En Route To Lautoka, Fiji

We slept very well last evening and enjoyed gaining another hour since we set the clocks back one hour before we went to sleep. We are now seventeen hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Truly amazing!

Since we had the extra hour Keith woke up earlier than normal and went up to the Fitness Center and then Anne Marie arrived about 45 minutes later. We both enjoyed a wonderful workout in the center and by the time we left it was very crowded. More people were up there earlier given the time zone change. Many of the regulars were working out including Mary and John. Keith spoke with Mary for part of the workout and they each talked about what they did in Samoa. We just want to highlight, once again, how friendly we found the locals of Samoa to be.

After our workout, we went up to the Lido Café for breakfast. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast. We are happy to report that new Bananas have been brought on board so we are both happy campers. ☺ We sat with a couple of our fellow passengers who we normally sit with for breakfast.

All of the Lido Deck stewards helped us during breakfast. We learned that last evening there was a crew party to celebrate the Chinese New Year. While most of the crew is not Chinese, it was a nice opportunity for Crystal to have a party for the staff, which is greatly, appreciated by the crew. This is one of so many examples of how well Crystal treats their staff and we believe this is a reason why they have retained so many of their staff over the years and why the crew works as one cohesive team. We applaud Crystal for their approach to teamwork.

After breakfast we decided to go ahead and do the laundry since most of the machines were not in use.

Later in the morning, Keith went to Rap with the Rabbi while Anne Marie finished up the laundry. We had a nice turnout for this session and there was a great deal of group participation.

At 11:00 AM we both attended the second lecture given by former United Nations Weapons Inspector and author of Waging Peace; Scott Ritter. The title of his presentation was “Waging Peace: The Status of the Anti-War Movement in America Today.” This presentation was very well attended and the presentation was very informative. Scott Ritter covered a variety of items and made several excellent points. His presentation also included sufficient time for a Question and Answer Period.

Afterwards, we had lunch with Scott Ritter and his lovely wife. The other day we had asked Scott Ritter if he and his wife would be available to have lunch with us in the main dining room. One of the nice things about those who lecture on Crystal is that they are very accessible to talk with outside of the formal lectures. We enjoyed a wonderful conversation with both Scott and his wife along with a fabulous lunch. We talked about a variety of items and appreciated all of Scott’s insight to all of our questions. We look forward to his third and final presentation.

This afternoon we enjoyed a walk on the Promenade Deck. The temperature was quite nice. According to the Captain’s morning talk the ship is utilizing five of six engines and we are cruising along at approximately 21 knots per hour.

Before dinner, we attended the Crystal Society Reception, which is for all passengers who have previously sailed with Crystal. These receptions always provide a nice opportunity to talk with fellow passengers. We sat with a few couples including John and Linda who we first met on last years World Cruise. John is one of the regulars who works out at the same time we do in the Fitness Center and we see both John and Linda in the Lido Café each morning during breakfast and at other times during the day. Following the reception the four of us dined together at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. Since tonight was a formal night many passengers dined in the main dining room but we thought it would be a nice opportunity to dine at Silk Road since it would be less busier than normal.

Tomorrow we arrive in Lautoka, Fiji.

Keith & Anne Marie

A Day In Western Samoa

Today is Wednesday, February 6, 2008 yet when we go to sleep this evening we will wake up on Friday, February 8, 2008. This is all due to the International Dateline.

Here is how this change works.

If you are traveling in an easterly direction, you subtract a day as you cross the Dateline; you repeat the same calendar date twice.

Traveling in a westerly direction as our cruise ship is doing we simply add (or skip) another day as we cross the Dateline. For us, this means that Thursday, February 7 just doesn’t exist this time around. Instead, it is erased from all memory.

The key to all of this is that the calendar day begins at the International Dateline.

We hope this all makes sense to you. All we know is that when we wake up tomorrow it will be Friday, February not Thursday, February 7. Thank goodness we go forward one entire day and approximately 24 hours. The reason we say approximately is that we will also be turning the clock back one hour before retiring this evening. So, we also enjoy an extra hour of sleep in the morning. -☺

We enjoyed a great night sleep and the seas were quite calm. Keith got up a little earlier than normal and headed up to the Fitness Center and then Anne Marie joined Keith a little bit later. There were less folks at the Center than the past couple of days since today is a port day. In addition, about 25 passengers are joining the Golf Pro for a round of golf today.

