Live from the Eclipse, Apr 19 - May 21, Sydney to Honolulu to Vancouver B3B in an Aqua Cabin

[Ken the cruiser]

48 minutes ago, trinitygirl said:

I am a kiwi; when I was in high school (David Lange was PM) my school voted to go Nuclear Free as a result of the Mururoa Atoll testing (such a tiny deviant gesture, but it felt huge at the time), and then of course, the French bombed the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour and NZ changed its foreign policy which affected ANZUS.  That was my introduction to politics.  Sometimes it feels like we are worlds away from those days, and sometimes it feels like nothing much has changed at all.

True. Life around the world as well as in my country has been kind of like a yo-yo ever since I graduated high school back in 1970.  But now that I’m 70, I’ve pretty much stopped worrying about it all and just focus on helping to make sure my family is happy and secure, and try to figure out which cruise to book next! 😁

 

Because when it comes right down to it, you have no control over any of it other than to do the best you can for you and your family’s wellbeing, and vote! 
 

OK. Back to cruising stuff!! 😂

[devinc]

17 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Day 12 - April 29 - Third and last sea day before arriving at Papeete, Tahiti

 

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these.  How has Blu been?   Thx

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, devinc said:

Thank you for posting these.  How has Blu been?   Thx

We’ve really enjoyed eating breakfast and dinner in Blu. The starters and main courses have been quite tasty and a little more on the healthy side, as we now prefer, when compared to our prior experiences in Luminae and the MDR. One big difference is that neither of us have experienced any heartburn when dining in Blu whereas that wasn’t the case on other cruises when we’ve dined in the other restaurants I mentioned. 
 

But as they say food can be quite subjective. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Weather wise, our last day at sea before reaching Papeete has been quite pleasant and warmer!! 😂

 

 
As you can see the download speed is still quite acceptable. However, the upload speed is a little slow as it took a few takes to upload these pictures to CC.

 

 
As far as entertainment goes, we went to 3 talks today, 2 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 
Of course, there are plenty of other things to do as well which are noted in the above Daily. But I have to say (again), Eddy has definitely put a lot of time and effort into organizing the onboard entertainment on this cruise to provide plenty of options to choose from. 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Went for our 30 minute walk today around the track on 14 as well as up the stairs to decks 15 and 16, passed by some folks playing Bocce Ball on the grass, all the while enjoying the beautiful weather and ocean scenery.

  

 
Now if the weather could just stay like this the rest of the cruise, that would be awesome! 😁

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight while sitting at our table in Blu, there was another pretty sunset.

 

 
Then after dessert up in the OVC, we headed to the theater to watch the All Star Variety show which included all of the performers, except for one, that will be disembarking in Papeete.

 

 

However, this time we decided to change our theater strategy and sat up on deck 5 to give us a quicker exit strategy to be able to grab a chair in the Entertainment Court to watch the game show afterwards. Tonight it was the Last Man Standing, and it worked and we had a great view from where we were sitting. 
 

Early on it was no problem to find a chair to watch the game show. However, due to its increasing popularity these past few nights, it has caused us to rethink our strategy as they were getting nearly impossible to secure when we were sitting where we normally did on deck 4. Anyway, I know it sounds corny, but we do like going to the game shows! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

They also had a late night mini production show in the Grand Foyer entitled Groove, which featured many of the hit songs from the 60s. It’s amazing how many  songs we heard that we still remember the lyrics to 60 years later! 😂

  

 

 
Some of the dancers were also dancing in the elevators!! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 13 - April 30 - Papeete, Tahiti in French Polynesia

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s the description of our 4 hour Celebrity excursion in Tahiti scheduled for tomorrow afternoon! 

  

 
Hopefully the rain stays away in the afternoon during our excursion! 🤞

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[vickykay]

Wow. Sounds like an amazing variety of activities and lectures.  Hopefully will continue for Hawaii and the TP. Thanks for all your posts.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, vickykay said:

Wow. Sounds like an amazing variety of activities and lectures.  Hopefully will continue for Hawaii and the TP. Thanks for all your posts.

Thanks! They should as Eddy Jenkins is scheduled to be the cruise director all the way to Vancouver from my understanding, and he definitely enjoys packing the schedule with fun things to do! 

[Lastdance]

Thanks too much for providing much needed information for our TP next year on Edge...

[LouChamp]

Aloha. So enjoying your posts.  Tahiti is so special. We love Polynesia and have spent vacays there several times. It is relatively close to Hawaii so we can hop over once in awhile.  The people are friendly and the food fresh and delicious.  Enjoy!

[CGinMTL]

Love the sunsets. 

Sounds like you are having an amazing trip 

 

I am sure that others following will agree, it is a privilege to travel the world with you 

Always positive 

 

Thank you for shining this positive light into the world. 

[yogini06]

7 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Thanks too much for providing much needed information for our TP next year on Edge...

We are booked on the Edge TP as well😊

[lovecruzin]

What did you learn about Whales and Dolphins in Hawaii? 

I imagine the whales will mostly be heading to Alaska. Maybe we’ll see some dolphins on a snorkel excursion.?

