Aranui 3, cargo and passenger ship in French Polynesia

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I spent two weeks on the Aranui 3, a passenger/cargo ship.  We sailed from the island of Tahiti to each of the Marquesas islands.  The ship supplies these remote islands with cargo once every three weeks.  For many of these islands, the ship is the only way they get supplies on and off the island.  While the cargo portion of the ship was supplying the people of the island, the passenger portion was enjoying preplanned shore excursions.

We had about 150 passengers.  Most of the passengers were French.  Many were German.  There were only 16 passengers from the U.S. and that included Chuck and I who actually live in Ecuador.  Other English speakers were from Britain, Australia and Canada.

The shore excursions were divided into language groups with a guide for each.  Ours was, of course, the smallest group and this was great for us.

Over the next few posts I will share pictures of our adventure.

When we first boarded the ship we were entertained by these drummers and dancers.

The passenger portion of the ship is not like the luxury liners most people sail on.  It was comfortable, but not luxury despite the fact that this is the most expensive cruise we have ever taken.

Here are some pictures of the passenger side of the ship.

This is the lounge area of the ship.  This is where we gathered to in the late afternoons to hear about what was planned for the next day.  We also had documentary movies and special informative talks about the history of sailing in the Marquesas islands.

Fresh coffee and tea was always available and other non alcoholic beverages at this bar.

Here are the boys behind the very, very busy real bar where they made many different cocktails and sold lots of beer.

We had a swimming pool on board.

and plenty of sitting out on the deck space.

We had one large dinning room with no assigned seating.  Our meals, a set menu, were delicious and always included all the wine you wanted.

So much for the ship, in future posts I will share about our adventures.

Love,
Nancy