Day 50

Papeete, Tahiti

The lights of Papeete were twinkling off in the distance as we passed by Moorea, the closest neighbor island to Tahiti.  Papeete is usually a stop on any cruise that goes to this part of the world as it is a good place to get supplies, fuel and swap out guest entertainers. 

Our last group of entertainers arrived in Chile, almost 2 weeks ago.  The ones getting onboard today will be with us thru Auckland. 

There are two piers that cruise ships use here, but they are not very far apart, and it doesn’t really matter very much which one we use. 

We aren’t taking a tour today, but plan to do a self-guided walking tour that we have down on previous visits.  In the past we have spent the evening here and depart early the next morning for Moorea, but not today.  Our all aboard time is 5:30 PM. 

If you do stay here late, one of the not-to-miss activities is to eat at one of the Roulettes, or catering trucks, that are set up in Place Vaiete, a park between the two cruise ship piers.  They start setting up around 5:30 PM and are usually open for business around 6:00 PM.  See my post from 2018 (linked below) for more information on our experience with the Roulettes.  

It gets hot here in the afternoon, and the market is more active in the morning, along with most other stores, so I strongly recommend starting at the market early to avoid the heat and be there when most of the shops will be open. 

We were here on a Saturday and learned that most stores were closing up around 1 PM.  If you are here on a Sunday, you can expect most of the non-touristy shops to be closed all day. 

Leaving the ship, we were welcomed by a local music group that was also used as the backdrop for the ship’s photographer. 

A group of Tahitian dancers were also on hand to welcome us.

There is an area between the two cruise ship piers where a variety of souvenirs and local goods are sold.  You will also find tour operators selling ½ day Circle the Island tours for $50 per person.  Free public restrooms are available here. 

MUNICIPAL MARKET

The Papeete Market is a short walk and while it is open all day, the fresh fruits, meats, and produce will only be available in the morning.  Along the side of the market facing the water, you will find a series of vendors selling leis and other flower arrangements. 

On the second floor of the market, up the escalator, you will find more shops selling jewelry, T shirts, pearls and other souvenirs.  Some of the pearl vendors will sell loose pearls and then put it in a setting while you wait. 

Within a block of the Market you will find a street named Rue Albert Leboucher (between Rue Francois Cardella and Rue Paul Gauguin) where there are several fabric shops. 

One shop, Boutique Imports H & V, is across the street from the fabric shops and sells sewing, jewelry and tailoring supplies.  If you are looking for something to help with one of your craft projects this shop is worth a look. 

After the market we continued to the Notre Dame Cathedral for a quick picture and then to a large complex with many government buildings including the President’s and Vice President’s residence and the Parliament building. 

MCDONALDS

Very near the government buildings is a McDonalds, which is good for some fast food and a cold soda if you are in a hurry.  They accept credit cards but don’t have WiFi as they did on our previous visit.  Many restaurants will have WiFi that is available if you are eating there, but sometimes you only find out after you ordered that the WiFi is so slow as to be almost worthless.  If I want to use the restaurant WiFi, I will usually ask another guest about the connection speed before I commit to buying something if that is the main purpose for selecting a particular restaurant. 

CRAFT FAIR

Inside the Parliament building grounds, right outside the Meeting Chamber, a Craft Fair had been set up.  There was a group playing some local music, a few artisans were carving wooden figures and a woman was weaving some baskets by hand.  I’m not sure if this is something that happens every Saturday or only from time to time. 

Our next stop was the Pearl Museum, which had some interesting displays about how pearls are harvested and produced along with some very expensive pearls for sale.  One necklace was priced at over $100,000 USD. 

Across the street from the Pearl Museum, along the waterfront, is a public park with many residents under the shade staring at their phones.  There was a WiFi connection available here, but it wasn’t very strong and I didn’t spend much time trying to logon. 

NOTE: I have been using the ATT International Passport Plan which gives me 2GB of 4G data everywhere for $70 a month, this includes texting at no additional charge and phone calls for 35 cents a minute.  This works out to about 200 MB a day which has proven to be plenty for my requirements this cruise. 

The path in this park leads back to the ship.  We decided to walk back on the other side of the street so we could window shop along the way.  It was now a little after 12:30 PM and we began to notice many of the shops starting to close.  At first, we thought they may have been closing for lunch, but later learned that most stores close early on Saturdays. 

Fortunately, we were inside a semi-covered mall when the skies opened up and the rain came down in buckets.  This lasted for about 20 minutes until the storm passed and the rest of the day was dry. 

LEI VENDORS

On the way back to the ship, we stopped by the market one last time.  The food vendors were long gone, but all the shops selling souvenirs and jewelry were open, along with the restaurants.  Tomorrow’s dinner in the main dining room has a tropical theme, so we stopped by the lei vendors to pick up some leis.  We found some nice Tuberose leis for $7.50 each.  Prices are negotiable and you could probably do better if you wanted to invest more time negotiating. 

We were back on the ship by 2 PM and spent the rest of the day relaxing in our cabin. 

JIM HODSON

The featured performer on the Mainstage was Jim Hodson.  He started out playing guitar, before switching to a miniature trombone, electric ukulele and trumpet.  Jim put on a marvelous show and was very entertaining.  He played such hits as Miserlou, Theme Song to Hawaii 5-0, and Apache before closing the show with “Stairway to Heaven”,