We are now ensconced in our day room at the Radisson Tahiti awaiting our 11:15pm flight. Reflecting on this trip, it was just as wonderful this time as we remembered it when we took this ship, the Paul Gauguin, 11 years ago. The ship was originally owned by Radisson, but it is now owned by Intercontinental Hotels.

Weather...We arrived at the Tahiti Intercontinental and jumped in our bathing suits and into the lagoon. The skies began as blue, but slowly turned grey. As we left for the ship early afternoon, it stated to rain. By the time, we boarded and unpacked, the skies had cleared and that was the end of grey skies until today. The weather was a pleasant low 80s with blue skies. This only enhanced the gorgeous blues of the waters. As I sit looking over the ocean at the hotel, the sky and ocean are a steely Tahitian pearl grey.

Shopping and souvenirs..... Shirts for men, pareos (pronounced par E os, with the accent on the first syllable), vanilla, shell jewelry and pearls are the most common. The best selection of pareos was at the market, across from the ship, in Tahiti. Expect to pay $20 -25 dollars per pareo there or up to $35 on your other stops. There were black pearls of all qualities, sizes and shapes available everywhere -- on the motus, resorts, piers, downtowns, pearl farms and the boutique. Pearls ranged from $5 to $300,000 for a single pearl. "Black" pearls range in color from almost black to blue, red, purple, green, gold and silver with many being multi tonal. Loads of folks picked up shell and puka jewelry which ranged from a few dollars to several hundred. As the week wore on, more and more women were adorned in pearls, with exasperated and poorer husbands unable to fathom how great they make a girl feel.

People...we traveled with a group of friends, all connected though our TA, and had many laughs and giggles. The other cruisers were made up of folks from Britain, New Zealand, Australia, England, Germany, France and China. There was a large Chinese contingent, whose French and/or English was fairly weak, but they were easy to live with. All folks were very congenial and relaxed. There were a handful of children, all but one being quite well behaved.

The ship...It has been refurbished, but I miss the huge room we had the first time around, which was an A level. This time, we booked a D level (the same as a C level but one floor down). The Cs and Ds all have balconies and King size beds, are attractively furnished in seafoam and taupe, and are well designed for storage. The bathroom is a bit tight, but attractive, complete with a tub/shower combo. The living room is rather cramped with only a hassock and a tiny love seat. There wasn't much wiggle room and Doug and I crawled over one another a fair amount. The Bs are a nice step up, with the same storage and bathroom, but with a deeper balcony and a real irving room, divided from the bedroom by a curtain. They are, however, about $1500 - 1800 more pp for 11 days. The food is very good and the ship was well organized. Breakfast and lunch are buffets. The Veranda restaurant has a slightly more enhanced selection. You can also order off a menu.

 I understand that the ship is going into dry dock next year for a fair amount of time, which is too bad if you want to enjoy Tahiti on this ship. It has a nice gym, three restaurants, a lovely boutique, all quite nice for a ship of around 350 passengers. There are 7 day trips around the Society Islands (France), 11 day trips that add on the Cook Islands (New Zealand), and longer trips that include the Marquesas. 

Itinerary highlights...The highlights of the Society Islands are Bora Bora and Moorea and the ship's private motu (island). A new port, Huanine,  offered some nice tours ( horseback riding, wave runners and archeology sites) but was rather undeveloped otherwise. Bora Bora offers a lot to do. The snorkeling is great there and very diverse. For beach lovers, the ship offers a private motu (no facilities) or a day at the Intercontinental Resort. The motu is free, the resort is about 115 pp. (includes lunch). Moorea offers nice beaches, less exciting snorkeling than either the Cook Islands or Bora Bora. Both islands are very beautiful. The private motu day offers all sorts of activities, a lovely beach, pearl and jewelry vendors and a BBQ complete with a floating bar. The Cook Islands were a lovely surprise. They look like a tropical paradise, dotted by lovely motus and interesting and colorful snorkeling. While Bora Bora and Moorea are mountainous, these motus resemble idealic, palm covered oasis. 

Tour highlights...we took a 6 hour boat cruise/snorkeling trip which went from island to 7 motus and included a delicious fish lunch on the beach. We privately booked this tour and found it delightful. Maybe we are easy to please, but we enjoyed watching the nesting birds, hermit crabs and walking on terrain that was like paradise.  Roratonga in the Cook Islands offers the nice Muri Beach. While the ship's snorkeling cruise was touristy, it was fun, with the highlight seeing about three humpback whales jumping out of the water. A private Bora Bora snorkeling tour was fabulous . We went to 4 different locations. At the first we swam with black tipped shark; the second stop included the viewing of a huge 20 foot manta ray; the third, lovely coral and interesting fish in a shallow cove; and the fourth was an unbelievable, aquarium-like experience- one of the most beautiful snorkeling experiences I have ever had. We also visited the Bora Bora Intercontinental which was pure luxury. We also got to feed the sting rays which was lots of fun! 

The highlight for me was in Moorea on the Whale and Dolphin tour where it said we could potentially swim with the whales if we saw them. We saw one from the ship in Roratonga and  one from a catamaran in Bora Bora. It was the usual burst of water from the blowhole and some black back. We saw a pod of spinner dolphins as soon as we were out on the boat, and then went in search of the elusive whales for an eternity. Finally, one was spotted. The guide told us to get on our snorkeling masks and jump in the water and look down. I did. I saw the blur of a large figure floating next to me but the exertion from swimming in the open ocean was too much for me and I came on board. Once the whale had swum away and folks were back on board, the oat continued to follow the whale. Again, it was spotted. This time, I donned a life jacket and the guide was ever so kind as to pull me along the waves. I looked down and there was the whale in full view right beneath me. We stayed for about 15 minutes watching it and it moved away from that locale. We all swam to another area and the guide said " she's coming up, look down." there was the whale surfacing 4 feet from me, gracefully gliding to the surface. I was both frightened and exhilarated, concerned it might come up right into me, but she missed and just glided by. I was actually able to see her surface from the water....all 20 meters of her! It was an experience of a lifetime...swimming with a whale in the open ocean!!

It was sad leaving the Paul Gauguin today. I wish we had taken another few days in an over the water bungalow in Bora Bora...but the money I saved allowed for some pearls. My memories of these fantastic days are the gems I will really treasure!