Day 23 - At Sea

First of eight sea days. Slept in late and woke to a gray rainy morning. Tried the Da Vinci dining room for breakfast and it turned out pretty good. The smoked salmon with capers, red onion and tomato was excellent, however the coffee was not. So it was a mocha and another attempt to upload Thursday's post. Mocha was great, but for some reason couldn't get on the Google server.

Life at sea
So what's there to do on the ship at sea? Well, here are some of the 75 activities listed in today's Princess Patter, otherwise known as "Your daily guide to life at sea." Knitters and Natters Get-Together, Croquet Challenge, Morning Trivia Challenge, Designer Watch Event, Ukulele Music Class, Hula Dance Class, Ping Pong Challenge and for the night owls there's Dance the Night Away with DJ Jamie. How well do you know your spouse? Sign up for The Marriage Match, it's a Princess Pick. With only six Princess Picks today, this should be a significant event.

The Dining Guide lists twelve establishments serving food and ten serving adult beverages, so no one should ever go hungry or thirsty. Add the boutiques, casino, spa and salon, library, fitness center and medical center (if necessary) and there should never be a dull moment.

Money
Our first stop outside the U.S. was Western Samoa, which is an independent country with their own currency the Tala. The exchange rate looks to be about 2.52 Tala for 1 Dollar. I traded five bucks for one ten Tala bill and several coins. Issued by the Central Back, the bill is very colorful with South Pacific scenes. Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti all used the Polynesian French Franc, rather than the Euro. Exchange rate seems to vary between 90 and 100 Francs for 1 Dollar depending on where you shop. Prices can be a little intimidating until you remember to drop off the last two digits. So, the 50,000 Franc pearl ear rings become 500 dollars and the then duty free price is even less. Most places don't give the U.S. Dollar in change, so I'm taking home a few too many Francs. If for some reason you need Francs I have a very favorable exchange rate. As with the Tala, the Polynesian Francs are very colorful, sporting stingrays, turtles and birds.

Cars
Downtown Papeete was a jungle of cars. There were a few Fords, a couple of Chevys and even one Dodge pickup, but the majority were Peugeot, Renault, Hyundai, Suzuki and a dozen so I didn't recognize. Nearly all are small and most are stick shift. With all fuels being imported I suppose small fuel efficient engines rule the day. We were told by our guide that Polynesian drivers were very courteous and this proved true. No matter how fast and seemly out of control they drove they always stopped when we wanted to cross a street. And they actually signal at traffic circles, something drivers at home could try on occasion.

I'm about a third of the way through my last book and there is no way I can stretch it out for seven more days. I'm fortunate to have some movies and fly fishing videos on the iPad, as the ship's library is lacking.

Well, that's about it for today.
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Aboard the Crown Princess

011° 40' South
146° 20' West

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