Carnival Legend Review September 23, 2016 Hawaii - Sydney

[sydney chic]

Review carnival legend 9/22/16

 

After we booked this cruise I started looking on cc to find a review and couldn't find one, so I thought I'd write one just in case other people are thinking of doing this one!

 

This is a repo cruise from Honolulu to Sydney. Ports are Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora, Suva, Noumea. 18 days.

 

I travelled with my friend, we are both 33 years old from Australia. Disclosure about us - we LOVE cruising, so we are very easily pleased. Have only cruised with Carnival and only around the Caribbean and Bahamas. This is my seventh and Sim's fifth. We can't stand people who make major fusses over tiny issues. You're still on holidays, just enjoy it! We also love food. Never really had a problem with carnivals food - some is always better than others. But this review is probably going to mainly be about food and ports haha. Anyways. Feel free to ask any questions as I go.

 

The Legend is a totally different to any of the other ships I've been on. We had balcony room 5197, which was interconnecting. Thankfully very lucky to have quiet neighbours through the thin door, but they did enjoy slamming the balcony door early in the morning!

 

Here we go! (Also apologies for grammar, posting issues, etc. Never done one of these)

[sydney chic]

Day 1 - Sydney to HNL via AKL

Finding a one way flight to HNL was expensive! So instead of flying Jetstar direct and having to add on all the extras, we went with Air NZ and had a stop in AKL airport for three hours. First flight was great, we got a sky couch so our foot rest came up to 90 degrees. These seats are super comfy anyway, but that was nice to have! 3 hours later we landed in AKL airport. Whisked through internal security for transfers and on to the international terminal.

 

We had prepaid entry into the Emperor's Lounge, only $49 when you book online. This isn't associated with an airline, just the airport. Highly recommended!! It was fantastic! If you don't prebook it's more expensive, only like $5 or $10 more. But there are fantastic showers there and shower packs you can use. Free wifi, Lounges, computers and a large buffet of hot food and finger food. All alcohol is also included! Fantastic NZ wines and all spirits as well.

 

So after lunch and a great shower and a few wines (just to help me sleep on the plane of course!) we boarded the next flight for 8 hours. Unfortunately we didn't get a lot of sleep on this one. Lots of coughing and talking and kicking around us. But it was only us two in a three seater so we were comfortable. Great food and service.

 

 

 

Landed in HNL at 730am and we were staying at the Princess Sheraton Kalauni. We booked a shuttle through the hotels website with Roberts transport. They were great! They gave us a beautiful flower lei and off we went. Forty minutes later (peak hour traffic) and we were at the hotel - Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. They were fantastic there. Obviously our room wasn't ready but they gave us a hospitality room for an hour to shower and change. Stored our bags with the bell desk and headed off to Ala Moana.

 

After sitting on the plane for so long we decided to walk there. It was an easy half an hour walk, very safe. After shopping for about 5 hours we decided to hit up Walmart for our toiletries and snacks for the cruise. Also some naughty contraband. (Which successfully all got on - No judging here!) Walmart, Ross and Walgreens is two blocks behind Ala Moana, away from the water. Again, easy walk.

 

After that we were EXHAUSTED! 25000 steps and a cab ride later we are back at the hotel trying to repack our purchases. The good thing about cruising home is that we don't have to worry about weight restrictions.

Then we shower and head down to the Cheesecake Factory. We get given a buzzer and told to come back in an hour. So we walked around, had a look in Macy's, bought some Christmas presents (everything is just so much cheaper over here!)

 

Then in to Cheesecake Factory for a delicious meal and a takeaway slice!

 

 

 

Now Sim and I love food. We are trying to not stack on the weight on this holiday, but we take the stairs everywhere and share a dessert. I tried to remember to take photos of the menus and all the food we got but I know I forgot some. Sorry in advance! For dinner Sim got this massive guacamole salad (I HATE coriander/cilantro so that wasn't for me!!) I got a combo meal of chicken Madeira and steak dianne. Managed to finish all the meat but nothing else!

Then a piece of lemon meringue cheesecake for dessert, but take away. Back to our room with really sore feet and we pass out!!!

 

Day 2 - Snorkel and Embarkation Day

After not enough sleep, the alarm goes off at 6am. We are being picked up at 645 by Ike to go and snorkel at Hanauma Bay! Ike is fantastic. Use him if you are ever in Hawaii and want to visit the bay.

