- The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
- Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
- Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
- Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
- Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
- Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
- Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
- Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
- Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8, At Sea
- Day 9, At Sea
- Day 10, At Sea
- Day 11, At Sea
- Day 12, At Sea
- Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, At Sea
- Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Day 22 – At Sea
- Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
- Day 24, At Sea
- Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
- Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
- Day 27 – At Sea
- Day 28 – At Sea
- Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
- Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
- Day 31 – Napier
- Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
- Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
- Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
- Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
- Day 36 – At Sea
- Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 39 – At Sea
- 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
- Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
- Day 41, At Sea
- Day 42, At Sea
- Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
- Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
- Day 45 – At Sea
- Day 46 – At Sea
- Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
- Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
- Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
- Day 50 – At Sea
- Day 51 – At Sea
- Day 52 – At Sea
- Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
- Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
- Day 55 – At Sea
- Day 56 – At Sea
- Day 57 – At Sea
- Day 58, Puerto Princesa
- Day 59, – At Sea
- Day 60, Manila, Philippines
- Day 61, Manila, Philippines
- Day 62 – At Sea
- Day 63 – Hong Kong
- Day 64, Hong Kong
- Day 65 – At Sea
- Day 66 – At Sea
- Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
- Day 69 – Siem Reap
- 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
- Day 70 – Singapore
- Day 71 – At Sea
- Day 72 – Phuket
- Day 73 – At Sea
- Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
- Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
- Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
- Day 77 – At Sea
- Day 78 – At Sea
- Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
- Day 80 – At Sea
- Day 81 – At Sea
- Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
- Day 83 – At Sea
- Day 84 – At Sea
- Day 85 – At Sea
- Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
- Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
- Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
- Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
- Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 92 – At Sea
- Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Day 94 – At Sea
- Day 95 – At Sea
- Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
- Day 97 – At Sea
- Day 98 – At Sea
- Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
- Day 100 – At Sea
- Day 101 – At Sea
- Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
- Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
- Day 104 – At Sea
- Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
- Day 106 – At Sea
- Day 107 – At Sea
- Day 108 – At Sea
- Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
- Day 110 – At Sea
- Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Day 112 – At Sea
- Day 113 – At Sea
- Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
- 2018 World Cruise Entertainers
Day 21, Bora Bora
Bora-Bora is our final port of our four day stretch. We are scheduled to arrive at 8 AM and not depart until 10:30 PM. I never did understand why we were staying so late as there weren’t any evening tours and there wasn’t any nightlife that I was aware of.
Once again our plan was to rent a car, which I had reserved online through Europcar. I prepaid the $95 fee. We ended up putting in $10 in gas so the total cost was $105. We shared this with another couple, so it worked out to about $25 a person which is quite reasonable when you compare this to other circle the island tours.
Tendering again
Our car reservation was not until 10 AM. With tendering starting at 8 AM, it didn’t feel it was necessary to arrive early to get tendering tickets. I got in line at 7:30 AM and got tickets in Red Group 12. I spoke with other people who needed to get on one of the early tenders to meet their prearranged private tour. They arrived at 6:00 AM and the line was already strectching from the Dive-In almost to the doors to the Lido. They said there was one couple who arrived at 5 AM and used their towel animals to hold their spot in line. I was surprised that towel animals were successfully used as placeholders, but I did find it amusing that it actually worked.
Once the tendering started around 8 AM, numbers were called off fairly quickly. Many people get an early ticket, so they depart any time after their number was called, but this can cause some early tenders to leave with empty seats if they don’t initially call enough numbers. We didn’t have to be ashore until 10 AM, but I felt comfortable that my Red Group 12 would get me ashore close to 10 AM. As it turned out the tendering went very quickly and by 9:30 AM they had already called for open tendering meaning that tickets were no longer required. I would suggest to avoid scheduling anything ashore before 10 AM (for an 8 AM arrival) in tender ports if you want to avoid the hassle of dealing with tender tickets.
