WInd Spirit Dreams of Tahiti - what to pack? And tipping

My Tahiti trip is coming up (next week) and I’m starting to think about packing.

Any suggestions?

I’m thinking about shoes & dress for dinner, no heels? What about excursions during the day? Sneakers? Water shoes?

I imagine I need lots of sunblock, what about insect repellent?

Anything else?

also what about tipping staff on the ship? I know there is a charge per day, and a charge on all drinks, do you tip above that?

I'm on the November 1st cruise and I'm also wondering how much XPFs do people generally bring with them for spending on the islands?

For dinner you'll be fine with sandals (not flipflops) and some sort of closed toe shoes for men. No need for a dress unless you'd like. Slacks and a casual top are fine (they say no jeans, but even that rule is widely ignored.) Toward the end of our last itin I gave up and wore jeans to dinner and no one said a word.

In terms of tipping, it is not customary to tip as you go. In addition to the tip added to your bill, at the end of the cruise I slip something to people who've been especially good to us. A great server in the dining room when we've had him/her several times, a bartender who just looks up and makes our drink when he sees us coming. That sort of thing.

Just got off the Wind Spirit last Thursday. What a great trip. I'll try to put a review together soon but for now I can answer some questions. As for dining wear, my wife wore slacks and a nice top with sandals. I wore khakis and golf/aloha shirts with a pair of boat shoes. Certainly that was fine. I didn't even pack any jeans as I was only in long pants for dinner. As for active footwear, we did fine with sneakers but definitely bring water shoes. Very helpful for getting in and out of the water.

Surprisingly, we didn't use too much suntan lotion. The sunproof rashguards helped there. We brought 2 types. Regular stuff for walking around and the reef safe for when we were snorkeling. We also brought insect repellent. In fact, the stuff that comes as a towelete was handy. Most spots we didn't need it but having it in the back pocket came in useful a couple of times. Also, on the motus they take you to, they had cans of Off around.

As for tipping, we just added an extra amount at the end. If we went around to everyone of the crew who good to us, we would have been there still :D The whole crew was extremely pleasant and helpful.

As for currency, we got XPFs from the ATM at the airport and a bank across from the ship pier. But it was really not much of a problem as most spots took USD or credit cards.

I tell you to have a great time but I already know you will ;)

Thank you both so much! I appreciate it!

A couple of points to add to the earlier posts. If you plan to take excursions that involve land-based tours in jungly areas, you might appreciate repellant. (Moorea and Huahine, in my case.) The activities director on our April cruise was good about explaning what you might need and should bring with you, Sandals, tennis shoes and water shoes were what I brought for footwear. One reason I decided not to do the more challenging hike was that I didn't want to lug h iking boots; not sure if they would have been necessary.

If the weather cooperates there will be one night when you will be taken to a motu for a beach barbecue and Polynesian show. I pulled out my sarong for that night. Another night when the insect repellant helps.

Somewhere I heard that there was less of a tradition of tipping in Polynesia. It varied from excursion to excursion as to whether the guides seemed to promote or expect it. Some were pleasantly surprised. That's a good place to use the local currency, but we used dollars as well.

Great info!

Much appreciated!

I'm on the November 1st cruise and I'm also wondering how much XPFs do people generally bring with them for spending on the islands?

We brought along about 200$ worth of FPX for tips, snacks, etc. For purchase (souvenir, etc) we used our credit card.

Cheers

Just a note about Sunscreen. While there is no regulation in Polynesia about sunscreen uses, Hawaii just banned some type of sunscreen containing 2 ingredients that are damaging to coral reef. You may want to check

read news here: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/health/hawaii-bans-sunscreen-chemicals-trnd/index.html

Just a note about Sunscreen. While there is no regulation in Polynesia about sunscreen uses, Hawaii just banned some type of sunscreen containing 2 ingredients that are damaging to coral reef. You may want to check

 

read news here: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/health/hawaii-bans-sunscreen-chemicals-trnd/index.html

Good point. I ordered some "Thinksport SPF 50" which appears to fill the bill. Just don't order it from Amazon because it's taking just shy of forever to get here. I think it's available at REI.