 

He can take you right in because he has a large car, not a van. Using a van means you have to be dropped outside and walk. It's $25 per person, includes pick up and drop off and all snorkelling equipment. He also gives you a voucher for a free mai tai at his brothers bar in Waikiki! He shows you the best places to snorkel and gives you a lesson on how to use his stuff. Sim and I have our own equipment. We met some lovely people that were in the car with us.

 

We chose the earliest pick up as it gets PACKED there. It was already crowded when we went in but not too bad. You have to pay an entry fee of $7.50 per person. It is a protected bay so you have to watch a safety and history video first. It's only ten minutes and very informative! We walk down the massive hill (there is a shuttle for $1.25 a trip).

 

We head straight into the water. Unfortunately today is pretty choppy and visibility isn't great. It's really shallow so you have to really pay attention otherwise you end up on top of the coral. There is a food stall outside the park, you can get a stamp for multiple entry and exit. We get the shuttle back up the hill and then straight back to the hotel.

 

 

We shower, change, check out and ask them to mind our now super heavy bags. We head over to Duke's for breakfast/lunch. I had a delicious pulled pork burger and sim had fish tacos. Then a last wander around Waikiki and back to the hotel.

 

Our check in time is 2-3. The cab drops us off at 1.50pm. Perfect! We grab a porter and tip him nicely to take our 4 bags. The line wasn't too bad to get through security, about ten minutes and we are putting our carry on through the scanner. The terminal is DEAD!

 

There are about 35 check in counters and only half have people with them.

 

Now here is where things change. I'm not sure if it's just this repo cruise and specific ports that Carnival are doing this for, or all international ones now. We had to hand in our passports for most of the cruise. We picked them up again after Tahiti. They said it was to streamline the entry into each port. You could tell everyone felt very uneasy about it, but if we didn't hand it in, we couldn't board. We were given a receipt number for our passports, our gold sail and sign cards and headed up to get our photo taken.

 

Now Sim and I like to have some fun, so we thought we'd dress up a little for this shot!

 

Once onboard we headed straight to the dining room to speak to the maitre'd about getting a table for two instead of the 12 seater we were at. He said all requests would be looked at and we would get a note in our room with our new table number.

 

We then headed to our room to drop our carry on off and two bags were already there! Perfect!

 

We wanted to get off and grab some soda, so we put on our sneakers and headed back outside. This is where Carnival Australia possibly let themselves down in communication with the port. But it worked in our favour!

 

We spoke to a security guard to confirm what we could bring on.

His words - 'look, you can really bring as much soda as you can carry on. And a bottle of wine each. We just care about the liquor'. We also asked about bottles of water and he said we could bring them on too. (Carnival Australia doesn't have the fun shops online to purchase things before the cruise, so we couldn't pre order bottled water).

 

So off we went on a little walk. We knew there was a Walmart in downtown Honolulu. We walked around this beautiful area with street art everywhere. It was stunning. Then on King Street we found another Ross, a smaller Walmart and Walgreens. This area has a lot of homeless in it. They approached for money but once we said no they moved away. So you just need to be firm. To find this area from the port, you exit the car park, turn left and head up Bishop Street and turn left on to King Street. It's about fifteen minutes. However with some more clothes, two 12 packs of Coke Zero, one 12 pack of ginger ale, two bottles of wine and four massive bottles of water it was a long walk!!

 

 

We didn't want to push it with the big case of 32 bottles of water. We had everything in carry bags from Ross so we didn't flaunt it. But security didn't care! Straight through, no lines and back on the ship. Another bag had shown up so we started unpacking. Then showered, changed and headed to dinner for the late seating - 745pm.

 

 

The Legend only has one dining room, it's pretty massive though. So anyone who wants anytime dining lines up there as well. It's the old menu, not American Table dining. And quite Aussie-fied. Everyday menu has chicken schnitzel, etc.

 

Our wait staff were FANTASTIC! Suwarma, Aditya, Tirta. So friendly and personable. Even the drinks waiter was awesome! Previous cruises we have had to wait a long time for drinks or just had bad service.

But I ordered a bottle of wine and he kept popping by to see if I wanted a refill or anything different. We had a great time in the dining room.

 

I LOVE the Carnival spring rolls, so that plus a salad with no dressing was my first appetiser. (Side note - Australians call appetisers - Entrees. We call entrees main meal.)

