The next morning we were up early to watch the sail into Moorea. We loved looking at the majestic peak of "Bali Hi". Our tour that morning was the Aito off road safari. We were put into an open jeep and taken to one of the most beautiful areas on the island and then to Belvedere Mountain. Along the way we stopped at a pineapple plantation and a flower farm. At each stop we made friends with the mosquitos. It didn't matter whether we used Deet, monoi oil or a combination of the two. The tour was informative, and somewhat bouncy. In the afternoon we headed to Le Petit Village to do a bit of shopping. We had dinner for two at Veranda. I was not impressed. My venison came out overcooked. I also didn't care for the cut of meat and the sauce was watered down and not at all interesting. Gil had rack of lamb (of course) and claimed it wasn't as good as the rack of lamb the night before in L'Etoile. However that was really one of the only times I found the food not good.

The next day (our last day ) was the dolphin watch with Michael Poole. As we sat out in the water sighting spinner dolphins, several of the people onboard started to turn green. The boat was doing alot of rocking in the swells. Gil was one of those and at one point begged me to throw him overboard. I didn't listen and finally Michael decided to head for calmer waters. Luckily for Gil the minute the boat started moving, he improved. By the time we got into the lagoon he was fine.

That afternoon I wanted to go shopping to the other shops and Gil wanted to relax. We ran into Debbie who then showed us her new granddaughter. So after changing out of my suit, I headed back to town. I wound up at Ron Hall's shop where I then became the proud owner of a second pearl. This one is a beautiful blue/green set in the crook of a fish hook. That night I was able to wear the new pearl along with the one I had gotten earlier. (see photos)

Before dinner we were treated to a show with the polynesian dancers. We joined Debbie, Russ, Brenda, Fred, Great grandparents Jean and Bill for dinner that night. We celebrated with Gil and Bill picking up the tab for drinks. Debbie was so excited and couldn't wait to get home the next day. All of us were wearing our new "bling" and we sent Gil upstairs to get my camera to take a group photo of the bling. After that the others went to P-A-C-K and Gil and I (who had P-A-C-Ked earlier) went to dance to Siglo for the last time. We then headed back to our room to finish packing.

Before we went back to our room, Gil reminded me that he was supposed to pick up a pearl for his ex-wife Karen. (She gave him a budget to stick within. Yes she was paying for it herself). I suggested we look in Papeete in the morning before we had to leave the ship. He agreed and let me know that I should pick out one I liked in case Karen didn't like it.

The next morning Gil and I headed to the shops to buy his ex-wife a pearl and my son a present. First we did the shops and found a beautiful red/purple/green pearl. When we left the shop, Gil said he was sort of hoping Karen wouldn't like it so I could have it. Even if it doesn't wind up in my hands, I'm smiling at his sentiment.

Next we headed to Le Marche and found my son a sharks tooth on a cord and finally so as not to tax Gil with shopping anymore, we headed back to the ship to enjoy lunch before heading off to our tour. We did the tour of Papeete and of all the tours we did, that one was the weakest. We did enjoy napping on the bus though!

Finally around 3:30 we headed to the Radisson to our dayroom. Check in was quick and efficient, in marked contrast to our check in during our precruise stay.

At 6 we headed to the airport and breezed through checkin (biz class). What a zoo for the others. We headed up to the lounge until it was time to board and then took off about 1/2 hour later than our scheduled 10 PM flight. On board were most of the people we had met during our cruise so we started the evening laughing and joking. Got about 3 1/2 hours sleep and we landed at 8:30. Our flight from LA at 1:30 was also late leaving and when we got home to JFK, they had us sit on the runway for over 1/2 hour. Then bags took another 45 minutes. We walked in the door at midnight. After unpacking the essentials we fell into bed.

