Day 2 - we spent our first night on the Pacific Princess. The ship stays in port so you can explore Papeete.
After our first night on the ship, we slept in a bit - hey, we are on vacation after all! Our choices for breakfast are the Dinning Room, Room Service or the Panorama Buffet. We opted for the Buffet, then headed out for a stroll.
There is not a whole lot to do in this busy port town. You should however make time to go to the Municipal Market.
We were to be back to the ship by 4pm because........ Whenever you take a cruise, there is always the
muster drill so you learn where to go in case of any kind of emergency. Don't miss this fun-filled mandatory drill -- they will make you go to a 'make-up' drill, at a less convenient time!!
And of course you get to try on these lovely lifejackets -- only Andrea can make this color look good!
That evening as we sailed to Huahine, we had our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet up on the pool deck. There were approximately 40 people on our Roll Call. A gal named Bettye had started the Roll Call and was the organizer of the Meet & Greet. It was lovely to meet all the people I had been chatting with for months. It also gave me the opportunity to meet all the folks that had signed up to do excursions with us It was a nice casual get together as we sailed away for Huahine.
Day 3 Huahine (pronounced: WAH-Hinee)
We arrived in Huahine early in the morning. Today's plan was for a day of sailing with the husband & wife team, Claude & Martine.
This adventure was planned by Travel Agent Extraordinaire & diving aficionado Dave. (If you want to get in touch with Dave leave me a comment. Seriously, he is a great TA! More on that later in our story)
After breakfast it was down to the ships casino to get tender tickets. Huahine is a 'tender' port, meaning the ship anchors off shore of the island, and they use small boats to take guests from the ship to the island. Our goal was to be on the earliest tender possible. We got on the second tender and it was a short ride to the island.
Martine met us as we came ashore & pointed us in the right direction to get to Fare Quay where the 'Eden Martine' was moored. We had to take a local old wooden 'bus' the islanders call it Le Truck with hard wood benches and low ceiling which everyone bumped their head on.
This took us to Fare Quay to board our sailboat for the day. Le Truck was packed with other passengers heading in to town. It's run by the locals for Princess. They charge $16 round trip to get you in to town & back (they charge it to your cabin account via that all important cruise card. )It was a 15 minute ride through lush green mountains, flowers everywhere and the occasional local simple housing.
Our itinerary for the day:
Once we arrived it was a quick boarding on to the 50 foot Jennue and we were off for a beautiful day of sailing & snorkeling.
Huahine is actually two islands.
Claude was narrating as we went telling us about where we were, the island, and about the lush greenery.
As we sailed, the palm trees & umbrella tree's made the island look soft & inviting. Breathtakingly beautiful. The most amazing color of water I've ever seen. Dark Safire blue water where the water is deep and light blue turquoise were it is shallow. Claude would point out Stingrays as we passed them and we even saw a turtle & some flying fish.
After motoring to a spot selected for excellent snorkeling, Claude anchored the ship and began to take us in to the snorkel spot by dingy.
A few of us swam in, as it was not too far and we were excited to get going. The water here is incredibly clear and teeming with sea life.
Snorkeling we saw, clams with iridescent lips in colors of blue, purple, green & pink.
Rhonda had her nails painted the color of 'tropical fruit punch' and this was very attractive to the one eye Butterfly fish who surrounded her as she wiggled her fingers. I think they were looking for lunch. The current was strong and if you don't pay attention, you will drift quite far. At one point Rhonda had to be picked up by Claude in the dingy and brought back to the area we were snorkeling. She just laughed and jumped back in the water with the rest of us.
Our friend Kelly is part fish and he really covered some ground. You will see many of his pictures in this blog as he had several cameras rigged for taking pictures under water, including two GoPro's.
I saw a large school of fish hanging out over stag horn coral. I swam over slowly and hung with them for a while. We floated along with the current and they did not seem to mind my presence.