 

Sim had the Tom Yum soup. She said it was lovely. For my main I had the Cantonese prawns with rice. Sim had grilled mahi mahi but substituted mac and cheese for mash. For dessert we shared a creme brûlée, but we didn't finish it.

 

We then walked around and explored until the super late muster at 10pm. They were knocking on doors and walking everyone up, so there were a lot of people in pyjamas! We were still jet lagged and shattered, so headed down to bed straight after muster. What a day!

[sydney chic]

Day 3 - Sea Day 1

A couple of other differences with the Legend and Australia cruising - There's no Guys burgers or Blue Iguana, but there is Serenity and Red Frog Bar. You have to pay for room service here as well.

 

Now because we have five sea days in a row straight away, we weren't sure what to expect with the sea day brunch. And sure enough after reading the fun times, it wasn't offered on the first sea day. So we slept in then headed up to the lido for buffet. I got a bit of everything to start with, it was all really good. AND NO BACON POLICE! Aussie bacon tastes a bit different to Canadian bacon. But it was just all there and you could help yourself.

 

Today was always going to be a super lazy day for both of us. We had both worked right up until the day we left and had really busy weekends, so we were looking forward to doing nothing.

 

We decided to walk around the ship outside to familiarise ourselves as it was dark last night when we went exploring. It was soooo windy! Then we went inside and discovered the super cute enchanted forest around near a kids club (not sure which one) and took some pictures there.

 

Theatre

 

Gigabytes

 

Enchanted Forest Ceiling

 

Sim enjoying the view

 

Library

 

The fun shops were open but far too crowded to see anything. It was raining outside so clearly everyone had come in. We then stopped off at the casino and had a little bit of a win. Continued the exploring then back to our room to sit on the balcony and read. We were starboard so we got the sun in the afternoon. I started getting sleepy so had a GLORIOUS afternoon nap! Then we woke up and went to serenity for a hot tub and watched a fantastic sunset.

 

 

Back to the room for a shower and we headed down to dinner. We were seated on level 2. Being on level 5 was actually great because it was so easy to run up or down a few flights of stairs!

[sydney chic]

Tonight I had the tuna and beetroot appetiser and also a fire roasted little chicken drummette. Both delicious! For my main I had crispy pork with veggies. Nice bit of chilli in there!

 

Sim had the mussels to start and the mushroom pasta for main. The pasta was a pretty small serving.

 

Everyday Menu

 

Today's Menu

 

Mussels

 

Sorry about the blurry!

 

Chicken drumette

 

[sydney chic]

 

 

 

Then the waiters danced for us! I got up and joined in, along with another family. So much fun! Then I ordered the strawberry dessert. Fantastic but once again couldn't finish it!!

Sim wanted to try some of the other stuff that was on the menu, so we went up to the buffet for samples. Everything tasted great - yet again! Then we hit the casino. Had a great time playing, but this time the slot machine decided to not be as friendly!

Oh I should mention - there is no smoking inside now. Not in the casino or the nightclub. Only smoking areas are outside on deck 10, I think starboard. This is probably for Australian laws.

Up to pizza pirate for a quick pizza! They also had fresh bread rolls with shrimp and avocado. Someone ordered a gluten free pizza and it actually looked fantastic.

 

Watched some tv then headed to bed.

It was a pretty rocky night for the ships movement!!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Nice photos. Following.

[sydney chic]

Day 4 - Sea Day 2

Another glorious sleep in until about 930. Took my time getting ready then we headed to sea day brunch. I was looking forward to the pork chop and sim was excited for tomato soup and huevos rancheros - alas these have been taken off the menu!

Sim had eggs with some extra stuff and I had steak and eggs. Once again couldn't finish it! So much food!

 

 

 

 

https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6cf26b3127cceeddb5bf728bc00000030O10QaNGjlw2ZuQe3nw4/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00903680944420161107233431099.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D1/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

 

We sat and did the crossword and sudoku then headed back to the room to get changed. I was determined to get sun today!!

We set up camp outside the stage area on lido deck. There are so many places to lay out, not so many chair hogs. Maybe helped that it was about 11am?

Anyway next to us was a restaurant called Freshies. This is where Guys burgers normally is. This has fresh seafood and burgers for a cost. Not too expensive though.

