thesparkmeister1

I don't think I've every really spent much time commenting on the music on a ship much less an individual band. I'm going to break with that particular orientation and spend a bit of time on the ship's band, Santa Rosa. These guys (actually four guys and a very pretty girl) are like the Swiss Army Knife of bands - they do it all. They play pool-side; they play at the stern bar/lounge, La Palette, they are featured in the after-hours shows and they accompany the other leading acts. And get this ... They are super! Hailing from the Philipines, they are all members of the Garcia family. The young lady (Rochelle; and brothers Ronnie, Rogel, Ranel and Voltaire. Rochelle is married to one of the brothers. Still for the life of me don't know which one she's married to!) Their harmonies are great and their hard work evident. They can do everything from oldies and a super Elvis impression (a favorite with most of the demographic) all the way up to contemporary stuff. Truly a wonderful find on any cruise ship but a really big surprise on a ship as small as the PG. Kudos to Santa Rosa and to the PG for employing them!

Cheers,

Bill

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had wanted to quickly follow up with info on our stay at the Intercontinental and additional input on the cruise in general but as we were packing at 1 PM at our last day at the hotel we were informed about the death of my wife's mother! And thus putting a very sour note on an excellent vacation. We've now laid the wonderful lady to rest and I now have a few minutes to spare to finish up my notes on our trip.

Our stay at the Intercontinental was everything that we thought it would be. Charles, the manager at the Tahiti Intercontinental, was true to his word and we we were upgraded to an Otemanu Diamond suite. These three-room suites are phenomenal and you only have to take a look at their website to see how well appointed they really are. The resort is very pricey ($21 mixed drinks at the upper end restaurant!), but if you opt for the included breakfast buffet (which is actually very good) it can bring the price down considerably.

We dined at the Coral restaurant one night (The aforementioned high-end restaurant) to the tune of about $300 per couple and frankly it was very disappointing! I had a tiny stuffed chicken breast that was bone-dry. Better to take the shuttle over to the main island to Bloody Marys for a really fun and much better seafood dinner!

If you have been reading this review you know that we had been planning on chartering a 16 foot pontoon boat for a cruise of the lagoon. We ultimately chose not to do that. First of all, one of our party was ill on the day we planned to do that and second of all we felt that the excursion (Patrick's) that we did on the PG more than filled our needs. However I want to commend La Plage for their flexibility in their willingness to allow us to cancel the excursion and their overall ease in chartering a boat in the first place. I would recommend them just based on this alone!

As our last hurrah on Bora-Bora we did the dual Tahiti Helicopter tour of Bora-Bora and Tupai. It was spectacular! Seeing Bora-Bora from the air was a real treat and the heart-shaped Island of Tupai was incredible. As a final surprise we got to see the Paul Gauguin at anchor in the lagoon! We weren't aware that the ship was going to be there! We got some great pictures from the air!

This excursion is pricey – and we made it more so by having the company pick us up at the resort – Plus we made it private by having only four people on the helicopter instead of the normal five, but it is well worth it. The cost of the two Islands came out to about $800 per person but I would do it all over again!

That's all for now; I'll do some more feelings as I reread the review and take a look at my pictures. I'm happy to answer any questions. It was a truly remarkable Cruise and vacation. The best we've ever had!

Slainte

Bill

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My commentary may have been a bit on the negative side these last couple of days, but I can honestly say that these past 24 hours have been among the best – if not the best – ever on a vacation.

We left the IC at around 4 PM for the ship after Charles, the manager at the hotel assured us that he was putting in “a good word” for us with the manager at the IC Thalasso Spa who was dining at the Tahiti facility that evening. (Nice if it happens!)

When we got to the dock we were pretty much the only guests checking in at that time and were processed very quickly. We spent the next 45 minutes or so unpacking and were surprised by how much storage space the cabins have. We have a standard balcony – 724.

After the muster drill we went up to our friends’ suite. They upgraded to one of the two grand suites - 801 with a lot more space, a butler (Sherman, who’s great!) and a wrap around, mostly forward facing balcony - huge! (I was told today, by readers on our tour that I didn’t mention our friends’ names. Sorry, they are Mark and Kathy and they’re pretty cool even if they have a nicer room than we do!)

Sherman (did I say the guy’s great!) had made reservations already in la Veranda and we were treated to one of the best meals ever! Far and above the best cruise ship meal I’ve ever encountered, and the food was as good as that of any 5 star land restaurant period! Perfectly cooked steaks, a wonderful tuna carpaccio and super soup! The wines, both red and white were excellent as well. Capped off by a bit too much white port (new to me) and we were up to our respective cabins by 10 missing the sail-away party. But by this time a few too many adult beverages coupled with a jet lag that we hadn’t quite shaken yet took its toll. (Mostly it was the bartender’s fault; we were simply over-served!)

