vlaurend
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Posts posted by vlaurend
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We took this cruise 2 months ago (Nov 16) and it was hands down fabulous in every way! Food was fantastic (including the appetizers and afternoon tea/snacks on deck in the late afternoon), service was amazing, and the tamaraa (Tahitian luau) destination event on the private island on Bora Bora was incredible . We paid $3999 per person including RT air from LAX and found it to be an excellent value after watching all the airfares and cruise sale prices for a year.
Le Meridien Tahiti was absolutely fine as our transit hotel and we never had to carry our luggage or figure out transfers, which was a real treat. The Museum of Tahiti and the Isles is just a 5-minute walk north of LeMeridien and you can also walk around downtown Papeete for several hours after being transferred to the ship and checking in (check-in is 1:30 and all-aboard is not until 5:00).
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They are still advertising the special destination event on Bora Bora for the "Dreams of Tahiti" cruise. We took the cruise just before Thanksgiving and thought the evening event on the private reef island was fantastic.
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We just did the Windstar cruise last month and had 130 passengers and 100 crew. It was an incredible experience and we loved the fact that our ship allowed us to "be the scenery" instead of interrupting the scenery (the Wind Spirit is so beautiful with its sails!). But everyone is different. If you want intimacy, the Windstar experience is for you. But if you want more options for activities, PG might have a bit of an advantage. Also, if you are heavy drinkers, PG may end up being more economical, since alcoholic drinks are included in the base price. But if you expect to drink no more than 3-4 drinks on the ship per person per day, Windstar will be a better deal (alcoholic drinks are pay-as-you-go but reasonably priced).
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Aah! Thanks so much!!
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I remember reading something about a referral bonus or commission of some sort for past Windstar passengers who refer new Windstar customers. Is that true? If so, how does it work and how do I find out more about it? I've been telling friends about the cruise we took last month and several of them are interested.
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RT air from LAX will add another $1500 per person to that.. I'd contact Windstar and ask what the cruise + air package price is for that sailing. The transfers and hotel are handled for you, and even after checking prices for a year, we never saw cruise prices or airfares that would have made it cheaper to book them separately.
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The earliest we were allowed to board was 1:30pm. I highly advise boarding early, grabbing a bite to eat at the buffet, making your Candles reservations to get the evening you want, then disembarking to take a walk around Papeete until 5:00pm (when you need to be back onboard for the safety drill).
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We brought our own so we didn't need to get them from the ship, but I do remember an announcement from the cruise director telling everyone they were available. I don't remember where she said they were, but reception would have made sense.
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Yes, but on the southern end of the town of Vaitape.
I highly recommend taking a bus for 500XPF (or US$5.00) or a taxi south from Vaitape to Matira Beach. Also, on the day of the evening BBQ event, you will probably be given the option to tender back and forth to the private motu (Motu Tapu, the tiny reef island at the far left on the aerial image, on the south side of the pass) until around 2:30pm. There won't be any food service or drinks there, but the watersports guy will be there with the kayaks and paddleboards and you'll get the island practically to yourself, since a lot of the Windstar passengers aren't aware that they have this option and will have booked tours. Once you board, you can ask the cruise director (Martina, if it's the same blonde Macedonian woman we had a few weeks ago) exactly what your options are for tendering to Motu Tapu.
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Don't let the coral scrape stories scare you off from the drift snorkel. It is truly a wondrous experience unlike any other snorkeling you will ever do, and it would be a shame to go all the way to Taha'a and miss it. Just wear leggings and long-sleeved shirts (and dive gloves if you are extra cautious, like me. They're easy to find on Amazon). It's a small investment for such a memorable experience!
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The captain of the Wind Spirit told us they do use the sails when conditions are right, since they can add a knot of speed when the wind is blowing the right direction. But the fact is that the wind changes direction constantly in the Society Islands so it is a lot of work to maximize the use of the sails.
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One more piece of information that may be useful for people: This is not a huge cruise ship, so you will feel side -to-side rocking motion when you are at sea between the islands. Rather than risk any motion sickness, I took one Bonine whenever we left the barrier reef of an island. That means when we left Tahiti, Moorea, Taha'a, Bora Bora and Huahine. We were docked at Raiatea overnight and stayed within the barrier reef to get to Taha'a, so none was needed then. And, of course, none needed when we were anchored overnight on Bora Bora.
