Day 33 - Fri 10/12/18 Bora Bora, Polynesia

It's hard to say this, but it was just another day in Paradise! Bora Bora was the first of the High Islands meaning that the mountains formed by the volcanoes have not yet collapsed like they have on our two previous stops. We didn't have specific plans for this port but considered renting bicycles for a ride around the island, As we reached shore side, cruising friends Guy and Mattie asked that we join them on a round the island trip in the back of a Ford Ranger equipped with seats along the bed rails and a tarped roof at a cost of $35 per person. I thought for a moment and then said yes. And off we went.  

Our chauffeur stopped periodically at places she knew to be scenic. But she also would stop where we wanted to as well. But the real treat was when she took us to her home and there was a morai like we saw on Easter Island. The rocks were hewn from coral and volcanic rocks. While they currently don't assign spiritual significance to the morai, they definitely have preserved it. There was also a stop at a dock built by the Americans in 1942 as part of the war effort even though there was no fighting here. We also saw a decaying bunker.  

Back at the tender port area, we got some more French francs from the local cash machine and did some shopping including purchasing makings for a picnic lunch. Those makings were comprised of a baguette, some sliced meat, some Maasdam branded cheese (the irony was not lost on us, and some Coke Zeros. The total cost was just over the equivalent of $10US. We found a spot to sit in a nearby parking lot, and enjoyed our lunch. We continued shopping and at a hardware store we found some unique anti-slip shelf liner yardage with a sea motif. So we bought a meter of it for use in our motor home.

We had a late night departure but there is absolutely nothing to do in Bora Bora at night. So we came back to the ship and had our customary dinner in the LIDO before going to the 9pm story time with Kiona (not that good) and then the 9:30pm show with the Irish magician / comedienne. It was not well attended as most people were busy packing. Out of about 1,000 passengers, only 182 are continuing on for the next two week segment.

Tomorrow is a busy day with a snorkeling trip in Moorea. Stay tuned.

Day 32 - Thu 10/11/18 Rangiroa, Polynesia

Day two in Paradise was even more spectacular than day one. We had a morning snorkeling tour which was scheduled to depart at 9:45am. We tendered ashore and did a bit of shopping before our zodiac from Yaka Plongee showed up. We were boated over to the dive shop where we donned wet suits and the rest of our gear before reboarding the Zodiac for a speedy ride out to a protected reef area nicknamed the Aquarium.  

At the Aquarium, there were literally thousands of fish of all shapes and colors. We swam with Black tipped sharks, moray eels of various sizes, and lots of other species big and small. It was the most fish plentiful area we have ever snorkeled in the world!

Afterwards we reborded the Zodiac and sailed out the channel in an attempt to see dolphins. The outgoing tide was pretty strong and it was a rocky ride into the open Pacific Ocean outside the atoll. The dolphins were there and we enjoyed many sightings. We then sailed back through the cut and back to the dive shop where we turned in the wetsuits and enjoyed a cup of tea. We were then driven back to the pier area.

We ate a ceviche-like dish at a little cafe and tried to use their WIFI, but it was overloaded. Before getting in the tender line, we walked to the beach adjoining the break in the atoll that we had just sailed through. It was impressive to see it from that perspective.

Back onboard the Maasdam, we showered and went up to deck 13 to watch the sail away which was impressive as we threaded our way through the narrow channel with a stiff wind from our starboard side. Tonight was gala night and surf & turf was the featured attraction in the main dining room, so we at there with an interesting couple from Mesa, AZ. We followed this with a lecture on Genders in Polynesia.  

The Unexpected Boys performed their last show this segment but we learned they'll be on the next segment as well. We attended both the 8pm and 10pm performances with Story Time with Al Trujillo and the chocolate extravaganza sandwiched in between.

Tomorrow we are in Bora Bora and have no specific plans. Stay tuned.

