marciaandre

I can't remember about the shampoo/soap question, however I'm sure there was at least soap. I always travel with my own shampoo, so don't notice that. The cabin attendant did a great job with our cabin. Concur with Floridiana about going on a trip with an English speaker, in fact I would seek out a native speaker. Our trip had someone who spoke French but attempted to read his lectures to us in English. They were pretty much incoherant, although our guide Stephan did a fantastic job.

Has anyone traveled on Heritage Expeditions Spirit of Enderby? We are particularly interested in their South Pacific routes. Looking for any particular information beyond what we can find in their web site. Thanks.

Yes Barefoot14, your phone needs to be unlocked. I called Verizon a couple of years ago, and asked them to unlock my phone. They asked why, so I told them I wanted to use a foreign SIM card. They tried to sell me on their global service, but I told them it was just too expensive and that I had decided to do this. They said ok, and immediately unlocked it.

We traveled on the Aranui in Oct. 2014. I bought the cheapest wifi card at the post office on the first island in the Marquesas upon arrival. I used the same card code at each other post office, and the card seemed to have enough data for the whole trip. I found the wifi connectivity to be extremely low however, particularly when you have 10 passengers or so all trying to get on at the same time. It seemed to take a long time to download a few emails. I responded or wrote emails back on the ship, then upload them at the next Post Office. I found uploading photos to be impossible.

I think that if I did this again, and really needed to stay in touch, I would buy a French Polynesian SIM card back in Papeete before getting on the Aranui. I notice that the crew seemed to be able to use their phones in most of the ports. I think that Vini is supposed to be best plan.

We traveled last month on the Aranui 3 which was just wonderful. We accelerated our plans to travel before 5 came on line, as we were concerned about the increased size We attended a program about the Aranui 5 one evening while traveling, and learned all about the amenities, specifications, etc. along with an interesting historical overview of the company. We were told that as of right now, they plan to carry the first passengers in September 2015. From the questions asked during the program, it was clear that many of the passengers felt that the company was making a big mistake in building the larger ship and that it's launch signals the end of an era. Many are concerned that the ship will be too large with too many people for the small ports of call.

The new ship will have more suites and less standard rooms, although it will still have space for the dorms and the day passengers. We were told that the desire for more suites is largely driven by the American market. Note that there were 7 Americans out of 162 passengers on our voyage.

According to the Aranui representatives the vendors in the ports are all ready to go to accommodate the increase in passengers. But according to the guides on the vessel, and on shore, they are deeply worried that the islands won't be able to handle the increase and are not at all ready.

The new vessel looks beautiful, but it's overall appearance is like more of a cruise ship that the Aranui 3. I've uploaded a photo I shot of the Aranui 5 during the slide show.

So yes, end of an era - I agree. However, the new vessel looks much luxurious and will probably appeal to many. Bottom line, it will have the same crew - and the MAKES the whole experiece along with the same wonderful islands.

We just returned from Voyage 13 and highly recommend the Aranui. We booked a standard cabin on the Main Deck almost 2 years in advance and were very happy with our location and the cabin's amenities. The crew was really exceptional, and saw to the passengers every needs. We enjoyed all of the islands and the wonderful shore excursions, and loved the whole process of going ashore on the barges. The seamen do a fantastic job of seeing to everyone's safety. I would not recommend this to anyone with a serious mobility problems as it's necessary to be able to go up and down a flight of stairs unassisted by anything other than railing on both sides. Some of the shore excursions require a fair amount of walking too. We thought the food was delicious, although breakfast got a little monotonous. We certainly had more than enough to eat.

My husband really enjoyed the fishing charter and the chance to fish a couple of nights off the boat's back fishing platform. I joined the ukelele band, and had a blast! We also very much enjoyed the crew's Aranui Band that played some evenings in the bar.

I would advise carrying a pretty full medicine chest with cough, cold, and flu type remedies. We had, what seemed to me, to be a pretty high incidence of viral infections that began a few days into the trip. While the ship's doctor can provide some things, I wished that I had brought a good cough syrup, antihistamines, etc. in addition to the antibiotics that I did carry.

Something else I would do differently is to book the late rather than the early dinner seating. It's only a half hour difference, but the early seating was a little rushed for those attending one of the daily briefings. Cash was no problem. There were ATM's on some of the islands, plus the Aranui was great about money exchange. Laundry was done 3 times during the visit, in fact we got an extra load done due to my husbands smelly fish clothes.

You can really tell that the crew people are happy on the Aranui. No request is too big for them. Their hearts are always wide open to each and every passenger. You can ask anyone for help, and never get passed along. To me, this is the mark of a really successful operation. It was sad to say goodbye to these wonderful people. I'd be glad to answer anyone's specific questions - just send me a PM.