Moorea: Sail-away Birthday Party at Sea

Since Jim is continually active online, he ‘met’ several of our fellow shipmates on this all-gay Atlantis cruise before we sailed. One of these invited us to a catered birthday party when the ship was anchored in Moorea. This birthday party was held in a huge suite at the bow, and waiters bustled about handing out caviar and other canapés along with glasses of champagne or any other drink one would want. We greeted and met Adam, the birthday celebrant, who was wearing a tall, fake crown, before we mingled with dozens of other guests. The large suite featured several rooms, a deck right at the front of the ship and a hot tub. While chatting with some of Jim’s diving buddies, we saw a magnificent sunset. (See pics.) This was a special party, and not the type we attend often. Then we left, after an hour, for a get-together that Jim had set up in the Martinis Bar. This was for divers and one of them was a fellow Fire Island resident, a designer who had just remodeled a beach house in the Pines; he showed us pics of his spectacular house and then we all went down to see the hilarious, un-‘pc’ comedian Jim David whose is fun and on all of the Atlantis cruises. We laughed until we cried, and how strange is that both grief and humor bring tears to the eyes of humans? We enjoyed a late and very rich dinner of oysters Rockerfeller, soufflé and lobster in the dining room. Our tablemates turned out to be a couple from Seattle who also had a suite. So it seems that yesterday we just couldn’t escape the 1% aboard this vessel! Luckily they were all nice men who didn’t brag about their wealth—they didn’t have to, of course. The ship set sail for Rangiroa shortly after the sunset and anchored on that next island the following morning. --Dan