captainmcd

Leah, Thanks for your sympathy. I just bought some pearl jewelry for my wife so that she has some happier memories of our trip, so I can get her back again. The Marquesas were not really great for Snorkeling, since there is no barrier reef around the islands, but there was a small reef on one of the Marquesas, I forget which one. You can use the snorkeling gear that is supplied aboard. It is not the best, but it works. The snorkeling on the Tuamotus is very good, you can also go diving, even if you are a beginner, but that costs extra. Every port has excursions planned, and a meeting the night befoe that explains the options available on each port.

The coffee aboard is strong. There is a warm pot in the lounge available 24-7, but it is not always fresh. There is coffee at each meal in the dining room. It is european style strong coffee, and there is warm and cold milk and sugar and equal available. I mixed the coffee and milk half and half. My wife did not like the milk, it is the steralized, long life milk that all ships use. It used to be nasty, but it is a lot better now. At breakfast there are croissants, french and american sliced bread, lunch meat, cheeses, pancakes but not crepes, and always watermellon, pineapple, mangos, and banannas. There are eggs to order that usually come with bacon, but they often get the egg orders mixed up, at least when fried. I did not try poached or scrambled or hard boiled, but they were available.

I will be flying home soon, and Tahiti Nui would not let me keep an empty seat next to me just because my wife went home on a separate ticket. There is a lock box in each stateroom on the ship, and the pool area of the Hotel Tahiti Nui is quiet. I stayed in two different rooms and slept in total silence.

On the ship I really enjoyed the balcony and was glad we had it. Some people who had problems with motion preferred the cabins on A and B deck, but the motion was not a problem for us. Most of the way back to Tahiti the trade winds were light, and the ship had a very easy roll. The last 8 hours into Tahiti the wind picked up again and the ship pitched some. One of the crew told me that this trip, voyage 10 was the first rough trip this year, all the previous trips were fairly smooth. I think it is caused by what we call "intensified trades" that happen in the winter months sometimes.

The owner did visit us for a few days during the voyage. The ship does receive a subsidy from the French Polynesian government. All the passengers fares only pay for the fuel cost. The owner is Chinese and lives in San Mateo, CA. The captain is not a cruise ship captain. He does not dress up and attend functions. He is a good ship handler and wears a T shirt, shorts, and flip-flops and does not spend time interacting with the passengers. The seamen are top notch, I wish I had some of them on my ship.

I suppose that there were some of the passengers who would have liked to promote a division between French and English speaking passengers, but most of us, and all of the crew kept those people in check. Each trip has a different mix, but this trip was during the school holidays in Polynesia, and we had a lot of local Frenchmen and a lot of kids, including children of the crew. For the most part they were well behaved, and did not cause a problem for me, I liked having them around.

The Marquesas are really beautiful, and the people are equally beautiful. A new ship is planned for delivery in a few more years. It will be about the same size, but will have a few more decks to increase passenger capacity to around 250. That may be pushing the capacity for the Marquesans to adapt to the influx of tourists. I am glad we went now. I would love to return someday.

Jim, I think that this will be just the trip for you. I think your cabin is on the "sun" deck, and close to the Tiki bar, where YoYo is the bar tender for many years. It can be noisy for those in the cabins just in front, but the suites are away from the bar, which I heard from someone who was next to it that it could get roudy some nights. I heard nothing. One more thing that surprised me was the genuine interaction between passengers and crew. At the end of the voyage they did mention a tip jar by reception, where you could leave something if you wished, not at all like a cruise ship!

The dormitories were pretty full, too. You have a cubby hole for your suitcase, and an individual lock box for your valuables. They were not segregated. There is an outter door which is locked that leads onto the deck. It is the only way in and out of the dormitories. I did take a photo through the glass door, but I could not enter. The people who stayed there were happy with the accommodation, and the price, which was cheaper than living in similar accommodation ashore in Tahiti.

The Tahiti Nui is a nice hotel, and I can recommend it. I booked a junior suite in the quiet areas of the hotel. I think only the front rooms on the harbor side have a noise problem which is caused by the shell station and convenience store below, but it is nice to have a place there that sells snacks, and even has an ATM machine. If you want to use the phone, elevators, or shower fixtures you need to study up on it, they are all modern and all European. My first room before sailing had no instruction letter in it, but this room has one. I wound up spraying water all around the modern bathroom.

Jim, I hope you have a good flight, I know you will have a great trip.

Jim, thanks for your sympathy. Inspite of the circumstances I had a good trip and we just docked back in Papeete. We were lucky that my wife was able to make it to Buenos Aires for her mothers's funeral. Hiva Oa is not the easiest place in the world to leave, but she made it back in time. The trip was truly a wonderful experience, and hopefully we will have a chance to do it again someday. THe thing that impressed me the most was that although the populaton of the whole Marquesas is only 10.000 and few villages have more than a few hundred people, we passengers were greeted with friendship, and not like tourists. I was afraid that they might react like we were treating them like animals in a zoo.