After our workout we enjoyed another nice breakfast in the Lido Café. The only challenge is that the ship has just about exhausted the supply of bananas. Hopefully, they will get more bananas while in port today. A couple of our fellow passengers joined us for breakfast. We all talked about how nice last evenings Mardi Gras party was. Two parties were held last evening; one for passengers who have main seating dining and the second one for those passengers who have late seating dining.

We arrived in Apia, Western Samoa at around 8:00 AM this morning. About an hour before we arrived it rained very hard. During the Captain’s morning talk from the bridge he mentioned that there would be a chance of showers throughout the day so we brought umbrellas with us when we walked around the town later in the morning. The captain’s thought for the day is; “Friends are like stars; you don’t necessarily see them but you know they are always there.”

We went for a walk into town at about 8:30. It was mostly sunny and fairly breezy when we began our walk. On our way out of the port area there were lots of taxis and we were asked numerous times if we were interested in a taxi. Also, on our walk to and from town there were many taxis looking to pick up passengers. With so many taxis we are not quite sure how the drivers make much of a living from this work. We found the locals to be quite friendly. Many of the locals who we saw as we walked greeted us very warmly, welcoming us to Samoa. At one point we saw a marching band called the Royal Samoa Police Band. We walked into a couple of markets that sold a variety of items from food, to fresh seafood to clothing. We passed by several churches including a fairly large Catholic Church, which we walked up to. There was a service that was attended mainly by the school children. We walked about an hour and a half. By the time we headed back to the ship it was quite humid and muggy.

We spent the remainder of the day on the ship. We had a wonderful lunch in the main dining room.

After lunch, we decided to take a nice walk on the Promenade Deck. It has started to cool down a little bit and from a distance we could see rain showers. About halfway through out walk it started to rain but we were able to continue to walk as we walked under the overhang.

At 5:15 PM we attended a reception hosted by our travel consortium. They are having a reception on each of the eight segments of the world cruise. As we’ve mentioned, we enjoy these receptions as they provide a nice opportunity to converse with some of our fellow passengers.

We enjoyed a nice evening with a very nice couple that we had met when they cruised on the first segment of last years World Cruise. They enjoyed the cruise so much that this year they are sailing on the first half of the 2008 World Cruise. They joined us in our room for a before dinner drink and snacks. We then all dined in the Prego Specialty Restaurant, which serves Italian Cuisine. We enjoyed wonderfully prepared food, with outstanding service and wonderful conversation.

Tomorrow we will enjoy a day at sea as our World Cruise Adventure continues.

Keith & Anne Marie

A Wonderful Day At Sea

We had a wonderful day today as we cruise towards Western Samoa.

We enjoyed a very nice sleep last evening. While we woke up fairly early this morning we had an extra hour of sleep since we set the clocks back one hour last evening.

We started our day with a nice workout in the Fitness Center. Keith was the first one in the center at around 5:10 AM and within twenty minutes was joined by the regulars, John, Mary and Anne Marie. We enjoyed a wonderful workout and it was nice since the sun rose earlier this morning given the time change. The seas were calm. Before we knew it the fitness center was quite crowded as many of the passengers got up earlier because of the time zone change. By the time we left, every machine was in use.

We enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Lido Café. As soon as we made it through the cold buffet areas one of the Lido Stewards had already made our coffee. They are so nice to us. We had a nice view of the ocean as we enjoyed our wonderful breakfast. The grapefruit has been particularly good this entire voyage so we have been enjoying that along with other fruits for breakfast and cereal. A couple of the regulars sat with us midway through our breakfast.

The captain gave us his daily report at 9:00 AM. Hi thought of the day was “You can not discover new oceans unless you lose sight of the shore.”

Since this was another day at sea there were many activities during the course of the day. Crystal is noted for having an outstanding activities program and today was no exception.

The first activity of the day for us was the Rap with the Rabbi. As we have mentioned before this is held about every other day while we are at sea. As this one is the first one of this segment of the cruise we met some new passengers at this session along with some of the regulars. The rabbi does an excellent job of conducting these sessions to allow participation by as many passengers as possible and it provides a wonderful opportunity for passengers to exchange thoughts, ideas and opinions on a variety of topics.

