Jump to content

November 2019 Help


Beachiekeen
 Share

Recommended Posts

Our 10-year wedding anniversary is in November 2019. We had planned a 2-island 10-night land trip to Hawaii but for some reason I decided to look at Tahiti and now I can't get it out of my mind. But I have a few questions to try and see what the best fit would be for us.

 

First of all, is early November a good time to visit? I am not opposed to going a few weeks earlier if it would mean more optimal weather (less rain, calmer water). How soon should we realistically be looking at booking for next fall?

 

My ultimate trip would be a 3 night stay in Bora Bora in an OWB and then the 7-night Paul Gauguin cruise. But unless I am way off, all in this looks to be about $18k. An 11-night cruise that includes the Cook islands is a bit cheaper and we could include an OWB excursion in Moorea or Bora Bora. This seems like a better deal but I haven't really researched the Cook Islands, has anyone done this cruise?

 

Are there any ways to make the land/cruise option cheaper? I briefly looked into booking the land portion separate but it didn't appear to save any money. Is it best to book with PG directly or are there any third-party sites that are worth looking into?

 

Thanks for any advice to help me get started. I know we will return to Hawaii probably many times but I feel like if we don't do FP next year, we might never do it, so it seems like we should at least explore this possibility. And although a land only vacation is an option and would be closer to our Hawaii budget, I would really like to do the cruise if we can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go earlier if you can ... October is still very nice.

 

For best cabin selection make your reservation early. You can book now.

 

The Cook Islands itinerary is a favorite for many. We love the Cook's, been there 6 times.

 

Third party sites are not discussed on this site as it opens up a big mess. Do an internet search and you will find some. You can even fill out a request from the PG website and you will likely get contacted by an approved TA.

 

Yes you can save a few bucks with some third party sites but make sure your dealing with a company that Paul Gauguin Cruises approves. PG has their chosen companies and even refer out to them, they know that the companies they refer to know the product well and give honest advise.

 

Been to Hawaii 6 times .... FP 18 times. FP is far superior, do it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have only been once to Tahiti and chose a 3 night pre-cruise stay in a OWB at the Hilton Moorea ( found it much more affordable taking a ferry vs flights etc to Bora Bora) followed by the 10 night itinerary on PG. It was a phenomenal trip ! We are anxiously awaiting the 2020 schedule and have read excellent reviews regarding Vahine Resort and will consider combining with a 7 night or 10 night PG again depending on final cost. When you state a land only excursion would be closer to your Hawaii budget have you added in the cost of food and drink as it is extremely expensive and the PG is all inclusive. Good Luck !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and excursions too are a bit of an unknown. And it would be more than Hawaii to do a land only vacation but I don’t think it will be double.

 

Good idea to look at a stay on Moorea pre cruise instead, I will look at that. Did you book that part yourself?

Edited by Beachiekeen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and excursions too are a bit of an unknown. And it would be more than Hawaii to do a land only vacation but I don’t think it will be double.

 

Good idea to look at a stay on Moorea pre cruise instead, I will look at that. Did you book that part yourself?

 

 

 

Once you go to the FP, go will get the FP flu and will be back. Have trip number 7 plan for January 2019..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I was home all week and did some more research and I have a few questions.

 

The two cruises we are looking at are the 11-night Cook Islands/Society Islands 11/1-13/19 or the 7-night Society Islands 10/24-11/2/19. If we did the 7-night, we would spend 2 nights on Tahiti, one after a late arrival and then one full day/night before the cruise. With the 11-night, we would have to arrive on cruise day.

 

I don't think I want to book the air through PG because I have read they have you arrive and board immediately at 11:00 pm and I definitely do not want to do that, but we also do not want to do a 3 night pre-cruise package. So am I correct that we can get an amount off the cruise fare and use that to book our own air, we just have to take care of our own transfers?

 

If we don't use PG, do hotels allow us to book a day room ourselves (for the hours after debarkation but before our late flight home)? Also if we did the 11-night cruise, could we arrive the morning of the cruise (like 6:00 am) and get a day room somewhere until embarkation at 3:00?

 

Am I correct that we need to allow 3-4 hours between the flights between LAX and PPT?

 

Lastly, has anyone done the overnight bungalow excursion PG offers on Bora Bora or Moorea? Should we just come in a day early and spend one night on either island and book that ourselves to get that experience or is that too much trouble? We would arrive to Tahiti late and get a cheap hotel, then transfer the next morning for one full day/night in a OWB and then back to Tahiti for the day of the cruise. Or we would do the PG excursion.

