Live, NCL Spirit-Tahiti to Hawaii 4/10 - 4/22

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I would like to hear about your experiences with on-board musicians in the bars and lounges.  Thanks.

So far...We've been so tired after the excursions We've done we have not done much of anything in the way of evening entertainment. I'm sure that will change with the upcoming sea days!  I'll make a point to make a note!

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

So far...We've been so tired after the excursions We've done we have not done much of anything in the way of evening entertainment. I'm sure that will change with the upcoming sea days!  I'll make a point to make a note!

Thank you.  I'm particularly interested in hearing if there is anyone who plays classic rock.

[jean87510]

10 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We usually book a balcony or a mini-suite when we cruise on Princess.  We booked late and the best we could scrape up (within budget) was an ocean view with "window". Nice room, a tad small. It is capable of sleeping 3...I can't imagine how anybody could cope with 3 in one of these! With just the 2 of us we have to "coordinate" our movements in the cabin! Still, a day at sea is better than a day *not* at sea!

 

We had an inside with a pull down bed from ceiling which we used to put a lot of our stuff and theirs (4 lifejackets from closet).  We did love the showers.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Here is a sampling of a day's activities,  focusing primarily on musical entertainment. 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Rick&Jeannie]

Today we have a short stay in Moorea. Tender port with the last tender returning to the ship at 1:30pm.

 

We have a "4x4 Adventure" lined up...third party. Not really sure exactly what we are facing! 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I'll have some pics later for today's excursion...in the meantime, here are some from previous days.

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Von & John]

We really appreciate the Live & Photos!!!

If the photos become to time consuming we’d love to see them after you disembark. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Here is a sampling of a day's activities,  focusing primarily on musical entertainment. 

 

Thanks!  It looks like there are a lot of musicians to choose from.

[Rick&Jeannie]

[Rick&Jeannie]

Bloody Mary's bar on Bora Bora

 

 

Currently closed for renovation, opening sometime in 2025. Lots of famous people have visited!

 

Edited April 13 by Rick&Jeannie

[Rick&Jeannie]

Hah! Just heard from another couple that we're cruising with that their tender boat broke down and is being towed back to the ship! I'd give anything to have video of that!

[Rick&Jeannie]

Carrot cake at the local is our current hit!

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Interesting way to serve a diet coke! Purple ice...

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

This is what happens to your fruit when you try to sneak it off the ship!

[Rick&Jeannie]

Another couple of shots from the vanilla "farm".

[Rick&Jeannie]

For anyone contemplating this itinerary...be sure and bring plenty of T-shirt type tops & such. We've done our share of Caribbean cruises...but I just don't remember it being anywhere near as hot! We're only able to wear a set of clothes for a single day before needing laundry done! And it's a heck of a lot more expensive on NCL than the other lines we've sailed. Our first bag of basically t-shirts, shorts and underwear ran $54.00, and there was not anything that needed "special" attention. Bring as many as you can handle but be prepared for at least a couple of laundry charges.  (We don't have any special loyalty levels...so we don't have any laundry perks.)

[www3traveler]

26 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

For anyone contemplating this itinerary...be sure and bring plenty of T-shirt type tops & such. We've done our share of Caribbean cruises...but I just don't remember it being anywhere near as hot! We're only able to wear a set of clothes for a single day before needing laundry done! And it's a heck of a lot more expensive on NCL than the other lines we've sailed. Our first bag of basically t-shirts, shorts and underwear ran $54.00, and there was not anything that needed "special" attention. Bring as many as you can handle but be prepared for at least a couple of laundry charges.  (We don't have any special loyalty levels...so we don't have any laundry perks.)

On your cruise there should be at least ONE "Fill The Bag" for one price on your cruise.

I usually wash one or two items every couple of days in the bathroom sink and hang on the towel racks.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Today was Moorea and another third party excursion. (I much prefer to go with ship tours but we booked somewhat late and really couldn't get anything that appealed to us.)

4x4 Adventure, Belvedere and Rum Distillery. 

This was your typical road tour around the island in almost the exact same type of truck as our other tour in Bora Bora...an open-air 4 wheel drive truck. (Probably a Toyota but I didn't really pay attention.)

We visited 2 Island high points with amazing scenic vistas. We were supposed to visit a rum factory but when we got there the guide said there were too many people, very crowded. We just took the stance of "if you've seen one rum factory you've seen them all!" Plenty to be seen in the Caribbean!

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

This was your typical road tour around the island in almost the exact same type of truck as our other tour in Bora Bora...an open-air 4 wheel drive truck. (Probably a Toyota but I didn't really pay attention.)

 

 

These things make my back hurt just looking at them.  Did you need a step ladder to get in and out?  Any safety concerns?

[Rick&Jeannie]

The Belvedere overlook (for lack of a better term) is at the top of a fair sized hill/small mountain. There is a TINY parking lot at the very top with a concrete viewing platform that is about 20 x 20 feet. It's a great view overlooking the bay where the ship was moored, but parking was CRAZY! There was an area about 100 feet below the very top where hikers were supposed to park (apparently some hiking trails were there but we never saw them) but everybody naturally tries to drive all the way to the topmost area, which is a dead end! Imagine 2 full sized buses, 5 or 6 open-air trucks like ours and maybe 10 cars crammed into an area of about 100 feet by 40 feet. It was pretty wild when anybody wanted to leave because the only form of parking was double and triple stacking the vehicles! But it *was* a great view!

Edited April 14 by Rick&Jeannie

[Rick&Jeannie]

36 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

These things make my back hurt just looking at them.  Did you need a step ladder to get in and out?  Any safety concerns?

No step ladder...just one of those trailer hitch mounted steps. One had a pretty serious "rocking" motion soyou had to be careful to always step on one side or the other. The other truck was pretty stable.  No real safety issues other than just bouncing around inside the frame like billiard balls! Nothing that a good dose of Advil and Tylenol couldn't handle!

[Rick&Jeannie]

We are looking forward to trying out Onda this evening for our first specialty dining. 

 

 

Regarding food...we ate at Windows a couple of nights ago. Very nice decor...the "newness" of the ship's refurb really shows here...but it's all just "window dressing" (pun intended.) It appeared that the restaurant was about half full...lots of empty tables but the service was the slowest we have ever experienced on *any* cruise ship. We had to ask multiple times for various things. Frustrating. The food was good...it's just that it took forever to get through the meal. Thankfully we were not trying to get to a show or anything else after the tiring day we'd had.  We'll give it another shot (maybe tomorrow night) or possibly Taste, the other MDR.