kellig

Thank you both very helpful. 

Hello,

We will be on wind surf this month and stopping in Mykonos. Thinking of booking an excursion outside of windstar options and want to know where the tenders usually go to in Mykonos so I don't book a tour with a meeting point that we can't get to easily. Anyone know where the wind surf tenders usually drop off passengers? Is it in the new port area, old port, or somewhere else? Unfortunately there will be 12.5K cruise ship passengers in Mykonos that day...

We will be embarking on the same terminal on June 17th. What I am struggling to figure out is how to get to the port. We are staying at Hotel Dona Palace in Venice. I read that the Alilaguna Blue line would go to Marittima from San Marco somewhere, but their website shows that the schedule goes to a stop a whole other pier away called Tronchetto https://www.alilaguna.it/linee/linea-blu

Anyone used this transport already this season? Do they stop at Marittima Cruise port terminal even though it's not on their schedule?

This post caught my eye as I was noticing the same thing. I tried to look for bike rentals to make our way to the windmills in Chora, but it seems the one agency who replied to me is already booked up (this was 3 months in advance). Are taxi's readily available? Thought we might catch a ride there and then walk back (we do a lot of hiking). Would that work?

Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia served Sunfish. Never saw a sunfish before then, let alone eat one. They had a whole carving presentation that afternoon so people could see this somewhat ugly creature. Tasted pretty good and not much different than other fish from my recollection. 

Eaten plenty of other odd creatures on my land based travels though: Camel, kangaroo, crocodile, ostrich, guinea pig... and many others I can't recall now. 

Would love to know the answer to this too. Debating if I should bring my own fins or not. Seems like a lot to carry for only likely using them 1-2 times a week

Does anyone know what the cancellation policy is for shore excursions booked through windstar? I can't seem to find this anywhere. Many external tour companies have a 24 hour cancellation policy. What is windstar's policy, or does it depend on the particular excursion?

Just got off Ruby Princess. No new beers. Not a single IPA on board, so my hubby was dissapointed.  I was pleased with the new wine list personally, though wines by the glass in the bars/lounges is much smaller and lower quality than the dining room list. 

Heard they still didn’t have all selections from another passenger, but they had the two bottles we ordered. Sorry for the small print. 

Missed capturing photos of the Wednesday dining room menus which was the best night and also Friday. Formal nights were Sunday and Thursday, both sea days. 

Here are the Princesspattersfir Ruby Princess 7 day Mexico 2018

Just returned, thought we'd give an update on this thread. 

We asked at the port when we arrived how to bring on the wine and were instructed to take it out of our checked bag and carry it through security.  The corkage table on the other side of security happened to be unmanned that day and so we carried on 4 bottles without paying corkage.  Took one to the restaurant and told them we needed to pay corkage and so they charged us.  The second bottle we showed up with in the restaurant we didn't mention the need to pay corkage and the waiter never asked us to pay it.  We drank one bottle in the room and the 4th one never opened and took it back home with us. 

Wine list in dining rooms has been updated with a large number of options. Seem to be a little bit more than twice retail for a couple I recognized. Selection at vines wasn't that great. Good options in Share.  Very poor options by the glass at the lounge bars unfortunately. 

Wine glasses are ridiculously tiny... doesn't allow for any aeration. We brought our own Govinos for use in our room and were glad we did. Were tempted to bring them to diner with us, but didn't want to be obnoxious. Asked waiter to put our wine we purchased in a water glass since it was larger, and once they did that, and once they went to get slightly larger glasses from Share (though still smaller than many white wine glasses on the market), and another time on Thanksgiving they showed up with the large cab glasses from Vines.  Wouldn't normally expect the latter though as Vines would not let us leave with those glasses to go to the dining room earlier that same night.  

We leave in two days. November is clearly FALL. Bummer to hear no one has seen any of this yet. Read a trip report of someone who just got of Ruby and they were limited in their wine supply from the old list too.  Wondering how low they have to get before the load up with the new stuff. 

Someone in another thread said we had to put the wine we are bringing on board in our carry on as if it's in our checked bag they will dispose of it. Is that true? We leave Saturday and we packed it in our checked bag and just planned to pay the corkage fees on check in, but it sounds like your separated from your checked bags as soon as you arrive. Advice?

On 10/29/2018 at 5:03 PM, wheezedr said:

You are allowed 1bottle per person without corkage.  Those bottles are supposed to be for personal consumption in your cabin, so if you take them to the MDR you can be charged corkage.  Varies with your waiter if they actually do it.  The bottles above 2 are supposed to be recorded at the time you board and the corkage is then processed.  You get a stamp or labels on those bottles to acknowledge that corkage has been paid.

