20240427 Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 24 - Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia - Pearl hunting

Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 24 - Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Today, we woke up as we were docking in Papeete, Tahiti. The Tahitians pronounce every letter in words, so even though Papeete looks like "Pa-Pete", it is pronounced, "Pa-Pee-Et-A". It is the capital of French Polynesia and is located on the northwest coast of the island of Tahiti. We are roughly 2,000 miles south and a little east of Hawai'i.

We played morning trivia before heading out to wander around Papeete and check out the local wares. Tahiti is known for its pearls and Arlona was on the hunt.

First, some of our failures from today:

• Who was the Greek god who was the protector of marriage and family?
• Hera
• What type of matter makes up most of the universe?
• We said gas, but they were looking for dark matter
• What is the most dense natural substance on Earth?
• Osmium
• What is the capital of Mongolia?
• Ulan Bator - never heard of it
• What was Forrest Gump's IQ?
• We guessed 70 - it was 75
• What is unique about a month where the first falls on a Sunday?
• It has a Friday the 13th
• How many muscles are in the human body?
• About 600
• How many species of spiders exist (20,000, 25,000, 45,000)?
• 45,000 - yikes!
• What is the oldest city in the world?
• Damascus, Syria

We enjoyed a little local music as we walked off the ship

The Tahitian and French flags - this is French Polynesia and is officially part of France

Our home for the last three weeks and the next ten days

A gorgeous Banyan tree

We thought this sculpture was fun

While they aren't wearing masks anymore, this was still on a business door - good advice!

Looks like the King survived - the Queen, not so much

The local cathedral

We browsed the local market - lots of small shops with food, crafts, jewelry, and more

There was street art in multiple locations - everything was positive and upbeat.

After a couple of hours of wandering in the heat, we decided to wander...back to the ship. The decision was in part because this was Saturday, and businesses started closing around 12:30. Some stayed open until 1:00 and only a handful stayed open later. Saturday afternoon seems to be a traditional time when businesses are closed in Tahiti.

We were met with a huge line to board - this seems to be the norm for this sailing

Back on the ship, Arlona displayed her treasures.

A bracelet, ring, earrings, and necklace - all local Tahitian pearls

We decided to use our last casual dining experience that came with our Princess Plus package. We got pizzas at Alfredo's and enjoyed the view.

Who knew lunch came with a show - they were cleaning the windows on this side of the ship

We went up top and took some photos from the ship. Papeete is a busy port surrounded by lush, tropical hills.

So many boats

More art on the left

That hill in the distance is Mo'orea, our destination tomorrow

As the sun was preparing to set, I was able to capture what I call Sunset over the Cranes

We had such a big, and late lunch that we decided to skip dinner tonight. I stayed at Explorers and played a Jeopardy-like trivia game with folks we've met on this cruise. Arlona went to the show tonight that featured local Tahitian traditional dancers. She was impressed with the show and enjoyed the performance.

She joined me back at Explorers for an 80s music game. We didn't win, but we had fun trying to remember titles and artists for music from around 40 years ago.

After that, we returned to the room as tomorrow morning will be coming quickly. We have to get in line around 6:30 AM to get some of the first tickets for the tenders so we can meet our non-Princess excursion. We will sail around 3:00 AM to make the ten-mile trip to Mo'orea where we will dynamically position and take tenders to the island. Tender operations will begin by 7:30 AM. We will take a half-day catamaran tour that includes plenty of time for snorkeling. Mo'orea is our last port for this trip and we'll be sailing for eight days back to San Pedro starting tomorrow afternoon.