Good Morning from the PACIFIC PRINCESS

[California Native]

That's fantastic!!!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!

5 days difference...now arent you wishing you took a little 7 day cruise sometime in the last 30 years or so....:D

that paperweight could have been YOURS!!!!

We had Sammis table last time and it was quite fun..

though when I glanced over at Ivanhos table they were in stitches!!!!

when you are invited in the future and if Sylvain is the future cruise consultant ask for his table....we had a blast and Captain Lupo even came over and said ...Im sitting here next time.....there was just A LOT of free flowing wine going on !!!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Congrats on being in the top three!

[Toto2Kansas]

Well, I found out today first hand what happens when the staff becomes ill onboard. It seems that our favorite waiter in Sabatinis (Joel) came down with something (brought onboard by a passenger I would guess as there has been quite a bit of coughing going on from those that boarded in Papeete from Spain) and he is now quarantined to his cabin for 3 days. I just dropped off a bag of cough drops for him that I found when sorting out things here (because of the last sea day) to get ready for packing up in the next few days. Poor guy, we miss him terribly, he is simply the best of the best!

[Pia1913]

That's fantastic!!!!!!

 

Congratulations!!!!!!!!

 

5 days difference...now arent you wishing you took a little 7 day cruise sometime in the last 30 years or so....:D

 

that paperweight could have been YOURS!!!!

 

We had Sammis table last time and it was quite fun..

 

though when I glanced over at Ivanhos table they were in stitches!!!!

 

when you are invited in the future and if Sylvain is the future cruise consultant ask for his table....we had a blast and Captain Lupo even came over and said ...Im sitting here next time.....there was just A LOT of free flowing wine going on !!!!

 

Karen, she will be getting one. All three get them. Only difference between first and third is that first gets better brand of champagne than numbers one and two.

[California Native]

Oh Good....

see the closest I have ever gotten was 9th place....

ok, so now I guess I should just admit this...

I blow off half of the Captains Circle Soirees...that's why I forgot that all 3 get the paperweight.

I mean if the Captain saw me earlier in the day...(entirely possible on small ships) and said I'll see you tonight ...then of course I would show up...

but otherwise..I'm usually doing something important like staring at the water ! :o:cool:

If anyone who hasn't been to a most travelled lunch is interested in viewing a few menus ...

you can find them here....

http://ourpassportstamps.com/MostTravelledLuncheon.html

[houch]

Toto,

I have been lurking, reading all your posts and have enjoyed each and every one of them. Your positive comments on small ships has made me even more excited for my Nov Holy Land cruise on the Royal in cabin 6093. First small ship and first aft balcony. Don't know if I will ever get to Tahiti so am enjoying it through your posts. Thank you for taking the time to take us with you and congrats on the most traveled!

[kruisey]

That cough is traveling around Vancouver all my friends have or got it.

I have been lucky so far it seems to be very catching. Extra hand washing is my hobby but does make these old hands even more lined and cracked.:eek:

 

Still enjoying your thread very much it has not been in the least boring especially your natural showers on balcony first leg.........:D

[caribill]

Do they still have the ice cream hour in the buffet each afternoon on the Pacific Princess?

 

On the ships that had "Scoops", they eliminated the buffet our and have free soft-serve all day at "Scoops." But the R-ships do not have a "Scoops".

[Toto2Kansas]

I only have a moment as we just had a special dessert delivered after dinner, shhhhhhhhhhh it's a secret or I would love to share with you where it came from. ;)

 

But I wanted to pop in here with the email address of the tour operator in Rangiroa I told you about, for those that needed it ASAP. Remember, I don't have any prices or any other info, but they are located right on the pier and their email address is rangiroa.paradive@mail.pf

 

If anyone does email them and receive any information, I am sure others would be really interested that will be visiting in the coming months.

 

OK, time to add to the calorie count again. This is something new they have just began serving (not in the main dining room) and we were told that we just had to try it.

[chamima]

Toto

How can you tease us with that new dessert? It's 7am here and my mouth is watering just imagining it! :eek:

 

Congratulations on being in the top three! We are doing a cruise like yours next year and will probably have 197 days at the beginning of the Tahiti cruise so we are hoping we'll also have a lot of newbies and can finally make it to the most traveled luncheon! (BTW - the last time we sailed Tahiti we also had a HUGE group of French people on board. They even had their own coordinator and set up a table in the lobby for only them. They were all pretty rude to the rest of the passengers and the staff.)

[flamomo]

My cruising friend and I were lucky enough to be invited to attend the Captain's "most traveled" luncheon and the bridge tour on the Tahitian last year in FP, as we are both "just" Platinum. We were really shocked to be invited, but afterward noticed that most of the passenger name cards outside the cabins were blue, so there were many first time Princess cruisers onboard.