This is great news!  I thought I was limited to only bringing 2 bottles of my own when I read the rules on princess. We’ve grown to love good wine and hate overpaying for crappy wine. 

If you ask the room steward for wine glasses, are they decent or the lower quality thick rimmed tiny glasses?

Thanks. We’ve opted to do a snorkeling catamaran excursion to Chileno bay in Cabo. Thinking of walking and exploring PV on own.

For Mazatlan, saw there is a nice hike up to the faro lighthouse. Does the cruise ship doc at the port of Mazatlan? If so that might only be about 30 Walk each way per google maps. Does that sound right?

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Good point on the geography lesson. I was thinking about how we opted to skip snorkeling on the west coast of Costa Rica (which is in Central America) a few years ago hearing that the pacific side of that area wasn't great either. We live in AZ and have been to rocky point, warm water there for sure, but not much for snorkeling either.

Been to the Yucatan a few times, first time to Mexican Riviera. Looking for advice on active excursions or activities. We are in our 40's and fairly active. I am aware snorkeling isn't great in this area, but a trip to the ocean without it would seem strange to me. Thinking of doing a boat snorkel trip in Cabo. Anyone snorkeled there?

Also interested in a hiking option or at least a brisk city walking tour if hiking is unsafe in the area. Any experiences in that arena?

We appreciate wildlife too, but like to see them in their natural environment (been there done that with dolphin encounter and ended up just feeling bad for them). Love sea turtles and considered the tour to see the hatchlings in Mazatlan. Is there a lot of manhandling of the turtles going on? Are they well treated or does it seem like an operation who primarily wants to make a buck off tourists who want to pet turtles?

I'd like to taste some tequila, but don't want too much time to be spent on that activity as hubbie doesn't like it. Assuming there are likely many places in the various towns to do this, by just dropping in? Easy to just stumble upon or should I look for specific spots in advance?

We are ok doing some exploring on our own too and don't need to be escorted unless the guide can take us to something we can't see on our own. I have some beginner-intermediate Spanish speaking ability.

Any guidance you can provide is great. Thanks!

Marietas Islands are far out of the bay and more in the pacific ocean and takes time. Because of that the water will be cooler but then on the Yelapa Tour. If you want to snorkel however Marietas are better. While sailing in the bay in December on both tours you might see some whales.

I’m curious about snorkeling options too. Trying to decide if tours in Cabo or PV would have better sea life/corals. We’ve snorkeled many other places in the pacific and Caribbean, but not along the pacific coast of Central America.

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I was cold on the ship and even my sweater wasn't really thick enough to keep me warm inside. Outside was perfectly comfortable. On occasion water was refreshingly cooler, but I wouldn't say cold. Coolest spot was the South pass on Fakarava, but that's expected with the deeper waters. We're from AZ.

I been through Le Tahaa several times. My BH wants to stay there for our next trip. All we read from others is how fantastic it is.

We loved our stay at Le Tahaa and are very glad we chose that over the various options on Bora Bora. The polynesian feel was wonderful, room was in great condition and sufficiently large. Wifi signal was very good in the rooms and throughout the resort (if that matters to you). Lagoon was shallow enough to stand outside the bungalow, and amazing snorkeling right next to the resort. The food was great and with 3 restaurants, we didn't feel the need to go to the main island to eat elsewhere. Wish we actually had more time there actually than we did. If I went back to FP in the future I would stay there again.

Premium wine menu(additional charge wines).

We like wine quite a bit, but never found the need to buy a bottle from the premium list as the included wines served were actually quite good, and you could often ask for something other than the nightly selection of red or white at dinner if there was a particular grape you wanted instead. We were very lucky to have a fellow cruiser treat us to a bottle of the Ruinart champagne on the premium list for our anniversary, and it was quite good and the staff were very attentive in ensuring it was appropriately chilled before they would open it. I think three of them were checking it every other minute or so. Will remember the service there fondly.

Great review, thank you for taking the time to post. My Itinerary is the same so it is exciting to read your thoughts.

 

In regards to the tender process, when the ship is scheduled at the port did you find the time listed to be the time you could debark ?

 

Did you use PG snorkel gear or bring your own ?

 

How do you feel your packing was, and if you were pleased would you share ? (trying to get by on carry on only)

 

Would you say people came back to the ship and got gussied up for dinner or more of a relaxed vibe?

 

Things you wished you would have done or missed ?

 

Personal favorite island or activity or highlight

 

Thank you!

