Message from the bridge: “Man your emergency lifeboat stations” is not what you want to hear over the PA when you’re busy digesting your breakfast. ‘Attention guests; the previous announcement is for crew purposes only”. Phew - well that’s alright then, particularly when you’re in the middle of the Pacific ocean in a depth of over 3,500 metres. Despite feeling very safe and protected with the crew undertaking drills every few days, I wouldn’t recommend waking from a deep sleep to the evacuation signal - now that’s not conducive to a well-rested feeling or in fact, hearing anything ever again!
You guessed correctly customers if you hazarded a guess that we are on another cruise. We have so far travelled 3,219 nautical miles from Brisbane towards French Polynesia. This cruise, however is different from all the rest that we’ve indulged in, in that we’re really going somewhere from which it will be a protracted process to return home. No turning around in a circuit on this one! I don’t know what happens if the captain forgets his hat because this ship is headed towards the northern hemisphere and won’t be back until next Summer. Stephen and I have always wanted to undertake this transpacific Repositioning cruise because we have always loved the restful, ‘at sea’ days. Mostly, though we’re not fans of that last day onboard when you have to pack your stuff into suitcases which seem smaller than when you arrived and it doesn’t appear as if any days have passed since you unpacked. You also wonder how it’s all going to fit.
Quantum of the Seas is travelling back to Vancouver where she will bask in the Canadian Spring sunshine interspersed with trips into the Alaskan chill to reinvigorate her. In similar moves to those of her passengers, who regularly visit the Spa for a spruce-up, Quantum will lift her skirts for a tune up sometime around October this year. Until then she will press on, often through 4 metre waves to reach her eventual destination of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. For some, the tune-up will be very overdue - with the North Star observation globe out of action, a conversation often heard is that someone has planned a aerial harbour sized view of a port, only to find that its off-limits. Our journey with her doesn’t end in Vancouver though, as we will travel with her into the vast frozen outback of Alaska, before eventually parting ways with her in Seattle, US.
Prior to coming on this cruise, I believed that such a journey might be less popular and also more reasonably priced than the usual tourist circuits. But I was wrong on both counts! Total capacity onboard Quantum is 4905 souls which include staff. My investigations show that there are 4281 passengers currently onboard made up of 57 Pinnacle cruisers, 214 Diamond Plus (2 of which I can count in our cabin) and 378 Diamond travellers - the remainder made up of Platinum Plebs. So we are travelling pretty heavy as we carve our way through the Pacific and with every meal, I guess we get heavier! The price although cheaper when averaged out over the usual seven day circuits, was commensurate with a significant divot out of our savings. Nevertheless, a worthy one!
Two days ago, the Captain advised that our arrival in Papeete (pronounced Papa-ettie by the locals) in Tahiti would be delayed from 9.00 am to 2.00pm due to one engine having been switched off. So Quantum is undertaking a bit of a manicure of one of her engines which necessarily means that we’ve been travelling slower than usual. Travelling slower means that as large as we are, we are still prone to the determination of the ocean, therefore there is more than the usual rocking and a’rollin. As a result, many of the passengers have chosen to stay in their staterooms, possibly close to a receptacle able to receive necessary donations from time to time. I even woke with a persistent headache myself a couple of days ago which I recognised as sea sickness and quickly took a Kwell to do exactly that. I certainty hope her wing is back on line joining her other three, for the second leg of this wonderful cruise, so we can power on through this vast blue seeming wilderness, with the power and determination we’ve come to expect from Quantum.
You guessed correctly customers if you hazarded a guess that we are on another cruise. We have so far travelled 3,219 nautical miles from Brisbane towards French Polynesia. This cruise, however is different from all the rest that we’ve indulged in, in that we’re really going somewhere from which it will be a protracted process to return home. No turning around in a circuit on this one! I don’t know what happens if the captain forgets his hat because this ship is headed towards the northern hemisphere and won’t be back until next Summer. Stephen and I have always wanted to undertake this transpacific Repositioning cruise because we have always loved the restful, ‘at sea’ days. Mostly, though we’re not fans of that last day onboard when you have to pack your stuff into suitcases which seem smaller than when you arrived and it doesn’t appear as if any days have passed since you unpacked. You also wonder how it’s all going to fit.
Quantum of the Seas is travelling back to Vancouver where she will bask in the Canadian Spring sunshine interspersed with trips into the Alaskan chill to reinvigorate her. In similar moves to those of her passengers, who regularly visit the Spa for a spruce-up, Quantum will lift her skirts for a tune up sometime around October this year. Until then she will press on, often through 4 metre waves to reach her eventual destination of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. For some, the tune-up will be very overdue - with the North Star observation globe out of action, a conversation often heard is that someone has planned a aerial harbour sized view of a port, only to find that its off-limits. Our journey with her doesn’t end in Vancouver though, as we will travel with her into the vast frozen outback of Alaska, before eventually parting ways with her in Seattle, US.
