Tahiti Cruise--Day 7 (Raiatea)

Day 7—Raiatea (February 2, 2015)

From the Navigator:  “During the night we rounded the island of Tahaa, approaching from the north.  Ocean Princess will enter the reef from the western side of the island and make our way through the confined waters to the port of Raiatea….”

What a beautiful sunrise this morning, with a few clouds, the sun peaking through, and the islands of Tahaa and Raiatea approaching.  Tahaa is known as the vanilla island and produces 70% of the French Polynesian vanilla.  It is the sister island of Raiatea and shares the same reef.  Our ship docked at the port of Uturoa—yes, we actually docked instead of anchoring offshore. 

We had no excursion scheduled and no plans for the day.  Since this wasn’t a tender port, it was easy to just walk off the ship when we wanted to, and we did just that after breakfast.  We were greeted at the dock by a group playing traditional music.  How nice to be entertained and welcomed to the island of Raiatea.

Just outside the port area (which was really just outside the ship since the port area was really tiny, were several grass-thatched huts with pareos (a long rectangular piece of cloth dyed in gorgeous colors that can be tied 30 different ways to create skirts, dresses, and even blouses) and shell jewelry for sale.  I’ve thought about buying one of the beautiful pareos, but I probably would never wear it back home, so I’ve resisted thus far, but they are absolutely beautiful. 

We wandered around the small port town for a little while.  Then we were back on board the air-conditioned ship very quickly (did I mention it was really humid!).  I went to the morning trivia and was invited to join another group.  Together, we came in third place; of course that didn’t mean anything since only the first place team gets a prize, but we had fun.

After lunch, my parents and I sat down at one of the tables on Deck 4 and discussed the excursion possibilities for our British Isle cruise in August.  It was so much easier to talk about it in person than it is over the phone. 

At 5:00pm, we watched the “Children of Raiatea” show on the Lido Deck, poolside.  The children performed Polynesian dances, while the men (their fathers) played traditional drums and the women (their mothers) sang traditional songs in Tahitian.  The youngest boy was 5 years old and the youngest girl was 7, and they were really cute to watch. 

The menu in the dining room was all French, so we decided to skip the dining room and eat in the buffet (we also didn’t have time to take a shower and get dressed for dinner after the show and still make our 6:00pm sitting).  After watching the traditional Polynesian dance show, what did we have but a traditional American dinner—turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce.  No, it wasn’t Thanksgiving, but really, why do we only have this meal once a year if it’s good?  (One of the mysteries of life, I guess.)

After dinner, I took my Kindle on deck and read for a little while, before heading to my cabin early to shower and get ready for bed.  The ship would remain docked until 11:00pm, but I was asleep well before all-aboard time.