We saw lots of fruit throughout our tour.
Our tour guide and driver cutting a pineapple that he picked up at the side of the road for us.
We had a beautiful day in Moorea.
As our tender was making its way to the tender drop off point we were welcomed by some locals in canoes.
One of the Tenders that operated between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM today to take people between the Crystal Serenity and the Island of Moorea.
Welcome To Moorea, Society Islands – Day 26
We just want to begin by saying that during the last 24 hours the glass was not just half full it was doubly full. We enjoyed just a spectacular night on the ship last evening between dinner and the production show Across The Pond and an equally special day on the island of Morrea, which is a very special island.
Highlights From Yesterday And Today
Across The Pond
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The performance of Crystal’s newest production show is very uplifting with all of the music from the 1960’s and the 1970’s. The songs, music and the dancing is memorable. The performers clearly put their hearts into this performance and we believe that others share our enthusiasm for this show as much as we do. We had a great seat in the front row. Every person we spoke with enjoyed the show and this show seemed to generate the most energy of any of the Crystal Cruises Production Shows.
Moorea Four Wheel Drive Safari Adventure
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This was a wonderful tour. It was one of the best ones we have been on. We only had twelve people who took the tour and 2 four-wheel drive vehicles to easily accommodate all of us. We were also joined by one of the shore excursion staff and the ships photographer. We had a great tour guide and the fellow passengers on our 4X4 were great. This was our second time to the island of Moore and the first time we took a tour that took us off-road where we could see the natural beauty of this island including majestic hills and valleys. We enjoyed wonderful panoramic views of Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay and we had the opportunity to see the mountain known as Magic Mountain. The world in which we live on is full of beauty and certainly this island in the middle of the Pacific is one examples of what makes our planet so majestic.
Now, Keith is not big on heights and the beginning of the tour was a challenge but he did splendidly. We drove up a very high hill as we made our way back and forth around the hill and drove higher and higher and higher. We were driving on a very thin road with not much room for error. It is a long story but at one point we had to drive up the last portion of the hill backwards, but we made it. When we got out of the 4X4 the driver/tour guide told us this was the first time he had ever driven but he was kidding. We then walked up another portion to the very top of the hill and enjoyed spectacular views. What a day.
Before we begin, we wanted to note that we are keeping up with the news out of Cairo and Egypt. One of the benefits of travel is seeing places around the world through our own eyes rather then through others. We are not surprised at the uprising-taking place in Egypt given what we have seen on each of our visits to Egypt. There is no question that there are major challenges in this country with respect to lack of certain rights for the people and also the poverty that many live in. Having spent almost a month in the Middle East in 2010, one of our takeaways was that in the coming years there will be problems in other countries in the region including Saudi Arabia if they do not give more rights to their people. Given the vast resources and wealth that some enjoy in Saudi Arabia, we were surprised to see as much poverty as we observed. Our takeaway is that some countries understand the situation and examples that come to mind are Jordan and Oman but that other countries but that in other countries there is tremendous unrest for those who are part of the “have not” population.
Before dinner last evening, Keith went back to the Fitness Center since he didn’t play paddle tennis due to the rain. The weather kept changing throughout the afternoon from sunny and warmer weather to rain showers with winds making it seem a bit cooler. He worked out for another 45 minutes on the Elliptical Machine and did stretching and some weight lifting.
We had a wonderful time on the ship last evening as we sailed to Moorea. The evening attire was informal. The recommended attire for women was cocktail party dresses or pants and for men it was a jacket and slacks with an optional tie.
We sat at the Crystal Cove Lounge and had a glass of Perrier before we dined in the Main Dining Room. We spoke with Lido Deck Stewards Danny and Reggie who work at the lounge before dinnertime and then we sat with a woman who travels solo who we have known for several years. We also spoke with another couple Stanley and Edna who are frequent World Cruisers who boarded the ship in Honolulu.
We had dinner in the Main Dining Room and once again it was very special between the wonderful cuisine, service and the overall ambience of the Main Dining Room.
The appetizers included a Crispy Shrimp Roll, Fresh Ahi Tuna Tartar, and Roasted Vegetable Terrine.
The soups and salads included Pureed Sweet Potato Soup, Chicken Consommé, Mixed Greens and Heart of Romaine Lettuce.
The pasta special featured Orechiette Pasta and the Salad Entrée featured Macadamia Crusted Halibut Medallions.
The Main Fares included Broiled South Pacific Ono Fillet, Roasted Black Angus Beef Prime Rib, Braised Baby Lamb Shanks, and Kosher Chicken Half. There was also a Grilled Filet Steak and a Broiled Salmon Fillet on the menu.
