Bucket List Check-Off-- NCL's November 7th Polynesian Sailing of the Spirit

[Traveling Fools]

On 11/6/2022 at 11:47 AM, www3traveler said:

Would you be kind enough to post a list of the Senior Officers both Bridge and Hotel?

 

Thank You

 

Have a wonderful adventure.

 

[www3traveler]

44 minutes ago, Traveling Fools said:

 

Thank You

[Traveling Fools]

Chapter Five

Huahine

 

 

Weather today was sunny and warm

 

NCL adjusted our arrival time from 8 AM to 10 AM.  Because we booked our cruise late, availability of local excursions was very limited, and we elected to purchase a ship sponsored excursion.  The name of the Excursion was “Huahine By Catamaran”.  Because our meet time was 9:45, we were able to sleep in and have breakfast in our cabin.  It was hardy and good.

 

We arrived in the Stardust Theater minutes before the staff begun their briefing.  We were seated in the second row and even though the crewmember giving the briefing was using a microphone, we couldn’t hear a thing.  So we just ended up following the crowd to the tender.  Once on the Island we waited 20 minutes or so before everyone on our excursion had arrived and then moved to the dock.  We had to wait another 20 minutes until the “NEW” Captain of the catamaran could back it up to the dock.  The boat was covered, had a hard floor, bar in the center of the deck, and benches for us sit on.  The crew was cordial and offered us Rum Punch, water and fruit.

 

Once we got underway it didn’t take long to reach the first snorkel site.  The water was fairly clear and at least 10 feet deep where they anchored.  After about 5-minutes in the water, the crew told us there was some coral close to the shore.  Four of us swam over to it to explore.  The only think of note we saw was a clam imbedded in the coral with its blue membrane giving it away. 

 

After everyone was back onboard, we motored around the lagoon, made one more uneventful snorkel stop, and then returned to the pier.  We did everything as billed in the excursion flyer, and even though the crew was outgoing, the overall experience was a bit dull.

 

We had dinner at Le Bistro, DW had duck and I ordered the lamb chops.  It all was very good!  One of the high lights for me was the Sommelier.  I told him I ordered lamb and he said he had just the wine to pair with lamb.  AND, he did.  We had time to chat with him and learned he was a 2^nd Class Sommelier and had previously worked for HAL.  HAL laid off most of the ocean going staff during the pandemic, and restructured some of the staffing organizations.  One of those included Sommeliers.  HAL eliminated about half of them and retitled them wine stewards.  He and the others whose position was eliminated have never been able to figure out the formula HAL used to determine who stayed and who got cut.  I could tell he had been a loyal HAL employee and was deeply hurt to have been released by HAL.

 

After dinner we meandered over to the lobby stage to catch more of the Soul Inspiration.  We met two couples from Jamaica, hit it off with them, and agreed to meet them the next night.

 

Raiatea to follow.

[natefish95]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:31 PM, Traveling Fools said:

 

Sorry natefish...there are no single sex saunas or steam rooms aboard.

Thanks for checking! Definitely a disappointment