Cruise 01: French Polynesia

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

I was flying from Fiji to Tahiti in French Polynesia today an I was happy to be leaving Fiji behind. I would soon be returning to Fiji on my upcoming cruise, stopping at several ports so I could see more of the island nation. At 09:30 I caught the hotel shuttle to the airport. When I arrived there, it as virtually empty and I breezed through check-in and security. For a small island, the airport was much better than I had anticipated! There were several places to eat and plenty of seating for passengers waiting for their flights. I had a couple of hours to wait and the time flew by as I sat watching NetFlix.

My flight to Tahiti departed at 12:50 and lasted just over four hours. The airline provided basic amenities, though none of the entertainment screens were working or turned on throughout the flight. I wasn’t bothered though because I had oodles of things downloaded on my phone to watch.

When I landed in Tahiti, it was 19:15… on Tuesday the 22nd of July! The flight had crossed the international date line and I was now a day behind where I was this morning! Passport control at the airport was a total nightmare this evening. The queue for non-EU citizens was quite long and moved at a glacial pace, despite five or six customs agents processing people. I waited for nearly 90 minutes before it was my turn. It took less than one minute for me to get processed and my passport stamped. I hurriedly grabbed my suitcase from luggage claim and went out to meet my shuttle driver. He was thankfully still waiting for me (I was worried he may leave since I was so late getting out). After about 20 minutes, we pulled up to my hotel.

The hotel seemed quite nice and I had booked a cabin bed, which I assumed was in a dormitory. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was actually just a tiny, private cabin room! The bed was elevated (about the height of a bunk bed), and there was a small table area. The only negative was the WiFi because it was incredibly weak. I eventually bought an esim for my phone that could double as a hotspot for my computer. The sim ended up being far superior to the hotel’s WiFi. The hotel had a large outdoor terrace on the same floor as my room, where I spent some time blogging this evening before heading to bed.

When I woke up in the morning it was once again dawn on the 23rd and I had the entire day at my leisure. Around lunch time I went out for a walk around town. My hotel was located directly across from the port and I wanted to scout out where I would go tomorrow to board the cruise ship. As it happened, the ship was already docked and the terminal was only a five-minute walk from my hotel!

Cruise ship location accomplished, I continued my long walk for the rest of the afternoon. The city has a large park all along the waterfront and I headed I that direction. It was a very pleasant area to stroll and I played Pokémon Go there as well. The only detracting factor was that the area wasn’t very picturesque, both the city and the port weren’t very pretty. It was only later that I realized I hadn’t taken a single picture during my time in Tahiti!

Everything in Tahiti was rather expensive, so I opted to get some fast food for a late lunch today. It was relatively inexpensive when compared to the restaurants nearby. I’ve never been a big “foodie” and have never prioritized finding the best cuisine during my travels; as long as I can have a decent meal that fills me up, I’m set for the day. I spent the rest of the late afternoon relaxing back at the hotel, grateful for the air-con after the long, hot walk! Other than going out for dinner later in the evening, I didn’t go out much for the rest of the day. I’d hoped to get a coffee at the hotel café and spend some time there reading, but it was closed by the time I returned from my walk.

 
Thursday, July 24, 2025

Today was embarkation day for my second cruise! While I had not exactly loved my first cruise experience back in February, the cruise line had given everyone onboard travel credit due to scheduling changes and missed ports along the way, so I needed to use those before they expired. This second cruise would sail through French Polynesia, then head to the Cook Islands, American Samoa, Samoa, and finally return to Fiji. I had picked this cruise because it visited both the Cook Islands and Samoa, which would be two new countries for me!

My boarding time wasn’t until 13:00, so I stayed in my room until check-out time at 11:00, and then had brunch at the hotel’s café. The coffee there was very good, as was the food. It was a very nice way to pass the remaining time. At 12:45, I left the café and walked over to the cruise terminal. Boarding this ship was much easier and quicker than my previous cruise. I was able to walk right up to the desk, get checked-in and then make my way on board (back in February, I’d had to wait for over an hour in an extremely long queue).

Once aboard the Norwegian Sun, I did the obligatory check-in at my designated evacuation point, and then made my way up to the buffet restaurant. Passenger cabins were not quite ready and so I spent the time waiting in the restaurant. The food options were okay, but nothing remarkable. I was surprised to discover that the buffet on this ship was much smaller than on the Norwegian Dawn. I wasn’t too worried though because this was just the afternoon snack time and I hoped the full meal service would offer an improvement. Oh what a fool I was…

An announcement was made at 14:00 that cabins were ready, so I made my way down to mine on deck four. My cabin was surprisingly large, with a queen bed, a small love seat, and the standard desk area. I had a window for this cruise and I was lucky to have an unobstructed view of the ocean! I was very pleased with my cabin.

