On our way to Moorea

[Mercruiser]

2 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Love the Toatea Bar at the Hilton  .... great place to hang out and enjoy the night .... don't forget about the breakfast/lunch place across the street. Cute, reasonable and yummy.

 

The Lilikoi Garden Cafe is a favorite of our too. https://lilikoimoorea.com/garden-cafe

It's within walking distance of the Hilton, which makes it a great way to escape the high prices at the Hilton.

 

I originally found out about Lilikoi from CC member Tikiintahiti. I wonder whatever happened to him. Some say he is in the witness protection program living under a new identity.😉

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

11 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

 

The Lilikoi Garden Cafe is a favorite of our too. https://lilikoimoorea.com/garden-cafe

It's within walking distance of the Hilton, which makes it a great way to escape the high prices at the Hilton.

 

I originally found out about Lilikoi from CC member Tikiintahiti. I wonder whatever happened to him. Some say he is in the witness protection program living under a new identity.😉

 

witness protection program, died and went to heaven .... who knows, maybe reincarnation 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Petoonya]

10 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

 

I actually had the aft cabin booked once on the Pacific Princess from Tahti to Hawaii.

And only now you admit to having an even earlier unfortunate incident with an R ship. You better not plan in Regatta buster.

[Mercruiser]

2 hours ago, Petoonya said:

And only now you admit to having an even earlier unfortunate incident with an R ship. You better not plan in Regatta buster.

 

R Two should be okay. It's just R Three that was a problem. I've been on wonderful cruises on:

R Six — Azamara Journey

R Seven — Azamara Quest

[Mercruiser]

Creature Feature

 

I've has a home with a lawn my entire life. Up north in the USA, one occasionally has problems with burrowing animals making a home in  your lawn, such as rabbits, gophers, and moles.

 

The oceanfront lawn of the Intercontinental Tahiti has holes in the lawn like this. (Flip-flop shown for size perspective.) I wonder what kind of animal lives here.

 

We were walking back from dinner after dark, and I saw something scurry into the hole. Whatever it was it sure looked creepy in the dark. I came back a while later to give it time to remerge from its lair. And what did I find perched over the entrance?

 

 

Looks like they have an infestation of land crabs that have made their homes in the lawn. This one's body is about 5-6 inches across. One claw is much larger than the other.

 

Even at 58 years old, there are still plenty of wonders for the little boy in me to discover.

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

38 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

 

R Two should be okay. It's just R Three that was a problem. I've been on wonderful cruises on:

R Six — Azamara Journey

R Seven — Azamara Quest

 

Interestingly I have a group going on the Azamara Pursuit in September 2023 ... 12 night Mediterranean cruise. Starts in Barcelona and ends in Venice.  The R ships I've been on had a nice layout .... not to big, not to small.  

[Mercruiser]

We are at the ferry dock in Papeete, waiting to board the Aremiti 6. I like this ship because it has rooftop seating, which makes for an enjoyable trip.

 

Taxi from Intercontinental to the ferry was 2400 XFP. 

 

Here is a picture of the luggage cart. It's right next to the taxi drop off Lane and the ticket window (credit cards accepted).

 

 

 

We just got our Covid test results by email from the arrival test at the airport. The results are Negative. Negativity is a good thing for Covid tests. 👍

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Mercruiser]

 

View of the ferry loading ramp and the passenger walkway. The cost of the ride is 1500 XPF. There are very few passengers on this trip.

[Petoonya]

Mer,

Glad you aren't planning on jinxing Regatta. We have two cruises on her 2023.

You obviously love Azamara! Have yet to partake as husband is reluctant to stick his neck out in fear that things won't measure up to O. But sounds like they do.

 

The crabs are killers! I'm scared to look at them as they remind me too much of tarantulas- those legs moving fast do something to my stomach.

 

Absolutely LOVING the Tahiti story and the pictures too. You are a treasure.

[Petoonya]

And......you sound positively giddy! Actually you've sounded that way since you hit the Star Alliance lounge, but now even more so.

We are all very excited for you!

[Mercruiser]

Morning coffee view from the Moorea Hilton. 

 

This is one of my favorite places in the world. 

I can see our tour boat for today moored in the distance. It's the red hulled catamaran named Taboo

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

The Hilton Moorea is my favorite on the island for a pre/post stay. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[minidonuts85]

Mercruiser-Thank you for sharing and following. We are cancelling our Aug cruise for many of the same reasons but looking to pivot to a land based trip. Appreciate you sharing!