We brought our own snorkel gear and glad we did. We use dry top snorkels and the ships were no. They also have those rubbery fins, and one person I spoke to felt they didn't propel very well as they were flabby. Ours were more stiff, and useful to us. If you opted to not bring snorkel gear and only brought 2 pairs of shoes (cute sandals that can be also worn at dinner, and reef shoes), then you may be able to pull off a carry on only bag. I don't think I could have done it though. We went hiking and also brought hiking shoes, and I just didn't want to feel limited with some variety since we did 10 days. I wore each of my PM dinner outfits 3 times during our 2 week trip. I also wanted room to bring home souvenirs. I do think people got gussied up for dinner. Many women had nicer outfits than I did. My husband was fine with clean khaki pants and a short sleeve collared shirt. I had two dresses, and a couple skirts that I could swap blouses with. Those were a bit more casual looking than what some women wore (I bought them at REI if that tells you anything). I like them for travel though as often we are doing our own laundry in the sink and they are quick dry. The laundry package was useful and if you put it out before 9AM it's back same day by 6PM, I probably could have brought one less dinner and daytime outfit now. I'm happy to share my spreadsheet. Last time I pasted from excel it didn't work out well, so I'll have to see if I can put it into a different format first.

From my recollection the earliest tenders seemed to be at 8:30AM, and that was accurate with what was listed in the Daily's, but perhaps a bit later than I think I saw listed on the original schedule when we signed up for the cruise. It didnt seem to matter though, even private tours we booked on bora bora were waiting for us (both earlier than their stated tour time or a bit later if the tender started later). Just take the first tender listed on the daily if you booked an early private tour. I also hadn't ever read anything on this PG forum of someone being inappropriately left behind by their tour operators either. I'll try and either take photos or scan the dailies and post here too. Unlike others, I did not take pics of the restaurant menus as there was always plenty to choose from. I can't imagine someone not feeling like they could find something quite enjoyable to eat on this cruise.

Like many others, Moorea was our favorite island as the beauty of it can't be beat. Wish we had more time there. My husbands favorite activity was the hike on Moorea. Mine was snorkeling to see the Manta rays on BB and secondly the snorkeling on Rangiroa. Despite liking Moorea as an island, I very much enjoyed the remote nature of the Le Taha'a Island resort for an OWB experience and would return back there in a heartbeat. Too bad I was too chicken to try and trespass on the locals property to try and access other parts of the Drift snorkel as the resort instructed us to cross the channel to walk up the bank because of the private property on the resort side. We enjoyed the drift that we did and we also swim upstream into some of that central area when tides were slower, felt we saw enough (just not an octopus that I was hoping for). If your less concerned about trespassing, the map TBK shared would be useful, but it seemed the residents of that property were always out there every time we went. We probably could have tried to talk to them and seek advice, didn't though.

What do we feel we missed out on... nothing really. We missed a couple shows because we were too tired to stay up for them. I wish our car rental on Moorea was on time as we were not able to complete the circle island drive after hiking the coconuts trail, but still don't feel too bad about that as we saw some of he scenery more easily from the water (waverunner tour) the next day. I think the something not to be missed is the snorkel in Raingiroa if you like snorkeling. I recommend you book that as soon as the reservations open. I spoke to many passengers who missed out on not having anything booked in advance in both Rangiroa and Fakarava and felt bad for them as they didn't expect that to happen. Ultimately I think most found a beach to go to and still had a good time.. My FOMO was a benefit for me on these days. :D

Happy planning! And yes, all the planning was worth it!

Here's a more in depth report of our time a Le a Taha'a island resort, for those who are interested. Keep in mind I wrote this prior to boarding the pg, and I wrote my pg review at LAX on the way home, so the energy levels may appear different. I liked both experiences equally.

We stayed 3 nights before a cruise on the Paul Gauguin. That was the perfect duration. I think a week would be too long for us.

The property was just what we were looking for, remote and secluded with an authentic Polynesian ambiance. So glad we chose this over Bora Bora, as after going to BB for two days on our cruise, the ambiance is much different with resorts that are attempting to be ultra modern and there was lots of activity disrupting the peaceful environment. If you want peace and quite without a lot of activity disrupting the lagoon, this is the place to be. You really felt like you were out in the middle of nowhere, so much so that at night we could hear the local music from the main island across the lagoon.

We booked a regular OWB with a view of Taha'a. It was great in my opinion because we could see the boats go by, and there were some pretty cool sailboats. We could also see some great clouds at sunset and the island lit up really pretty too. We saw sunset over Bora Bora by taking a kayak out into the lagoon. No way I'd pay the up charge just to have the bora bora view bungalow after being there. I also got a few picks of BB just by walking on the boardwalk on that row of OWB’s.