My impressions of the PG? I think it's a wonderful ship but it lacks some of the finesse of the other Regent ships. I miss the larger cabin (and we were in a Catagory B!), the quieter colors of the carpet and sofa and I miss the darker marble in the bathroom. I would have also liked a larger bathroom. (My favorite bathroom is the one we had on Navigator.) For us the smaller closets weren't a problem since we brought less clothes. We enjoyed having a balcony and especially enjoyed the "secret" entrance to the balcony on the front of the ship on deck 8. (Now you all know!)It's a great spot to be during the sail through the pass in Rangiroa.

I thought the service was generally excellent. Our stewardesses kept our room spotless and our room was cleaned as soon as we left for our morning tours. We had a butler (buttle) but we're still wondering what it is they do. Yes he brought canapes each afternoon and breakfast in the morning(and he was very easy on the eyes and a delightful man) but sometimes seemed just a slight bit slow in responding to phone pages. I chalk that up to him seeming to have too many cabins to attend to.

The waiters and stewardess's always had a smile on their faces, and the Gaugines did an excellent job. Matter of fact the waiters made us feel that they had alot of fun doing their jobs.

Siglo: They are probably the best group onboard a ship and I wish they had the opportunity to play even more than they did. I can now see why everyone thinks so highly of them. Wouldn't it be nice if they could also play on the other Regent ships?

The only tour we did not enjoy was the one post cruise in Papeete. My suggestion would be for Regent to offer the tour pre-cruise to give us an idea of what to expect as our guide was very informative about many of the foods and customs of the Tahitians.

We especially enjoyed the Pearl Farm and Mark Eddowes adventure. Michael's dophin watching was fun for me, but not as much fun for Gil although even with him being a bit mal de mer he managed to shoot quite a few dolphin photos. The off road adventure was very good but I thought the trip during the trip to the pineapple factory and the trip to the jam stand was unnecessary. I prefer to do my shopping when I'm not on a tour. The snorkeling and the trip to see the rays was great. What made the snorkeling even better was our doing it in shallow waters so those with less experience were also able to fully enjoy themselves.

If there is one negative about our trip it was the Radisson Resort. When we checked in for our precruise we found the room dirty. The bathroom had a wad of hair on the floor and cobwebs in the corner. There was hair in the tub. In the bedroom we found dried blood on the sheets and hairs in the bed. That is not the way to start a vacation. We arrived late and were tired and wanted to shower and relax. Instead we had to wait until they cleaned the room.

However, our precruise room was antiseptic compared to our dayroom. I walked into the bathroom and noticed just inside the door a jungle of mushrooms growing. There was attached to the mushrooms a cobweb and spider and on the floor was an anthill with ants and mold. On the other side of the door opening was a mushroom growing out of the wall. More cobwebs were observed under the light fixtures. Underneath one of the cabinets in the bedroom was a half eaten french fry. I marched myself down to reception (since no one was picking up the phone) and demanded to speak to the manager. Gil had taken pictures and all I had to do is show him the pictures. By the time I walked back up to the room, the housekeepers were in the room cleaning.

Finally I believe a simple solution to check out from the dayroom would have been to assign each person/couple to a bus, instead of all of us trying to crowd into the busses. Most of the group were fine but there was one or two who "needed" to be first. Personally I'd make sure those in coach were on the first two busses and those in biz/first be on the last bus. I say that because the line for biz/first at the airport is shorter.

I intend to write both Radisson and Regent about what we found at the Radisson, as I believe that Regent also needs to know about where they put their guests up.

Welcome home, Arlene & Gil - and thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. Arlene, glad you got the bling times two!!!! :)

Just want to say that even with the comments I made I had a fantastic time and enjoyed every minute of my time in French Polynesia. My only other comment would be that we would have enjoyed 1 or 2 seadays in there to relax as it was nonstop activity. Of course that was our choice too, and I would have hated to give up even one of the islands.

That's disappointing to hear about the Radisson. When we were there it was brand new, open only a couple of months, and the rooms were amazing and spotless. But hotels age very rapidly in French Polynesia, so you can't count on quality lasting unless there is real vigilance and constant upgrades. I'm not surprised really considering the slapdash service attitude we encountered. Maybe we'll have to re-think our pre-cruise plans next year.