[Ken the cruiser]

Land ho!! And it’s warm too!! 😁

 

 

  
And we should be docking in about an hour! 😁

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, CGinMTL said:

Love the sunsets. 

Sounds like you are having an amazing trip 

 

I am sure that others following will agree, it is a privilege to travel the world with you 

Always positive 

 

Thank you for shining this positive light into the world. 

Thank you so much. We do have a great time cruising and are always amazed by the beautiful sunsets we see along the way. I’m also very appreciative of CC for allowing me to post to Live From threads. Besides having fun sharing what we see with friends and family along the way, it allows me to document our travels so we can look at them over and over once we’re home to cherish where we’ve been. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at that Africa thread! 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, lovecruzin said:

What did you learn about Whales and Dolphins in Hawaii? 

I imagine the whales will mostly be heading to Alaska. Maybe we’ll see some dolphins on a snorkel excursion.?

There are a bunch, but the ones we may have a better chance to see include bottlenose and spinner dolphins along with humpback whales. Our plan once we get to Lahaina is to tender ashore and go on a whale watching tour. The tour boat’s ad says if we don’t see any whales, we can come back again for free. Since we stop at Lahaina on both legs of the cruise, it sounded like a great deal! 😂

 

From what I read, the humpbacks also start their migration to Alaska around the middle of May, so hopefully we’ll see one or two on the cruise to Vancouver. 🤞

 

https://vacations.hawaiilife.com/blog/travel-tips/what-know-about-whale-season-hawaii

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived! 🕺💃🏻

 

 

 

 

I have to admit, I’m really starting to like this Windy.com link. I’m sure their app is even better, but this quick overview works for me. 😀

 

 
And even though we’re now docked, we’re still getting our internet service via Starlink with a very acceptable download speed.

 

 

 

 

[lovecruzin]

14 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There are a bunch, but the ones we may have a better chance to see include bottlenose and spinner dolphins along with humpback whales. Our plan once we get to Lahaina is to tender ashore and go on a whale watching tour. The tour boat’s ad says if we don’t see any whales, we can come back again for free. Since we stop at Lahaina on both legs of the cruise, it sounded like a great deal! 😂

 

From what I read, the humpbacks also start their migration to Alaska around the middle of May, so hopefully we’ll see one or two on the cruise to Vancouver. 🤞

 

https://vacations.hawaiilife.com/blog/travel-tips/what-know-about-whale-season-hawaii

 

Im actually surprised companies are still offering whale watching in May. I hope you get lucky. Excited to be back on Eclipse in 9 days 😁 

[Ken the cruiser]

15 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

Im actually surprised companies are still offering whale watching in May. I hope you get lucky. Excited to be back on Eclipse in 9 days 😁 

Funny you should mention that. I just checked and their last day for giving tours is May 13th, which goes along with what I was reading.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just looked at the pier area from our balcony. Now remember, we docked about an hour ago. Look at that line of folks exiting the ship! Not sure why it’s going so slow.

 

 
Sure glad our excursion isn’t until a little after 1 pm. 😂

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

After lunch out on the OVC aft deck which offered some scenic views of downtown Papeete,

 

 

 

 

we headed down to the theater to join our excursion to see some sights on Tahiti’s west coast.  

 

 
Our first stop, Arahurahu Marae, is one of the most sacred spots on the island.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we headed off to the east side of the island, enjoying some of the coastal views along the way. I know it’s hard to see, but the surf was huge out there today! Believe it or not sometimes those waves appeared to be over 20+ feet high!

 

 
Did you know palms are categorized as herbs rather than trees? I know, who knew! Who cares! 😂

 

 

 

 

Once we got to the Vaiphai Gardens to see its waterfall and flower garden, we were immediately greeted by the local fauna! 😂

 

 

 
Then we walked around the park to take in the sights.

  

 

 

 

I’m guessing that huge surf is over a mile away in this photo and you can still see it!

 

 

This is an 80 year old rubber tree plant!

 

 

There was definitely no shortage of wild chickens anywhere we went in Tahiti! 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

And, yes, it wasn’t easy, but I was finally able to take a picture of the very elusive Tahiti pigeon! 😂

  
They had some very pretty hibiscus flowers.

 

 

 

Then when we got back on the bus my DW noticed I had a friend that had grown attached to me. Not quite sure what type of flying bug it was, but it sure was cute. 😁

 

 

Then it was time to go back the way we came to see Tahiti’s largest underwater cave. It’s amazing how different the scenery is depending on which side of the bus you’re on. These following pictures are of views opposite the coast line.

 

 

 

 

This was the underwater cave

 

 

 
And then it was time to battle the traffic and head back to the ship. Not only was it a Sunday, but it was also voting day, so there was a ton of traffic in both directions on the two lane coastal highway we were on most of the way.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner in Blu, we headed once again over to the theater to watch a show presented by local Tahitian singers, dances and musicians.

  

 

 

 
For those that haven’t seen an S class ship’s theater, this is what it looks like.

 

 
Then we headed off to watch the game show, Level Up, followed by the daily Pub Quiz, before heading back to the cabin.

  

Edited May 1, 2023 by Ken the cruiser