MARINA/French Polynesia Mar 4-19,2018 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

While we were playing in the water, the boys on shore were busy preparing our awesome lunch

 

 

They were having a little bit of fun as well ... we sensed the feast was ready pretty soon so we were milling around the bbq

 

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In the meantime I headed out back for a bathroom break, and noted the buildings back there including the schoolhouse (and/or community center) and the church

 

 

This little atoll established 1867 ... wow 151 years

 

 

 

[perfect match]

Wow! What a great snorkel experience! I am a diver, so I'd really prefer to do it on scuba. Do you know if that would be possible? I'd certainly snorkel it if that were the only option, but I love not having to come to the surface to breathe, and besides, my pictures come out way better when I'm on scuba. When I finally manage to get to French Polynesia, no one will be able to get me out of the water! I'm sure my husband will be more than a little bit frustrated with me, but to swim with those sharks and Napoleon fish - PRICELESS!

[Hoopster95]

I am a diver, so I'd really prefer to do it on scuba. Do you now if that would be possible? I....but to swim with those sharks and Napoleon fish - PRICELESS!

 

Yes, there were divers there at one point below us.... and yes, this day was really priceless.

Leave DH at home ;p:evilsmile:

[Hoopster95]

Returning from the church, lunch was being served. We all gathered at the large picnic table to our enjoy our fresh fish, bbq chicken, mahi mahi skewers, incredibly delicious coconut bread and fabulous poisson cru... YUMM YUMM!!!

 

 

 

 

And we weren't the only hungry ones... dogs and cats get some fresh fish as well

 

 

 

And one of my favorite photos of this trip.... you'd think getting your fingers snagged by a shark would hurt. Try zooming into this picture to check out the Napoleon fish's teeth. These guys became very agressive when trying to feed them with scraps, and in fact they would push the sharks away

 

[perfect match]

Yes, there were divers there at one point below us.... and yes, this day was really priceless.

Leave DH at home ;p:evilsmile:

 

 

LOL! Don't tempt me! ;p He's lucky I love him. I won't leave him home, but I have been known to leave him on the ship when I go diving!

 

I did go back to the link you posted on the page just before this, and found some dive info there - once I got it to translate into english! I believe it was in French, but my high school french classes are way behind me now, and as the saying goes, if you don't use it, you lose it!

 

I have that site bookmarked in the folder I've made for my future trip to French Polynesia. :D

 

BTW, you should send this excursion provider some of your pictures to use on their website. Your are better than the ones they have on there now.

[Hoopster95]

The tour guides were taking their lives into their own hands by luring the sharks with the fish carcasses. They would even grab their fins and tails

 

 

As for me.... well I had to get into the action as well. Especially the last 4-5 seconds of the video... no way I was leaving my hand in there!!!

 

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Once the feeding was done, the sharks basically took off and did their own thing again. The Napoleons? Nope... they hung around like a dog or cat waiting for more

 

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Soon after lunch it was time to pack up and head off to our next stop. Goodbye for now Tetamanu... I really hope I can come back again some day

 

 

[01Sweetpea]

Just showed my husband your recent pictures and he said to me...I've always wanted to swim with the sharks.

 

Well guess what honey...you CAN do that, on a FP cruise. :-)

 

So thank you for the pictures, the seed is planted for a future vacation to FP!

[Hoopster95]

Just showed my husband your recent pictures and he said to me...I've always wanted to swim with the sharks.

 

Well guess what honey...you CAN do that, on a FP cruise. :-)

 

So thank you for the pictures, the seed is planted for a future vacation to FP!

 

Haha!!!! That's awesome. Have fun planning :D:D:D

[chpal]

I've never responded to anyone's cruise reviews before, but you have so perfectly captured the joy of cruising - exploring new places with open hearts and minds, not "sweating the small stuff", obviously loving your time on the ship, and recognizing how very fortunate we all are to be able to have cruising as part of our lives.

[Hoopster95]

Refering back to the map of Fakarava at the beginning of this segment, we now follow the red line for a quick 10 minute'ish ride over to the pink sand beach at close to the Southern most tip of the Atoll... and yes it was truly pink even if the pictures don't show it

 

 

 

This place was beautiful, and so was the water

 

 

I felt like we were on an episode of Survivor or Tom Hank's "Castaway". And like most tropical places, we were hit with a deluge of rain for about 10-15 minutes as we scurried into the bush and under the palm trees for cover, but the rains cleared shortly thereafter

 

 

We were able to enjoy about an hour of just lazying around in the water a chilling out. The boys served some watermelon and fruit juice to anyone who wished a snack. Very chill... no timetable here.... we just floated around in the water, beachcombed for shells, and enjoyed each others company

 

[Hoopster95]

Alas, this day was drawing to an end, so were were summoned to the boats to pack our things so we can take the approximate 1 hour journey back across the lagoon to the tender pier where we had started the day. And off we went for our bumpy (and wet) ride back