 

TIA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If PG arranges your flight they could put you on the plane that arrives early in the morning or the one that gets in late that night. For the earlier flight they will include a day room at the IC until they bus you to the airport that evening. For the late arrival you will go directly from the airport to the ship. Downside to the late arrival is that you are exhausted and ideally you would have a couple of days to relax prior to the cruise.

 

I would not do the OWB as an excursion. Not only is the price way out of line with what you can book yourself but you are also paying for the night on the ship and not using it. At the very least arrive in PPT on the early flight, easy taxi to the ferry and ferry to Moorea. Stay in an OWB at the Hilton. You will not be able to get into your room until the afternoon but they do allow you use of a room to shower and change. Then relax at the pool/beach until your room is available. I would encourage you to reserve of 2 nights at a minimum otherwise you really don't get a lot out of your OWB.

 

If you do not use the PG air you should get back about $1500 per person. You then don't have transfers, dayroom after the cruise and transport to the airport. The only issue with this, as we have done this a few times, is that getting a day room post cruise is virtually impossible on your own. The hotels want you to pay for a full night to use the hotel. You can try for Fare Suisse, an inexpensive and clean pension for the day, and they include transport from the ship and then to the airport. They are located about a 15 minute walk from the pier, not close enough to walk with your luggage but close enough to walk back in the evening for dinner at the food trucks.

 

3-4 hours at LAX should be fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for that info. After I posted, I found a good thread about the day rooms and see now that the hotels don't really offer that anymore. I also thought it included an actual room (just for the day) but I see now that I was incorrect. I also realized that if we don't use PG for air, then we have to leave the ship earlier. Good to know that there is at least the possibility of the earlier option. I read several reviews about how you just get in and board the ship immediately and I know I don't want to do that. And if we do the 7-day, we will add at least one full day pre-cruise to get acclimated. If we do the 11-day though, that is not possible as it is already 2 full weeks off of work.

 

You are probably right about the excursion. We should probably do it ourselves or add in a day. It would probably still come out cheaper than that overpriced excursion. If we do our own pre-cruise accommodations, can we still use PG for air both ways and the day room at the end of the cruise? Also do TA's book the cruise or can we only go through PG?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We'll be back on board in July and although we do arrange our own transport you really don't have to get off the ship super early. They will ask you to fill out a form with your travel info and if you are independent travelers they will ask you to be off at 9 or 10 am. Your bags will be waiting for you on the dock. The latest anyone can stay on board is until noon or 12:30. Everyone needs to be out of their room by about 9. The reality is that they don't have any way to enforce the departure time. If you are "scheduled" to be off at 10:00 am and decide to stay on the ship and read in a public area they will not chase you off. You can do this and then have lunch on board at 11:00 am and then leave. You could also leave and go to the market before you claim your bags. As long as you get back by about noon you are fine. You won't be allowed back on board but you can access the secure area of the pier to retrieve your luggage.

 

You could also consider staying post cruise on Moorea rather than pre cruise. Your last stop is on Moorea and then at about 6:00 pm the ship leave Moorea for PPT where it overnights. You then get off the next morning. You could easily head back via the ferry to Moorea in the morning, stay a night at the Hilton (or other hotel) and then take a late ferry back the next day and taxi to the airport. I have also seen some people arrange to leave the ship in Moorea late in the afternoon and the ship sails back to PPT without them. Since you have paid for that night I'm not sure if that is the best idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your time is short, perhaps the 7-night cruise is what you want. It's a wonderful itinerary, no wasted time at sea, just islands every day. And then you can spend a night or two, as you say, in Tahiti to get over jet lag and relax. I agree that flying in and getting right on the ship is something to do only if you absolutely have to. The post-cruise dayroom package is pretty nice, considering the alternative, so if you're going to fly Economy, I'd just take ATN.

 

I don't believe you really have time to spend in Moorea--if you flew in two days in advance, arriving first thing in the morning, you *could* spend two nights there and then take a ferry to the ship. But if you fly in at night, it doesn't work, since you'd have to spend the first night on Tahiti anyways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes the 7-day is probably the best choice—it’s not over our actual anniversary like the 11-day and cost wise the longer one is the better deal.

 

So we could come in late (Wednesday) and overnight somewhere cheap, then Thursday transfer to Moorea or Bora Bora, stay Thursday-Friday and transfer back Saturday for the cruise.

 

I guess we could also try to come in the early A.M. on Thursday, and stay at the IC on Tahiti for 2 nights and try and get a late checkout before the cruise. That almost sounds easier and I could still get the OWB experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes the 7-day is probably the best choice—it’s not over our actual anniversary like the 11-day and cost wise the longer one is the better deal.

 

So we could come in late (Wednesday) and overnight somewhere cheap, then Thursday transfer to Moorea or Bora Bora, stay Thursday-Friday and transfer back Saturday for the cruise.

