Monday, 8 December – Bora Bora
Ray our Cruise Director put on one of his puppet shows at the cocktail hour yesterday evening. Ray had told me during our hike Russell, NZ last week that he had taken voice lessons recently, and it showed. I hadn’t seen his act since the Baltic cruise of 4 years ago. What a treat. An elderly couple sitting next to me said that his show was the best on the ship. So much for the full time entertainers who are flown in from the US or the UK for a few days at great expense. Another couple asked me who he was. When I said he is the Cruise Director who appears on the TV each morning and introduces the shows as well as runs the trivia contest each day, they said they never saw him before. Most be newlyweds.
Returned to dinner in the main dining room last night after a number of nights exploring the other 3 or 4 restaurants on Mariner. There is a bar just off the dining room, a good place to sit and be entertained by the trio who appear wherever I am looking for quiet and provide very enthusiastic renditions of Beachboy music, always in the same key and same tempo. They were particularly enthusiastic last night as “Les Gauguins”, a number of hostesses from our sister ship who have been traveling with us since Auckland taking a Tahitian Hostess busmen’s holiday had their pictures taken by the ship’s photographers—there are three of them, photographers and Gauguins respectively—with guests with excess non-refundable onboard credits. I’m told that photographers on this ship may lose their position when Mariner comes out of dry dock after alterations and repairs.
Speaking of repairs, I accosted the Chief Navigator of the ship at the Filipino barbeque at lunch yesterday over a plate of gringo watered down chicken adobo. I greeted him with the off handed salutation, “You must know this. How much are we underpowered, what with the pod problems so that we couldn’t visit Rarotonga?” He said off handedly, “Oh all is ok with the ship, sir.” Then I said, “Let me ask that another way. Seems the thrust is quite compromised with our slowing down 4 knots in only a Force 6 headwind.” He stared at me for a while and said, “8,000 kw.” I said, “Oh my, that’s over 11,000 horsepower, almost 1/3rd the total power, what with the four 7500 hp engines and 0.746 kw to a horsepower .” He said, “Who are you?” I really don’t want to miss the flight in LA on 20 December. There’s always something to worry about in paradise. But now he is worried, too. Good job, Michael.
Speaking of paradise, we arrived in Bora Bora at 7 am this morning to the same anchorage as Silver Shadow six weeks ago as Regent’s Paul Gauguin also dropped anchor behind us. A shuttle tender service was set up between the two ships to allow for guests of each to tour the other vessel. Gauguin is a leased somewhat older ship that spends all year in Polynesia. It was fun to see the other ship, although somewhat academic since it will go its separate way from Regent after the 2010 season. After returning to Mariner for a quick lunch I returned to the island for a glass bottom boat ride, a last minute purchase to attempt to eat away at my non-refundable onboard credit. The somewhat antique passenger set on the boat (the younger guests had taken jet boat rides, swimming excursions with various large smelly sea creatures, and dive trips) watched through the glass as I photographed a similar nearby glass bottom boat as those guests were either observing the bubbles or throwing up on the glass. I returned to Mariner with a bunch of outrigger riding locals enjoying our tender’s wake. All in all, a very satisfying return visit to the redundant isle. Really.
Oh. It’s time for Elegant Tea in the Observation Lounge. Oh no, the trio is marshalling…
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