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We arrived at Bora Bora at 8am. Like all the islands, this is an anchorage and then you take the tenders to shore. We were staying for 2 days and had been there for 2 days on our previous trip, so we knew pretty much what to expect. No one was in a rush, so we all, except Cheri who got a late start due to delayed exhaustion from the flight and the first days, met for breakfast in the buffet. Since the Hansons and Donnas had not been to Bora Bora before, they wanted to get t-shirts from the world famous Bloody Mary's to take home for gifts. So we all tendered in and found a cab to take us there. When Rob and Daryl had been the previous time, the smaller Renaissance ship anchored in a different spot and we walked to Bloody Mary's but now the port is much further away, so we took a cab. We ordered some Bloody Marys of course and took pictures and they bought t-shirts. On the way back in another cab, we got caught in a political parade for one of the candidates in the next day's election for President of French Polynesia.

Everyone came to "our house" for drinks and Xavier, our butler, brought nuts, olives and cheese and crackers to go with. We did this every other night and went to Horizons for Happy Hour on the alternative days.

Our dinner was at Red Ginger and we talked with Nazia, the Maitre-d' from India, about all the crew we know. We asked after Ian and Lynette who we had met on the first cruise on Marina and who had left the ship and started a travel business for Oceania in India. They had a son in November and she was going to have Lynette send a photo to her phone. Again, we started the cruise with our usual. Rob had the duck and watermelon salad and caramelized clay pot chicken. Daryl had Tom Ka Gai soup and lobster pad thai.

For our second day on Bora Bora, we had no plans at all. It was a Sunday and many shops are closed and it was Election Day so no liquor was being sold or served. The others went on another non-snorkel boat excursion and we sat on our veranda and watched the tenders and other boats going back and forth. We met the others for drinks in Horizon and they had a good time, although the water was a little rough in one of the areas they went to. We had eaten a light lunch mid-day (Daryl is trying all the soups at lunch) and then went to Polo Grill for dinner. Octavian from Romania is the Maitre-d'. He replaced Alex from Serbia who was on our last 2 cruises and is now Maitre-d' in the Grand Dining Room. Gilbert, who we had also met on the last 2 cruises, is still in Polo so he was our waiter every time we ate there. He got married since we last saw him and his wife, Princess, is expecting so he was full of news. His former partner, Jeffrey, is still working in Polo but on another team, so he stopped by to say that he will be the baby's godfather. Rob told him that means you have to buy the child's first car, which took him aback. As you should do in Polo, we had prime beef. Gilbert gave me a 1/2 size Queen's cut, only 1/2 of the 16 oz it is normally.
 

Our next day was our first "at sea." We read most of the day, interspersed with breakfast and lunch, then had drinks in our cabin. This was the first night of two we had reserved dinner at La Reserve. This is the Wine Spectator special dining room for only 24 with a 7 course/7 wine dinner. This is the only meal where you pay for dinner, mostly because it is even better than the restaurants if that is possible and also because of the wine. There are only 3 menu choices and we have had 2 of them. This was a repeat for us, but not a hardship in any way. The servings are small, but even so there is more food than Daryl can possibly eat. We had a scallop cooked on a hot stone and topped with caviar; brioche stuffed with foie gras; risotto primavera; a roll of turbot and salmon; Chateaubriand with Bordelaise sauce and roasted baby potatoes; a napoleon of poached pear and gorgonzola; and a chocolate mousse with real gold bullion on top. All courses had ample wine from Italy, France, California, and Portugal to match.