Hawaii, French Polynesia, Tahiti, the Marquesas -- 35-Day Cruise -- 27 February thru 04 April 2022

  It was a fun day with the waiters and waitresses changing name tags, dispalying some upside down, just having fun, giggling, etc..  Mats in the elevators had the wrong days on them.  Statues had eyes and smiles pasted on them that weren't theirs  Maps showing the ship's location had us all over the world in different locations at the same time. The highlight, as it always is on HAL ships, is the performance by staff members.  It was super to see a lot of the people that we've come to know performing on stage.  Great talent! Also a bit of fact that we didn't know. This is the first cruise ship since the COVID pandemic to make a voyage of this length -- 35 days.   Every other had been held to under 21 days!  Cruising is back!! Robbi changed her appearance for April Fool's Day -- HA! HA! PENGUIN W/ LEI

This morning we crossed the equator at exactly 09:06 AM Hawaii Time.  We received certificates proclaiming the we are no longer LANDLUBBERS, and have been found to be seaworthy and now Honorary Members of the Royal and Ancient Order of Shellbacks! King Neptune, Masked Tuna and Princess The first timers of the crew to cross the equator were initiated in a ceremony on the Lido Deck, complete with King Neptune and his entourage.  It was a fun time as the new inductees were dunked in the pool, after being covered in colored dyes and bowing to a large "masked" tuna Inductees Captain and First Officers -- Judge Tribunal  

Well, we knew it had to come to an end and here we are at Nuku Hiva which is the largest island in French Polynesia after Tahiti.  We had a lovely entrance into the bay this morning with the sun helping to highlight the mountains. After a late breakfast, we went into town and looked around. We hiked up a small mountain that had the Tiki Tuhiva on the top overlooking the bay. This is the highest sculpture in all of French Polynesia.This is considered a sacred ground of the Marquesians and has a number of smaller tiki statues in the area.  It also has the "octopus" that represents the linkage of all the islands from New Zealand, to Easter Island, to Tonga to Hawaii with Raiatea the center, the head of the octopus.  This is the Polynesia Triangle that indicates how the seafaring tribes used the stars and winds to arrive in the 118 Polynesian Islands. Then we met up with our tour guide, Aniata, her name translates to "image of the sky".  She was excellent and gave us a ...

We came to the island of Tahuata in the Marquesas this morning under low clouds that obscured our view of the island.  However, with the sunrise the clouds burned off revealig another lush, green island. The day was mostly cloudy and very humid. In the Maquesas Archipeligo only 6 of the 12 islands are inhabitated with a populace of around 9400. The  Maquesas Archipeligo is cosidered the ocean gate to French Polynesia and is spread over 350 kilometers. The distance has limited exchanges between the islands, and each one has kept its own personality, customs, and dialect.  We went ashore by tender in Hapatoni on the east side of the island, which afforded us the best protection from winds and currents.  We received a very warm welcome from the islanders, complete with leis and song and music.  Robbi made a new friend as well! We walked along an ancient rocky road to the main pavilion, where the artisans had their wares on display, where we were treated to native d...

We've turned the corner and are heading northeast towards Tahuata, as we are near the end of our voyage, visiting the last 2 islamds on our itinerary during the days ahead! We had a sunrise that was hidden by clouds on the horizon, but what a fantastic sunset. As we had a sea day, we had a relaxing morning at the aft pool, followed by Robbi's standing Mahjongg game.  She really has had fun playing and even had some imprmptu games in the afternoon after tours while we were in port.  I've been reading and draining the library dry!😃😃 Last night we were treated to a Polynesian Feast complete with a fully stocked Fruit Market.  The staff has gone out of their way to decorate and make this a wonderful experience.  Today they had a French Restuarant menu complete with mussels, bouillabaise, baguettes, etc.  Where they get all these varietties of foods, we'll never know, and we probably won't experience them in our normal day-to-day life when we return to reality!!! W...

Welcome to the atoll of Fakarava with a population of 847, a lagoon surface of 1121sq.km and a dry land surface of only 16sq.km.  Pristine!!  It was named a Natural Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. We entered the lagoon from the north (Garuae) which is the largest pass in French Polynesia. A short tender ride to shore and we were warmly greeted by the people, with music, coconut, and local artisans in the village of Rotoava.  We really had a nice walk-about on the sand, taking in the sites!!