine a band with this much gusto playing in rolling stones with its low ceilings. It’s loud but I just turn down my hearing aids and get busy on the dance floor!! Racked up another 20k steps yesterday. Oh- There was also a costume party happening at the same time in bbkings, but it was typical cruise ship lame where 4 people dressed up, we applauded, then we immediately got back to dancing. Tonight is dressy. There is no complimentary lobster on the menu. I’m a bit perplexed why they had a dressy night immediately preceding a port day. It’s not like this itinerary lacks for port days. I have been invited to catelletto tonight by some of my new favorite people. As such am not eating anything but a small bowl of oatmeal at 7:30 am. Girls gotta prime. There are a few other things I find perplexing onboard. One is that they do not repeat activities on the TV, nor do they repeat Kristins port talks. Seriously HaL, float into 2024!! They are missing a huge monetary opportunity not filming all the activities throughout the cruise and then selling a $1.99 thumb drive for $49.99 like all the other cruise lines. I can see not videotaping copyrighted performances but line dancing and port talks are fair game. I would love to listen to Kristen’s port talks, but not at 4:30 when she gives them. Why is it too much to replay them on the tv so we can catch up at our leisure? There are lots of complaints on the social media pages about the same thing so it’s not just me being entitled. It’s about using technology to enhance a guests experience. I wanted to watch several of my friends perform the hula and ukulele today at 1:00 but missed it because a) the app has stopped notifying us when events are about to happen. Instead we get a notification a few hours late and b) I was dripping wet from the pool. I put in another request for activities to be filmed and some higher energy music at the lido from 1-3 (I’d like it all day but am willing to compromise). I’m pretty sure these two requests are falling of deaf ears. I am pleased to say that every staff compliment has made it to the staff member because they keep thanking me so we know that is working. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a fabulous time. In over 50 cruises spanning 4 decades; this is absolutely one of my favorites and we haven’t even made it to this reason I booked (French polynesia). I totally understand, and accept, that I’m not HAls target audience, but I suggest to HAl that they pay a bit more attention to us retired Gen Xers as we are quickly becoming a large market share. Ok enough silly babble. Just talking out loud ( I said l was pausing the food not alcohol ;).) Heres a few photos and tonight’s menu. I’ll try to post dinner in Caneletto later.

whoop whoop!!I’m out of posting jail- but apparently my Cc account is drunk. Above is page one of todays lunch menu. Page two is the last photo in this thread. Tonights dinner menus Sunset near the equator current situation Notice two March 3rd. There are two sundays too. It’s a good thing I don’t have the drink package because this has had me in the twilight zone since last Thursday (which was really Friday).