Day 11 in Bora Bora Friday 01 March 2013

Well that was a bit of a late night after a great party out on deck last night.  Everyone was there and we all danced away the night to the wonderful sounds of Synergy in the balmy South Pacific air.

We awoke to sunshine this morning as we sailed through the reef into the bay at Bora Bora. Men in outrigger canoes paddled close by to say hello. After breakfast on our balcony we caught the Tender into the wharf.  The crew had five Tenders operating so there was no queuing or waiting around for your number to be called to go ashore, it was all very efficient. The trip in the Tender was no more than 5 minutes as we were positioned right in the bay.  As it was on our last visit to Bora Bora everything is terribly expensive in the few shops they have to offer.  I wonder why they don’t realise that if they offered things a little cheaper they would get a good turnover in their sales. We wondered to both the Supermarkets and noted that even French Champagne is more expensive here in a French owned country than it is for us at home. Roy wanted to buy a new Ukulele which we saw for just under US$100 yesterday, here n Bora Bora they start at US$220…..needless to say we didn’t buy one. The markets have a lot or jewellery mainly made by the local women and I managed to find two pair of lovely Tahitian pearl earrings made by the Mother of the guy who was selling them in the stall. He gets the pearls and she’s turns them into jewellery.

We just arrived back off the Tender back to the ship when there was a huge sound of thunder over this idyllic mountainous island then saw huge cracks of lightening and the rain came with drops as big as a bucket load per drop!!! Those who had ventured to the beach would have had their day ended in a hurry.

We were going to get the shuttle after lunch to Bloody Marys, the famous bar but due to the weather change decided not to.  I’ve just been talking to one of the crew members who did go there this morning.  He was saying that the cheapest drink there was US$12.00 which he thought was too expensive so decided not to have a drink.  On his way back to the ship he wanted to pick up a fridge magnet which he collects for every port he has visited.  To his horror the fridge magnet was more expensive than the drink he ‘didn’t’ have, it was US$18.00.

As I write this the weather is lifting a little so we might have some sunshine as we sail away at 5.30pm this afternoon.

This ship is such an easy ship to get round, the crew are all excellent, very friendly and always helpful. We still haven’t done everything there is to offer on board, but we’re working on it. J

Tonight we’ll enjoy dinner and the show, then straight to bed for us for an early night, and that means 11.30. Can’t believe we’re calling that early….. I won’t tell you what time we go to bed at home….lol.

Day 10 Thursday 28 February in Papeete, Tahiti

Bonjour!

Breakfast arrived right on the dot of 7.30am.  We could see the beautiful peaks and palm trees as we glided in toward the port of Papeete the capital of Tahiti. The air was warm and the sun shining so it was lovely to enjoy our breakfast out on the balcony.  As we approached Papeete boats, the tug and canoes arrived to greet us.  This is another maiden port of call for Queen Elizabeth. There were crowds on the shore taking photos of us and we were taking photos of them as we sailed in. Captain Chris Wells backed the ship into its position alongside. He mentioned in yesterday’s midday report that the ship could not fit in forward so he would be reversing in.

As we had been here many times before we chose not to venture out of town and just went for a wander.  I must say things are a little cheaper here than on our previous visits. We purchased a few things that were priced very well. The wharf is only about 50 metres from the town so it’s easy to come and go off the ship during the day.  We came back for a late lunch in the dining room and met others who had been out on tours and thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent scenery and friendliness of the locals. During lunch thunder could be heard over the mountains and a sprinkling of rain that only lasted for about 5 minutes thankfully.

A local international Tahitian dance group put on a magnificent show for us this afternoon.  They have won many titles around the world.  Everyone, including us, loved the energy and wonderful costumes and colours of Tahitian dancing. They received a standing ovation at the end of their performance from a packed Royal Court theatre.  I will try and upload a short video on here on our next port.

Just before sunset we went for another little walk around the waterfront. Can’t believe how many people are here to view the ship. Found a couple more little pieces of local jewellery made by the local women at a market stall we strolled to along the waterfront.

