June 28, 2019
Tahiti Day #6: Disembarking
Oceania Marina & Snorkeling in Paea
February 22, 2019
TAHITI ISLAND, French Polynesia – Mom and I spent a sixth day here on Tahiti after departing Oceania Marina, relaxing at a guesthouse and enjoying the local beach once the sun emerged this afternoon.
Mom forced me awake at 8:57 a.m. aboard Oceania Marina in the Port of Papeete, where the sky was dark gray.
We had arrived late last night from Huahine Island, concluding our 12-night “Pure Polynesia” cruise that visited seven other islands and atolls in French Polynesia. The total distance sailed on our voyage was 2,106 nautical miles (2,422 miles), according to the farewell Oceania Cruises Currents newsletter.
Mom had been berating me for an hour to get up but I was exhausted, having gone to bed about 1:20 a.m. today – and having awoken around noon most day of the voyage due to my sleep disorder.
During the cruise, I had an ongoing dispute with the ship regarding the disembarkation time. Staff wanted us off the ship at the terribly early hour of 8:45 a.m. I informed them days ago I planned to disembark at 11 a.m. but they kept fighting me. I even posted a customized “Privacy Please” sign on our door last night.
Mom was up early and wouldn’t leave me alone as I tried to continue sleeping. She was anxious to get off the ship, whereas I was in no hurry. We had a small guesthouse booked for our last two nights on Tahiti, and I worried our room wouldn’t be ready if we left Oceania Marina too early.
Before disembarking, I complained one last time to Guest Services about the early time. As I suspected, I had been lied to when Marina’s staff told me previously, “Local authorities won’t let anyone on the ship until every guest has disembarked.” When I was at the front desk, guests for the next cruise – a gay charter voyage by Atlantis Events — were already embarking. That’s strange because I’ve never taken a cruise where boarding began before noon.
“I have stayed at thousands of hotels, B&B’s, campsites, etc. and been on 20 cruises with 12 different cruiselines,” wrote in a complaint e-mail to Oceania Cruises. “Never once was I told to check out as early as 9 a.m. This was especially horrible as I have a medically certified sleep disorder whereby I do not fall asleep until several hours after midnight and do not normally wake up until 12 noon or later. I spoke many times with Destination Services about my request for a reasonable accommodation to depart the ship at 11 a.m., when check-in started for the next Marina voyage, however the staff continued to demean my disability and refused any discussion of a reasonable accommodation.”
Although our cruise was outstanding overall, this ending leaves a sour taste regarding Oceania Cruises. I’m not sure I will sail with the line again after being treated this way.
Mom and I stepped off Marina at 9:48 a.m., 48 minutes after the ship wanted to toss me off and 1:12 earlier than I wanted to leave at a reasonable check-out time. It’s so aggravating dealing with people who don’t understand sleep disorders.
The taxi ride to Relais Fenua in Paea, 18 km (11 miles) southwest of Papeete, took only 19 minutes but cost a whopping PF4,000 ($38).
As I had feared, our room was not ready when we arrived at Relais Fenua. The pension has 11 rooms, a lovely courtyard with pool, and a nice beach less than five minutes away by foot.
We waited outside by the pool for 1 hour 14 minutes until our room, #11, was available. Online, unpacked, and then Mom and headed out at 1:35 p.m. to seek lunch. We walked along the flooded unpaved lane (“servitude”) from our guesthouse past goats and chickens to a hole-in-the wall “snack” restaurant, PK 18 Snack.
My chicken fried rice (PF1,300; $12.39) was yummy! And Mom had a good “croque monsieur” (grilled ham and cheese sandwich).
Then, despite saying yesterday on Huahine Island that she didn’t need to buy anything else, Mom couldn’t resist popping into the next-door boutique to drop $50 on a new dress and necklace.
I went back to the room for a bit, then out to the local grocery store for some provisions. Also checked out Mahana Beach across the street.
After dropping the groceries in our room, I left again at 4:41 to snorkel from the beach. A rainy and cloudy morning had given way to a beautiful sunny late afternoon. Had an excellent 58-minute-long snorkel. There’s a quite a great coral reef here!
Back to our room at 6:13 to shower, work on my calendar, and eat dinner with Mom on our patio. Organized my stuff and repacked, then worked on my blog. Bed about 1:45 a.m.
We have one more full day here on Tahiti tomorrow before flying back to the United States on Sunday.
