salmn

3 hours ago, debbrilacy said:

 

 

 

 

You can drive to all those places mentioned.  About the only place rental cars aren't supposed to go is the Natural Pool, unless you rent a Jeep. Not sure about parking at Eagle beach.  If I remember right, there is parking.  Eagle Beach is a long beach, so should be able to find parking spot.

Nice restaurants: La Ramblas and Pure Ocean (not beach attire). Smokey Joes has great ribs and more casual. Palm Beach is fun in the evening. Shops and restaurants. There are parking lots

If you get a car, Baby Beach was our favorite. Fun beach bar.  There is a charge for restrooms, but if you rent chairs ($10 or $15 each), they give you tickets..

If you are snorkelers, Arashi, Malmok, and Tres Trapi are where the tour boats go, but you can snorkel from shore..

We were there in a timeshare for 10 days last sprng.  I think our Avis rental car officce closed at 5?  We are on a cruise in March and have a car reserved from Jay's and I think they want the car back by 7pm at the port.  The taxi's and uber aren't that expensive if you have to drop your car off early and still want to go to Palm Beach in the evening. 

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Fact…. Friends thought to go “outside” the dock area to buy a Burger from a well known establishment.  On exit of the burger bar, wallet, cash, credit cards, Wife’s watch robbed at gun point.  All in daylight.   Police and witnesses not interested.  STAY ON THE SHIP!!!!!!!

 

Any idea if the Colon 2000 mall or Super 99 stores are safe if we need to pick up something for the second half of our cruise. I think we dock in that area.  We are pretty travel savvy and only carry small amount cash, no credit card or jewelry when off the ship.

Ship is in Colon for the day after PC transit.  We are not interested in going to see the locks again and all of the ship excursions says hotel or airport drop-off. This is in the middle of an 18 day cruise and we are continuing on. Reviews say that it is not safe to venture off on own, but we will be on the ship all day the day before and the day after, so would like something to do other than stay aboard for three days in a row. Suggestions???

Car rental would be the easiest and least costly for 4 people. You could do everything there is to do.

Lighthouse, Baby Beach, Palm Beach shopping and restaurants, etc.  Jay's car rental will meet you at the port. Driving is easy in Aruba--drive on the right side of the road.

If you don't want to rent a car, go on Viator and take an island tour.  Lots of choices. After the tour, take a cab or the bus to Eagle beach. (Uber works there also)

We were booked in 18 day Costa Rica to Barbados but had to cancel because of DH emergency surgery. We are looking at booking same cruise next March and see that Wind Star and Wind Spirit are doing the same itinerary a week apart. Only difference is Star goes to Curaçao while Spirit skips Curaçao and overnights in Granada. We sailed on the Spirit in Tahiti and loved it, so are wondering if we should  try the Wind Star. Anyone who has sailed on both and would help by giving their experience would be welcome. Thanks for your help.

1 hour ago, Nearpost345 said:

Mocamps, Windstars CIBT entry guide says you don’t need a test. Maybe your info is out of date?

On a separate note, be sure to have  local currency when you go onshore in Cartagena and Santa Maria as they are not at all interested in USD (was our experience in 2017).

What would be your recommendation for getting currency for small purchases.  Are there ATM's or currency exchanges in the Getsemani area?

Thank you for the input.  Looking at it now, we are probably going to make it a spa day.  We have been to the locks in Colon before, and are doing some of the same things that they offer in Colon when we re in Panama City.  The only downfall is that it makes three straight days onboard. Looking forward to those problems. 😉

Sounds like a plan.

In March, we will be  on the Puerto Caldera, CR to Barbados cruise that goes thru the Panama canal with a stop in Colon.  All of the excursions offered in Colon have an airport or hotel transfer attached for those ending their cruise in Colon. For those continuing on the 18 day, does Windstar put together any excursions? I have read where Colon is not a place to go out on your own, so was wondering if WS will have something.