I bought a small digital camera so I could try and get some under water pictures on our snorkel adventures. But 90% of the underwater photos you will see in this Tahitian blog are curtesy of Kelly, because his are so much better than mine, it's embarrassing! :-)
An hour went by so fast! Claude rounded us all up and we headed to a sandy beach for a picnic.
Everyone bought food either from the ship or purchased items from the market across form where we boarded our sailboat, so there was lots of French bread & Brie! It was absolutely delightful to picnic on the beach. The water was crystal clear and shallow. After lunch we cooled off by sitting in the shallow water & Andrea enjoyed a local beer.
Then it was back to the boat for a sail back to the town. After Claude put up the main sheet and rolled out the jib we sailed along at 7 knots. It was marvelous and exhilarating with the warm trade winds blowing through our hair. It was an amazing feeling when the wind caught the sail and we flew along the water. It was over too quickly.
Then it was back to reality to get on Le Truck once more and return to the ship.
We were hot and sweaty by the time we got back on board so we all jumped in the pool and then cooled down with a nice-cold lemonade.
Naps before dinner were in order for everyone in our group.
Mentioned in this blog:
Cafe Maeva located in the Municipal Market. Food & Beverage & Free Internet!
Eden Martin: http://www.tahitisailingcharter.com/content/view/11/30/lang,en/
Dave: Friend, Diver, Photographer, Travel Agent and fun traveler!
Photos used in this blog by: Andrea, Dave, Cathy & Kelly, all by permission - thanks friends!
After our first night on the ship, we slept in a bit - hey, we are on vacation after all! Our choices for breakfast are the Dinning Room, Room Service or the Panorama Buffet. We opted for the Buffet, then headed out for a stroll.
There is not a whole lot to do in this busy port town. You should however make time to go to the Municipal Market.
 |
| Lower level of the Market taken from above |
 |
| A purchase at Cafe Maeva |
 |
| Upstairs in the Market - Free WiFi with Purchase |
 |
| downstairs is mostly food booths & local crafts |
We were to be back to the ship by 4pm because........ Whenever you take a cruise, there is always the
muster drill so you learn where to go in case of any kind of emergency. Don't miss this fun-filled mandatory drill -- they will make you go to a 'make-up' drill, at a less convenient time!!
And of course you get to try on these lovely lifejackets -- only Andrea can make this color look good!
That evening as we sailed to Huahine, we had our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet up on the pool deck. There were approximately 40 people on our Roll Call. A gal named Bettye had started the Roll Call and was the organizer of the Meet & Greet. It was lovely to meet all the people I had been chatting with for months. It also gave me the opportunity to meet all the folks that had signed up to do excursions with us It was a nice casual get together as we sailed away for Huahine.
 |
| The view from Dave's balcony |
 |
| Approaching Huahine |
Day 3 Huahine (pronounced: WAH-Hinee)
 |
| Dave & I as we sail out |
We arrived in Huahine early in the morning. Today's plan was for a day of sailing with the husband & wife team, Claude & Martine.
This adventure was planned by Travel Agent Extraordinaire & diving aficionado Dave. (If you want to get in touch with Dave leave me a comment. Seriously, he is a great TA! More on that later in our story)
After breakfast it was down to the ships casino to get tender tickets. Huahine is a 'tender' port, meaning the ship anchors off shore of the island, and they use small boats to take guests from the ship to the island. Our goal was to be on the earliest tender possible. We got on the second tender and it was a short ride to the island.
Martine met us as we came ashore & pointed us in the right direction to get to Fare Quay where the 'Eden Martine' was moored. We had to take a local old wooden 'bus' the islanders call it Le Truck with hard wood benches and low ceiling which everyone bumped their head on.
 |
| Creative Transportation in the Islands! Le Truck |
This took us to Fare Quay to board our sailboat for the day. Le Truck was packed with other passengers heading in to town. It's run by the locals for Princess. They charge $16 round trip to get you in to town & back (they charge it to your cabin account via that all important cruise card. )It was a 15 minute ride through lush green mountains, flowers everywhere and the occasional local simple housing.
