Not much has happened since the last update, we are continuing to read our guidebooks on the four Hawaiian Island stops to formulate a plan for each stop there.
Below is some information on our preliminary plans for specific excursions we are looking at doing for Bora Bora. Other ports of call will be detailed as we firm up our plans.
Bora Bora
The first stop in the Polynesian Islands is on the island of Bora Bora. The ship anchors in Pofai Bay near the town of Vaitape, which does not have a dock of sufficient size for us to berth at. Therefore, we have to go ashore on the ship’s tenders.
Once ashore, we are scheduled for an excursion with Patrick Tairua, one of the more sought after guides. We learned about Patrick from some of the web sites on Bora Bora excursions, and also through the Cruise Critic Forum area for this cruise. It is only by chance that we were able to get a reservation for Patrick’s 3/4 Day Lagoon and Polynesian Lunch Excursion. Apparently a large group organized through the Cruise Critic’s web site had already booked most of Patrick’s boats. However, we learned that Patrick was purchasing a new, larger boat, and so we sent him an email requesting reservations on the new boat. The new boat was still being developed, and it was a few weeks later that the new boat’s construction was confirmed, and we were also confirmed as being reserved on this tour.
This was our first exposure to the limitations that we may face on some of these islands being on such a large cruise ship. Since some of the people on this cruise had visited the Polynesian Islands before, they were already aware of the best excursions, and had reserved most of the available spaces several months ago. The cruise line will not be releasing their excursion list for the cruise until later in June, so many folks were going forth with their independent excursion plans with the smaller, local guides, knowing there were limited numbers of available tours and capacities.
Here is the link to Patrick’s web site, Maohi Nui. Look at the ¾ day Excursion, with Polynesian lunch on a private island, for the description of the excursion we are signed up for.
More Details to follow