 

Freshies

 

 

Unfortunately the weather was against us! After about an hour and a half the rain kicked in. HARD. So we went inside and found the pies and snags place and shared a delicious beef rendang pie. Had some mash and mushy peas on top. And my weakness - chips and gravy! Everything tasted fantastic. The rain was really hard now and the captain told us we were about to hit some 2m swells. So we decided to head back to our balcony and see if it was getting rained on. It was mainly clear so we sat outside and read our books - and I started this review!

 

 

[sydney chic]

After about half an hour we decided to hit the gym to work off some of the wine and desserts! An hour later we went back and changed and sat in the sauna and the hot tub for a while.

 

 

 

 

Then I went and got a sandwich from the deli for us to share with a cup of tea and sim had a nap. She woke up when there was an emergency medical call to a room just near ours. I ended up dozing off for a little bit after that.

Then we got up and got ready for dinner with our fabulous team again.

 

We LOVE the mushroom soup so super excited to have this tonight. I also had duck dumplings which were amazing. For my main I had steak and sim had the fish in the banana leaf. We shared the apple pie for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sydney chic]

 

 

Then off to Follies for Motor City show! I really like this type of music so was excited to see a different cast perform it. And they didn't disappoint! Strong vocalists and all very capable and comfortable up there.

 

 

 

 

We then moved into the atrium bar and listened to Brett on his guitar. Gorgeous voice. We bought his cd for $10 and he was so grateful and sweet! Then to the casino and managed to break even. Back to the room to sleep!

[sydney chic]

Day 5 - Sea Day 3

Woke up at about 830 and went for a nice walk around deck 10. Four laps is a mile. Then we noticed a big sale from the fun shops on Lido deck. They had tables of clothes all cheap. Two shirts for $22. Or the Alaska shirts were 2 for $5! We bought a tank top and a Tshirt. Then into the buffet for some oatmeal and fruit, and back to our balcony to enjoy it. Then FINALLY the sun was shining!! Time to change and head up to the Lido deck to find my spot for the day! All three main areas had space, but I knew they would get crowded. Serenity was insanely full already and the main Lido area still had that sale on, so I set up at the back where there was another pool, hot tub and a giant chess area. This is also a smoking area, but it wasn't too bad as there was a nice breeze. After a few hours we moved over to the main pool area and got ourselves a hamburger and salad. This is kind of like guys. There's a station where you can add all your toppings and sauce, but they don't taste as good.

 

 

The equator crossing ceremony was taking place at 3pm and it was now about 1, so we decided to move upstairs to deck 10 overlooking the main area so we could see (sim is super short). Alas, just before two we were told that all the chairs and deck chairs from deck 9 and 10 would be packed up. It's understandable, they want all 3000 people to be able to see. So we sat on the ground claiming our spot!

 

So basically this ceremony is then just picking on different staff members. Engine room crew, bar tenders, waiters, kids club workers and the performers. They went before triton to receive their sentence then had to kiss the fish (a giant fish bought out early on) then had to stand in a blow up pool whilst the rest of the staff threw eggs, spaghetti and pasta sauce at them. It was pretty funny. Especially when the playlist performers started fighting back and it literally became a MASSIVE food fight. The people sitting on deck 9 were victims of mis-thrown food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as the ceremony was over we escaped to our room. By this stage I was BURNT. I did reapply my sunscreen, but I think standing watching the ceremony just tipped it off.

 

Standard afternoon read on the balcony and nap time, then time to get ready for formal night!

[sydney chic]

The menu is very different to American formal night. Alas, no lobster. (Unless you eat in the steakhouse - Noveau. This has a $45 Aussie dollar charge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a prawn cocktail and spring rolls to start, sim had a salad. For main she went with the prawns (TINY MEAL) and I had the pork steak. If you are a big eater I would go with the steak, then prawns on the side and make your own surf and turf.

Apple turnover thing for dessert, one of my favourites! Then they sang to us which was lovely. Only three tables in my section were being used, so our staff were even more attentive than usual. They are such a friendly team.

 

We went and got changed after dinner as I was freezing in my dress due to the sunburn. Off to the casino for a while and once again didn't do too badly. Then a glorious walk around the decks where we discovered serenity is open til midnight.

Some pizza, water and a shower later - off to bed!

[sydney chic]

Day 5 - Sea Day 4

Today the sea was a lot rockier than it has been. We slept in and headed up to Lido for breakfast. I love the continental with all the fruit and bircher museli.