 

 

It was here that finally my TG-4 water camera battery died, and I dare not bring out my iphone while crashing through the water. Having many videos and pictures of the shoreline as we cam this way, I simply enjoyed the ride back until we arrived at the pier. We dismounted, tipped the boys and headed directly onto the tender just a few steps away

 

 

 

The usual tender ride was uneventful, and as we went to our cabin to chill and and eventually prepare for the evening, I watched the last tender boat get into position in order to be winched up to it's resting spot

 

 

Shortly thereafter we were quickly gone out of Passe Garaue, land seemed to quickly disappear as we gained speed and pulled away. It was time to get changed for our pre-dinner drink and then dinner at Toscana!

 

[01Sweetpea]

Are all your beach pictured taken with the TG-4? We’re going on a Caribbean cruise next week and I’m debating about a last minute purchase of a TG-5. We’re bringing our GoPro, but we usually use that for video.

 

 

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[perfect match]

Are all your beach pictured taken with the TG-4? We’re going on a Caribbean cruise next week and I’m debating about a last minute purchase of a TG-5. We’re bringing our GoPro, but we usually use that for video.

 

 

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I'm not Hoopster, but I do have an older model of his Olympus, the TG2 Tough. I have had the camera for a number of years now and I love it! I have taken it on many adventures that challenged it's toughness, and it has performed beautifully, both under water and on land. When my TG2 finally dies, or they upgrade their newest model to go deeper under water on my scuba dives, I will definitely upgrade to their newest model. If you're serious about wanting a new camera, I'd go for it!

[shellsrus]

Hoopster: Really enjoyed your recap of this cruise, excellent. Question: does anybody find the photobucket app a big annoyance when accessing posted photos? I'm constantly closing a barrage of ads trying to see the photos.

[Sea42]

Hoopster: Really enjoyed your recap of this cruise, excellent. Question: does anybody find the photobucket app a big annoyance when accessing posted photos? I'm constantly closing a barrage of ads trying to see the photos.

I'm just seeing the photos display in the messages. Not using the photobucket app. I'm able to see the photos directly on my PC and my phone with Tapatalk. No ads

[Hoopster95]

Are all your beach pictured taken with the TG-4? We’re going on a Caribbean cruise next week and I’m debating about a last minute purchase of a TG-5. We’re bringing our GoPro, but we usually use that for video.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I know buddies who swear by a GoPro. My business partner bought me a Hero5 with attachments and a huge memory card... I hate using it! Didn't even take it out of the bag for this FP cruise. Yes, all beach and under water pics/video with TG-4

[Hoopster95]

Hoopster: Really enjoyed your recap of this cruise, excellent. Question: does anybody find the photobucket app a big annoyance when accessing posted photos? I'm constantly closing a barrage of ads trying to see the photos.

 

Weird... I don't see this either.

Maybe try downloading the "Forums" app for cruise critic, all threads, and pictures, show up as if you're on a PC :)

[Hoopster95]

After this extremely eventful and long day, it was time to wind down with our after dinner drink and visit down at the grand Bar listening to the String Quartet. Again, love the drink variety and quality along with the hor d'ouvres served

 

 

Sitting at our favorite chair/couch right beside the quartet.

 

 

Tonight's dinner was our one and only time at Toscana. One this night I would measure our service and meal up to the standards of "Giovanni's" on RCL vessels, as we both really love Giovanni's as one of their better Specialty restaurants. As a summary, service was over the top better in every way. Food was surprisingly only marginally better... which saying saying a lot for the RCL venue to be comparable to Oceania's offerings. But firstly, the wine selection by the glass was outstanding. I had mentioned in a previous post that each specialty venue had their own wine-by-glass to match the theme of the restaurant. In this case we asked for a taste, and then full pours of this delicious Toscana

 

 

As part of the service, Marte (also the Barista in the morning) was the "olive oil" guy. He would bring around a cart of various olive oils of different tastes and strengths. We chose a very strong southern (Calabrese) variety to try

 

 

The appies were fantastic, especially the octopus carpaccio in the foreground

 

[Hoopster95]

1st course... the lobster risotto was excellent

 

 

As was the Trio Toscana

 

 

The mains we ordered were melt-in-your-mouth Veal Medallions Marsala

 

 

and the dish we compare all our Italian dining to... Osso Bucco

 

 

And for desert the Lasagna al Cioccolato

 

 

Overall I'd give this meal a 9/10.... very excellent and memorable.

In comaprison to Giovanni's, they bring over a desert cart with canoli's, home-made Tiramisu (real cookie fingers and marscopone), etc. The meat quality and overall ambiance of the dinner combined with service took this Oceania experience to another level, and especially with the wine. Wine's on RCL are horribly cheap unless you spend huge dollars for even so-so options.

