Tahitianbigkahuna

gilliansp Huahine - good island for cultural stuff Moorea - all about the interior Bora Bora - all about the lagoon Raiatea - another good cultural island Fakarava - only 800 people live here so the infrastructure is limited. The Blur Lagoon area is serene and so beautiful Rangiroa - Don't miss the 'Aquarium' ... some of the best snorkeling in FP Nuku Hiva - you want to get yourself up to the Hatihue/Anaho area 😉

Your on the one after us .... The problem is most of the good private excursions have already been booked ... all of my private excursions are pretty full. I would suggest going to your roll call (if there is one) and see if others are requesting more people to fill their private excursions. Most private vendors require a minimum so checking your roll call is a good way to go.

Which date? Your obviously on the Navigator

A few taken this week in the garden .... no filters, Sony RX10IV

Oh ... so were breaking the rules ... Another old rocker who still has it ... John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Taken at the Mid State Fair with my iPhone SE

Some will be open but not all of them ....

Hawaii is northern hemisphere ... the rest are southern hemisphere ... FP, Tonga and Fiji will likely be a bit more rainy and humid. Figure mid 80's with 60% humidity.

Simply stated for others ...

Actually there are some lovely beaches on Tahiti but it takes a little effort on your part. Pictured is the beautiful beaches on Tahiti-Iti. Rent a car and go seek out ... no resorts in this area of the island ... it's the real Polynesia 😉 Black sand beaches .... you can almost imagine Captain Cook's ship anchored in the picture with the peaks in the background.

Depending on the ship ... some do a BBQ and show one evening in Bora Bora and the tenders might be used for such and not available for going to Viatape after 4:30PM BTW ... the most convenient resort to spend the night on is the Conrad Hilton or the Moana ... The Conrad picks you up right at the tender drop off and the Moana is only a 10 minute taxi ride away.

I'm not on that cruise ... and I rarely give recommendations on excursions any longer.

Veranda B

Quiet area ... VB gives to a bit more room to get past the bed and the balcony is a tad larger ...

There are a few places to eat between the tender location and the public beach which is past the Kia Ora Resort. A good place to eat that is close to the public beach is Mitivai which is located at the top dive location.

All the motus are privately owned

Yes there are bike rental places as you walk up the street from the tender location. None of the places have web pages or Facebook pages ... first come, first served

Yes there are water taxis .... but ... my guess is they won't allow you to access the motu without arriving on the ship's excursion. you might want to check first 😉

No self serve There is an ala carte price list .... if your a returnee it's free for up to 5 items per person per day.

My TA and her hubby ... can't give names 😉

look again ... I added a picture

Nope ... no shorts or sandals unless the dinning venue manage gives you permission ... unlikely but you can ask ... more likely in 'Le Grille'. I would say only about half wear all white ... Pictured is typical Polynesian night wear ...

Here is the straight skinny .... Back before cell phones/PDA's tips were rare ... actually you could offend some Polynesians ... they did a great job for fair compensation and expected no more ... most offend they would not accept. Than came along the wifi/cell phones and the younger Polynesians became westernized and felt entitled. You now need to be careful not to offend the older Polynesians but know the youth now have an expectation. Remember most restaurants already have a built-in tip ... Rule of thumb ... if your on an excursion and you have one vendor to consider. Does he/she own the boat or vehicle? If they do you never tip ... if there is a younger (18 - 35) person handling the excursion and they don't own the company then tip ... never more than 10% I've traveled to FP over 30 times over 3 decades ... I know what I'm talking about 😉

Typically there are about 30 kids on-board at Christmas ... all ages. And yes Santa does visit ... Gosh that guy looks familiar 🙂

Again it comes down to how behaved the kids are ... this often comes down to good parenting. I've had kids be part of the excursions (pictured) I plan and everyone loved having the kids along but all were well behaved. I've also been around kid's on-board that were completely out of control and took away from the experience for several. As far as adults I've had large groups and never had issues of anyone being out of control. For the most part I find the passengers on-board knowledgeable, frequent travelers and engaging. I usually sit with tables at dinner with people I don't know ... it's incredible to hear their stories and experiences in life ... heck, you might be sitting next to a famous author or an astronaut ... you never know. Picture taken on Fakarava at the Blue Lagoon ... kids were so well behaved ... entertained themselves as well as for us watching. Kids were from 2 families, ages 8, 6 and 4

This really depends on the child. I've young ones do just fine and were pleasure to have around ... the youngsters often have a few dozen instant grad parents. With that being said I seen young ones that were a handful and took away the experience not only for the parents but others as well. You need to ask yourself without bias ... will your child behave or will they take away special moments from others. As a parent rarely think their little kids ever misbehave you might what to ask others you know that can perfectly honest with you if it's a good idea for your child to go. As mentioned most consider this a trip of a lifetime in one of the most romantic places on earth ... and of course the considerable expense people lay out ... make sure you don't take away the experience from others .... only if your are 100% sure your child will behave would I say go for it.