 

What #OTWB do you have at the Moorea Hilton? If you'd rather answer that after you return home totally understand. 

[Mercruiser]

On 2/13/2022 at 2:31 PM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

So now I've booked 4 different cruise lines in FP waters ... I'm educating myself so when people ask I have first hand experience.

 

That sounds like a good plan. I mostly go on Azamara, Princess, and Celebrity. I like different things about them all. But as ships get bigger, I find myself gravitating towards R-ships (Azamara & Oceania now) and smaller, e.g. Windstar. Have yet to try WS, but look forward to that. I also want to try Star Clippers.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, I have a transatlantic crossing booked on QM2 - that's been a bucket list for me. 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Mercruiser]

On 2/14/2022 at 5:21 PM, Petoonya said:

Mer,

Glad you aren't planning on jinxing Regatta. We have two cruises on her 2023.

You obviously love Azamara! Have yet to partake as husband is reluctant to stick his neck out in fear that things won't measure up to O. But sounds like they do.

 

The crabs are killers! I'm scared to look at them as they remind me too much of tarantulas- those legs moving fast do something to my stomach.

 

Absolutely LOVING the Tahiti story and the pictures too. You are a treasure.

That's funny. I have the same concern about trying Oceania after having such a great time on Azamara. I suspect they are way more alike than different. Same ships, same target market, same varied destination emphasis (vs repetitive cruises), same emphasis on food quality etc. My only new concern is that Azamara's new owners don't mess it up.

 

Thanks for your kind comments.

[Mercruiser]

It's 40F warmer than at home, and it feels wonderful.

 

I just checked the weather a few minutes ago, 85F in Papeete and 42F in Spokane. I spent the previous two weekend snow skiing at home. This switch to tropical weather is wonderful. 

 

It sprinkled twice in Tahiti, but that only lasted about 5 minutes each time. It's been dry so far in Moorea. But it is more hot and humid that our prior November visits. The noon sun is almost strait overhead. It's a full moon tomorrow. That makes the nighttime sky especially beautiful. You can see the outlines of the Moorea mountains at night.

 

Yesterday, we arrived at the Moorea ferry around 12:15 pm. The Aremeti 6 is very fast for a car ferry - 42 mph according to my phone GPS. On arrival, my wife watched the luggage while I skedaddled over to the Avis rental office across the street. There was a huge queue waiting outside when I arrived. I was thinking this was going to take a long time. Last time I rented, in 2015, they were still using carbon paper and hand-written triplicate forms. It was slow then when I was the only customer. Fortunately, all the people in the queue were actually waiting for their group leader to rent two cars inside. Their rental process is electronic now. I was out of there in about 20 minutes, and back to the ferry dock for my wife and luggage. 

 

Next stop was the ATM for local cash. Followed by a trip to the market for some groceries. Followed by a stop a Caraméline for some ice cream. I predict this will be just the first of many stops here!

https://goo.gl/maps/YnXiZq2Bmx1xEb6h6

 

Travel tip - If you do much (any) international travel, get a Schwab debit card. It doesn't have any ATM fees anytime, anywhere. Your local bank probably charges you $5 or so, every time you use a foreign ATM. Like Google Fi, I've used it all over the world. No minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees.. Like Fi - there isn't a catch.

https://www.schwab.com/checking/debit-card

 

 

[Mercruiser]

Moorea Hilton

 

We got to the Moorea Hilton around 1:15pm. In the lobby, we found the usual crowd of arrivals from the red-eye flights that landed around 5:00 am. We did this on our first visit. Landed in Tahiti at 5:00 am. Took the 1st ferry to Moorea, and waited for hours in the lobby for our room to be ready.  On our next trip, we wised up and put swimming clothes in our carry-ons. Instead of the lobby, we napped in the lounge chairs by the pool and then went swimming while waiting for our room.

 

Our room was ready for us, so no waiting in the lobby or poolside. I booked all 7 nights on Hilton points. That gets you a Garden Bungalow. Every time I've booked a points award here, the front desk office send an email with various offers for paid upgrades. We have paid for the upgrades every time to a over-water bungalow (OWB), both times we were assigned to room 109, at the very end, facing Opunohu Bay (cruise ships anchor here or Cooks Bay). When I booked this, I was retired and decided to watch the cash flow a little more, booking just the last 4 nights in the OWB, and taking whatever the gave us for the first three nights.