After the Rap, Keith went to the salon to get his haircut. This is something he normally would not need to do on a short voyage but given the length of this voyage he will have his hair cut from time to time. While some of the other men get their hair cut while in port, Keith prefers to have his cut on the ship for a variety of reasons. Anne Marie will be getting her first cut of the cruise in a couple of weeks.

We also attended two lectures in the morning. Destination Lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff gave the first one. The title of the lecture was “When snatching new colonies was the rage. America, Britain and imperial Germany all made a grab for Samoa. Kaiser Wilhelm came away the winner, but lost Samoa when he lost WWI. Today, packing plants on American Samoa can about 80% of the world’s tuna for companies like Charlie the Tuna’s Star-Kist brand.” As usual, Dr. Wolff gave a wonderful presentation with lots of solid information.

Celebrity Guest Lecturer Jane Bryant Quinn presented the second lecture. This one was titled “Help! I’m an Investor! What now??” Jane Bryant Quinn is a columnist for Newsweek Magazine and author of Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People. This was another terrific lecture. She provided very useful information in a very straightforward manner. A big takeaway from the presentation is diversity when it comes to ones investments.

Following the morning lectures we attended lunch in the Main Dining Room. We enjoyed a wonderful seafood salad entrée.

In the afternoon we attended a lectures given by Dr. Margaret McKenzie from the Cleveland Clinic titled “Why Weight? : Maintaining Lifelong Weight Management.” Keith had seen the lecturer in the Fitness Center the other day. She herself lost a good deal of weight, and shared with us lots of good information on how to lose weight in a healthy manner.

Many passengers attended all of these presentations.

Later in the afternoon we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck.

In the evening all guests were invited to Mardi Gras Madness. This event iincluded complimentary Pat O’Brien’s Punch while the passengers reveled in the most festive Fat Tuesday at sea. On this years World Cruise voyage Crystal has made a point to have added activities such as this one for all passengers which we think is a wonderful idea and we applaud Crystal for doing this. We had a wonderful time at this event. We have posted a couple of pictures; one with us and Stan and Mary and the other of us with Captain Glenn.

We enjoyed another wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. The food was delicious and the service equally outstanding.


Keith & Anne Marie

En Route TO Apia, Western Somoa

Last evening Anne Marie attended part of the Variety Showtime Entertainment, which included the Acappella Group along with World Champion Magician Murray. She stayed to hear the Acappella Group perform and enjoyed their show. Anne Marie sat with Mary and Stan and had an enjoyable talk with them.

We also took time to reflect on the Islands we have visited over the past few days and on the people who live on them. For the locals it is a different way of life that many of us are used to living in the continental United States. While the locals lack some of the amenities that so many of us take for granted, they have so much to be proud of. They have the natural beauty that can be found on each of these islands along with a close bond that comes from living in a place with a relatively small population.

We also wanted to note that on this segment of the World Cruise there are many more passengers from other countries with I believe adds to our overall enjoyment. Several passengers from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand joined the ship joined the ship during the second segment of the World Cruise and some will stay on the ship for one or multiple segments. We always enjoy meeting passengers from other areas of the world, as there is so much we learn in terms of their respective values and their culture along with their opinions about major worldwide issues.


We now get to enjoy two consecutive sea days as we cruise towards Apia, Western Samoa. We enjoyed another great nights sleep last evening. There is just something about being rocked to sleep. We awoke early this morning to start the day off with our daily workout in the Fitness Center. Keith got up to the Fitness Center at around 5:10 AM and was the first one there and Anne Marie arrived a few minutes before 5:30 AM. Some of the other regulars were there such as John and Mary. While Keith worked out on the elliptical machine he talked with Mary who was on her usual spot on the treadmill and it was great to catch up with on all that she and Stan did over the past several days. There is a sense of community all over the ship, including the Fitness Center. When we begin our day in the Fitness Center it could be analogous to going to the local diner in a small town to enjoy a cup of coffee and to catch up with ones neighbors.

After our workout we went up to the Lido Café for breakfast. It was still early when we arrive so there were not many passengers eating breakfast. We enjoyed another great breakfast as we spoke with some passengers who were sitting at a table next to us while taking in the beauty of the ocean. One other passenger joined us about fifteen minutes before we left.