The vegetarian selection included a Wild Mushroom Pizza and the lighter side menu featured some very nice items.
There were lots of classic desserts and also a couple of featured desserts. The featured desserts were “Harlequin” which was a White Chocolate Cognac Mousse, Chocolate Melt Cake a la Mode and Chocolate Praline. There was also “Trilogy of Melon” which is Honeydew Melon Soup, Watermelon Disk and Cantaloupe Melon Sherbet.
We each began our meal with nice salads. Anne Marie enjoyed one of the salads that were on the menu while Keith enjoyed his standing order of salad. We had the Broiled South Pacific Ono Fillet for our entrée. This fish has a texture very similar to Swordfish. We also had fruit for our dessert and Anne Marie had decaffeinated cappuccino coffee.
During the course of the meal we spoke extensively with our headwaiter Augusto, headwaiter Mario who was making a Peach Melba dessert near our table (no he was not able to convince us to order that dessert) and we also spoke with Maitre d’ Leo. The Main Dining Room was fairly quiet since it was very busy last evening for Formal Night and last evening many of the guests were dining at the Specialty Restaurants and also the Tastes casual venue.
Our travel consortium had a second cocktail reception of this first leg of the World Cruise but we decided to pass on it so could see the newest of the Production Shows on the Serenity called Across The Pond. We saw this one on the last voyage but wanted to see it again. The lead male singer was not on that voyage which changes it up a little bit. We thoroughly enjoyed the show with all of the memorable music from this time period. We love the final songs of the show, which were all originally written and performed by The Beatles which is our favorite Rock N’ Roll Band.
The songs in the show represent several artists including Lulu, Dusty Sprinfield, Petula Clark, The Rolling Stones, Hermits Hermits, Queen, Elton John, Cilla, John Lennon and The Beatles.
We slept very well last night as we sailed towards Morrea.
Keith awoke early and enjoyed another workout on the Elliptical Machine at the Fitness Center. He was the only guest at the Fitness Center for most of his workout. Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Café for coffee. Anne Marie didn’t workout in the morning since we had a relatively early tour.
We had a very early breakfast at 6:30 AM, which Alexander set up for us. We spoke about what we planned to do today and Alexander told us that he planned to go with two other butlers to Moorea .
It was nice to arrive to Morrea after having several sea days on this voyage. While we love sea days, we also enjoy days in port as well.
Today marked our second visit to Morrea having visited here in 2008.
Moorea is part of the Society Islands. This Island is popular with Western Visitors and is considered to be one of the prettiest islands of the world.
Moorea is very pristine with beautiful beaches, and hills offering spectacular views of the Island. If you think of a picture perfect postcard of a beautiful island, think of Moorea. We feel so very fortunate to have visited this beautiful place.
It is believed that Moorea first became inhabited in A.D. 1600. Captain James Cook arrived in 1774. In 1847 Moorea became a protectorate of France and by 1860 it became a French Colony.
Today we took a tour called Moorea Four Wheel Drive Safari Adventure. Since the ship anchored off Morrea we took a tender from the ship over to Moorea. Once we arrived to the Island, we boarded our vehicle and we were taken on isolated trails up to the local agricultural college grounds, where we saw a good deal of animal livestock and agricultural plantations that are key to this Island's economy.
We then arrived to Belvedere Lookout Point, which provide panoramic views of Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay. We then entered Opunohu Bay for a coastal drive as we made our way to "Magic Mountain.". From this location we enjoyed a beautiful view of Opunohu Bay and its multi colored lagoons.
Our last stop on the tour included the Fruit and Distillery Factory. We were offered samples of fruit liquors, and other local favorites.
As we mentioned in the highlights section this was one of the nicest tours we have been on. The driver/tour guide was wonderful and we saw many breathtaking views.
The Island of Moorea is beautiful and the locals want to keep it that way. We did not see any poverty and even if one does not work there is sufficient fruit and vegetables for them to be able to eat. There is no major dock here and a couple of years ago when a Japanese Company wanted to purchase land to build a golf course the people turned them down as they don’t want the Island to change. It is very pristine and one of the nicest islands we have ever visited.
After arriving back to the ship, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Café. As we normally do, we each made a nice salad entrée.
This afternoon, Anne Marie enjoyed a very nice long walk and Keith played paddle tennis.
This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room and enjoy another nice evening on the ship. We will post more about this tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY……..
“Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.” – Mahatma Ghandhi.
Keith and Anne Marie
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