After 11 sea days with only one stop to get our feet on “terra firma” (solid ground) we arrived in Papeete, Tahiti. This port brings back many memories for me as this is where I was sailing on Renaissance Cruise Lines on 9/11/01. I remember it well as we were awakened with an announcement from the Captain stating that America had been attacked by terrorists. Most of our passengers on board were Americans and many had ties to NYC so it was quite upsetting. The crew was from all over the world and they seemed even more upset as they could imagine the world wide implications of such an act. Even though we felt safely distanced from any danger, it was a time when everyone just wanted to be home. For our next cruise, only 11 people showed up because people didn’t want to fly. Since the cruise line had mostly American passengers and never sailed to a US port, they couldn’t get through the cancellations and filed bankruptcy about 10 days later. They did manage to get all passengers flights home so none were stranded. As a crew member, there was no money for tickets to get us home. I was “stuck” in Tahiti (I know you don’t really feel sorry for me) for about three weeks before funds were released to get us home. So I have good and bad memories of Tahiti. It is a beautiful tropical island and owned by the French.
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