Our itinerary for the day:
Cruise from 9 am to 3 pm - 6 hours Excursion
Embarking & Disembarking : Quay of Fare Minimum guests : 4 Maximum guests : 10 - Sailing down to the motu Vaiorea (1hr) - Snorkeling at the coral garden of the motu (1.30 hr) - Beach Break at the Hana Iti white sand beach (accessible only by boat) : You can bring your picnic, enjoy sunbathing and swim. - Sailing back to Quay of Fare (1 hr) Price per person from 4 to 10 guests = 8000 CFP or 67 Euros Including mineral water and fruit juice. |
Once we arrived it was a quick boarding on to the 50 foot Jennue and we were off for a beautiful day of sailing & snorkeling.
 |
| our lovely sailboat for the day |
 |
| The Gang on Eden Martine |
Huahine is actually two islands.
Claude was narrating as we went telling us about where we were, the island, and about the lush greenery.
 |
| Claude at the Helm |
As we sailed, the palm trees & umbrella tree's made the island look soft & inviting. Breathtakingly beautiful. The most amazing color of water I've ever seen. Dark Safire blue water where the water is deep and light blue turquoise were it is shallow. Claude would point out Stingrays as we passed them and we even saw a turtle & some flying fish.
After motoring to a spot selected for excellent snorkeling, Claude anchored the ship and began to take us in to the snorkel spot by dingy.
A few of us swam in, as it was not too far and we were excited to get going. The water here is incredibly clear and teeming with sea life.
Snorkeling we saw, clams with iridescent lips in colors of blue, purple, green & pink.
Rhonda had her nails painted the color of 'tropical fruit punch' and this was very attractive to the one eye Butterfly fish who surrounded her as she wiggled her fingers. I think they were looking for lunch. The current was strong and if you don't pay attention, you will drift quite far. At one point Rhonda had to be picked up by Claude in the dingy and brought back to the area we were snorkeling. She just laughed and jumped back in the water with the rest of us.
Our friend Kelly is part fish and he really covered some ground. You will see many of his pictures in this blog as he had several cameras rigged for taking pictures under water, including two GoPro's.
 |
| A rare pic of Kelly out of the water, Kelly is part fish an prefers to be IN the water |
I saw a large school of fish hanging out over stag horn coral. I swam over slowly and hung with them for a while. We floated along with the current and they did not seem to mind my presence.
I bought a small digital camera so I could try and get some under water pictures on our snorkel adventures. But 90% of the underwater photos you will see in this Tahitian blog are curtesy of Kelly, because his are so much better than mine, it's embarrassing! :-)
An hour went by so fast! Claude rounded us all up and we headed to a sandy beach for a picnic.
 |
| The view of our beach from the boat |
 |
| Casual lunch on the beach with our traveling friends |
Everyone bought food either from the ship or purchased items from the market across form where we boarded our sailboat, so there was lots of French bread & Brie! It was absolutely delightful to picnic on the beach. The water was crystal clear and shallow. After lunch we cooled off by sitting in the shallow water & Andrea enjoyed a local beer.
Then it was back to the boat for a sail back to the town. After Claude put up the main sheet and rolled out the jib we sailed along at 7 knots. It was marvelous and exhilarating with the warm trade winds blowing through our hair. It was an amazing feeling when the wind caught the sail and we flew along the water. It was over too quickly.
 |
| Dave and his Shark friend! photo by Kelly |
Then it was back to reality to get on Le Truck once more and return to the ship.
We were hot and sweaty by the time we got back on board so we all jumped in the pool and then cooled down with a nice-cold lemonade.
Naps before dinner were in order for everyone in our group.
Mentioned in this blog:
Cafe Maeva located in the Municipal Market. Food & Beverage & Free Internet!
Eden Martin: http://www.tahitisailingcharter.com/content/view/11/30/lang,en/
Dave: Friend, Diver, Photographer, Travel Agent and fun traveler!
Photos used in this blog by: Andrea, Dave, Cathy & Kelly, all by permission - thanks friends!
Love the underwater pics, especially the clam lips!
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