Carnival Luminosa Day 10: April 21, 2023 Papeete, Tahiti

I was up before 7 and used up the rest of my wifi connecting with work communications and reading the news.

I grabbed oatmeal for breakfast today and then took my shower so I could watch from the balcony as we pulled into port. While putting on sunscreen I noticed one of the lights in the vanity was blinking and let the room steward know. Within 10 minutes a man was here and switched out the light bulb.

It is surreal to be here when the last time I was here was November 17, 2019. Last time the weather was beautiful and this time it is hot and humid. 

At 1040 there was an announcement that since it was the Luminosa's first time in this port that it would take a long time for clearance and to please be patient. We are scheduled to be docked and off ship at approx 1115.

I decided to take advantage of the delay and went up to order a pizza. There are 5 combos on the pizza menu: 1 Margherita 2 funghi 3 pepperoni 4 Quattro formatting (no sauce) and 5 prosciutto. I always order the number 4 with mushrooms.

The pizza guy didn't give me a hard time today as there was no line. I checked for trails but everything was far away and it was too humid and wet for 15k round trip today.

We had to wait until 1130 to get off the ship. 

I took pics of the excursion offerings and headed to the local market for pics and a geocache. All of the deals were $50 bus or $65 Van with AC for 

4 HOURS TOUR

VISIT THE EAST COAST

VENUS POINT

3 WATERFALLS

TROPICAL GARDEN

CAVES OF MARAATAHHAN

THE BLOW HOLE

Pretty good deal. My dinner companions said that they rode in the back of a pickup truck on bumpy roads but that they enjoyed it. They were taking $10 deposits for snorkel trips in Moorea for $50 a person.

I hunted all around the market with no success but the hint was find Elvis and he will point the way. I asked for Elvis and they tried to sell me an 8 string ukulele. I explained Elvis was a person. Then they shuffled me one booth to another to point to Elvis. It turned out that Elvis has a booth at the market and a long log of geocachers for years.

After that success, I headed to the local grocery store to buy chocolate, shrimp snacks, chamomile tea, gummy bears, a six pack of coke in plastic bottles, a one liter box of juice, water in plastic bottles. My plan was to test security. I really don't think any of the cruise lines check what comes back on ship in plastic bottles. They have never taken anything away after embarkation for me but I have heard horror stories. Once again, I had no trouble returning to the ship with my haul.

I had a nice toasted Tuna sandwich with some tiramisu cheesecake for dessert. I then slept for 2 hours so I must have been tired from my 2 mile walk.

I woke up hot and sticky from the weather outside and took another shower before dinner.

For the Island Night themed dinner, I had Caribbean salad with mangos, huli huli hawaiian chicken, and rum cake with ice cream. It was a bit dry but otherwise delicious. 

The table behind me had someone with a birthday. I turned around and it was someone I had dinner with the last time I was in Tahiti on November 17, 2019 with the NCL Jewel solo group!

Laundry came back between dinner and the show. I went up to check out the buffet and it was full.of Tahitians in beautiful shirts and flowers in their hair.

Tonight's show was "Mana The Spirit of Tahiti" and it was great!

There was another show at 9:45 with Tommy Drake a new comedian who got on board today. I was too tired and went to get hot water at the buffet instead. I am surprised at how many people were there begging for them to keep the buffet open past 905.

Happy Cruising!