The rooms were adequately spacious, especially if you consider the deck space which had a covered dining area, plenty of lounge space and a lower deck for hanging by the water. The room decor was in good condition and had the authentic Polynesian feel we were looking for. The room amenities included a hot water kettle, nespresso coffee maker, small refrigerator, and a electrical transformer, umbrellas, robes, slippers, TV. Wifi signal seemed very functional for us throughout the property including the room for us. We used all the amenities except the TV. Toiletries were nice, they included a small bottle of the Manoi Tiare oil too which has a great fragrance. I brought additional conditioner, as theirs are a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner product. The bed was adequately comfortable, not the best I’ve ever slept in, but I have definitely seen worse when traveling overseas.

We ate dinner the first night at Ohiri, their high end restaurant. There were only 7 tables and they were all full that night. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday nights, so I emailed ahead to make a reservation. It took a few tries through 3 different routes before I got a response. Turns out the “Activities” email address on the resorts website is the best one to use for that. The food at Ohiri was very creative and beautiful, however the taste didn’t really live up to the visuals in our mind. A couple odd combinations, and unfortunately the duck my husband ordered must have been one old bird as the meat was very tough even though it appeared to be cooked correctly medium. Romantic spot, but we ended up actually liking the food in Vanilla Restaurant better the next night.

The canoe breakfast was incredible. You order whatever you like, we had so much food we ended up saving some in the fridge to eat for lunch. They take you out on the outrigger canoe while they are setting it up too! Otherwise we never tried room service, but the menu looked extensive. We ate the buffet breakfasts the other days. You could get eggs to order or there was some scrambled on the buffet as well as a water circulator to make 3, 5, or 10 minute boiled eggs. I liked the 5 minute ones best- cooked white with runny yolk. The 3 minutes barely cooked half the white. The pastry selection was very large and VERY GOOD! Particularly the croissant which was much flakier than we had on the Paul Gauguin. They had brioche and many other creative pastry items.

The lunch restaurant by the pool “La Plage” was also very good. Tables in the sand. Nice views. They have a BBQ at night also (not sure if it’s all nights), but we saw it at least twice on our three night stay.

Tuesday nights is the Polynesian buffet night at Vanilla. All the other restaurants are closed this night. The buffet was decent and there was lots of selection including freshly grilled beef, Pork, fish, and shrimp. Lots of raw fish options prepared in many styles. Desert bar was very good as many others have also said.

Wine list varied slightly from restaurant to restaurant with about 50% overlapping selections. Plenty of decently wine, >50% was French in origin.

Drinks are expensive. Some up to $35USD. They have happy hour at the pool bar from 4:30-5:30pm every day. Only some drinks get happy hour pricing. Has a passion fruit daquerie, it was just ok, seemed unbalanced. My husband had the BBC, Bailey’s Banana Coconut Milk, and he liked it. They have a drink of the day but we didn't try any

Service was very friendly all around, from housekeeping, waitstaff, baggage handlers, shopkeepers, and management. Check your bill closely in checkout, mine was far from correct, had nightly room rate (which I prepaid) and none of our food bills. Took them 25 minutes to make the corrections, so don't wait until the last minute to check out.

Coral garden drift snorkel was good. Lots of fish and coral of many types. I came prepared to be fully covered after reading reviews of people getting scraped up. I'm thinking they must have been poor swimmers or not paying attention. My advice is just go with the flow of the current and you'll be fine. Best way to reach the start is from the opposite bank. Swim or wade across then follow the land trail to the starting point. Stand there and take a look at the water and you'll see the river like current pathway. It appears more shallow from above the water than it really is. Keep your face in the water so your feet are more likely to float to the surface. We wore fins which also helps keep them up. If you wear fins you don't really need to kick, so be mindful of the coral and just float along with the current. If you don't want to do the whole drift you can go just past the rope barrier and see lots of fish without having much current to swim against. Please do not touch the coral.

Overall, we would return here in a heartbeat and saw others at the resort who have.

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We were doubters about the laundry pkg as we often hand wash our own items while traveling. We decided to just go for it after doing a little math and realizing our per item bill may come to about $300 for 10 days. It came in real handy on even the first day as we washed numerous items from our 4 day pre-cruise stay. All items came back in good condition, but I did not give them a wool shirt. The delicate sweater I gave them seemed to go fine.

On the topic of laundry... for those who have purchased dyed or hand painted pareos, how do you launder them at home? Any issues with bleeding or fading?

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