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That's correct. We were given the option to tender back and forth to Motu Tapu (Bora Bora) from 11am to 2:30pm on day 2 (the day of the evening BBQ event). You need to bring your own food and water, but the kayaks and paddleboards will be available for use, along with someone to help you use them. The view of Bora Bora (Mt Otemanu) from Motu Tapu is gorgeous, and the island is so quiet and private! Guests at the Conrad Hilton on Bora Bora apparently pay big bucks to get this private island to themselves, so it was particularly nice to get it for free! This is exactly the view we had from Motu Tapu during the day:
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Yes, there are, but since everyone on the ship will be there on Motu Mahaea (the Taha'a motu), you'll also hear and see people.
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Due to the time difference (2 hours behind Los Angeles), it's easy to wake up early on the ship. Plus, this time of year the sun comes up right after 5am so you feel like it's later than it is. I think we met up at around 8:30am to do the Taha'a drift snorkel excursion, and when we were done, we were dropped off right onto Motu Mahaea for the BBQ lunch. We still had plenty of time to hang out there in the afternoon, too. The timing was perfect and it made for a perfect day! There are enough lounge chairs set up for everyone, no matter how late you arrive.
Yes the difference between the private motu at Taha'a and the one at Bora Bora is that EVERYONE form the ship is on the Taha'a motu, and the food and drinks are there as well. The Bora Bora motu only has the kayaks and paddleboards from the ship, no food or drinks. There are bathrooms, of course.
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You must not miss Chichen Itza. Tulium has a pretty beach but nothing compares to Chichen Itza. We had zero issues with vendors.
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The Tahaa drift snorkel sells out early, so if you want to do it, make sure you book it as soon as you board.
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Thank you for this information. We are sitting in LA getting ready to start our cruise tomorrow.
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Awesome! Are you on the air + cruise package? What excursions do you have planned?
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P.S. One more huge recommendation: The drift snorkel on Taha'a. And wear a rashguard, leggings and gloves to avoid coral scrapes. We chose to do the ship's excursion on Taha'a day instead of booking an off-cruise excursion to Taha'a on Raiatea day (the private companies all pick you up at Uturoa, Raiatea for the Taha'a drift snorkel). The reasoning was twofold: (1) We trusted Windstar to pick a careful and reliable tour operator, which was important due to the nature of this snorkel, and (2) We wanted to visit Marae Taputapuatea on Raiatea day, since it is the ultimate sailors' and navigators' pilgrimage site. It's the most sacred site in all of the Polynesian triangle and is where the outrigger canoe expeditions were launched to explore and settle islands as far away as Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand (with human sacrifices to ensure a safe voyage). We truly believe that our pilgrimage to Marae Taputapuatea is the reason the local gods granted us sunny weather for the drift snorkel and Bora Bora lagoon tour! We got a few downpours during the cruise, but never when we most needed clear skies. ;) We rented a car from Hertz Raiatea just for the afternoon (4 hours). This cannot be done through the main Hertz website; you need to go to http://www.hertz-raiatea.com/ and then e-mail them to reserve the car.
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Our fellow passengers were nice, and easy to talk to, but we did not have a typical Windstar experience because 80+ of the 130 passengers were part of a singles group that really changed the vibe onboard. The other 45 or so passengers were mainly couples, and we hit it off great with all of them. We complained about the big singles group and my understanding is that it was something extremely unusual for Windstar.
The highlight of our cruise was our Bora Bora lagoon snorkeling tour with Lagoon Service (booked on our own, not with Windstar). Not only were they reliable, fun and knowledgeable, but they had their own spots to take us for stingray snorkeling, shark snorkeling and craploads-of-fish snorkeling. This meant we had amazing snorkeling spots all to ourselves instead of having to share them with masses of tourists. They also played ukulele for us and served us local fruit and homemade coconut bread, in addition to bottled water and juice. I would highly recommend taking this morning tour with them, even if you also rent your own boat for part of the 2-day stay on Bora Bora. We had them pick us up at the tender dock at 9:30 on day 1 (just in case the ship arrived late) and drop us off at Matira Beach for lunch on the beach after the tour. It worked perfectly! We took the bus back to the Vaitape tender dock from Matira Beach ($5 or 500XPF per person) but we also could have had the restaurant call a taxi for us.