3 hours ago, Redtravel said:

when we disembarked in Barbados, everyone was off early.  We put our bags out at 6am.  Ate breakfast early.  Many people were off very early. Since our flight was late afternoon, we opted to take WS excursion.  It was excellent including the fabulous lunch at an estate.  We arrived at the airport about 2pm.  A WS rep had our luggage.

Perfect,  That is what we were hoping for.

What itinerary were you on?  Any other ports that you have some good info on?

We are on Wind Star in March.  The arrival time for Barbados shows 8:00am.  Wondering if we actually will arrive earlier and that is when they start disembarking.  We can self disembark as will have  only carryon's. Would like to get off early as we have scheduled an excursion and need to drop luggage off at our hotel.  Anyone know what time the Wind Star usually arrives in Bridgetown?

On 10/27/2022 at 10:56 AM, flcraigs5 said:

We dont have an excursion booked for Raiatea can anybody tell me if theres things to do right in port or is there vendors right at port selling excursions? We are there from 12-9pm.

Thanks in advance

We were in Raiatea on Wind Star on a Twice the Tahiti.  The ship is docked right in town.  Stores and gift shops are just a few steps away.  I think there might have been vendors at the gift shop area selling excursions 

The first visit, we had booked Raiatea Jet and had a wonderful day on jet ski's with Jeremie.  He was very versatile and we were able to choose what we wanted to do. This was a long day though, out on the waverunners for hours.  Did stop for snorkeling, pearl farm (no sales), lunch on a beach, etc.

The second time, we had arranged a rental car online.  The agent met us at the dock and took us to the office. Very easy and the drive around the island was nice. Much less expensive than a ship's  tour and we were able to set our own pace.

Are you on Wind Spirit? We were going to get off in Moorea on the day prior so that we were could get the midnight flight home. The gal in customer service onboard let us know that the Wind Spirit would actually dock at 9:00pm and we would be able to disembark there. She even arranged a taxi to meet us at the dock. Your 9:00am flight should be no problem.

Petoonya,

Enjoy your trip. We loved the 18 day Wind Spirit cruise and would love to do it again some day. With the two year traveling hiatus, we are getting behind on our trips. Because we liked the Wind Spirit so much, we have booked the 18 day Wind Star, Costa Rica thru the canal ending in Barbados. I have not seen much about must do’s or excursions for this cruise. We have been at several of the Caribbean ports before, but not CR or thru the canal. If you have any input for us, it is appreciated. TIA

On 7/21/2022 at 3:00 PM, Petoonya said:

Doing the 18 day on Wind Spirit in 2 weeks and have independent snorkel tours booked on every non-sea day. But nothing booked on either of two days in Huahine. Have done a lot of the snorkel tours in Huahine and thought we might use those two days to enjoy the ship and sports deck. But I always hate to miss opportunities, and should partake in. Last cruise a lady raved about the snorkeling excursion on Huahine. I've also heard that the Huahine motu picnic is fun from some, and sort of blah from others. I'm not a big fan of the motu picnic on Motu Mahaea and since we're doing that twice on this cruise maybe that's enough motu picnicking.

 

Anyone experience these two excursions?

We did Marc’s motu picnic and was not impressed. The short stop at the pearl farm was OK, the picnic was way too long so the snorkeling was short and rushed. We are snorkelers also, and we were not impressed.  We were late getting back to the tender and were on the last tender. Too close for comfort. Would not recommend.  The first time we stopped at Huahine, we did a land tour, saw the sacred eels, stopped at a sacred marae, saw some interesting sites then spent the afternoon using the sports deck. On the 18 day trip, we did not get many chances to relax and use the ships sports deck. That was a better day for us.

I cannot remember the name of the land tour.

We are looking at that same cruise for 2023.  Where can I find the review you posted?

3 hours ago, LJWECOC said:

We just returned from 18 days aboard Wind Star (Costa Rica, Panama Canal and southern Caribbean (Caldera to Barbados). I just posed a review of the voyage but I wanted to post something here for those who are still hesitant about cruising.