Later in the morning we attended a presentation given by World Affairs Expert Scott Ritter titled “Target Iran.” Scott Ritter is a former UN Chief Weapons Inspector and author of Target Iran. He served as Chief Weapons Inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq. His presentation was quite informative and he also took questions from the audience for about twenty minutes. He is scheduled to give two more presentations during this voyage.

Since today was a sea day there were lots of activities offered throughout the day from various lectures, to team trivia, to fitness classes, to various levels of bridge classes and bridge play, to paddle and table tennis, to Spanish classes, to computer classes, to a golf clinic, to bingo, to a couple of different movies.

After the presentation we ate lunch in the main dining room but there was also an Asia Café Luncheon Buffet that many of our fellow passengers attended.

We had hoped to walk on the Promenade Deck in the afternoon but it was windy and there was some rain. Later n the afternoon, Anne Marie picked up a complimentary needlepoint kit that is given out on each voyage. She has been working on the first one she received on the first segment of the World Cruise.

This evening marked the first of three formal nights for this segment of the World Cruise. We always enjoy the formal nights, as it is so nice to see most passengers dressed in their formal attire. The evening began with the Captain’s Welcome Reception. We sat with two lovely couples and also spoke with several other passengers at the reception.

We enjoyed another wonderful dinner in the main dining room. On the first formal night of each sailing live lobster from Maine is usually served but tonight we enjoyed live Lobster from Australia. We had the Australian Lobster on one of the segments of last years World Cruise and greatly enjoyed the lobster. The same was true this evening. The dining room was quite busy since this was the first of the formal nights.

This evening we turn the clocks back one hour as we cruise into another new time zone.

Keith & Anne Marie

Bora Bora

Last evening we had some a lightning and thunderstorm as we sailed towards Bora Bora. Keith woke up even earlier than usual and began his workout in the Fitness Center at 4:40 AM. One other fellow cruiser, John, who also works out almost every morning on the elliptical machine, was in the Fitness Center around 5:00 AM. John and Keith each enjoy a particular elliptical machine so they have a running joke as to who will get the machine first. John told Anne Marie that he might have to start getting up there at 4:00 AM. ☺ Anne Marie began her workout at around 5:20 AM. We enjoyed a nice workout and Keith watched part of the movie The Bounty. By the time we finished our workout, a few other passengers were working out.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. As soon as we walked in the café we were greeted by several of the Lido Deck Stewards who we have come to know very well. About midway through out breakfast, one couple joined and as we were getting ready to leave one other passenger sat at our table as well.

Today our ship arrived in Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia. Bora Bora is one of many Society Islands, which comprise part of the French Polynesia. The road around Bora Bora is only about nineteen miles. Approximately 5,000 residents occupy this island. James Michener has called Bora Bora the most beautiful island of the world.

Our ship anchored off Bora Bora and tenders operated from 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

We listened to the Captain’s report at 8:00 AM and his thought of the day is “Dreams keep changing but friends are forever.”

We booked a shore excursion through Crystal Cruises since this was our first time visiting this island. We met at 8:30 AM and the shore excursion was called Brief Bora Bora Highlights. This excursion involved a journey all around this beautiful island. We drove through several small towns as we took in all of the majestic scenery around us from the beautiful mountain peaks to the pristine like waters to all of the beautiful vegetation. As part of the excursion we made several stops including stopping at Bora Bora’s famous beach called Matira Beach, and a famous Bora Bora restaurant called Bloody Mary’s. Along the way we viewed a variety of fruit trees including banana, mango, coconut, and breadfruit trees and we saw an enormous number of flowers. Our guide pointed out so many other items during our three-hour drive. We were very fortunate that we had nice weather. Although there were a couple of times when it looked like it might rain, we did not have any rain during our excursion.

We rode in a fairly old bus with wooden seats. Our driver was both driver and tour guide and did an outstanding job of giving us lots of excellent information about all that we saw during our drive. The road around the island is a two-way road and a large portion of the road is in the process of being repaired. The United States Military built the road during World War II.

From our bus we could also see many of the resorts that have helped to make Bora Bora famous and a popular destination spot.

We learned that about 80% of the population is involved in the tourist industry and that in the average house two to three family members must work to support the household. There are no public cemeteries and sometimes there are tombs in front of individual homes. In terms of fruit, seventeen types of mangos are grown on Bora Bora along with six types of bananas; including finger bananas.

When we returned back to the ship we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the main dining room.

At around 1:15 PM we watched the Superbowl. The game was available to watch in our staterooms on the television, and in other venues including the Connoisseur’s Club and the Stardust Club. Hotdogs, Popcorn and Soft Drinks were available in the Stardust Club along with bar service along with a big screen. Crystal made arrangements to bring in a special satellite feed so commercials were not available. But, nevertheless it was wonderful that we could watch the game.

Later in the afternoon, there was a Polynesian Rum Punch Sail Away to coincide with our sail away from Bora Bora as we set sail for Apia, Western Samoa.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the dining room. We had pre-ordered swordfish as our dinner entrée and it was delicious. As we enjoyed our dinner we had beautiful views from our window table.

We have posted some new pictures on our picture web site highlighting some of the Pacific Ocean Islands that we have visited thus far.

Keith

Secret Isle Of The Pacific

We didn’t mention in yesterdays Blog that last evening Anne Marie attended a wonderful show, which featured local entertainers. These entertainers wore beautiful costumes and performed authentic dances of the South Pacific Islands. It is always a treat when locals from the various places that we visit perform on the ship.

We awoke very early this morning after enjoying a very good sleep. We find it so easy to sleep on the ship and assume that the rocking motion of the ship puts us to sleep.

We went up to the Fitness Center quite early as we do each morning. Keith was the first one in the Center at around 5:10 AM (ouch) and Anne Marie arrived shortly thereafter at around 5:30 AM. We enjoyed a great workout with Keith working out on the elliptical machine and Anne Marie working out on the treadmill. By the time we finished there were not many people working out. We attributed this to the fact that many of the tours started early in the morning. While we were working out we saw a beautiful sunrise from the Fitness Center. Although this is the rainy season, we have been very fortunate to be enjoying beautiful days as we visit the various Pacific Ocean Islands.

After our workout we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Lido Café. One other passenger joined us and we also spoke with some of our fellow passengers at two adjacent tables. The fresh fruit continued to be quite good from the strawberries, to the melon, to the wonderful grapefruit.

There are three teams of Lido Deck Stewards who rotate between the three different areas on the Lido Deck on each of three succeeding voyages. Since this is the first full day of the new segment we were greeted in the café by the team that will be working in the café during this segment of our world cruise adventure. We recognized several of them from last year’s world cruise. They all knew our names and they each remembered what type of coffee that each of us enjoys. We find this truly amazing.

Today we anchored off the island of Huahine also of the Society Islands, and better known as the Secret Isle of the Pacific. This island is part of the French Polynesia and is located between Bora Bora (which we will visit tomorrow) and Moorea.

We anchored off this Island at 8:00 AM and tender service began shortly thereafter. The tenders ran from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The captain gave his morning talk at around 8:00 AM and his thought for the day is “Youth is not a time in life but a state of mind.” This is very true in our opinion. We have met so many people in our lifetime who exemplify this quote and we try to do the same. We believe that if you think young you can easily feel young.

Since we did not have a tour on this island, we spent the first part of the morning taking care of errands such as doing our laundry. The laundry room can be quite entertaining in its own way and we think some of the happenings and goings in the laundry room could make for a great comedy sitcom. ☺

We took a tender over to the Island at around 9:00 AM and we were the only two passengers on the tender. We then took a shuttle bus from the tender drop off point over to the town of Fare. The drive over to the town was very scenic and in many ways we felt like we were on Gilligan’s Island. When we arrived at the town of Fare we go off the shuttle bus for about a minute. However, the town looked so small with just a few stores that we decided to get back on the shuttle to go back to the tender pier. When we arrived back at the pier there was some type of recital taking place that was being performed primarily by school-aged children along with some adults. They were all singing and dancing to local music being played by a band. We watched the performance for about thirty minutes.

When we got back to the ship we had lunch with a very nice couple that we first met on last years World Cruise. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and great conversation. One of the waiters remember us from last years world cruise as at that time she was being trained as a stewardess by the stewardess who we had fro the entire cruise. Now, she works in the restaurant.

