Sea Days: Hawaii to French Polynesia

January 15 - 19, 2024: We had another 5 days at sea as we sailed from Hawaii to Bora Bora. The seas were considered “moderate”, so much smoother than our sail across the Pacific the week before.

We did the final onboard tour - the galley. We got a glimpse of the galley in our “back of the house” tour, but this was more in depth. We went through the galleys for the two speciality restaurants, the prime restaurant, the bakery and the prep/ preliminary cooking for the buffet. There are specific chefs for fish, beef, vegetables, potatoes, sauces, soups, etc which was a bit surprising. They were all very experienced and seemed to genuinely enjoy their job.

As of Wednesday we are no longer polywoggs, as we sailed into the southern hemisphere. There was a “crossing the equator” ceremony in the morning, even though we didn’t cross until 11:30 PM. The tradition back to ancient times, was to ask the gods permission to cross from the cold northern ocean to the warm southern ocean. Over the years, the rituals have changed from true hazing like rituals, to a more dignified “kissing the fish” and plunging into cold water. Even the kissing the fish portion went away with COVID. The crew members who were crossing for the first time, were the first to plunge, and did so into the jacuzzi which had been filled largely with ice. Then guests were invited to join, by plunging into either the pool or the jacuzzi. We opted for the pool, since the line was shorter. It was a lot of fun.

We enjoyed another great meal at the Chef’s Table, where the menu was “Japan” on Wednesday. We were able to change our reservation from 2 -4, so that Julie and Rick, from St. Paul MN, could join us. They also joined us for our meal at Manfredi’s (Italian specialty restaurant) on Friday.