Prior to coming on this cruise, I believed that such a journey might be less popular and also more reasonably priced than the usual tourist circuits. But I was wrong on both counts! Total capacity onboard Quantum is 4905 souls which include staff. My investigations show that there are 4281 passengers currently onboard made up of 57 Pinnacle cruisers, 214 Diamond Plus (2 of which I can count in our cabin) and 378 Diamond travellers - the remainder made up of Platinum Plebs. So we are travelling pretty heavy as we carve our way through the Pacific and with every meal, I guess we get heavier! The price although cheaper when averaged out over the usual seven day circuits, was commensurate with a significant divot out of our savings. Nevertheless, a worthy one!
Two days ago, the Captain advised that our arrival in Papeete (pronounced Papa-ettie by the locals) in Tahiti would be delayed from 9.00 am to 2.00pm due to one engine having been switched off. So Quantum is undertaking a bit of a manicure of one of her engines which necessarily means that we’ve been travelling slower than usual. Travelling slower means that as large as we are, we are still prone to the determination of the ocean, therefore there is more than the usual rocking and a’rollin. As a result, many of the passengers have chosen to stay in their staterooms, possibly close to a receptacle able to receive necessary donations from time to time. I even woke with a persistent headache myself a couple of days ago which I recognised as sea sickness and quickly took a Kwell to do exactly that. I certainty hope her wing is back on line joining her other three, for the second leg of this wonderful cruise, so we can power on through this vast blue seeming wilderness, with the power and determination we’ve come to expect from Quantum.
Royal Caribbean’s commitment to good service is evident in every inch of Quantum and if ever a cruise line is intent on getting back on its feet after Covid, it’s this company. As well as the ready staff to scoop up your every discarded plate, there are staff who cruise through the diners asking if you have any concerns or suggestions for how they can improve their service. There is a mid-cruise QRcode that we can access a feedback survey. Stephen and I are not people who complain - even possibly when we could have. I think most of us have all met or heard from the person who might have the first name of Karen. Well we are definitely not a ‘Karen’ but I did mention yesterday at the buffet that I could not find any Caesar dressing for my salad which had all the other accoutrements. Today, there on a counter all its own, were bowls of Cos and croutons and beside it the most delicious of chef-made Caesar dressing, laid out for mine and others’ enjoyment - if only I could get through the crowd all filling their bowls with the same!
Today Quantum sidles into Papeete - in all her glory, albeit sans one engine. A chart of temperatures and rainfall tells me that Papeete experiences precipitation almost every day. With top temperatures in March of 35 degrees and lows of 24 degrees, it looks like we are in for a humid afternoon. Papeʻetē (French pronunciation) features a tropical monsoonal climate with a wet season and dry season, with high temperatures and humidity year round. However, precipitation is experienced even during the city's dry season. The dry season is short, covering only the months of August and September. The rest of the year is wet, with the heaviest precipitation falling in the months of December and January. Sunshine is moderately high, as most precipitation comes as thunderstorms and cyclones, and does not last for long.
The urban area of Papeʻetē had a total population of 136,771 inhabitants at the August 2017 census, 26,926 of whom lived in the commune of Papeʻetē proper. The urban area of Papeʻetē is made up of seven communes.
During the outbreak of World War 1 it was shelled by German vessels, causing loss of life and significant damage. However, the subsequent re-growth of the city was boosted by the decision to move the French nuclear weapon test range from Algeria which had become independent, to the atolls of Moruroa and Fangatufua some 1,500 km (930 mi) to the east of Tahiti. This was apparently motivated, by the construction of the Fa’a’a International Airport the only international airport in French Polynesia, near Papeʻetē. In 1983, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Pape’ete Tahiti Temple because of its large number of members in the region.
On 5 September 1995 the government of Jacques Chirac conducted the first of a series of nuclear test detonations off the shores of Moruroa. A resulting riot in Papeʻetē lasted for two days and damaged the international airport, injured 40 people, and scared away tourism for some time. Similar rioting had occurred after another French nuclear test in the same area in 1987.
98.4% of the population in the urban area reported that they could speak French. 96.7% reported that they could also read and write it. Only 0.7% of the population had no knowledge of French. At the same census where these figures were obtained, 83.9% of the population in the urban area of Papeʻetē whose age was 15 years and older reported that the language they spoke the most at home was French and 13.5% reported that Tahitian was the language they spoke most at home.
Travelling tourists arrive and depart Papeʻetē by private yacht or via cruise ship at Papeʻetē Harbour, or by air at Faʻaʻā International Airport, which was completed and opened in 1962.
