Tahiti Cruise--Day 1 (Travel and Embarkation)

Day 1—Travel and Embarkation (January 26-27, 2015)

Tahiti, a place I’ve read about and dreamed about visiting, and I’m here!  It was “touch and go” the weekend before we left since my dad had caught a cold and we weren’t sure if he would be feeling well enough to travel or if it would be smart to do so.  By Sunday he was feeling better, so the trip was a go…and here we are.

The trip to get here was long, and exhausting.  While waiting at LAX, we met several people who are on the same cruise—not surprising since there are very few options for flights getting to Tahiti.  I would guess that the majority of passengers on the flight would also be passengers on the Ocean Princess.

The red-eye flight on Air Tahiti Nui was crowded, again not surprising since there is only one flight a day from LAX, and although the Ocean Princess is a very small ship, there are still 680 passengers who will be embarking Tuesday.  As expected, we didn’t get much sleep packed into economy class despite the fact the plane took off at midnight and we were by then exhausted.

We arrived in Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, at 7:00am and proceeded through passport control.  While waiting in line (a very long line that went very slowly), we started shedding some of the layers of clothes we had worn on the flight—off came the jackets, heavy sweaters, and long-sleeved shirts.  By the time we got to the front of the line at Passport Control, most of the people in line were down to t-shirts, and some even used the restrooms to change into shorts.  Others who hadn’t planned for the weather in Tahiti were in for a very uncomfortable day with temperatures in the high 80s with 80 percent humidity, making for a “real feel” of the high 90s!

Since we wouldn’t be able to board the ship until noon, and since there isn’t an actual terminal building to wait, Princess arranged for an excursion along with the transfer to the ship.  Once we had our luggage and passed through customs, we met the Princess representative who took our luggage and pointed us to one of the buses waiting.

Our “free” excursion, took us down the west coast of Tahiti, stopping at a Marae, an ancient sacred spot of stones used for worship, and yes even sacrifices (although that was a really long time ago).

Marae

We also visited a black sand beach; our guide told us that all the beaches on the island of Tahiti were black sand since the island was created from volcanic activity (and the beaches would have been created by eroded volcanic rock).

Our Tour Guide on Black Sand

Our next stop was at a botanical garden with one of the many waterfalls on Tahiti.  We were in the middle of Tahiti’s rainy season which is from December-February and the only way the rainfall has to go from the island’s peaks is down the cliffs.  Although we were in the rainy season, the sun was out and the weather was good (except for the high humidity).

Our last stop was at a fern grotto, a large cave with ferns growing downward instead of up (like "normal" ferns.  The cave wasn’t a cave in the sense that it had a small opening, but instead had a huge opening and only extended a little way (we could see the back of the cave from the very large opening.

The bottom of the cave was a huge pool of water and lo and behold there were four men in the water.  Not sure they expected a group of tourists to come walking down the path while they were enjoying a nice soak.  Our tour guide asked if they were naked, and they yelled back yes, and invited us all to join them.  Only here a few hours and we had been invited by a bunch of naked men to join them in the pool in a fern grotto!  Welcome to Tahiti!

Fern Grotto

Fern Grotto

After leaving the fern grotto, our bus made its way back to Papeete and the dock where our ship was berthed.  A Paul Gauguin cruise line ship was berthed next to the Ocean Princess.

The “terminal” was a very large tent set up with a few counters for check in.  There were no waiting areas and no place to sit down (hence the “free” excursion the ship provided to prevent 680 passengers showing up and standing around on the dock waiting till boarding time.  We quickly made our way up the gangway and onto the Ocean Princess and I was back on a ship once again!

My parents had a balcony cabin on Deck 7, and I had originally wanted to book an inside cabin near them, but there were none available, so I had booked a “guarantee” cabin.  This means that I was guaranteed at least the category I had booked, but that Princess was free to put me wherever they had a cabin available.  Unfortunately, that also means that you might not find out what cabin you have until just before you board, although sometimes it's much earlier.  I had been waiting for months for a cabin assignment, and just before we left, I was finally assigned a cabin—an ocean view cabin on Deck 4.  While my parents went to their cabin, I went to mine.  The cabin turned out to be an accessible cabin, so it was much larger than most cabins on board (since it needed to be able to accommodate wheelchairs), and the bathroom was huge.

Accessible Cabin on Deck 4

Accessible Cabin on Deck 4

We met up for a late lunch at 1:30 in the buffet and the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to stay awake, since we hadn’t had much sleep the night before, waiting for the luggage to arrive, unpacking when it did, and finally taking a shower (we all felt sticky—did I mention the high humidity).

With the late lunch, we weren’t hungry so decided to forego the dining room.  While researching Tahiti before the cruise, I had heard about the “Roulettes” and wanted to check it out.  Roulettes wasn’t a casino game, but instead was a collection of food trucks and vans that parked right outside the dock.  Each truck set up tables and each had their specialty food—think of a food court, but with trucks and vans instead of permanent outlets.  Since this was French Polynesia, and I had heard there was a truck specializing in crepes, I wanted to check it out and tonight was the only night we would be here (our ship wasn’t scheduled to depart until tomorrow afternoon).

My parents and I walked off the ship to the Roulettes to check it out (how strange to leave the ship when we had just embarked).  After walking through a craft area, and around the Roulettes, they decided to head back to the ship—it was around 7:00pm and after traveling the day before and all night, my mom was ready for bed.  Even though I wasn’t really hungry, I decided to try the crepes and had one savory, ham and swiss cheese which came with a salad, followed by a wonderful dessert crepe—a pineapple and coconut ice cream crepe (this was French Polynesia after all).

Roulettes

I was back on board by 8:30pm.  There was a Polynesian dance and music show scheduled for 10:00pm and I was sorry I would miss it, but I really wanted a bed to lie down on more, so I went back to my cabin, and was asleep before 9:00pm.