Our trip was preadominantly French passengers, and I wish I had rememberead more of my French, but English was well understood. The food I thought was very good, 3 course meals for lunch and dinner, usually one meat and one fish meal per day, as well as a self service breakfast, where you could ask for eggs to order.

My observations of things not mentioned here before:

1) Take cash, there are few working ATM's available, none on the ship. On the islands there are few places that accept credit cards.

2) the internet service is just about non=existent. THere were two times I was able to use the internet on the ship, but it is very slow, and no photos or streaming would be possible. I was lucky to be able to get out a few emails and a few posts.

3) If you need good communication, get a cell phone voice and data pack. It ie expensive but in my case it helped a lot that I could talk to people when my wife left. Of course there is no cell phone service when out of sight of the islands.

4) The ship is relaxing, with many activities for the passengers, but it is not a cruise ship. It ie easy to make friends. Bone up on the French language in order to increase your enjoyment.

I will post a detailed day by day account after I get back home and am able to edit and upload the photos.

Although we are about as far as you can get from the rest of the world, my cell phone beeped last night after dinner, a cell phone I had taken for emergencies only. It was a text message from my brother-in-law in Buenos Aires saying that my mother-in-law had passed away. She was doing well last Saturday when we called her before sailing from Papeete. It was a shock for my poor wife, Ines. We were at sea between the islands, but CPTM was helpful, and found her a seat on a tri-weekly flight today on a twin otter that goes to Papeete. They are working on connections from there to LAX and Buenos Aires. Their help has been above and beyond the call of duty, and speaks well of them. Someone will meet Ines at Papeete and help her with connections.

The trip, as all have reported previously, has been spectacular. Aside from a rougher than normal passage up from Tahiti things have been wonderful. I have the greatest respect for the captain and crew for their seamanship, taking the ship into tiny ports that I would never dream of taking a ship of this size. I would not be worthy of packing their drinking water. They have no shoreside help from tugs, pilots, linehandlers, stevedores, agents, etc. and they do it all professionally. The excursions ashore were well plalnned, and I was skeptical about how an island with a population of 2000 could handle jeep tours and lunches for 170 passengers. It has all been done well. Fellow passengers are mostly French and Tahitian this trip, but about 30 percent english speaking Aussies, and even a dozen or so Americans. All of them I have spoken with are friendly and interesting. I will continue writing a log of the trip, and attach photos as appropriate, and when I get a good internet connection I will post it on my website (captainmcd.com) and post a link to my page here.

Hi from the Marquesas. We are about to sail from Ua Poa, the port of Hakahau. The 3 day sail up from Tahiti was rougher than I expected, the trade winds had intensified to 20 to 30 knots, and the 4 to 6 foot seas slowed the ship down, so we arrived about five hours late. It is more a freighter than a cruise liner, and I was happy to feel the sea under my feet, but some were not to happy about that. All is now forgiven, since we arrived. I am writing a diary and will post it on the internet later, but our internet does not work very well, either aboard or ashore. If you want great modern communication, this is not the cruise for you, but it is indeed a unique experience, and it is well organized. More later.

Up until now it has been hectic, flying from Cincinnati to Houston, unpacking, haircut, last minute shoping, business affairs, and finally back to the airport. Although we were ticketed all the way on Air NewZealand, it was with code share partners Continental and Air Tahiti Nui, who do not have a baggage transfer agreement, so we arrived at LAX terminal 6, walked to terminal 7 to claim our bags, waited for a bus to terminal B, check in with Tahiti Nui, back through security, but finally we are ready to fly to Tahiti. LAX is not user friendly, it reminds me of Charles de Gaule in Paris, where you can not connect easily unless you stay with the same airline in the same terminal. More later.

Thanks Leah, I booked an 8 hour jeep trip for this Friday. Today is my last day on the river boat, and I am really looking forward to getting some real ocean under my feet. I will take my wife's laptop computer, and see how well I am able to stay in touch.

Dr Smudge,

thanks for the nice video. I had to watch it on a smart phone, my work computer won't allow streaming video. I will be working here through next Monday, then fly home Tuesday, pack, and depart for Tahiti Wednesday, if ATN is not on strike. They are supposed to have a one day strike on Monday, so I hope it is not extended. I forwarded the link to my wife in Houston, hoping that she does not over pack with fancy clothes. Sadly I do not play any instrument, other than a piano, and that not very well.