After getting settled into my cabin, I went out to explore the ship and familiarize myself with its layout. I soon discovered that the Sun is the oldest ship in their fleet and thus had an older layout that didn’t fit well with the more modern, spacious designs of newer ships. The atrium area, where the coffee shop was located, was okay, but it seemed small and claustrophobic. The upper deck pool area was adequate. I never discovered where any of the other restaurants onboard were located. Everything on this ship was so spread out – it was a very illogical design!

At dinner time, I returned to the buffet hoping I could find something good to eat. I was disappointed. The buffet has two different serving areas, along with soup, salad, and pasta stations. Rather than serving a wide variety of foods, the two main serving areas just offered the exact same food. There were about ten different hot dishes available (including the side dishes of vegetables, gravy, etc), none of which looked particularly appealing. They didn’t even have pizza available! What I did try was flavorless and bland. Needless to say, I was unhappy.

The ship set sail at 23:00 this evening for the short voyage over to Mo’orea.

 
Friday, July 25, 2025
Port: Mo’orea, French Polynesia

I was up early this morning and went up to the buffet for breakfast, having little hope that I would find anything appetizing on offer. To my surprise, the breakfast spread was rather good! They had pancakes, French toast, piles of bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, etc. This was also the only meal where the entire buffet was open and running. I had discovered that there was another area of the buffet at the rear of the dining area, outside on the rear deck. Here there was ample seating with great views over the sides of the ship, along with a huge buffet area, all under a tarp covering to shield passengers from the elements. I was baffled as to why this area was not utilized during lunch or dinner meals.

To get from the ship to land we had to take the tender boats. Since I didn’t have a prebooked tour, and I hadn’t gone to get a tender ticket yesterday, I had to wait for the preassigned groups to go ashore before open boarding was called. The process moved quickly and, by 11:00, I was able to get ashore.

I needn’t have hurried because there was absolutely nothing to do in this port or anywhere nearby. It was the tiniest of villages, with just a few buildings around the ferry. The cruise ship had docked nowhere near any local beaches either. In order to reach the closest beach, one had to either take the overpriced cruise excursions or haggle with a taxi driver (though they appeared to be snatched up by the passengers who had already disembarked).

From what I could see on Google Maps, there appeared to be a pretty path for walking heading out of the village, so that’s where I headed once I got off the tender boat. What had appeared pretty from Google Maps was nothing more than just a road with only a few random places with pretty views. Most of the time I was hemmed in by small houses, fences, etc on either side of the road, giving me nothing worth looking at during my walk. There were a few scattered clearings where I could peek out over the water and see the surrounding countryside, and that was very pretty.

When I returned to the ship, they were serving afternoon snacks at the rear buffet. They were minimal, but it did include scones, cookies, and a variety of sandwiches (I quickly learned to avoid them because the open air had dried them out considerably). Later on, for dinner, I was again disgusted with the food that was served. I ended up just eating hot dogs and fries. By this point I was getting hangry and already over this cruise. The food on the previous cruise hadn’t been much better, but it had a much larger and varied menu for dinner. The next two weeks would indeed be very rough.

 
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Port: Raiatea, French Polynesia

After sailing throughout the night, we reached our next port in French Polynesia, the island of Raiatea. I had breakfast at the buffet and then prepared to disembark the boat. The ship was able to properly dock at this port, so I was able to just walk off the ship rather than waiting for a tender boat. The port was larger than Mo’orea and the town had several streets with shops, restaurants, and bars.

I went for a walk around the waterfront, heading in the direction of a nearby beach. The walk was pleasant enough and pretty, with plenty of views out over the water. When I reached the beach, I discovered that it was very tiny and there was nowhere around there to truly hang out (aside from laying on the sand, which was already crowded with visitors). After snapping a few photos, there was nothing else to do but return to town.

Upon reaching town again, I stopped at a small grocery store to get a snack and a cold drink. I had hoped to find a restaurant or café somewhere in town (preferably along the waterfront) where I could spend some time reading, but the town had nothing of the sort. The only place with cafes was at the port, directly in front of the cruise ship. Most of the places only accepted cash, but the last one accepted credit cards, so I decided to spend some time there this afternoon. I had an iced coffee and some ice cream as I passed the time reading. It was a shame that the café was right next to our cruise ship because there was absolutely no view whatsoever.