Lucky for us, because we had a wonderful elegant lunch in Sabatini's with a ship's officer and the group at our table, and now are the proud owners of photos with the Captain and menues autographed by the Captain. Those are my most favorite cruise souvenirs.

[Starshine95123]

Congrats Toto. Was dessert good?

[GSDsky]

Well, I found out today first hand what happens when the staff becomes ill onboard. It seems that our favorite waiter in Sabatinis (Joel) came down with something (brought onboard by a passenger I would guess as there has been quite a bit of coughing going on from those that boarded in Papeete from Spain) and he is now quarantined to his cabin for 3 days. I just dropped off a bag of cough drops for him that I found when sorting out things here (because of the last sea day) to get ready for packing up in the next few days. Poor guy, we miss him terribly, he is simply the best of the best!

 

Hard to believe a passenger brought anything aboard. You know we all must fill out those forms prior to boarding about being sick.

Just read an article on how cruise line are helping to prevent the spreading of the H1N1 virus. Yes before boarding all passengers fill out a form and then with a straight face say "I am not sick". Those that say they are will either be questioned further or be told not to board.:rolleyes:

Take care you and hugs for my swimming bud... The guy with the bump on his head.

[Toto2Kansas]

I only have a moment this morning as we are ready to get off and meet Bruno for our tour. Had to check and see if I had an email from him one more time before leaving as we are trying to get another couple on the tour today that didn't pre-book.

 

OK, the dessert mystery that was delivered was Expresso Creme' Brulee.................and it was sooooooooooooooo good.

I took pictures of the food at the Most traveled luncheon yesterday and will post them later on.

 

Just not a lot of time with all these ports right now, but I will get them posted sooner or later I promise.

 

Gotta run, time to grab a quick coffee at Sabainis and then head ashore.

[snowman]

Toto: We are on the Golden and yesterday we bought FCC's and it said $100.00 PP are you finding that on your ship also?

[chamima]

I only have a moment this morning as we are ready to get off and meet Bruno for our tour. Had to check and see if I had an email from him one more time before leaving as we are trying to get another couple on the tour today that didn't pre-book.

 

OK, the dessert mystery that was delivered was Expresso Creme' Brulee.................and it was sooooooooooooooo good.

I took pictures of the food at the Most traveled luncheon yesterday and will post them later on.

 

Just not a lot of time with all these ports right now, but I will get them posted sooner or later I promise.

 

Gotta run, time to grab a quick coffee at Sabainis and then head ashore.

 

M-m-m-m-m !!!!

 

You said it wasn't from the MDR - where are they serving it?

[ellbon]

Congrats on being in the top three. what an honor.

[LA_FadeAway]

Enjoy your tour with Bruno Toto! Please let us know how it goes. We are already booked with Marc on Huahine, so I'm hesitant to book Bruno too since it sounds like a very similar tour. Then again, I'm not sure what else we would do on Raietea.

[Seal]

Enjoy your tour with Bruno Toto! Please let us know how it goes. We are already booked with Marc on Huahine, so I'm hesitant to book Bruno too since it sounds like a very similar tour. Then again, I'm not sure what else we would do on Raietea.

 

Go with Bruno--on the cruise of 10-19 we'll be taking Bruno for the 3rd time and Marc for the second--For what it's worth I like Bruno best--because of the Coral Gardens--I even hesitated about going with Marc again--My favorite for Huahine is the woman that does the shorex for Princess--Lunch in the water--dancing in the water--last year we had lunch etc in the calm water of the Bay and then walked across a strip of land to the ocean..

 

Nancy:D

 

Whatever you decide to do you should have a great time !!!!

[dorothyh]

Well, I found out today first hand what happens when the staff becomes ill onboard. It seems that our favorite waiter in Sabatinis (Joel) came down with something (brought onboard by a passenger I would guess as there has been quite a bit of coughing going on from those that boarded in Papeete from Spain) and he is now quarantined to his cabin for 3 days. I just dropped off a bag of cough drops for him that I found when sorting out things here (because of the last sea day) to get ready for packing up in the next few days. Poor guy, we miss him terribly, he is simply the best of the best!

 

If you see Joel before you leave, please tell him that we are wishing him a speedy recovery here from NJ!! He was great!

[LA_FadeAway]

Go with Bruno--on the cruise of 10-19 we'll be taking Bruno for the 3rd time and Marc for the second--For what it's worth I like Bruno best--because of the Coral Gardens--I even hesitated about going with Marc again--My favorite for Huahine is the woman that does the shorex for Princess--Lunch in the water--dancing in the water--last year we had lunch etc in the calm water of the Bay and then walked across a strip of land to the ocean..