 

We made it down to the final broadway show for the Oceania singer and dancer cast. In fact, it was announced that this was their final cruise of their contract, departing in Tahiti in a couple of nights. I've mentioned previously that the shows were actually decent as I was expecting a much lesser quality. Bravo to them and we wished them well with a great applause.

 

 

We were done for the evening, and facing another early morning tender in Rangiroa tomorrow, we headed for bed

[01Sweetpea]

I know buddies who swear by a GoPro. My business partner bought me a Hero5 with attachments and a huge memory card... I hate using it! Didn't even take it out of the bag for this FP cruise. Yes, all beach and under water pics/video with TG-4

 

 

 

Thanks! I think I’ll go take a look at them !

 

 

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[Sea42]

I'm wondering if at any of your snorkel spots you saw big blue clams? I believe they're in FP waters but I may be mistaken.

[Hoopster95]

I'm wondering if at any of your snorkel spots you saw big blue clams? I believe they're in FP waters but I may be mistaken.

 

We saw blue "lipped" clams embedded in the corals... especially in the corals here in Rangiroa (coming up). Is that what you're speaking of?

 

 

 

[Sea42]

We saw blue "lipped" clams embedded in the corals... especially in the corals here in Rangiroa (coming up). Is that what you're speaking of?

 

 

 

Yes! That is what I meant! Thanks!

[Hoopster95]

Day 11 - Rangiroa (March 17)

 

Today our journey takes us to Rangiroa located within the Tuamotu Islands. If I remember correctly, it's the 2nd or 3rd largest atoll in the world. The atoll consists of about 415 motus, islets and sandbars comprising a total land area of about 170 square kms (66 square miles). There are hundreds narrow passes, called "hoa", in the fringing reef leading out to open ocean. This atoll is larger than Fakarava and is an elliptic shape about 80 km long and ranging from 5 to 32 km wide.

 

Here is an aerial photo of where the cruise ships enter the Tiputa Pass. The tender pier is barely visible at the very bottom left of this photo in the Ohutu Commune. The sandbar in the center is Motu Nui Nui and borders a "lagoonarium" where tour boats congregate for snorkeling excursions. On the left side of this pass is where dolphins and other larger "fish" are. I witnessed a fellow cruiser beside me in the tender on the way back with incredible close up photos of many dolphins which we did not get to see today. By googling "Rangiroa diving"you can better see the diversity of the sea life. I really wish I was a diver for this port stop.

 

 

Note the snake like shape of the land...the width of land is only about 300 to 500 meters wide (1000 to 1600 feet), however the circumference is a whopping 200 kms (125 miles)

 

Here's an overview of Rangiroa... The cruise ships enter the Tiputa Pass (red line). There are two main excursions that involve a full day water taxi/snorkel/etc.... the Blue Lagoon at the farthest west point of the Atoll, and the one we did at the south end at Ile Aux Recifs (Reef Islands). Both are an hour boat ride each way from Ohutu... the weirdest thing about the boat ride is that the lagoon is so wide, and the land so low, that it disappears in the horizon as you move away.... when in the middle of the lagoon you cant see land in either direction.

 

 

Here's the view from the balcony as we entered the pass. It was a very dreary/cloudy day and we were expecting rain during much of it. Prior to entering the pass and getting photos, I was able to see dolphins jumping at this exact spot as the ship neared, but they were gone by the time I could grab my camera.

 

 

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As per the previous day, we conveniently had breakfast in our room as we prepared for the day. Our group collected in the theatre bright and early at 7:30am to get the earliest of tender tickets, which also worked out perfectly today. The tenders were actually delayed about 15min as the small pier was being used by a small cargo vessel which was there this morning delivering goods to the island, but that was soon cleared and we were on our way for the day.

 

[Hoopster95]

Have you done your homework? What is there to do on this atoll? And are there enough facilities and amenities for 1200+ passengers all coming off of Marina at once? Here's the "stores" you find at the pier to maybe shop for a couple of minutes

 

 

It was interesting that there was actual availability for a private excursion as there were a couple of signs offering day tours. It's my understanding that it's extremely difficult communicating with tour providers at this atoll via email as the internet is not all that reliable or available, so perhaps they weren't booked ahead of time knowing people would pour off looking for things to do. I also feel that perhaps since this was later in the cruise perhaps more cruisers didn't do advance planning... I feel this is a mistake.

 

 

Perhaps renting a vehicle is more to your liking? I believe this was the only one available at the pier... so first come first serve from the first tender, then it's likely gone. However note on the map, the only areas you could explore are the town of Ohutu where the tender is here all the way up to the main town called Avatoru... where another major pass blocks your progress around the atoll.

 

 

 

And this is the main road leading out of the pier area... nothing like Port Everglades or Miami cruise port is it?

 

 

With our group gathered, we started to climb into our boats... the two yellow ones on the outside