We were up early and breakfasted outside at The Grill; a perfect spot! Breakfast was either a buffet of an la carte menu or a combo of the two. Excellent! (I have become hooked on a local pineapple and vanilla jam!)

We were on the first tender to the pier to be on time for Mark’s Island Safari. Thanks to previous posters for turning us on to this wonderful tour. It was spectacular! The ship was picturesquely anchored in the harbor between the two connected islands of Huahine Nui and Iti. And promptly waiting for us was Viae was our “on land” tour guide. (it’s pronounced Vi-ah, and though she spelled it for me on leaving, I’ve since forgotten, duh!) There were just the four of us in her jitney and we made stops in a small market town of Fare, (ladies bought pareos), visit to an archaeological site near Maeve and a visit to feed the famous, sacred blue-eyed eels and stop at a small vanilla shop. She then transferred us to a sleek outrigger (powered) canoe where we were joined by about 8 other tourists mostly from the ship. This seagoing portion of the tour was ably captained by Armondo; a great guide, but not nearly as pretty as Viae! Our first call was at the pearl farm; short and instructive. We then were dropped off in a lagoon for a drift snorkel of about a mile. Pleasant though not a lot of fish, but just the idea of drifting along with a pretty significant current was very cool. The cap’n and some of the less adventurous stayed with the boat and drifted just in front of us. The current petered out and we were easily able to re-board. After a bit of a cruise around we went to Mark’s private, beautiful beach for lunch. Just great! Lime and fresh coconut marinated tuna combined with veggies (kind of like a ceviche on steroids!); grilled tuna with a vanilla sauce, grilled chicken, saffron rice, salad, fruits and a ton of rum punch and beer – soft drinks if preferred – and fruit for dessert! The food was delicious and plentiful and a far cut above the norm for this type of excursion. After staying at this delightful spot for about an hour, we packed up for a wonderful water tour circumnavigating about half of the island with stops for points of interest. Morning cloudiness had long since been replaced by a brilliant sun and the ride was exhilarating even for an old boater like myself. The final stop of the day was an opportunity to jump in the water for an up close encounter with the feeding of a school of about 50 black tip sharks. You transfer to a secondary anchored barge the out to a triangle of stationary line (rope!). Armando’s assistant then jumps in and starts the feeding. The sharks average about 3-5 feet and I have photos of them inches from my camera! They mostly stay in front of you where the shark chow is being liberally dispensed, but they are right there with you up close and personal – amazing and exhilarating seeing these beautiful animals so intimately! After this 20 minute stop it was back into the boat for the 5 minute cruise to Mark’s dock and the 10 minute drive back to the tender dock returning at just 4 PM just in time for the last tender. The tour lasted the entire day; cost $140 pp and was some of the best money we have ever spent! A super day on land and water, involved every minute with great guides and equipment. If your stop involves Huahine, don’t pass up this excursion. Their contact info appears in my itinerary photo.

The ship pulled out promptly at 5:30 PM and we hit some pretty big swells for most of the evening. Most passengers seemed unfazed by the rocking, however. Either they were taking some good drugs or were experienced sea folk.

Dinner was great in l’Etoile with all of us having the moon fish. Wonderful and very different. We then hit the cultural show with the Gauguines that was excellent; entertaining and funny. (Friend, Mark, up on the stage with five other male passengers learning a Polynesian war dance! We ended our day by catching the end of “piano person”, Tetiana’s show at the piano bar. (She’s quite good!)

As I said, one of our best vacation days EVER! And it was really only our first full day! Nana for now!

Skål,

Bill

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This is a bit of a "three-for experiment". I'm not a Tapatalk user, but it may be prudent from time to time to use the app to post a picture or two. Not that I'll be posting many. Others have done a much better job. But occasions may present themselves where a picture or two might be instructive. To give me a little primer on the use of this app I'm posting a screen shot of the spreadsheet I used to schedule our excursions for this trip. Prices per person are included along with the websites should anyone want to use as a guideline. One final pre-apology here is that I'll be dictating most of this narrative. As such it may be heir to typos particularly those forced on me by the spellcheck in my iPhone. I'll try to proofread, but I also don't want to spend an inordinate amount of time doing so.

That's it. Final day of packing and then we're getting a car service at 7:15 tomorrow morning for a 9:55 morning flight. Have never been more excited about a vacation!

Cheers,

Bill

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk