Happy Halloween to everyone!
Well here we are on day number six at sea, and celebrating the occasion of Halloween. It is guaranteed to bring memories of everyone's childhood back to life....hopefully they are good memories.
On our way to breakfast, we spied the first stairwell ghost hanging around. Created by our room attendants, this ghoul was hiding in their linen closet. There were more ghosts around the front desk, one of which was laying on the floor under the counter. We all laughed and commented that he was waiting far too long in line and just died there. We would find there were more decorations all over the ship later.
While we were finishing our breakfast, Margaret, our excellent Mariner rep, stopped by for a chat. Perfect timing, we needed to ask her some questions regarding the stop in Huahine. There has always been a free shuttle to the village of Fare, but now we have to book a time slot and pay $20 per person for the round-trip transfer. We are not talking about tour buses here; we are talking wooden, open-air school buses made for small kids. Actually, half of the fun of being in Huahine is the bus ride to town. We have always associated the ride with "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go". Anyway, Margaret said we needed to go to the shore excursion page on TV and book the transfer and the time slot. Once that was done, she would credit back the charges after our visit, because the shuttle was free for the President's Club members. Nice perk, thank you.
Captain Thomas wished everyone a most spooky Happy Halloween at the beginning of his update at noon. He added that the ship was doing 12 knots with the 8-foot swells coming right at the bow and side of the ship. Just a guess, we think that tends to slow us down. We have sailed 1870 nautical miles from Kona and have an additional 262 nautical miles to reach Rangiroa. He will pick up the pilot who will stay with us for all of the Polynesian ports. Then they will make the run through the Tiputa Pass where the flow of water is immense into the lagoon. It is one of the places we need to be outside for possible dolphin sightings. That will be the same upon leaving by 5pm. He will drop anchor and the tender boats will take us to shore after 8am.
By the way, the temperature this morning was 82 degrees with 75% humidity. The winds have increased to 21.2 mph giving us higher swells and whitecaps. The Captain mentioned that the winds were a gale force of 30 knots and we have some considerable pitching and yawing.
Here's some info on the Tuamotus Archipelago. With an area of 20,000 square kilometers, the Tuamotus and Gambier atolls are often associated with each other. There are a few "high" islands, but the majority are coral atolls - 80 in total. The best way to describe an atoll is comparing it to a string of pearls with a lagoon in the center. The "pearls" are the series of motus or islets creating the ring of coral land.
The total population of these two archipelagos is 16,880 people that speak a dialect called Paumotu. An interesting fact is that 98% of the luxurious black pearls are farmed here. The other treasures found is the wealth of the underwater world of the gorgeous aqua lagoons. The port for tomorrow will be Avatoru, Rangiroa, the largest coral atoll in French Polynesia. More info to follow.
There were three tours offered in Rangiroa starting with a ride to the Pearl Farm for 1 ½ hours and $30, where they show how the pearls are farmed and turned into fine jewelry. Of course, there is a fine shop for people that are looking for the "real" deal buying black pearls. Prepare for sticker shock. A glass bottom boat ride for 1 hour runs $90 and a snorkel tour is 1 hour for $120. Last we heard, they were sold out.
We took a walk around the ship, getting pictures of the Halloween decorations. They have really gone wild with every deck this year. More so than other Halloweens. Every stairwell had a ghost or goblin, and the Lido pool area had a display of the pumpkin carvings done by the kitchen staff. Each creation had a number so the guests could cast a vote for the best one. In our humble opinion, they were all great....not one alike. The Lido restaurant had a display of spooky cakes, all of which will be devoured by 2pm. Our final stop was at the dining room entrance where the festive decorations greeted us.
There was heavy scrubbing taking place on the bow, where the hitch-hiking birds had perched for all of these days at sea. Oddly enough, the birds have flown the coup and were nowhere to be seen. We suppose the high winds blew them back where they came from.
Dinner had some "comfort' dishes such as crispy BBQ chicken spring rolls, Caesar salads with the dressing on the side, and bacon-wrapped meatloaf with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. You know what made it even more special? The entrees were served piping hot on hot plates. That was not the case last night with our special King's Room dinner, but that's water under the bridge now. We are discovering that if we mention something to one staff member, the word seems to travel and more staff seems to be aware of something not quite right. Honestly, it was not that big of a deal or else we would have sent our entrees back for new ones. Anyway, dessert this evening was one scoop of chocolate chip ice cream, and one Tres leches caramel flan .
Since it was Halloween, many folks dressed in costumes for the special party in the Lido Poolside at 8:30pm. They promised a spooktacular HAL-oween with prizes for the best costumes. On past cruises, we went there, but it was always crowded beyond belief. So we passed it up.
There was a show in the World Stage with the Vivace String Ensemble at the normal times. They always deliver a wonderful performance.
Will finally be on firm ground tomorrow after 6 days at sea. Should be nice....
Bill & Mary Ann
