Leaving Moorea and on to Silver Spirit

I like being in this time zone since for once I am an “early bird”. Today I was up before Mom and was able to lie in bed and just take in the scenery. It’s amazing how easily I can be entertained. Mom was up before dawn, and we sat out on the deck and listened to the roosters as they continued to talk back and forth. 

Coconut floating by - we first thought it was someone snorkeling!

We went up to the main breakfast about 7:00 and noticed that there were a lot more people there today. We found out later that a large tour group from China had just arrived. On our way back we went down to the beach to put our toes in the gorgeous waters one more time.

We found a notice on the door that the hotel had to perform a yearly, mandatory fire drill at 10:30. We tried to figure out how the day would work with that being right in the middle. We were able to get a late check out and take a later ferry than first anticipated. The drill occurred exactly on time and they were there to pick up Mom in the golf cart (since everything is VERY spread out) – they even had a chair for her to sit on while we waited in the middle of the parking lot. The staff at the hotel was absolutely wonderful in every aspect. We both found it hard to believe that we already had to leave today. We spent some time packing up, which went must faster than expected, so we had some time on the deck to enjoy the sunshine. It was windier than usual; so it made the sun seem even stronger. We came in and had lunch that consisted of a French baguette, cheese, and some fruit. About 1:00 it was time to go ahead and check out of the hotel. Parting was such sweet sorrow! 

Statue in lobby as we were leaving.

Just another beautiful flower. 

By 1:30 we were on our way to the ferry dock in Vaiare to catch the 2:45 ferry back to Tahiti. We were able to drop off our luggage and board right away. We enjoyed a Coke Light en route and hand to really hang on as the seas were very rough. It is only a 30-minute ferry ride, which was quite tolerable with the rough water. As we were docking in Tahiti we saw the Silver Spirit right next to where we were pulling in. We disembarked from the ferry, gathered our luggage and walked the 100 m to the ship. It was so nice to finally settle in to “home” for the next 27 days. We met our butler “Jai Tek” – he said we could call him “j” or his name phonetically “high tech”! We had a good laugh about that. We had a bottle of champagne chilling when we arrived and of course had to start by celebrating the start of the cruise. Our room Is immaculate, with everything you could ever want or need. The coolest thing for both of us is the TV in the mirror that disappears when you turn it off – we actually have two of them and even video on demand. We have our preference of beverages, toiletry items, etc. We sipped champagne and worked on unpacking our suitcases – okay, so it was really just me and Mom watched J It only took about an hour and then it was time to muster. They took on 120 passengers in Papeete, so it was almost 1/5 of the ship. The boat drill was handled very quickly and we were back in our suite by 6:15 so we could get ready for dinner. We actually have a large tub in the bathroom along with a separate walk in shower with rain head. It is so nice!! Tonight’s attire was casual, so we dressed and went down to dinner. It’s the first time either one of us has had makeup on since we left home. The dining room is a bit larger than the Silver Shadow, but still very nice. We were greeted by Polynesian singers and dancers as we arrived.

She sure had some moves!

We dined on an incredible dinner with king scallops for an appetizer, shellfish bisque for soup and sweet & sour prawns for an entrée (for Mom) while I had the filet with sautéed spinach. We had a little ice cream and sorbet for dessert with a few petit fours to top it all off. We are both pretty exhausted so we came back and found our suite turned down for the evening and all of our luggage put away. It has been a long day (and Mom got a little too much sun), so we are calling it an early evening. Tomorrow we dock in Raitea, one of the Society Islands. Until then…