We will Arrive next Thursday morning in Papeete, stay at the Hotel Tahiti Nui for two nights, and then join the Aranui Saturday morning. We arrive in Papeete on Bastille Day, so I guess many places will be closed, but on Friday we would like to arrange an interior circle half-day tour like Leah and Dock suggested.

I plan to take a laptop computer with us, and if there is wi-fi aboard the Aranui, I will post a few updates during the trip.

I have just managed to swap days of work on the river boat, and will work here until July 12, then fly home on the 13th, have a couple hours at home in Houston until we leave for the airport for a flight to LAX, and a few hours to transfer to TahitiNui (ticketed on Air NewZealand which may operate the flights if there are still strike problems). We fly home the day after the cruise and I return to work up here on the boat on Tuesday. Sorry we will miss you Jim, but I will try to keep the followers of this thread posted on what happens.

DoctorSmudge, Thanks for your informative posts. I can hardly believe that we will be leaving in just over two weeks. I arranged for a 5 a.m. pickup at the airport to take us to the TahitiNui for two nights before the Aranui departs. I hope we can get a room on the quiet side of the hotel, since I can't sleep on planes and don't want to be exhausted when we board the Aranui. Thanks for the information on packing, we look forward to more of your great information in the next couple of weeks, and we will report on our trip to those who follow.

You have to expect a lot of time at sea, and not much time in port. If you go on a container ship the time in port can be only a few hours, and seldom more than a day, unless you are lucky enough to arrive on a holiday. There are some "break-bulk" ships that carry passengers that may spend up to a week in port. The ports that freighters call at are usually not tourist destinations, but many will find that more interesting than being a tourist on a cruise ship.

I think a freighter passenger has to enjoy being at sea, and up until the last decade you seldom got much news at sea except by short-wave radio. I really found that to be a plus. We could worry about things that directly concerned us, such as the weather and the next port of call. If you listen to 24 hour news, you spend too much time worrying about the problems of the world that you are unable to do much about. Maybe one of our causes of stress today is the expectation of instant communication (IM's, tweets, blackberrys, email, etc., as well as cell phones) You may find it really relaxing to just forget all of that and enjoy where you are.

I am new at this would like to know what is there to do for your trip, if you board a freighter? I was told this is so much better than going on a cruise ship, but more relaxing. No entertainment and the food is so so. Would someone elighten me on info on Freighters? thanks Sweet cupcake

I have worked on freighters all my life, and enjoyed having passengers on board. It all depends on what kind of travel experience you want. If you love to read, relax, watch the ocean and sky, it's great. If you want to be entertained, you will be disappointed with the experience. In all probability you will be welcome on the bridge to look at the chart most of the time, and will be free to chat with the crew when they are not busy. You can bring your own beverages without restriction, unlike cruise ships. Although I am still sailing, I am retired from commercial shipping. When I retired I created my own website designed for prospective freighter passengers which you may find helpful at http://www.captainmcd.com.

This thread, and in fact the whole board are not too active, but in just 34 days we will be flying to Tahiti for the July 16th departure of the Aranui III. It will also be our 28th wedding anniversary. I just wanted to keep this board a little more active with this post.

Tom, Thanks for posting and keeping this thread at the top. I read your great review of the Rotterdam 30 day south Pacific trip. I can't wait for our trip on the Aranui 3 in July. I am still working on the riverboat for a few more months. The river is still high and rising, all the rain seems to go up the Ohio River. We are bone dry down in Texas. I hope we have a fairly rain free trip to the Marquesas. Was it the actor Sterling Hayden who took his daughter on a trip to the Marquesas? I have wanted to visit there since reading his book. I really enjoyed all of Thereaux's adventures as well.

The best reviews on the Aranui 3 are on the tripadvisor.com message board for French Polynesia/Marquesas. There is a lot of information there. As far as hotels go, I settled on the Tahiti Nui even though it is expensive. It is near the port, and the Faire Suisse B&B is not apparently booking guests at this time, they do not answer my email. I'm back in the pilot house again, enjoying my "retirement" on the Ohio River.

Leah, Jim, and Locomotiveman Tom, We just made our final payment for the Jully 16th sailing. I have read Paul Theroux's Happy Isles of Oceania. He seems to be my kind of traveller, but a bit more adventuresome than I. I also read his Old Patagonian Express. Last week we made a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean on the Celebrity Summit, but not for CME credits. It was nice, but I expect that the Aranui 3 will be far more interesting. I never was too fond of feeling like a tourist being processed through an experience. You can get that by going to Disney/Epcot.

I was 9 years old, with my parents, sister, and brother. Sailed from Selkirk on a summer day. I had to bunk with a priest in a cabin with no bath, but it did have a sink fed by gravity from water tanks on the deck above. The ship was built in 1898 and portaged to the lake in pieces. We called at a number of indian reservations and villages on the way to Norway House at the northern end of the lake. I enjoyed the cruise, but not the mosquitoes.