Day 31 - Wed 10/10/18 Fakarava, Polynesia

Angela with a sea star

When it's one's first day in Paradise, it's hard to capture the emotion of the time. I can say that it was beautiful and warm, quite warm. Palm trees and coconuts are everywhere, the lagoon is a deep blue green, there's no trash on the shoreline, people play with sharks and some have them as pets, fine dining is a thatched roofs covering cement constructed tables and bench with fish (including sharks!) swimming around at your feet, French is freely spoken. It's also 1,000 guests from the Maasdam descending on the island.   

We took our time getting off the ship and we were on the fourth tender. After cruising the small souvenir tables, we began walking down the local concrete paved highway with its beautiful displays of flowers and beaches. We toured three grocery stores, A beautiful Catholic Church, an art gallery and a pearl farm before settling under the thatched roof of a local restaurant for a ceviche-like dish and a local beer.

We then walked 2 miles back to the tender area and waited for our 1:30pm snorkel tour. Just after 1:30pm the tour operator finally showed up and 4 people who were supposed to be on our tour didn't show up. Later we learned that they were on the morning tour. The operator screwed up the reservations.

The snorkel trip was good and it's always fun to bob around in warm water. At the first snorkel site, my mask was super cloudy so I could see much. I still shot a lot of GoPro footage. After clearing my glasses and mask, it was a good experience at the snorkel site with lots of fish. We got back to the tender dock shortly before 4pm, shopped a bit more, and then boarded a tender for the short smooth ride back to the ship.

Warm showers were the order of the day to remove the salt residue from our skin and hair! We then went up to deck 13 and watched the sail away. The Captain raised the anchor, slowly rotated the ship 180° clockwise, and we slowly sailed towards the exit point in the atoll. This all happened under a beautiful sunset and warm temperatures.

Dinner was in the Lido and Bayne Bacon did a new show, and the EXC photographer, Lottie, was the story time teller about her time photographing the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert.

We have another snorkeling trip tomorrow and a shorter stay at Rangiroa. Stay tuned.

Day 30 Tue 10/09/18 At Sea to Polynesia - Day 5

Like the song from the musical, Le Miserables, 'One More Day', it's our last day at sea for a few days as we are fully in French Polynesian waters and the temperature climbed to near 80°f today. The waters are a deep and clear blue and there are finally only wisps of clouds. Due to Mariner award activities again this morning, the lecture schedule was light. I attended yet another Polynesian anthropology lecture by Dr. Sperlich and a Polynesian dessert cooking demonstration before watching Angela perform as part of the Maasdam ukulele band. Afterwards there was a lecture on re-introducing a parrott species to a Polynesian Island that it had not resided on for 200 years after being hunted to extinction for their feathers. It's now thriving there. Lectures on Bora Bora and Photographing People followed.  

I haven't often commented on food, but tonight in the Lido we enjoyed an exquisite clam & mussel soup along with lobster rolls and berry pie with one of our fellow passengers, Larry. It was topped off by a terrific sunset as shown at the top of this post.

Jonathan (or Jonny as the Captain calls him) was interviewed at 9:30pm by KK as the principal evening's entertainment. Jonny was thrust into the Cruise Director's role after Joep, our original CD, had to leave the ship at our first port because of a family emergency at home in the Netherlands. The interview was an interesting perspective on growing up in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately an Irish guest lost his cool and verbally interrupted the talk before leaving the Showroom.

Angela went to a BBC movie about Polynesia while I called it an evening. We arrive at Fakarava early in the morning and have a snorkeling trip scheduled. Stay tuned.

Day 29 Mon 10/08/18 At Sea to Polynesia - Day 4

It finally started to get warmer as we have entered Polynesian waters. Throughout the day we would see various islands and around 9am some whales breeched off the port side. I didn't see them as I was in the shower. The showroom at sea was occupied all morning with Polynesian immigration activity which my wife and I didn't have to participate in as we are staying on the ship for another 14 days until October 28. I did take in a dessert and salad cooking demonstration in the Wajang theatre by the Polynesian Chef Sam Timoko which was quite good. Angela spent the time practicing ukelele for a performance to be held tomorrow and I walked a couple of miles around the outside deck.

