Morning in Papeete
Following a string of sea days, we finally reached land in French Polynesia. We didn't have an excursion planned until later in the day so we had time for breakfast in Blu, some time in the Persian Garden and relaxing on the ship.
Papeete City
We walked off the ship to explore the city in the morning, but unfortunately it was Sunday and also a holiday, which meant almost everything was closed, especially the famous market. This was disappointing and a lot of people wondered why Celebrity couldn't rearrange the ports since they were so close and we didn't see any other cruise ships in the area. Janie did find some black pearl earrings she liked and we wandered the streets for a while, visiting Bougainville Park and strolled the waterfront to the botanic gardens.
Lunch and Sunset Sail
We couldn't find anything open for lunch on shore so we returned to the ship to visit the buffet and have a drink before we had to meet back on shore for our sunset sail. We admired the yacht docked next to us, supposedly owned by the creator of Snapchat. Then we boarded a catamaran for our sunset sail. The weather had started to turn and the excursion was not as advertised as we expected a sail along the shore but instead it turned into a rough motorboat ride out to sea. Seat cushions and lifeboats were flying, hitting one passenger across from us. Once we got out to sea and they killed the engines and opened the sails, things got calmer. But there wasn't much of a sunset view but it was cool to see a little sunset next to a lightning bolt.
Night time on the Eclipse
After our cruise, it was almost time for the show so we changed and headed to the theater. Celebrity brought on a local performing troupe to perform Polynesian dances and music, which was very enjoyable.
Then it was time for dinner in Blu. Janie had dressed in white for the Full Moon Deck Party but the inclement weather meant the party had moved indoors to the Grand Foyer. We sat and had a drink at the Martini Bar and listened to the music but the dance floor was too crowded. We decided to turn in, but on our way back to our room, we ran into Roxstar outside Quasar and he told us he was going to be playing music there. So we went in and got a drink at the bar and sat down. No one else showed up so Roxstar asked us for requests. Janie asked for Imagine Dragons and J. R. requested some country music. Roxstar played Radioactive and then went into a set of songs by Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert, Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks.
