Aranui Cruises to make maiden call at Pitcairn Island

It is the first time the Tahitian cruise line has offered a different itinerary from its regular round-trip from Papeete to the Marquesas, Society and Tuamotu Islands and marks the first new destination added to the programme since Bora Bora was introduced in 2015 when Aranui 5 entered service, replacing Aranui 3.

 

As previously recorded here, there was no Aranui 4 as the number is considered unlucky by the owners, the third generation Tahitian-Chinese Wong family whose company is Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime.

 

Pitcairn Island is renowned by the mutiny on the Royal Navy’s Bounty in 1789 when the ship was taken over by disaffected crewmen led by Acting Lt. Fletcher Christian and Capt. William Bligh was set adrift in an open launch.

 

Some of the mutineers and the Tahitians who accompanied them settled on Pitcairn Island, a member of the South Pacific Cruise Alliance, and their descendants live there to this day.

 

Aranui 5, a custom-built mixed cargo and passenger ship, will make the 13-day round-trip from Papeete via Pitcairn Island on January 10, 2019.

 

Passengers will have the opportunity to buy Pitcairn stamps from the post office which remains open during a ship’s visit. They will get a Pitcairn stamp in their passports and a guided tour by a descendant of the mutineers.