 

We had just 50-60 guests on our b-to-b cruises. Ours was the first voyage of Wind Star after a brief COVID shutdown. We were hesitant but decided to go anyway. It was possibly the nicest cruise we have ever been on. With so few guests, we met, had drinks, dinners and socialized with almost all of them. 

 

COVID restrictions (masks, social distancing and testing) were not so severe as to spoil the voyage. We were tested a couple of times, including pre-boarding, mostly due to port requirements. We had zero positive COVID cases during the entire trip. The Windstar open bridge policy was suspended and there were no special dinner with the ships officers. All officers and crew were masked except when occasional guests insisted on seeing their smiling faces. Apart from those minor limitations, the cruise was really quite normal and absolutely worthwhile.

 

Ports are really hurting. Many shops are closed entirely. It may be a long time before they recover.

On 6/30/2020 at 10:56 AM, Petoonya said:

Has anyone done anything from Raiatea other than Bruno's L 'Excursion Bleue?

Have 2 days in Raiatea and doing one day on L' Excursion Bleue which was wonderful the last time. Looking for something else that does snorkeling only- dh does not want to do the kayaking or sacred sites tours.

Checked with Te Mara Nui and they're somewhat expensive for 1/2 day. Also while their diving reviews were wonderful, snorkeling reviews not so great. Arii Moana sounds like it's virtually the same tour as Bruno's. I've emailed them 3x anyway with no response.

 

Anyone done anything else in Raiatea? I recall seeing operators trying to attract customers at the dock while we were headed over to Bruno's boat.

???

Petoonya,

We went with Jeremie of Raiatea Jet for a full day. One of our best days of the trip. Several snorkel stops, dolphins jumping around the jet skis, stopped on several small motus, stopped at a non-retail pearl farm to watch them harvest.

We were the only clients that day, but even with groups he will customize the day for your preference. Good ratings on trip advisor.

2 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Thanks so much. You're just the person I needed to talk to about Marc's and so glad I did. Yes, will see about Le Mahana- their package sounds very nice and they offer transport too. Haven't heard back from the dive shop yet but guessing they will want 4-6 more passengers to do a snorkel tour. I found another hotel that's right in Fare with decent snorkeling that might be an option. But all else fails we're always happy to spend a couple extra days on the sports platform. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Can I ask a couple more things....what did you do on Moorea? And do you have a link to your review?  Thanks.

🙂

I did not do a full review, just a quick trip report on this board.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2715949-twice-the-tahiti-trip-report/

The first stop in Moorea, we did a land tour with Safari Mario, which I booked on Viator. It was a good day and a good intro to the island. (our first time in FP). The second time, we had a flight out that night so were planning to take the ferry over to Tahiti in the afternoon until the gal in customer service assured us that we would be docked in Papeeete by 9pm and could make our midnight flight.  It worked out perfect. She had a taxi waiting  at the pier for us and another couple. The down side was that we hadn't booked a tour so we just packed and then used the sports platform again.

Hoping to go back some day.  The prices for next year look enticing, but we had a trip for May that was cancelled so will be doing that trip  in May, 2021.  Too many places to go!  Good luck on your next  Wind Spirit cruise.  Hope everything opens up for you.

1 hour ago, Petoonya said:

Thanks Salmn- that's exactly what I needed to know and will skip it. Really appreciate your input.

Who was you original tour operator that canceled? Was it the sailing boat Huahine Voile?

I'm feeling a little "meh" about the excursions from WS as both seem to just have one snorkel stop too. The motu picnic on Huahine seems a lot like Motu Mahaea and I got a little bored with that the second time around especially. There's another snorkel tour with Mahana Dive on Huahine and then there's a day stay at Le Mahana a hotel on Huahine Iti. Supposed to have decent snorkeling....

What did you do on your second day in Huahine?