 

The front desk agent had good news and bad news. First the Good News. Because I'm a repeat guest, Hilton Diamond member, and low occupancy, they have upgraded us the entire 7-nights to OWB (we are getting 7 nights for the price of 4). The Bad news. Room 109 is occupied. They offered one of it's close neighbors, facing the same direction. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between 109 and the unit I'm assigned.

 

 

Here is a map of the room numbers. I've also attached the PDF, which has better resolution.

Hilton Moorea Map 20200317.pdf

[Mercruiser]

8 hours ago, minidonuts85 said:

Mercruiser-Thank you for sharing and following. We are cancelling our Aug cruise for many of the same reasons but looking to pivot to a land based trip. Appreciate you sharing!

 

What #OTWB do you have at the Moorea Hilton? If you'd rather answer that after you return home totally understand. 

As you anticipated, I prefer not to list my room number right now. But I can say that any of these are very good: 109, 107, 105, 103, 101. They all have pretty much identical views - like my morning coffee photo.

 

These units have morning shade and afternoon sun. Best of all are the sunset views. In November, the sun sets behind the mountain. In February, it sets on the ocean horizon, just to the right of the mountains. The predominant winds blow from the east to west here. So these units are wind sheltered on the deck side. This is good.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mercruiser

[canadianbear]

You are living my dream!

[Mercruiser]

Valentines Day Dinner

Anticipating that Valentines day restaurant bookings would fill up, I booked a spot at the TOATEA CRÊPERIE & BAR, located at the Hilton, just down from our room amongst the OWBs.

https://goo.gl/maps/XqF51HnRgYbxQb196

 

Knowing that sunset is at 6:30, we booked a 7:00 reservation. We like to have dinner after our sundowner on the deck of our OWB.

 

Most of the afternoon, we heard drums an music coming from the beach, right in front of the Hilton restaurant. I went to the front office to get some help with restaurant bookings, and saw that this was a destination wedding. As a father of two brides, my mind immediately began thinking, this must cost a fortune. The wedding party was about 20 people, plus another 10 or so that were playing music and conducting the ceremony.

 

After a cloud-obscured sunset (we have 6 more tries) we went to the Creperie early for our dinner. The wedding party was already seated. We knew what we wanted to order, so we placed our order just after we were seated. I saw that the wedding party was still looking at their menus and wanted to get our order to the kitchen before they did. That worked out well, because we finished our main course before the wedding party was even served. The creperie only has four of the special griddles, so they had to serve the wedding party in five groups. My wife and I shared a seafood crepe for our main and a dessert crepe (don't remember the name but it had bananas, coconut, chocolate, toasted almonds, and coconut ice cream, and whipped cream. It was all delicious.

 

It was Valentines Day, so I did not spend the evening on the computer with Cruise Critic. I'm catching up now!

[Mercruiser]

Taboo - the sailboat, not the subject

 

After our 6:30 breakfast, we met our tour group at 7:40 for a lagoon snorkel trip on the Taboo. Here are some pictures from our Nov 2015 trip. The boat and marine life look exactly the same now. I have way more gray hair. My bride still has naturally dark hair.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to post old pictures, but I don't have todays photos uploaded yet. In 2015, we ended up getting a private tour for the cost of a shared tour. Today, there were a total of 8. Four were honeymooners, and the other four, including us, were semi-retired. It was a really nice group.

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Mercruiser]

Tonight's plans are 

1) Sundowner

2) Dinner at Le Coco D Isle

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1453843-d2304880-Reviews-Le_Coco_D_Isle-Ha_apiti_Moorea_Society_Islands.html

3) The Polynesian show at the Tiki Village (show only, not dinner)

https://www.tikivillage.pf/en/

 

That's all for today!

 

[Mercruiser]

A preview of coming attractions

 

A few photos from our visit to Tiki Village in Nov 2013

 

 

 

 

 

[Petoonya]

Mer, know this is taking you an inordinate about of time to post the details. But when you have time to post,  I AM LOVING IT as I'm sure many are. You are covering the whole enchilada, and your experiences as you describe have been superb. You even make orange-aid from mandarins. I'm thrilled getting the blow by blow. Please take time for yourself though!

[Mercruiser]

On 2/14/2022 at 7:02 PM, Petoonya said:

And......you sound positively giddy! Actually you've sounded that way since you hit the Star Alliance lounge, but now even more so.

We are all very excited for you!

Giddy as a school boy!

It is so wonderful to go on an international trip again to my favorite place in the world.