We also got little certificates to say we crossed the Equator!

We then decided to take a stroll around serenity and found an empty hammock! Sim hopped on whilst I changed then vice versa.

After an about an hour and a swim in the pool (serenity has a pool and a hot tub) we started feeling a bit sick. I think the combination of the boat rocking along with the hammock swaying just set us off. So we went back to our room to have some Dramamine which of course made us zombies!! A little read and a MASSIVE nap later we felt much better.

A nice walk around the ship, some delicious taste bar (nouveau restaurant sample - taste bar is on deck 2) then we got ready for dinner.

 

 

Dinner was 'island cuisine' and when we went back to our room we would find Lei's (but these would come in handy on sea day 5!!). I had the coconut prawns and chicken wing to start. Sim had chicken wing and coconut dumpling soup. For main we both had chicken breast.

Sim had guava empanada for dessert and I had mango brûlée. They were both tasty, but nothing to write home about haha.

 

Afterwards we went for a big walk and decided to head to bed.

[sydney chic]

Day 6 - Sea Day 5

The last sea day in this stretch!! It almost feels like the end of this holiday. Today was AWESOME. We really made the most of this day.

Went for a mile walk up on deck ten to start the day (it was HOT). Then off to sea day brunch. I got coco pop French toast (I only ate a quarter of it) and two poached eggs just in case I didn't like it. (I ate one of them). Sim got the smoked salmon breakfast with poached eggs on the side.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we were seated at the back of the ship and it was super rocky. So we ate and left. Then we did our sudoko's on our balcony and headed up to deck 10. It was pretty much empty (except the clam shells) so we took one in the sun and one in the shade. We stayed here for about an hour (well sim ran around and I stayed in the sun) and then we found a clam shell that was empty. We set up shop and hung some towels so we didn't get too much sun and decided to go crazy on the slides! The green slide gives a MASSIVE WEDGIE!!! But is so so so much fun. The floor drops from under you and then you just fly. The yellow one is fun but no where near as fast. Then we went back to our room. Sim went to the gym and I went for a big walk around deck 10 again.

 

Then back to the room for a shower and change ready for carnivals Polynesian party!!! This was AWESOME!!

Basically from 445-530 and then again from 630-715 it was free drinks. White wine, red wine, Virgin cocktails and insanely strong rum punches! This was in the lobby level 2. We polished off a couple of these in the first session, whilst listening to the Polynesian music. We couldn't see the dancers properly because it was too crowded.

 

 

 

[sydney chic]

We then decided to go to sushi for a quick bite because we were drinking on an empty stomach. Nigiri and salad, delicious!

Then back to the second round of drinks but this time we got in early and sat at the bar so we could watch the dancers properly.

Grabbed some takeaway wines to take back to the room hehe.

Got ready for dinner and off we went (feeling very happy).

I had spring rolls and sim had a wonton soup. For mains I had a chateaubriand and sim had prawns. I had the pineapple dessert which was really nice and fresh.

 

We had the best intentions to go to the Polynesian deck party at 1030, but we ended up packing our bags for Papeete and heading to bed! (Or passing out... whatever you choose to believe!)

[tdh8359]

Following, great job so far.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Nice job, looking forward to more. One of these types of cruises is on my bucket list. :)

 

Love the Legend, one of my friends lost her cruise virginity on her. lol :D

[seabrookcruiser]

Sydney Chic,

 

So excited to see this review as we are doing this cruise in September 2017. Thanks for al the menus and pics you are posting--very informative. Looking forward to reading more.:)

[sydney chic]

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments! Feel free to ask any questions as I go.

[sydney chic]

Day 7 - Papeete

Something you guys need to know - I don't really do carnival excursions. I find them expensive and overcrowded. I love doing research on CC and trip advisor and seeing what you guys recommend. So for Papeete I had pre booked (but not paid) for Tahiti Discovery.

 

Land!

 

This was a full tour of the island and a swim in a fresh water lake. It was FANTASTIC. Us and and three couples. One from the cruise (Jeremy and Helen - fantastic kiwis) a Swiss couple and a couple from Paris.

 

An open air truck met us at the dock (which actually took us a couple of laps to find) and we met xxxx dressed in traditional clothing. His family owned half the land in the mountains so he was very passionate about everything. We first stopped at a lookout for stunning photos.