Note: We received a note later in the day from the Hotel Director requesting that everyone return unused tender tickets to the front desk. When we ultimately went ashore it was open tendering so we didn’t need tickets, so I handed my tickets to the person scanning our cards as we left the ship. Sometimes people will get a ticket for one day with the intention of using it on a subsequent day. This tactic is often unsuccessful as it is difficult to predict which color will be used on any particular day and where they might start the numbering. For example people may think that they are alternating between blue and red beginning with Group 1 but may be disappointed to find out that the next port they start using red 30 as the first group. It will be interesting to see how the tendering works at our next port on Cook’s Island.
We headed down to Deck A around 9:30 AM. Our timing was perfect as the tender was almost full when we arrived, and it departed almost immediately after we boarded.
Renting a Car
There was a small group of musicians greeting us when we arrived along with a dozen or so people hawking various tours or rental cars. While we had a car reserved, you probably could have found a car available after you arrived.
The Europcar rental office was a short walk from the tender pier and having looked up the location ahead of time on Google Maps, I found it sooner than I might have otherwise.
Completing the rental paperwork was a breeze and we were soon on our way – this time heading clockwise around the island. We were on the road by about 10:30 AM and once again the roads were is great condition with a 60 KPH speed limit. This island is much smaller than Moorea – maybe 18 miles around.
Circle the Island
After about 10 minutes of driving, we spotted a tour bus stopped along the side of the road. I figured I would stop behind them and see what they were doing. We took some nice photos of the lagoon before we crossed the street and discovered a small shop/factory that dyed Pareo’s using a type of sun bleaching process. There were a couple of folks playing Ukuleles and they were more than happy to play my Tahitian favorite – Vinni Vinni, Vanna Vanna.
We found a few items that we were interested in buying, but discovered that the prices here were non negotialble – they held firm – and since it was more than we wanted to pay – we moved on.
As we continued around the island we would stop every 10 minutes or so to take some pictures or take a closer look at something of interest. We found a beautiful scene, photographed here, that was breathtaking.
At one stop we spotted an older man pushing a wheelbarrow filled with coconuts. He stopped near us and examined some coconuts that were on the ground – we gathered he was looking for coconuts that were already sorta dried out that he may use to make something.
We had read about the WW II era naval guns that are located on the sides of the mountains, but most of these are only accessible by 4WD vehicles. The Europcar rental car agent showed us the location of one gun that was accessible by a 2 WD car, but we were unable to find the turnoff. The agent said there was a sign, but we never saw one. If you want to see these guns, I would recommend more research regarding their location or take a tour that is dedicated to seeing the guns.
Bloody Mary’s
Toward the end of our circle island tour we stopped by Bloody Mary’s, the famous tourist attraction. We got some $10 Bloody Mary’s and some $13 Cheeseburgers and our total lunch bill for 4 people was $90. The food was OK, but you wouldn’t come here just for the food or the Bloody Mary’s – you are paying for the experience of eating at Bloody Mary’s!
After lunch we headed back to town, only a few miles away, and returned the rental car at 2:15 PM – the entire trip, including a leisurely lunch took 4 hours.
The town consists of a collection of tourist shops selling shirts, pearls and other stuff that you will find everywhere in French Polynesia. We spent another 20 minutes wandering thru a few shops before we headed back to the ship.
Dinner
In the Lido Market this evening they decorated for a Polynesian Cook-In. They set up an auxiliary bar, showed off a roasted big and were chopping up some coconuts to make some interesting drinks.
Our dinner guest this evening was Hyperion Knight. He is an engaging conversationalist and is wonderful dining companion. We all enjoyed his numerous anecdotes about his background and experiences in the music business.
Queen’s Lounge
Tonight in the Queens Room was Nathan Coe Marsh, a magician similar to Fred Moore, and in fact they both used one of the exact same tricks in their respective shows. Nathan would engage audience members for virtually every trick, and his presentation was good and the tricks were fine, but I felt that he took too long to complete each trick which made the show seem to drag.
This entry was posted in 2018 Grand World Voyage, Bora Bora, French Polynesia, Oceania
Great blog! I still can’t receive it by e-mail. (I have to go to “bookmarks”).
Great blog and pictures! I still cannot receive it by e-mail; I have to go to “bookmarks” to find it.
I’m enjoying your blog very much. It’s an excellent resource for future shore excursion planning. Great information. Thanks! I follow you on Twitter.
Thanks for following