Another thing we did on Bora Bora--and it cost us nothing--was hanging out on Motu Tapu on Bora Bora Day 2. Most of the people on our cruise didn't know we would be given access to this private island from 11am to 2:30pm on the day of the evening destination event, so they had booked tours and made other plans. As a result, there were only 6-8 of us on the motu, including the two watersports crew, who had the paddleboards and kayaks there for us. We ordered sandwiches from room service, packed them in Ziplock bags, mixed ourselves some rum punch (we had packed insulated water bottles and 50 ml plastic bottles of Bacardi for the cruise, then picked up non-alcoholic fruit punch at the Rotui Juice Factory on Moorea) and took a tender boat over to the motu, where we had an idyllic picnic lunch a la Robinson Crusoe, then did some paddleboarding. You could take your rental boat there on your way around the lagoon, LOL!
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A few questions for you:
1. Did you purchase/use WiFi? If so, how was it?
2. Did you purchase the beverage package? If so, how easy was it for the trip to effectively be all-inclusive for you, but not everyone?
3. What type of stateroom did you have?.
1. We did not purchase WiFi because we had heard it was spotty and we thought it was overpriced. We used the WiFi at the hotel on our pre- and post-cruise days and we also bought the AT&T Passport package for $40 for one of our phones, which allowed us to use local cellular and 3G service when we were in port each day.
2. We did not purchase the beverage package because we calculated that we would need to each have at least 5 drinks per day on the ship in order to make it worth the price. Drinks were very reasonably priced compared to resort hotels. Wine, champagne and cocktails would generally run $8 - $12 each. A bottle of decent California chardonnay was about $35, IIRC.
3. We got the cheapest level stateroom on Deck 1, toward the front of the ship (Cabin #138) so as to be away from the engine noise in the back. We were offered a free "upgrade" to a Deck 2 cabin (all cabins are the same except for the owner's suite) but declined, since we wanted to be on the lower deck for stability. We definitely noticed more rocking on Deck 2 than Deck 1, and we also enjoyed seeing the water right outside our portholes.
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I am posting this here because the review I posted in "Reviews" never posted. Now I know why there aren't more reviews of this cruise!
Two weeks ago we went on our 7-day "Dreams of Tahiti" cruise on the Wind Spirit. There were only 130 passengers, with 100 crew. Let that ratio sink in. The experience on this sailing yacht was absolutely amazing!
We got the air + cruise package, which we actually found to be a good value after watching the independent air and cruise prices for over a year. You also get your luggage transferred from the airport to the hotel, ship, hotel day room and back to airport, which we loved.
The islands we visited were Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Taha'a, Bora Bora and Huahine . We got two days on Bora Bora, which was fantastic, since we spent the first day doing a lagoon tour with Lagoon Service (they were awesome!) and hanging out at Matira Beach (also awesome) and the second day hanging out on the nearly empty Motu Tapu that Windstar had rented for the day.
Every island was wonderful in its own way, but our favorites were Moorea for the island scenery and vibe, Bora Bora for the breathtaking lagoon, and Taha'a for the drift snorkel.
Any questions, feel free to ask away! I know I had a ton of them.
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I'd recommend boarding as soon as you can (1:00pm), getting all checked in, grabbing a bite to eat at the lunch buffet, and making your Candles dinner reservation for the evening of your choice, then leaving the ship and returning just before the required safety drill or all-aboard time.
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I understand your disappointment in Windstar's response to your complaint, but I think your disappointment should be in the management's refusal to acknowledge their fault and compensate you. Your disappointment should not be in the response of their Facebok page administrator. I say this because I am the Facebook page administrator for a nationwide organization and one of our guidelines is to nip negative posts in the bud so that we don't get everyone's dirty laundry aired on our Facebook page. It isn't the appropriate place for it, and it can also get out of hand.
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We had some waves crash against our first deck portholes on the way from Taha’a to Bora Bora (it was fun!), but the ship never rocked enough to make people sick. Your friend probably had the bad luck of taking a cruise during a storm or unusually choppy seas. I took the precaution of taking a Bonnie whenever we left a barrier reef, though, since I tend to get a little queasy. Zero problem.