Things to see in the town are
Today Quantum sidles into Papeete - in all her glory, albeit sans one engine. A chart of temperatures and rainfall tells me that Papeete experiences precipitation almost every day. With top temperatures in March of 35 degrees and lows of 24 degrees, it looks like we are in for a humid afternoon. Papeʻetē (French pronunciation) features a tropical monsoonal climate with a wet season and dry season, with high temperatures and humidity year round. However, precipitation is experienced even during the city's dry season. The dry season is short, covering only the months of August and September. The rest of the year is wet, with the heaviest precipitation falling in the months of December and January. Sunshine is moderately high, as most precipitation comes as thunderstorms and cyclones, and does not last for long.
The urban area of Papeʻetē had a total population of 136,771 inhabitants at the August 2017 census, 26,926 of whom lived in the commune of Papeʻetē proper. The urban area of Papeʻetē is made up of seven communes.
During the outbreak of World War 1 it was shelled by German vessels, causing loss of life and significant damage. However, the subsequent re-growth of the city was boosted by the decision to move the French nuclear weapon test range from Algeria which had become independent, to the atolls of Moruroa and Fangatufua some 1,500 km (930 mi) to the east of Tahiti. This was apparently motivated, by the construction of the Fa’a’a International Airport the only international airport in French Polynesia, near Papeʻetē. In 1983, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Pape’ete Tahiti Temple because of its large number of members in the region.
On 5 September 1995 the government of Jacques Chirac conducted the first of a series of nuclear test detonations off the shores of Moruroa. A resulting riot in Papeʻetē lasted for two days and damaged the international airport, injured 40 people, and scared away tourism for some time. Similar rioting had occurred after another French nuclear test in the same area in 1987.
98.4% of the population in the urban area reported that they could speak French. 96.7% reported that they could also read and write it. Only 0.7% of the population had no knowledge of French. At the same census where these figures were obtained, 83.9% of the population in the urban area of Papeʻetē whose age was 15 years and older reported that the language they spoke the most at home was French and 13.5% reported that Tahitian was the language they spoke most at home.
Travelling tourists arrive and depart Papeʻetē by private yacht or via cruise ship at Papeʻetē Harbour, or by air at Faʻaʻā International Airport, which was completed and opened in 1962.
Things to see in the town are
- The waterfront esplanade.
- Bougainville Park (once named Albert Park, in honour of a former Belgian king and World War One hero), is now named for Louis Antoine de Bougainville the first French explorer to circumnavigate the globe.
- Cathedral of Notre Dame of Pape’ete.
- The Territorial Assembly is the heart of the Polynesian government and contains the Territorial Assembly building, the High Commissioner's residence and also a once popular clubhouse of Paul Gauguin. It was also once the site of the royal residence and palace of Queen Pomare IV of Tahiti, who ruled from 1827 to 1877.
- Presidential palace.
- Pape’ete Market
- The Pape’ete Tahiti Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- The Monument to Paovana’a a Oopa a decorated (World War 1) hero, Tahitian nationalist and deputy to Paris for the Tahitian Territorial Assembly).
- The Mairie (town hall).
So today we are undertaking a half day visit to Moorea (pronounced Mo’ore’a - meaning yellow lizard) named fellow who is considered a friend on the island because he enjoys an unremitting diet of mosquitoes. The island’s first European visitor was Pedro Fernandez de Queiros in 1606 and in 1769 Samuel Wallis and James Cook landed in Tahiti. It is believed that Teraurs, a Polynesian Woman who accompanied the Bounty mutineers to Pitcairn Island, was from Mo’orea. More recently, I read that Marlon Brando grew to love this area after filming “Mutiny on the Bounty” here. He fell in love with a Polynesian woman and lived part of every year in Mo’orea throughout the remainder of his life.
The approximate population on Mo’orea is now 20,000 and locals live in about seven villages, most equipped with elementary/primary schooling. Students study university level in Papeete by making a ferry journey which departs at 5.00am and returns about 5.45pm. The most famous sight on Mo’orea is Cooks Bay or Opunohu Bay, where cruise ships, including ours anchor because of its depth. We get some wonderful pictures of the bay and its occupant today from Mt Mouaputa which are spectacular. We stop at a Pearl store which occupies many of the ladies on our bus tour. However, with currency conversions from the Franc to US dollar and thence to the Aust dollar, it quickly becomes obvious that the pearls are best left behind in their glass cabinets!
The approximate population on Mo’orea is now 20,000 and locals live in about seven villages, most equipped with elementary/primary schooling. Students study university level in Papeete by making a ferry journey which departs at 5.00am and returns about 5.45pm. The most famous sight on Mo’orea is Cooks Bay or Opunohu Bay, where cruise ships, including ours anchor because of its depth. We get some wonderful pictures of the bay and its occupant today from Mt Mouaputa which are spectacular. We stop at a Pearl store which occupies many of the ladies on our bus tour. However, with currency conversions from the Franc to US dollar and thence to the Aust dollar, it quickly becomes obvious that the pearls are best left behind in their glass cabinets!