We’re now sitting out on our balcony enjoying a pre-dinner wine overlooking the town and the hundreds of people who’ve come down to the waterfront.  We don’t sail until 9.30pm so will have a quick dinner tonight and then up to a deck party on the aft Lido deck for our sail away with our favourite band Synergy.

Thank you the people of Papeete for a great welcome and wonderful farewell on a magical day.

Tomorrow we’ll be arriving in Bora Bora so will have breakfast on the balcony again, and enjoy the view as we enter the reef which is a fabulous sight and drop anchor in the lagoon before going ashore by Tender.

Some more photos.  This seems to only enable me to pubish a few at a time.

Day 9 at Sea - Wednesday 27 February 2013

Today is our last of five days at sea before arriving in Papeete, Tahiti tomorrow morning.  Since leaving Wellington we have travelled 2300 nautical miles. I must say the days seem to be flying by.

We were pleased with our score at Trivia this morning in the Pub, the questions were quite difficult but we managed 13 1/2.  They only gave us half a mark for our answer ‘bat’ they said we should have answered ‘fruit bat’…. Oh well… we’re not playing for the Town Hall Clock….. Our team mates from New York are lovely and we spend ages after Trivia chatting, next thing we know it’s lunch time.

The weather today is gorgeous, very warm and sunny and as Captain Chris Wells said in his midday report “the sky is decorated with the odd fluffy cloud here and there”.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Variety show in the Royal Court Theatre this evening. The entertainment on board has been excellent, and the Cunard dancers are absolutely first class.  Afterward it was off for a few dances before bed, hopefully to burn off a few calories.  So glad we don’t have a set of scales in our bathroom. J

Early to bed tonight because tomorrow we arrive early into Papeete and we want to be up early to watch our arrival. We’ve ordered breakfast to be brought to our cabin so we can enjoy it all from our balcony. Our departure from Papeete isn’t until 9.30pm so we’ve got a nice full day there.

Sending this from Papeete this morning so photos are to follow this... :)

 

Day 8 at sea our second Tuesday 26 February crossed the dateline

Bit of a sleep in this morning, late breakfast and no lunch for us today because we’re going to enjoy the traditional afternoon tea in the Queens room this afternoon. The weather is beautiful today, calm seas, warm ocean breeze and lots of sunshine. We’re feeling very tropical.

Thought I must tell you a bit about the accommodation on board.  We are extremely happy with our cabin; we would not hesitate to book it again.  There is plenty of cupboards and draw space; we even have two large draws under the end of the bed. Our cabin has a glass fronted balcony; we are toward the aft of the ship on deck 4. The balconies have an opening door not sliding door. If you book a forward balcony from 4001 – 4042 you would get a metal closed in balcony, so you would only see the view if you were standing up on the balcony.  This is necessary for the forward cabins due to certain weather affecting the forward area of the ship. 

Our bathroom is compact but is well appointed with a high pressure shower.  I have found that there isn’t enough room on the shelving in the shower itself so I bought one of those suction containers and it now holds the shampoo and conditioner nicely.

The safe in our cabin is very large with enough room for a laptop and/or iPad plus the normal bits and pieces.  You could even put a handbag in there. The refrigerator is a good size and works very well keeping everything well chilled. I read someone’s review saying that there is no control for the temperature in the cabin…..that isn’t correct… there is a temperature control and it works very well to keep the cabin at the temperature you prefer. Room service is complimentary up until midnight then there is a minimal charge between that time and 6.00am.

This ship does not have an interactive TV to access your account information. The girls reading this will be pleased because they can now happily shop without wondering if dear husband isn’t lying on the bed with the ‘Account page’ up on the TV screen watching what you spend….lol.

Love the Promenade deck.  We walked right around this morning. It even gives you a view right over and down the back of the ship from Deck 3.  I will take a pic next time we do that walk. Would love to be putting photos up on here whilst at sea but it is way too slow to upload a photo.  The internet itself hasn’t been too slow as long as I pick my time to go online.