The first visit, we just used the sports platform and took a day off from tours.  It sounds to me like the Mahana Dive snorkel or the day at Le Mahana might be a better fit for you than any of the motu picnics.  We only had about 15 min. snorkeling on a full day tour with  Huahine Nautique--Marc's combo.  The first operator was Huahine Dream tours.  He said that they do not take WS passengers any longer because of a problem with WS policies---not sure what that was about.

On 5/22/2020 at 8:53 AM, Petoonya said:

I'm booking Wind Spirit excursions and trying to avoid the commercial type vanilla and pearl farm visits as part of the tour. The Huahine tour is run by Poetainia, and on their website the motu picnic includes such. Yet I've yet to be on a WS excursion that includes anything commercial. Anyone done it before?

We did Marc's full day motu picnic.  It was a really full day.  Short vanilla farm stop, marae with a museum,. fish traps, sacred eels at Fare, short pearl farm stop--not pushy, LONG motu picnic, short snorkel stop.  We barely made it back for the last tender and I was nervous.  Probably my least favorite tour of our entire trip.  Our original tour operator cancelled, so we went with people from our roll call.  The excursion from Windstar sounds like a good plan as I wasn't impressed with Marc's!

43 minutes ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Looking for information about this island.

We plan to book a morning snorkeling excursion.

Would we then go to the private island?  Yes, if on a WS excursion, private tours usually take you back to the ship

Do they food and drinks there?  Yes, wonderful island BBQ and bar.  There are tables and chairs

Are there bathrooms?   Yes

Do they bring the water toys there?  Yes, along with lounge chairs, towels, etc.

Any information will be greatly appreciated.  Snorkeling there as well.  Not the best, but OK

This will be a memorable day with the drift snorkel and the island BBQ--as long as the weather is good.

Both times we were there, we had great weather in the mornings but storms came thru in the PM. (late November) so definitely do the snorkeling excursion in the morning!

22 hours ago, Luv my furbaby said:

So if I am flying to LAX on American and then Air Tahiti, will I need to retrieve my luggage?  Sorry for my confusion but I have never had to switch airlines. 
thanks

https://www.airtahitinui.com/us-en/time-saving-tips-lax

Found this on the ATN website.  Says if you are flying AA or Alaska, you can ask for your luggage to be checked through.

2 hours ago, Luv my furbaby said:

Will be on the Spirit in September and was wondering which night is the BBQ - I’m thinking 1st night in Bora Bora. 
which island is the beach bbq?

starting to plan excursions but I don’t want to miss either. 
does anyone have any excursions they recommend- either through ship or private. 
thanks. 

Deck BBQ--Raiatea

Lunch BBQ at motu--Tahaa

Motu Dinner show--2nd day Bora Bora

The excursions will not interfere with the Deck BBQ nor the Bora Bora Dinner Show as they are late enough that all the excursions are finished.

Some of the ship's excursions (like the morning drift snorkel) drop you off at the Tahaa motu for lunch.  If you are on an all day excursion,  possible you might miss that one.

10 minutes ago, Gracelyn said:

We are seriously looking into renting for the day   What is closer to manava resort, Papeete or airport to rent? 

The Manava would be closer to the airport than downtown, but if you are staying at the Manava, it looks like Avis has an on-site rental office at the Manava in Punaauia.

13 hours ago, Gracelyn said:

We had planned on renting a car but have decided not to. We are looking for a service with a car and driver to drive the island. Stop here and there and just enjoy the scenery. Is this odd? Or possible?

gracelyn

Not sure why you decided against renting a car.  If you cannot find a driver, I would recommend renting a car.  We rented from Avis in downtown Papeete. Easy coming and going.  Took about 1/2 day to go around the island with multiple stops. Good road with good mile markers.  Just have a guide book that gives you the mile markers of the sights that you want to see so that you do not miss the turnoffs. There is quite a bit of traffic in Papeete, but easy to get out and back to the rental office. Little traffic around the island. We also rented in Bora Bora and Raiatea since we were at all the islands twice.  The Bora Bora office is right at the tender dock and at Raiatea, they picked us up at the dock.