Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific—2 (French Polynesia)

Welcome to part two of our 31 day South Pacific cruise. We will visit Moorea and Papeete, Tahiti in French Polynesia. Click here to read my Part 1 post covering Hawaii.

It’s another 5 relaxing days at sea before we arrive at our first stop in Moorea. French Polynesia is a territory of France, so we’ll be able to use our French speaking skills while we’re here. There are approximately 130 islands which comprise this French territory. The islands span an area of ocean five times larger than France itself.

and then there was the evacuation…

We left Honolulu at 11 p.m. Oct. 4th. The next day, while enjoying our 5:00 cocktails (not that we ever wait until 5:00 p.m. to start) when the captain announces: “there’s a medical emergency onboard and a helicopter evacuation needs to occur”. We traveled 18 hours from Hawaii towards French Polynesia and must now return to Hawaii to meet the Coast Guard. So, now it looks like we’ll have even more time at sea.

Unfortunately, our cabin is on one of the decks directly below the area where the helicopter will perform the rescue. The crew will wake us around 1 a.m. to evacuate our cabin. There is always a chance for an accident or fuel spill during a rescue. So safety policy requires us to evacuate our cabin until completion. The ship rerouted to Hilo, Hawaii and the new evacuation time is 6 a.m. Our route is quite further than what they originally expected. While waiting, something else happened on board. Now there are two medical rescues needed. The Coast Guard will fly to the ship twice, which will delay us even further. But we are happy that those who need immediate care will be receiving help. Hope they have travel insurance.

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise on a very windy day. There isn’t a helipad on the ship for a landing, so the rescue is complicated. In the last photo, the helicopter removes the sick passenger from the ship in a cage suspended by cable. What a ride back to shore!

Now for the second evacuation. Sadly, this loop back to Hawaii took so much time, we are now very near Hilo. Our first of 5 sea days starts all over again. We’ll have to skip the island of Moorea and head directly to Tahiti.

Morning routine on the ship

Although there are lots of options scheduled on sea days, our usual routine is similar to that at home. We wake up early to enjoy coffee while reading the news. Then it’s breakfast time. My usual spot on the ship is the comfy couch just in front of the International Cafe in the middle of the piazza. There’s great specialty coffee (and plenty of mimosas) as well as too many tempting European pastries.

Of course by the time breakfast is done we dress and need to start planning where and what to eat for lunch—decisions, decisions. Last night we ate in the Crown Grill which is a specialty steak and seafood restaurant. We had quite the feast and we enjoyed a bottle of Dom Perignon (thank you Tom & Cary) and a glass of Camus with our steak. The sommelier, David, made quite the production when serving our wines. He brought out a vintage 2013 bottle of champagne which was the perfect surprise. Coincidentally, we were married on our 30th anniversary in 2013, so it made this an extra special occasion. P.S., Danny says if you can’t decide which side you want with your steak, order all of them!

It’s hard to believe it’s already day 14 of our South Pacific cruise. Today, we’ll be crossing the equator into the Southern Hemisphere. We arrive in Tahiti in 2 days.

Papeete, Tahiti

Papeete is the capital city of French Polynesia with an urban population of about 125,000 people. There are about 27,000 residents within the city proper. We arrived in Papeete early on a cloudy morning. The chance of rain is 80% all day, but we left the ship prepared as we were ready to get on land and explore. From the top of the ship, here are our first views of Papeete. You can see the airport runway ends abruptly at the ocean. That makes for a scary landing because if the brakes fail, you’ll be swimming. The last photo shows the island of Moorea off in the distance. This is the island we won’t get to visit due to the evacuations.

Visiting a Polynesian Temple

I booked a private tour of the island and there were only two of us in the van for the day. Our driver said we’d completely circle the island, which is only about 75 miles all the way around. First stop is Marae Arahurahu. This is a restored temple where the ancient Polynesians worshipped their gods and sometimes offered up sacrifices of animals and humans. These temples are created out of rocks and used as meeting places.

Botanical Gardens

Next stop is the Jardins d’eau de Vaipahi, or botanical gardens. There are also hiking trails here if you have extra time and a beautiful waterfall. The exotic flowers were gorgeous and bloomed in a variety of colors. The coconuts were a dark golden color.

3 Waterfalls of Faarumai

We stopped to visit one of the 3 waterfalls of Faarumai on our circle tour of the island. The Vaimahuta Fall drops from 300 feet high.

Point Venus and the Mahina Lighthouse

Our final stop on the tour is Point Venus and the Mahina Lighthouse (1867). Surrounded by a beach of black sand, it happens to be the northernmost place of Tahiti. Venus Point owes its name to Captain James Cook, who originally came here to watch the transit of Venus across the sun in 1769. The lighthouse is the only one on the island. There is also a dedication to the HMS Bounty located here. James Norman Hall, an American writer, wrote Mutiny on the Bounty about the events which occurred here in 1789 with Captain Bligh and his crew.

Our driver dropped us off in town where we walked around for a bit. We really lucked out with the weather as it didn’t rain a drop. The sun started to peek out, so you can now begin to see the beautiful blue of the ocean.