We do like the radio at sea program they have on board every afternoon from 5.00pm, called Live@five. They take requests and have competitions for all guests on board. There have been some great requests of all types of music from the decades. Perfect to put in a request to Mark, turn the TV up loud, sit out on the balcony listening to our requested song watching the sun set over the ocean with a nice glass of Sav Blanc in hand before getting ready to go down for another pre-dinner drink and dance then off to the restaurant at 8.30pm.

No housework, no driving, no supermarket shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, no making the bed...ah bliss… J Can you tell I’m feeling very relaxed and in holiday mode now… J

I picked up the 2014 brochures today and see that Cunard have some great itineraries for next year from Australia and New Zealand for all three Cunard ships so there’s a good choice of both itinerary and the three ships. I’m beginning to sound like a Travel Agent now….lol.

P.S. What a surprise, I’ve won todays competition on Live@five and now have a nice Cunard bag and some other goodies. J

Day 7 at Sea Tuesday 26 February first day crossing the dateline

What an achievement, we managed to get organised early enough to go down to the Britannia dining room for breakfast. There are quite a few things on the menu that are not available up in the Lido Restaurant.  Roy had his favourite salmon and then Eggs Benedict and I had my usual cereal and Buttermilk Pancakes with Maple syrup. We were seated at a nice table right at the back of the restaurant with a view overlooking the aft of the ship. The sea was quite choppy this morning so much so that one large wave caused our coffee to splash out of the cups on to the table. It only happened once after that it was a bit like driving on a bumpy road for a while. Also a few showers passed but then the sun came out and the temperature is now much warmer than yesterday and the sea has calmed down again.

A bird has been following us since we left Wellington.  We don’t think it’s an Albatross although it does have a long wingspan. Anyway every now and then when it needs a bit of a rest it lands on the ship and has a sleep then when it is refreshed off it goes again. It seems to love gliding  along the rear of the ship and swooping up and down every now and then. I’ve been trying to take a photo but it’s too quick for me. We wonder if it will follow us all the way to Papeete.  I hope it knows how to speak French. J

On the dot of 10.00am we’re always ready and waiting in the Golden Lion Pub for the morning Trivia.  We teamed up with a couple from the UK and a couple from the USA. Having an international team meant we all could contribute to the answers and were all very pleased of our score of 16 out of 20. Not good enough to win though, the winners had 19 out of 20…was that an iPad we saw tucked under their table?  J

In the Royal Court theatre there was an interesting lecture this morning from a  retired Airline Pilot. He flew with the RAF, British Airways, Gulf Air and finally Singapore Airlines. We like anything to do with aeroplanes so enjoyed his talk very much.  His topics within the airline industry were interesting as was he, as he added some airline humour to it all which went down well with everyone. Photos of aircraft both old and new and interesting footage of passenger and military aircraft were quite fascinating.  He will be doing another talk tomorrow. The theatre was packed so guess it’s a topic that many are interested to learn about.

Lunch time seems to come around quickly and we have our phrase of the day to each other which is “just because it looks nice we don’t need to eat it”….. Unfortunately, we seem to be forgetting that phrase once we see food.  We didn’t venture near the Pub for lunch instead enjoyed lunch up in the Lido Restaurant. I’m getting a bit too used to eating lovely desserts at lunch and dinner. I’m under strict button and zip watching…. J

Tonight is our second Formal night.  The theme is the London Ball with a suggestion in the daily program of wearing red, white or blue….. I wish they had told us this earlier as I’ve already worn my blue evening dress…  Instead I’ll wear my black dress remembering the London smog of the early 60’s. J

It’s nice to have delivered daily to our cabin the Australian newspaper headlines.  We see there has been a lot of rain and more floods, do hope everyone is OK and we don’t have repeat floods of only a few weeks ago.

Overheard outside the restaurant yesterday…. “Darling I do wish these people didn’t speak like they do with those nasty accents…. You would think they would practice to speak like us, wouldn’t you?”  I turned around expecting to see Richard and Hyacinth Bouquet standing behind me. J

NEWSFLASH…. Wandered passed a slot machine on the way back from the theatre played $6.00 and won US$338.00…. yay…. J J

Cheers…..from somewhere on the Pacific Ocean.