CAPTAINMCD,

Being the inveterate traveler that I am (retired railroad Engr), I would dearly love to hop another freight, the ARUNUI, like you. But for now, it's a 30-day Hawaii/Polynesia cruise, leaving Mar 4th. QUESTION: Have you read Paul Theroux's 'The Happy Isles of Oceania', the salty tale of his time aboard the ARUNUI and his kayaking thru the Pacific Isles? Locomotiveman Tom

Hi Tom, I hope the 30 day cruise goes well, on what ship are you travelling? My dad was a Pennsylvania railroader. Running a ship is a lot like a train, a lot of momentum and a lot of kamikazi drivers and yachters who want to get in your way! I haven't read Happy Isles of Oceania, but will read it on your recommendation. John

Hi John:

 

I think we'll both like the Tahiti Nui as it is close to all the activity and the hub of the downtown.

 

It must be a little chilly being out on the Ohio this time of year.

 

Are there a lot of locks down in the Cincinnati area as there are up around Pit?

 

I have some good video and audio of riverboats on the Ohio and Mississippi with the late John Hartford at the helm, singing his great songs. He was one-of-a-kind.

 

Keep warm.

 

Jim

There are a few of my shipmates that captained the Delta Queen when she was running the rivers. Also a good friend who was shipmates with John Hartford and spoke at his funeral, a celebration of his life and times on the river. Unlike the Pittsburgh area this part of the Ohio is a lock free 96 miles between Meldahl at mile 436 and Markland at mile 532. I am on the Grand Victoria II at Rising Sun. We no longer cruise but require licensed officers on board, a nice retirement job, where we don't worry about running aground or hitting other ships.

I am on facebook, I joined in order to keep track of our kids! I will post a review of my trip on CC as well as TA. I have not heard from the Suisse B&B, so I will probably stay at the Tahiti Nui. I am now working on a riverboat on the Ohio River near Cincinnati, earning money so I can go back to the Africa Mercy later this year and also to help pay for the Aranui.

As one who worked on those ferries, operated by the Milwaukee Railroad, the Soo Line, and others over the years, I think they are a nice alternative to people who do not like the traffic snarls on the Dan Ryan expressway in Chicago, and want to have an unusual experience while making a cross country journey. The Badger is all that remains of this service that allowed you to criss-cross Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to Green Bay. I would hate to see that service disappear completely. I would like to maintain a choice for those who would like to do something unusual. Yes, it can be rough when a North wind blows a large beam sea down the lake, but that is a chance you take on any cruise. Yes, the price is probably not competative with foreign flag cruise lines, but you are on a U.S. crewed vessel and that is reflected in the cost of the operation. captainmcd.com

Thanks Jim, we are booked in suite E, on the deck above! We will fly into PPT arriving there on July 14th at 5 A.M. and leave on July 30 at 11 P.M. I will book a room at Fare Suisse Tahiti based on the tripadvisor information for the two nights before and the night after the cruise. It was my plan to book a Paul Gaugin cruise to either before or after the Aranui to see more of the Society and maybe the Cook Islands, but we just didn't have the time.

Jim, That's how I feel about cruising. Floridiana, your information makes me feel good about our decision to make a voyage. Jim, It's too bad the ship spends a week in port between voyages, or we could have met. You are on Voyage 11, and I am on Voyage 10. It seems like too few Cruise Critic members have an interest in this type of cruising to have a roll call like the cruise ships do, but it would be nice to know some of your fellow passengers in advance. As a youngster my parents took me on freighter-passenger trips of about a week on the SS Kenora on Lake Winnipeg, the Norgoma on Lake Huron, the North Gaspe on the lower St.Lawrence, and I loved those trips so much I have spent the rest of my life sailing, mostly on freighters. My story is on http://www.captainmcd.com.

John

I've booked on the Aranui for the August 6, 2011 departure.

 

Have done the "big ship, stage show, art selling" cruises and want something unique as to area and destination.

 

Looked around a lot and found this type of cruise several years ago and put it on the back burner.

 

It recently bubbled up to the top.

 

It should be a real experience and one to remember.

 

Anyone else around who plans to be on board?

 

Jim

Thanks Floridiana for your good information. I have booked the July 16, 2011 (Voyage 10) sailing, and am looking forward to it, since it is something that I have wanted to do for many years. I am used to freighter travel as well as cruises, and can appreciate the benefits of each. I really don't need nightly shows and lavish meals to keep me happy. I was wondering about the dormatories. It looks like there are threre separate cabins on the starboard side of the restaurant deck. Are men and women separated? Does each of the rooms have their own bathrooms? How many people can be put in each of the rooms? That is in case one of our college age children wants to join us. Thanks, John