Rufus Bruno 2009

On our 4/9 to 4/23 cruise the ladies were not on the ship. Leis were given to everyone entering the restaurants.

No we did not. Sorry I do not have specific information on snorkel excursions on Bora Bora. We were scheduled to do the underwater walk but it was canceled due to bad currents. Friends did the jetski tour and said it was fantastic.

We got an antigen test to fly back to the US at the pharmacy in the shopping center across from the Tahiti Hilton for $15 and it only took about 15 minutes. No appointment needed. This was a Sunday and hours were 8am to noon. I know Sat. hours were longer but I don't remember what they were. This is fantastic news. Getting the RT within 72 hours of boarding was a hassle for us.

We had two speakers. Mark Eddowes who is a renown archeologist in FP. He gave 3 seminars on the ship about the origins of the FP people, historical information on their beliefs and rituals and the negative and positive influences of the Spanish and French and missionaries. He also accompanied the land tours in the Marquesas' and Tuamotus's and spoke about each islands history at each site we visited. The 2nd speaker was Caroline Boyle-Turner. She is an expert on Paul Gauguin's life and art. While I am not a fan of his art personally, her insights and explanations were interesting. She also met everyone who visited his grave and answered questions after a brief talk. I did enjoy her seminar on "Why a 6 yr old could not paint this.". Presented slides on Degas, Pollack, Picasso and Gauguin etc. A very lively discussion followed with everyone expressing their likes and dislikes of the various artists.

I am a mosquito and no see um (no no's in FP) magnet so add very good bug repellant to the list. Most people smell like sunscreen but I smell like deet. 😂 I also packed some Benadryl cream for those sneaky bug bites.

On board, the travel/excursion department daily puts on a very good program that outlines all the excursions available for an upcoming island with difficulty information and slides. We booked our excursions by phone before boarding but were able to change or cancel 24 hrs in advance of a booking. The only problem we heard from other passengers was that some very popular excursions were filled when they waited too long to book.

We stayed at Embassy Suites LAX North. Shuttle runs every half hour 24/7. Nice place, great breakfast.

It was a private charter that was cancelled. The crew was using the week to inventory the ship, complete repairs and do a thorough cleaning.

I was on this cruise with Witt's End. It was a fantastic cruise and the crew as always was wonderful. We stayed an extra night at the Hilton with late check out. Walked across the attached skywalk to the pharmacy across the street in the mall and got our return covid test. Had a hard copy in hand within 15 minutes. Only $15 per person. Our flight back to LAX on ATN was almost empty. Maybe 60 people. We were all able to stretch out over 3 seats and sleep. Not a turbulent flight. Customs was very quick and efficient at LAX. I spoke with some of the French passengers. Ponant is heavily advertising the PG in France and giving discounts and lots if perks. That is why there were so many French passengers. Loved the duo language presentations and announcements. I am going to take French lessons before my return next year. Some people stuck with just their group but we were able to meet several people from around the world, states, Canada and surprisingly our area of WA state and ID state.