I went back onboard the ship in mid-afternoon and took a nap in my cabin as we prepared to set sail once more. When I woke up later, I went to deck five where the walking/jogging track was located. For the next hour or so, I walked several laps of the ship. During that time, we were sailing away from Raiatea and the sun was setting. The colors of the sunset were so vibrant and stunning this evening!

Dinner was another abysmal affair. I won’t waste time describing the craptacular food that was served. The ship was sailing to Bora Bora next, which was very close to Raiatea, but from some strange reason we sailed far to the south this evening before turning back north towards Bora Bora. The seas became increasingly rough as we sailed, turning the kids pool on the upper deck into a mini wave pool. I went to bed early this evening, hoping to sleep through the rough waves (I was feeling slightly seasick).

 
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Port: Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bora Bora was our final stop in French Polynesia and I was ready to move on to another country. From the ship, the island looked pretty, but it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the previous islands. I was a bit surprised by this because Bora Bora is so hyped up for its beauty – the resorts on the island must be truly spectacular. As I ate my breakfast this morning, I spied what looked like a resort with a restaurant along the waterfront in the distance. Google Maps said it was about an hour’s walk from the port, so I decided that was going to be my destination for the day.

Open call for the tender boats was called around 10:30 and I soon made my way down to the embarkation platform. The port area was small, with a smattering of souvenir shops located nearby. I set off on my long walk to reach the distant resort, following the lone major road as it would around the island. The road following along the coastline, so I was able to admire the natural beauty of the island as I walked. I had expected Bora Bora to be remarkable (something akin to the Maldives), but the area I was in was just okay – not stunning, but not awful. Again, I assumed the true beauty of Bora Bora was held exclusively by the upscale resorts.

It was very hot walking under the sun today and there was scant shade along the road (I knew that I would be sunburned after today). As I got closer to my destination, which indeed was a resort, I discovered that it was still under construction! It was impossible to see from the ship as the exterior of the resort was entirely completed, including about a dozen huts along the waterfront. While the buildings were done, the interiors were still being furnished and completed. I was immensely disappointed because I’d hoped to find a place for lunch before heading back to the ship (I wanted a decent meal!).

I walked a little further past the resort so I could walk along the waterfront a bit more. This was the prettiest part of the walk today. The water was clear and beautiful. The only downside from the walk was that I couldn’t really walk out along the small sandy areas next to the water because it was covered with crab holes. Almost the entire area was covered with where the small crabs had dug their dwellings, and I didn’t want to disturb or destroy them by walking around. I did see several crabs scurrying about, before zipping into their holes for safety as I approached.

There was a beach about 30 to 45 minutes further ahead and, while I had the time to walk there, the sun was wearing me down and I decided to turn around. When I reached the town again, I tried in vain to find somewhere to eat, but there was nothing open. I did manage to find a small grocery store where I grabbed a cold Root Beer and some snacks. I sat down at a bench near the port to enjoy my snacks since I could not bring food back aboard the cruise ship.

After taking the tender boat back, I sought refuge in the refreshing air-con of my cabin. The shower I took was so wonderful, but, in the mirror, I saw that I was indeed quite sunburned! I was still relaxing in my cabin as we set sail from Bora Bora in the late afternoon.

Eventually I went down to the atrium café where I bought an iced coffee to enjoy as I did some reading. It was during this time that the captain made an announcement to the entire ship: our stop in the Cook Island had been cancelled. The reasoning they gave was that the weather was so bad that it would make our tendering operations unsafe. They claimed there were gale-force winds and large ocean swells, which, if true, did make sense. I was skeptical about the validity of their claims though. To visit the Cook Islands would requite us to sail quite far south, before returning back northwards to reach Samoa. Several passengers were wondering if the port was cancelled simply to save some money. I was very upset because the Cook Islands was one of the two main reasons that I picked this cruise (the other being Samoa). The captain said that we would instead have two days at our next port in American Samoa, as if that was supposed to somehow compensate for the loss of the Cook Islands.

I endured another awful dinner before calling it a night. As we sailed, the seas became increasingly worse. Seasick bags appeared at all of the stairwells for passengers who were feeling unwell. From my cabin, I could hear the waves crashing against the side of the boat. I was glad to head to bed this evening, hoping to wake up with calmer sailing conditions in the morning.