 

Nancy:D

 

Whatever you decide to do you should have a great time !!!!

 

Thanks for the feedback Nancy. I think I am leaning toward booking Bruno. I've heard those coral gardens are awesome, although you can do those through the ship too and leave time for maybe a land based excursion as well. I bet the ship's tour isn't as good though and it costs a fortune.

[Toto2Kansas]

Oh My, am I tiered this evening. Bruno's tour ended up lasting 10 hours today. We didn't get back to the ship until after 6 PM. Missed the children's show that was at 5:00, all the shops were closed by the time we returned, so we just came to the suite and showered for dinner (which we missed at that late hour and just went up to the buffet for pizza).

I have to admit (unless we just hit him on an off day), I was not impressed at all as I was the last time we toured with Bruno. His english seems to be getting worse (if that is at all possible) and the tour has really changed since we were last here. Even the couple we were able to get on the tour I felt bad for, as it wasn't anything like we described to them.

A new Vanilla farm which was over run with ships tours and quite crowded, the same pearl farm, but several tours arriving at the same time. Hours at the old Lagoonarium (which we didn't feel was in very good shape whatsoever), and we also were served lunch there. No little motu with a great quiet lunch with our small group on a secluded beach. But our group plus another group sitting at long tables with unidentified food. Just nothing like it was several years ago.

Since there were so many people at the Lagoonarium, Bruno sort of dropped us off for about 30 minutes on the Motu across the way to snorkel, and there wasn't much there at all. Most of us just sat in the shallow water of the beach.

The tide must have been out at the Coral gardens, as snorkeling was close to impossible. We walked for blocks in water that wasn't much higher than ankle deep, and with the water so low, many bailed out before getting half way through the snorkel tour as the coral was just under the surface and they would have been beat half to death by the sharp formations.

I didn't even recognize Bruno this time, he has a very short hair cut and he has really aged. He was always laid back, but this time it was more like he was just going through the motions trying to get through the day by himself with no assists as he has had in the past.

Marc's tour (on the other hand) was absolutely fantastic the other day. No way at all to compare the two, Marc's won hands down on this trip.

I have to admit, after almost three weeks, and lots of tours, Bruno definitely disappointed me today. OK for us, but I really felt bad for those that were looking so forward to this tour and joined us at the last minute on my recommendation. But, all the other tours we have taken have been fantastic, so one that was not the greatest I can live with.

Dorothy, no sign of Joel yet, he must still be quarantined. They thought he might be back this AM, but still no Joel. I do hope he makes it back before we leave, we definitely miss him. But Johnny and Daniel are doing a great job of filling in for him. Marco has been so busy lately, if you think he looked tired before, you wouldn't recognize him now. We seem to see more of Roni then Marco the last few days. Marco is everywhere attempting to translate the menus for the French and Spanish onboard, and even working at the tour desk assisting to translate the tours. Poor guy, he really is working his tail off this past week.

Expresso Creme' Brulee is available at Sabainis, to answer the question asked.

snowman, yes, the same on all ships I have been told. One FCC per person is needed now to get all the benefits. Jennifer explained the change to me the other day fully. No way around it anymore, one FCC won't work anymore. :(

[chamima]

Hi Toto

Thanks for another great review. I almost feel like I am there with you in your great descriptions of everything.

Four years ago we did a B2B and went with Bruno once and Stephan once at Raiatea. Did you hear of anyone going with Stephan? His boat was much smaller than Bruno's but his tour was more fun and his wife made our lunch on a very small private motu. He also did tours out of Bora Bora that were great.

Glad to hear that Marc's was still good.

Enjoy your time in Paradise!

[Pia1913]

.

 

 

 

 

snowman, yes, the same on all ships I have been told. One FCC per person is needed now to get all the benefits. Jennifer explained the change to me the other day fully. No way around it anymore, one FCC won't work anymore. :(

 

I know it's so in actuality, however, the four FCC's I bought 10 days ago on the Coral are still being issued on the same forms. Does Jennifer have new forms?

[Seal]

What a surprise--our last trip with Bruno was a year ago March--so 1-1/2 years ago--at that time it was the same old Vanilla Plantation--no one but our boat--although it appeared that they had other visitors--just none that we saw--of course the black pearl stuff--have never seen anyone but our boat at either place--as for the Motu lunch--we have eaten on outdoor picnic table and inside--once there was a school visiting--I think

 

Can't imagine the water level etc.--it was never high--I think it may only have been about waist high getting out of the boat to walk to the coral gardens

 

Nancy:D