Tahiti Cruise--Day 2 (Papeete)

Day 2—Papeete, Tahiti (January 28, 2015)

The ship remained overnight in Papeete and there was no gentle rocking during the night.  But I was so tired after traveling the night before that it didn’t matter that I wasn’t rocked to sleep, and I slept great (or maybe it was just the fact that I was on a ship again and mostly disconnected from the normal day-to-day issues, and disconnection induces such relaxation, that I would sleep well anyway).

After going to bed at 9:00pm, I was up and about by 4:30am (which would be 6:30am Pacific Time so, technically, I did sleep later than I usually do).  We had no real plans other than to visit the area near the dock if we felt like it. 

The “From the Navigator” column in the Princess Patter (the ship’s daily newsletter listing all the activities) usually says what the ship is doing, but since we had stayed overnight, it had this to say: 

“Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean.  The commune of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti.  The French High Commissioner also resides in Papeete.  It is the hub of French Polynesian tourism and a commonly used port of call.  The Windward Islands are themselves part of the Society Islands.  The name Papeete means ‘water from a basket’.”

After breakfast, we left the ship early to explore Papeete.  We walked to the market (Le Marche) I had heard about.  This is a very colorful market held in a two-story building with crafts, food, and the most incredibly beautiful tropical flowers.  I did buy a few souvenirs using the French Polynesian Francs (XPF) I had brought with me.

Le Marche

Tropical Flowers in the market

Le Marche

We then walked over to a cute church in the center of town, doing the usual window-shopping as we walked.

Church in Papeete

We were back on board before noon, and headed to the Promenade Deck Loungers just to relax and read.  Although it was hot and humid, the Promenade Deck is covered and shaded and there was a nice breeze blowing.  Sailaway wasn’t until 5:00, but what the heck, we were on board and on vacation, so even though it wasn’t quite noon yet (but it was afternoon in California), we ordered the “traditional” pina coladas.  My parents and I lounged on the Promenade Deck of the Ocean Princess sipping on pina coladas in Tahiti—ahhh, this is the life!

Later that afternoon, we went back inside, my parents to nap, and I to find someplace cooler to read (did I mention it was really humid).  I ran into Marilyn, one of the bar stewards I had met on the Diamond Princess way back in 2012 and she remembered me and I remembered her.  After hugs, we spent a couple of minutes catching up and talking about the other folks on the Diamond we both knew.  It really is amazing that I run into some of the same crew on the different ships.

The passenger safety drill was scheduled for 4:15pm and we were scheduled for first seating for dinner at 6:00pm, so I decided to take a shower before the muster drill so that I would be ready for dinner since there wouldn’t be much time between the two.  One thing I did was skip the makeup during the day since there didn’t seem any sense in it with all the sweating from the heat and humidity, but wanted to look somewhat presentable for dinner. 

The ship was slightly delayed leaving port as there were two other ships coming through the channel, so we didn’t actually leave until 5:30pm.  Each of the islands has a coral reef surrounding them, and the ships have to navigate through the narrow channels to the open ocean.  In many cases, the channel through the reef is only wide enough for one ship to pass through at a time. 

My reservation and my parents’ reservation were supposed to be linked so that we’d be assigned to the same table; we’ve never had a problem in the past, but apparently, the ship didn’t have our reservations linked so we had different table assignments.  When we got to the dining room we explained the situation to the Maitre d and he assigned us to a temporary table for that night and said he would have our permanent table assignment the next evening.  We went to Table 31, a huge table for 8 and were the only ones there that night since the rest of that table had apparently made reservations for the Steakhouse.  I had the crab and artichoke dip for an appetizer, the pork loin and sauerkraut (something I don’t usually order in a restaurant) for the entrée, and the apple and walnut spring rolls with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Yes, I ordered dessert instead of my usual cappuccino (it just seemed too hot for cappuccino).

After dinner, we spent some time in the casino, and once I lost my allotted “play money” for the day, I headed back to my cabin.  I was in bed by 9:30pm, and asleep before 10:00pm.

This cruise is certainly different that my previous cruises since I haven’t frequented any of the bars on board and I’m certainly getting plenty of sleep.  Hey, it’s my vacation, and I’ll spend it the way I want (gee, maybe I’m just getting older….nah!).

Ocean Princess Lido Deck

Ocean Princess Lido Deck