We had to change into our bathing suits so he took us into his village so we could use a public restroom and he could eat breakfast! Then on our way again. We stopped at the entrance to the mountains where he gave all the ladies beautiful hibiscus flowers and showed us how to hook them in our glasses so they didn't fall out. Second stop was to show us the 'tattoo' fern. That was awesome.

Then he took the roof off and we got to stand up in the 4wd whilst he drove through the mountains. Then he stopped in a clearing where we ate a flower that tasted exactly like mushrooms! He said they used them in their salads. He also showed us a fern that when you stroke its leaves, it shrinks and wilts. It's a built in defence mechanism, very cool.

 

 

 

More to come!

[sydney chic]

An amazing day that had lots of different stops, it was so worth it. 8 hours for $65 US. We had to pay for our own lunch in the mountains but the whole meal for two people plus drinks was only about $50 Aussie. And so amazing. Local tuna marinated in coconut milk and a chicken and spinach dish. Tasted amazing and really big portions.

 

 

 

On our way back to the port he stopped on the side of the road because he had spotted a whale!! We stopped there for about ten minutes and saw heaps breaching and travelling through. It was amazing. Then back to the wharf, had a look through the shops and back onboard. Amazing day. Super sunburnt but met some lovely people and saw a stunning island.

So in Papeete the ship wasn't leaving until 11pm and our guide today told us there would be some great food trucks by the wharf at 6pm. Once we were dropped off we headed back to our room to drop off our bags then look for a potential dinner spot. To be honest nothing really looked amazing. We had such a great lunch that we didn't need any of the tuna sashimi they were offering. We bought some mor bug spray (ziki virus boo) and then walked to a froyo place that offered free wifi with a purchase. Done! Sim had a coconut froyo and we both enjoyed the wifi for about 20 minutes, more than we both needed to touch base with the families. Then back to the ship for a shower and change!

 

[sydney chic]

Dinner tonight was chicken tenders and spring rolls for appetiser for me and mussels and chicken avocado soup for sim. Main was chicken schnitzel for sim and for me was a Vietnamese prawn dish. Now I have to say I HATE cilantro (coriander). I asked our wonderful Aditya if it had cilantro and he said oh I don't think so! Unfortunately... it did. I ate a shrimp and tried to push through but it was all the way through! I hate to cause a fuss but I couldn't eat it. Literally ten seconds later he bought me a chicken schnitzel and asked if I would like that instead. Amazing service. Just made our cruise. And the chicken was great!! Shared a melting chocolate cake and then we headed to the theatre.

 

 

When we left the ship in the morning we saw a big group coming on board and realised that they were the group of Polynesian performers for that nights. (We noticed that the playlist performers had only performed twice so far). The Polynesian group were AMAZING. The girls hips - oh my goodness. Awesome show but we were exhausted from an actual day off ship and we headed to bed afterwards.

 

 

Side note - our guide today told us that in Moorea we should arrange to snorkel with the whales that we had seen. I had pre arranged, but not paid for, a tour with captain tiana. Just a snorkel tour of the island for about $100 AUD. Upon the recommendation of our guide - I emailed her and cancelled when we were in wifi.

[sydney chic]

Day 8 - Moorea

 

Off the ship nice and early to hopefully find a whale tour! Alas, we were told by the local that these need to be pre-booked and no one was at the port today offering that. But he was super helpful and pointed out a couple of options to us. He said he was part of Albert's and I remembered reading that they were good, so we decided to go with them. It was $40 US (4000xpf) per person (the one I originally booked was 9500xpf per person - so I didn't mind saving a bit!)

The boat held 60 people, so it was a little more crowded than a private tour. They took us out to an area where sharks and rays were just chilling and swimming through us!! Very cool to swim with. We weren't allowed to explore very far and some people kept being called back in.

Then they took us over to an island where they dropped us all off (this was the main Island for snorkelling, all the companies did drop offs here and the hotels - and carnival).

They said the boat would be back every hour and a half to take us back if we wanted to go back. We jumped right in with my massive full face snorkel, perfect for shallow snorkelling. It was AMAZING. Especially after Hawaii didn't have great visibility. So many fish and so much coral. We stayed for about three hours and caught the last shuttle back. Only possible downside is that when we paid they said there would be a buffet lunch on the island that we could pay $10 (1000xpf) for. We were dropped on one side and I think the buffet was all the way on the other side. So that was a bit annoying, but we found someone who was doing fresh coconuts and mango at the port!

