Now where was I, Oh yes, another morning in paradise, on our way to Moorea, I thought Bora Bora was beautiful, but this arrival is breathtaking! BaliHai, we are finally here! The Dolphins were here too, to greet us, our stateroom is starboard, they seem to have a routine here, to greet the PG. What a wonderful site. Have to say, if you can, go for a C Class Cabin Starboard, then you can really enjoy beauty of FP while outside on you own private balcony. Enjoying breakfast there(with coffee earlier) has been a highlight of our cruise. This morning breakfast was served to my DH(been writing BH(that means best husband, though was a mistake, because this a.m he was very upset that I hadn't ordered him EB again!!!(just thinking about his arteries)anyway, lighter breakfast, though I promised him never again!!Oh Moorea, how gorgeous, we left ship at 9:30a.m. rented a car, with box lunch in tow(ordered night before from Sylvia during dinner)though could have done so through room service. Drove around island, went up to Belvedere lookout, pouring rain up there, so no pics. Oh well. Went back down, checking out various shopts and hotels along the way. Had lunch(delicious, sandwiches, cookies, pineapple and chips)at the hotel Sofitel, snorkeled and relaxed. Very nice, though wind was up again. Back to the ship around 4pm. Changed then went to the Black Pearl reception at the boutique, Would you believe it? Champagne again!! Music and lovelly Cynthia hosting her gorgeous pearls, then time for dinner, an excellent one in L'Etoile this evening. No entertainment to speak of. Though we could have gone dancing and drinking til dawn if we chose. Pleasant dreams!

Moorea Day 2, Ok,Ok, I know, I should be a better wife, but whatever he wants! I know it is clogging the arteries(promise, we are back to oatmeal next week)I am off to snorkel, DH(been saying BH)is going up to the top deck to read. I am off to Lagoon Discovery. Loved this excursion, Harry was great, but be prepared(I wasn't, there is a photographer on board doing a DVD) No Makeup!! Wrong Suit!! The DVD is a wonderful memory! It brings back every moment of this fab excursion. First the rays, So Many, and sharks!! I loved it. Then on to another lagoon for snorkeling. By the way he gives you info about the different hotels, and areas we are passing. Even though the wind was up this day, where we snorkled was sheltered we went pretty far out(be aware that this is a shallow area, you need to be careful of the coral)it was beautiful loads of different fish, and coral of beautiful color. A great experience. Back to ship for lunch/ International. Then the dredded packing began. Ron went on the bridge tour. I went on the galley tour. Very informative.(the ex. chef isn't too shabby either(Daniel)Guess what? Champagne again with chocolate dipped strawberries. The kitchens are amazing. Separate chefs and galley for the crew. Lots of Philipino food then European food too. Need to keep the staff happy so they will keep us happy!! The galleys are pristine, The leftovers by the way are ground up and thrown to the fish!!(forgot to ask about the leftover wine!)One other detail, 36 staff working in the galleys. Only one woman! The pastry chef, from Denmark. The good bye party was fun, Whole crew was on stage, now to dinner again at Apicius, our last dinner on the Paul Gaughin, hate to say goodbye, it has been wonderful. Anyway, another lovely meal, with fabulous service, then the final evening entertainment(just ok)Saturday morning came too quickly, up for our final breakfast on our balcony, I had a lovely continental breakfast with smoked salmon and pinapple(you know, you know)then we left our stateroom for the last time. Walked over to the marche. Worth visiting. Fresh fish, meats, produce, vanilla whatever you want. Very colorful, then back to PG, had a couple of bloody marys on deck 8 then to buffet lunch. This time wine is included at lunch!!(they don't broadcast this though) Food was pretty good too!. Our bus left at 12:30 for Papeete tour(Tour Guide was horrible)Went on about Marlon Brando and the suicide and murder re: his children. Couldn't hear him in the beginning, maybe a good thing. Recommend skipping the tour and going directly to Radisson. Lovely pool and black sand beach(we took a walk at sunset down the beach to a locals bar, had a hinano and walked back . Lovely, Room was nice can't say anything bad about this hotel, though wouldn't stay there for more than a night I think. Doesn't compare to Intercontinental. Then it was to the bus for our 10p.m. flight. left hotel at 7p.m. Flight back was a downer, food was not good, no leg room, what can I say, We were leaving paradise. Think I would stay another 2 nights there on Moorea!! Overall, would say, you need more than 7 nights on board, too much to do and not enough time, BTB would be great if the food improved. Or the 10 or 11 day cruises. Will treasure the memory forever. Do not regret one dime spent on this cruise, Now any suggestions for the next one?? BonVoyage, J

Jeanine - thanks for the review! Had a great time reading all of your installments and could feel your excitement and enjoyment. :)

Masaki

Jeanine - great review! Glad the eggs benedict were up to snuff. How were they with the mimosas a la balcony? :D Re-entry is tough!

We also really enjoyed the shark & ray feeding at Bora Bora. We cleaned out Ramon's supply of Shark Boy shirts, hats, anything with that lovely logo. The Lagoon Discovery was also a wonderful excursion. We had just the opposite weather, though - winds up in Bora Bora and very calm in Mo'orea. We decided to skip the Tahiti tour, too and are glad we did.

As for ideas for the next one .. there are just so many good choices it's hard to go wrong. My husband's favorite (retired engineer who also controls packing duties) was the Panama Canal itinerary. Ours was on Voyager immediately following the end of the World Cruise so a really interesting passenger mix added to the whole experience. Second favorite of his is our first one on Mariner: 10 days Nice to Venice in October and then the Baltics on Voyager. I have trouble identifying any "favorites" as all of them (save one) have been great in their own way. The only one we didn't get into was a short (5 day/4 night San Juan to San Juan itinerary in March) Carribean trip. Not enough time to get into it and weather cut the port stops short. Particularly memorable trips were the first leg of South America and the 8 day Mariner China cruise last year. Hope that gives you a few ideas.

Best wishes on your 37th anniversary and your birthday. Here's to many more happy and healthy celebrations! Cheers, Anne

Just returned from a Radisson presentation two nights ago at the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara. Part of the presentation was outstanding! They had Jean Michael Costeau talking about his future voyages with Radisson. I was so impressed with the underwater (new technology etc) that will be used on his voyages. He will be doing a portion of the Grand Circle South America, which we did last year. If you are booked on this one for 2006, you will be in for a treat with him and his expertise. I wish we had saved that for this year. He is also looking at taking a group off after doing the Chilean Fjiords, taking a train via Lake Tipicaca (spelling sorry) on up to Cuzco and then Machu Pichu. What a wonderful, gentle way to acclimate to the altitude of Cuzco. He did state this was in a (hopeful planning stage.) It would be great if it comes to be.

Yes, Jean Michael Costeau is amazing and I'm so happy he's doing part of the South America itinerary. He and his wife were on for a couple of the World Cruise segments and he spoke in the Constellation Theater as our guest lecturer, very interesting! We even saw (and received a DVD of) him and Capt. Dag scuba diving in and around a sunken ship (could still see cups and plates in the ship!) He's a nice, easy to talk to guy whom I had coffee with one morning.

Jeanine, congratulations on your anniversary and wonderful cruise..I can recall last summer referring you from CC to B&K and to now read about your cruise in paradise is great..r/wes

Jeanine,

I loved reading all about your PG experience. You brought back lots of wonderful memories!!! Congratulations on 37 fantastic years with BH. You picked a beautiful way to celebrate it!!