The lectures in the afternoon included Dr. Sperlich on Tuamotu Archeology (we are visiting two of the islands in the Tuamotu group in a few days). Kaiona gave a very good overview of what to expect in the upcoming ports of call, and the EXC guide David also spoke more specifically on the two upcoming ports of Fakarava and Rangiroa. After turkey dinner (it was Canadian thanksgiving day), Al Trujillo presented a short session on Flotsam in the sea. The "comedian" was an encore performance of Dan St. Paul, but a number of us didn't care for it. He had a couple of videos with offensive language that I especially didn't appreciate. We attended Dr. Sperlich's story time about his first visit to Samoa and finding a family to live with while he did his PhD research. We squeezed in a movie, Basami Blues ( an Indian movie that was like watching Hunger Games meets Monsanto Chemical and Mamma Mia) and finished up the night watching the Indonesian crew show,

The clock is getting rolled back again tonight, and we have one more sea day and one final roll back of the clock before we reach Fakarava. Stay tuned.

Day 28 - Sun 10/07/18 At Sea to Polynesia - Day 3

Polynesian Cultural Ambassadors with Angela and Pitcairn Island in the background 

Today was another of those "bucket list" days and I don't even keep a bucket list.

Early this morning we sailed by Henderson Island which is an uninhabited island. But the gem was to be had later in the day when we reached  Pitcairn Island. Pitcairn Island was the Island that many of the mutineers of the English naval ship Bounty ended up on in the early 1800's. Currently only 42 people reside there in a small town called Adamstown named after one of the mutineers. There is only one place to come aboard the island and the ballast from the Bounty lies in the bay of the same name in front of Adamstown. It's hard to believe we were able to come so close to the wreckage site. And before leaving the island waters, we circumnavigated the island.

With the two island sailbys, we had a light lecture schedule today. I led the final 9am interdenominational worship service (most of the travelers will get off next Sunday) and preached out of 1 Peter. We had a very good attendence. The big talk today was Martin Cohen's final lecture on the Humble Coconut. I watched a couple of BBC movies (one on Wind and another on Polynesia) and we enjoyed a Polynesian themed dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. It was excellent! Afterwards, I watched the new Planet Earth II in Concert, and I liked it better than the first version which we have seen many times.

I should mention that there was a Maasdam Zoo in the Lido Pool area today. It was comprised of all kinds of towel animals and showed great creativity by the staff.

We have another sea day tomorrow with a very light lecture schedule. Stay tuned.

Day 27 - Sat 10/06/18 At Sea to Polynesia - Day 2

It was another sea day. One interesting thing I learned today was an explanation for the terrible internet connection yesterday. It seems that the course we are sailing on put the mast in the way of the satellite antenna. The solution was to have the ship sail a gently wavy course to allow the antenna to have a clear view of the sky. It shows up on the course monitor very clearly. This required permission from Seattle.

The lecture schedule was a bit light with lectures on future cruises (one tempting one involves repositioning the Koningsdam to Vancouver in 2020 for its first use on the Alaska cruise routes). That really expands capacity for HAL. It was also confirmed that a third yet unnamed Pinnacle class ship will join the fleet in 2020. Also all of the projected Maasdam sailings will be EXC in-depth cruises. We are booked on two of them. Other presentations included Land Birds of Polynesia, Captain Cook, Identifying Coastal Features, Authenticity in Polynesian Art, and a reflection on Pearl Habor which while quite moving but was sort of out of focus for this cruise and its ports.

Story time had David Happe share his story about his first trip to Alaska. It was pretty amusing with lots of audience participation.

Tomorrow we'll be scenic cruising by Henderson and Pitcairn Islands. Henderson is uninhabited while Pitcairn has a population of 42 and falling. I'll also be leading the interdenominational service. And we're planning to enjoy a special Polynesian dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. Stay tuned!