Later in the afternoon, we took a very nice and long walk on the Promenade Deck. We ended walking with a few passengers during the course of this walk, all of whom we first met on last years cruise. As we walked around the ship all around us was spectacular scenery of this beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean. The weather was picture perfect. Towards the end of our walk, there were many passengers out and about walking around the Promenade Deck.

We enjoyed yet another wonderful meal in the main dining room. The food and service continue to be great.

Today we visited yet another picture perfect island. It is nice to see that there are still places in the world that have not lost their natural beauty and overall charm. Yes, it is true that the main town is quite small and there is really not much to the town in the way of shops or other venues. However, in many ways it is the residents of this lovely island who are the lucky ones because what they lack in their little town is more than made up by the charm and beauty of this Island. It is clear to us that this Island is paradise for the local residents. We are glad to have had the opportunity to visit such s special place with its gorgeous scenery, natural beauty and wonderful views of the sea that surround this magnificent Island.

Tonight we sail to Bora Bora and look forward to another new adventure.

Keith & Anne Marie

Papeete, Tahiti

Today, we enjoyed a wonderful day in Tahiti.

We have now completed the first of eight segments of our World Cruise Adventure. We traveled from Los Angeles, California to Papeete, Tahiti and we sailed a total of 4,804 nautical miles or the equivalency of 5,524 land miles. With the end of the first segment, some passengers departed the cuise ship this morning while a new group of passengers boarded the ship this afternoon.

This morning we woke up early and enjoyed a terrific workout in the Fitness Center. As we have done since the beginning of the cruise, Keith worked out on the elliptical machine while Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. The fitness center was not very busy since some passengers were leaving the ship today while others who are staying for this segment of the cruise had tours of Tahiti planned for today. Also, several passengers who we know were playing golf today, which was arranged by the golf pro. We were told that they would need to carry their bags on this particular course.

After our workout, we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café. We ate with one of our fellow passengers who usually joins us in the morning for breakfast. We spoke with some passengers who will be remaining on the ship and we also gave our best wishes to a few passengers who are leaving the ship today. We hope that we will have the opportunity to sail with them again on a future cruise.

This is our first visit to Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia. Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia. We were very impressed with the beauty of Tahiti. Papeete is a gateway to many of the Pacific Ocean Islands. With its international airport, it provides regular flights to and from the continental United States.

During this segment of the World Cruise we will travel from Papeete to Auckland, New Zealand. Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia.

This morning we took our first shore excursion of the World Cruise, which was a tour that provided us with a nice overview of Tahiti. The tour was outstanding and we were very pleased with our tour guide. Our excursion included a stop at a museum that honored the life and achievements of James Norman Hall who is most famous for authoring the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy. As part of this tour, we met his daughter who spoke with us for a while. She read one of several poems that her father had written to her on her birthday. We made several other stops including a visit to the tomb of the last King of Tahiti, a visit to a magnificent waterfall, a visit to a beautiful beach with black sand, a visit to One Tree Hill where Captain James Cook sailed the Endeavor into Thaiti’s Matavai Bay in 1769. The drive to these sites was magnificent and provided lots of wonderful views of Tahiti. As we drove around we saw many breathtaking views. The foliage is beautiful. We saw more coconut trees than we have ever seen along with another tree called a bread tree that has breadfruit on them. The breadfruit can be baked or smoked and after one hour can be eaten. They are big enough to serve about seven people.

On our way back the ship we ran into a bit of a traffic jam a we returned to Papeete so didn’t get back to the ship until around 1:00 PM. We then enjoyed a nice lunch in the main dining room. Many of the passengers who embarked the cruise today in Papeete were eating lunch while they were waiting for their staterooms to be ready.

After lunch we walked around the area near the harbor and then on the Promenade Deck for about an hour. There was another passenger cruise ship in port; the Pacific Princess along with several ferries.

Later in the afternoon we attended Friday night services, which was held earlier than normal because of the mandatory lifeboat drill for all passengers boarding the ship in Papeete. We were not required to attend this drill since we had already attended this drill during the first segment of the cruise.

We dined in Silk Road this evening. We enjoyed sushi and then a wonderful entrée and a fruit plate for desert. We had our favorite waiter who we came to know very well when we ate at Silk Road on last years world cruise. He is very knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor and is very professional.

Today has been a wonderful day and we are very happy to have visited this beautiful island of Tahiti for the very first time.
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Keith & Anne Marie