Morning Everyone!

We arrived home late on March 17th. We actually disembarked the ship in Bora Bora two days after Carolyn and Don disembarked in Papeete so we were able to enjoy Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora. Regent also let us stay on the ship too for as long as we wanted last day in Bora Bora so we tendered over to Vaitape first thing in the morning and rented a car and toured around. Finally found the perfect pearl bracelet to match my previous necklace purchase from a PG trip at Tahia Collins near the dock so I was happy. Tendered back to the ship had lunch and then finished packing and tendered back to Vaitape around 1:30 p.m. as we had to catch the Four Seasons shuttle boat at 2:15. We stayed 2 nights there in an overwater bungalow on their motu just off of Bora Bora. What a surprise when we checked in. I had been in contact earlier with the manager of the resort when we encountered a problem with our reservation and he said he would make it up to us but I was not expecting this lovely upgrade. We had booked the least expensive category and they upgraded us to the most expensive OWB they have. It was the furthest out on the pontoons, with a plunge pool and faced the mountain and I swear had to be at least 1400 sq. ft. It literally was like a small house. Simply beautiful property and 6 star service with amazing food. We didn't miss the ship at all. We only wished that we had booked in here for a couple more days to really enjoy the entire property. Trip home was good and even though we happened to be first in the airport lineup, biz class seats were already full. Just as well we didn't upgrade and saved the money as once the plane was in the air I moved in front of our seats and that then gave both hubby and I two seats to ourselves to stretch out in and we did manage to get some sleep. At Lax, the immigration lines were not the usual long ones so we breezed through and ran down to terminal 2 to Air Canada ticketing to try and get on the earlier flight home leaving at 12:00 noon rather then the 3:30 flight we were booked on. Luck was with us again as there were 2 seats left and they just happened to be in the exit row so that was a good flight home too. I found the ship to be as lovely as ever. Some of the crew I recognized but there seemed to be more new faces. They all seemed to be very happy and gave excellent service. Our butler Prashant was the best. I never would advocate paying for a butler but if they come with the cabin you covet then he had to be the best there can be. He was so easy to have around and he didn't give me the creeps like the last butler we had on the Navigator. He was very personable and made our trip that much more enjoyable. Our steward Gerry always made up the cabin early and kept us well stocked in bathroom toiletries. He was a gem too. I found the food to be excellent and being a vegetarian I was pleased to see more tofu dishes on the menu this trip. I have to say it was one of our better cruises. I'd book the Mariner again in a heartbeat without hesitation. I can't believe that they are not having the finals for the crew talent until after the end of this segment. We saw the second round and we thought that Pablo the pianist is a shoe-in. He's phenominal! Those of you still on for the next segment please post the winner after the show.
Pat