[sydney chic]

I bought a gorgeous necklace and earrings set from the local markets for $20. Very unique. Then onboard for lunch, shower and watch the boat leave this stunning island.

You had to tender to this island

 

Off to dinner with our fabulous team of waiters.

I had the beef carpaccio and the tuna to start (tuna was much better in Papeete) and sim had the prawn tapas. For mains sim had the steak and chips and I had the best meal of the cruise!!!! (Except the steakhouse). It was the pork dish (I love pork) and it had this amazing curry style sauce with chilli all the way through it. So so tasty. Dessert we shared an apple strudel. We went off to look at all our photos in pixels then the casino for a little bit. Back to the room to pack our bags for bora bora!

[sydney chic]

Day 9 - Bora Bora

Now Bora Bora has always been on my bucket list to see. So for my birthday (which was a week before the cruise) sim bought me a tour that I had researched.

Also, this day got confusing because it was the start of daylight savings at home and there was a tiny note in the fun times about it but no big announcement so we really didn't know what was going on. Long story short, we woke up at 715 when we had to tender and meet the guy at 8am. Eek!! So glad we packed the night before. Quick yoghurt and museli and off to the tenders. Luckily the trip was so short and there was no line so we didn't need a tender ticket. We found our guy and the other family and one girl by herself that would be coming with us on the snorkelling tour of the island.

It was overcast and spitting but nothing too bad. Not going to let it ruin our day! Our boat was a gorgeous island style boat with our guide - check. His first name was insanely long so he said just call me check like checking a microphone!

 

Off to the first stop with plenty of history and commentary on the way. More rays and sharks!!! Amazing. Because it was a great small group we were able to get close and touch them and even have a kiss! He was so comfortable with the rays. Unfortunately as I was getting back into the boat one whipped around too fast and the tail got my leg. Nothing too bad, but gosh it stung and bled a bit. Check cleaned it up and off we went to the coral gardens. This was some of the best snorkelling I've seen. I borrowed one of his masks because you can't dive in the full face mask. The locals have written I love bora bora in coral for photos and they are just so at home in the water. It's so great to see. As someone who is first in the water and last out, I love seeing people comfortable in the ocean! I have photos of this on my underwater camera, I just haven't uploaded those ones yet!

Off to our fourth stop with some ukelele playing by check. Very skilled - steered the boat with his feet so he could play!

He took us past quite a few of the hotels that have the overwater bungalows. Hilton is getting a full renovation so that was cool to see all the machinery on barges in the ocean to get the work done.

 

Then out to the deep ocean for SHARKS. This was incredible. He threw some meat into the ocean and they came flocking. So many of them. Then he said ok you can get in. So off I went! Instantly hundreds of fish in the water around us and the clearest deepest water. Incredible. We could see all the way to the bottom - to the scuba divers! And all the sharks that were circling our boat. It was super choppy out there so we had to hold on to the boat or the rope he put out for us, but it didn't matter. It was mainly the black tipped sharks again but down the bottom were massive lemon sharks. Mama and her bubba. But bubba was still about 5 feet long... AMAZING. Then another boat turned up and threw some more food in for them so we got very close to the sharks for a bit! That got the heart started! We spent about an hour here. Then we drove to the other side of the island with more commentary along the way. He stopped in the beautiful light blue shallow water for us to just relax and swim. It was a bit cold by this stage, but the water was super warm so we just stayed in out of the wind. If the sun was shining that would have been an even more perfect end to the day. He cut up some coconuts and fruit for us to enjoy as well. Back to the port for us and of course the sun starts coming out.

There were a few shops in the street behind the port so we went off exploring. We came across a cafe with wifi if we bought something so we grabbed some drinks and touched base with home. Then I got a couple of expensive souvenirs and we headed back to the tender. Last tender was 3.15 and we got on the 3pm tender. Probably the closest I've been time wise! Made me a little bit nervous! But turns out a Carnival excursion was super late back so the last tender was 4pm.

 

Because this was such an incredible day we decided to go to the steakhouse for dinner. We do this on every cruise and have never been disappointed.

First up was the little sampler from the chef. Salmon and corn soup for one and a little lemon toast thing with prawn on it. Then fresh bread with homemade pumpkin butter, regular butter and a tomato confit that was just incredible.