 

I guess we could also try to come in the early A.M. on Thursday, and stay at the IC on Tahiti for 2 nights and try and get a late checkout before the cruise. That almost sounds easier and I could still get the OWB experience.

 

Moorea is a lot easier and cheaper to get to than Bora Bora, and the hotels tend to be less expensive as well, in general.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of people, perhaps influenced by Michener's "South Pacific", think Bora Bora is the most beautiful place on the planet, although Moorea actually holds that title. But we let folks continue to believe it about Bora Bora, so they don't come and make Moorea too crowded. Of course, I would never ever post these facts on a public forum like Cruise Critic. (ahem)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did the 10 day Society and Tuamotus cruise in January 2018 and did not do the included ATN air from PG. Maybe knowing what we did might help with your planning.

 

We flew on Hawaiian Airlines and arrived late in the evening on a Saturday. We pre-booked a room at Fare Suisse guest house and that includes pick up at the airport. We had breakfast at Fare Suisse and they gave us a ride to the ferry over to Moorea where we spent 3 nights at the IC. We booked the IC through a travel agent and it included some extras that were quite nice. (Room upgrade, one included dinner, breakfast buffet daily, some bar credit.)

 

IC does not have a shuttle from the ferry to the hotel but their concierge will pre arrange van transfers for you and that can be billed to your hotel room.

 

Our cruise embarked on a Wednesday so after breakfast we checked out but they held onto our luggage for us while we relaxed by the pool, split a sandwich for lunch and then transferred back to the ferry. The ferry arrives right next to where the PG docked so we just walked over and got on the ship.

 

My sister was meeting us as she had done the ATN package air through PG, had arrived in the morning and spent the day at the included IC Tahiti dayroom.

 

Fare Suisse does not offer day rooms. She had inquired.

 

Although we did not use PG air, we did separately purchase the PG post cruise day room and transfers. We got to stay on the ship until after lunch before boarding a small bus (I think there were 7 of us not doing the Tahiti island tour) and went straight to to Tahiti Pearl. We could have done the IC day room but it was $80 more per person and didn’t seem worth that for a few hours.

 

We tried to independently book a day room and transfers for that last day, but it was significantly more expensive than the PG post package.

 

We had previously sailed on the 7 night in 2013, flew in on Hawaiian and went directly to the ship at nearly midnight. Had to do our make up muster drill the next morning. So we felt we missed almost a whole day of the cruise before settling in to enjoy ourselves.

 

So doing several days pre-cruise then a longer cruise is our preference IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you trk_koa that helps. If I'm pricing it correctly, 2 nights on Bora Bora is not that much more than 2 nights at the Hilton Moorea in the grand scheme of things. If we do the cruise though, I'm tempted to just stay on Tahiti, arriving late and then having a nice relaxing resort day and overnight. It's cheaper, it seems easier and on the cruise we will see Moorea and Bora Bora anyway. We would do an OWB at the IC Tahiti so I would still get that experience.

 

An 8-10 night land vacation is cheaper than the cruise though so we will still have to decide which way to go. The pro of the cruise of course is that we see all the islands, but we will need to weigh that against the costs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of people, perhaps influenced by Michener's "South Pacific", think Bora Bora is the most beautiful place on the planet, although Moorea actually holds that title.)

 

Well, I agree with Michener. ;) But, Moorea is beautiful also. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bora Bora will cost you about $450 per person in air. Moorea will cost you about $30 per person in a ferry. If you stay at a "big name" resort on either island you will find that on Moorea for about $600 - $700 you can have an OWB. On Bora Bora it is more in the $700-$1200 range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bora Bora will cost you about $450 per person in air. Moorea will cost you about $30 per person in a ferry. If you stay at a "big name" resort on either island you will find that on Moorea for about $600 - $700 you can have an OWB. On Bora Bora it is more in the $700-$1200 range.

I haven't found an OWB under $800 on Bora Bora. Bora Bora is more expensive, but not by as much as I thought. Using this year's dates, the Hilton Moorea is $900 a night for the lowest category OWB (I am only looking at refundable rates). By comparison the St. Regis Bora Bora is only $1,085. So not much difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all -

For those experienced travelers on PG, this will be my first cruise coming up on May 26th. Can anybody tell me how much money you would need in French Polynesian money? Are dollars accepted on most of the islands, or credit cards? Also, what do you recommend for souvenirs and where is the best place to look for pearls?

Thanks so much!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all -

For those experienced travelers on PG, this will be my first cruise coming up on May 26th. Can anybody tell me how much money you would need in French Polynesian money? Are dollars accepted on most of the islands, or credit cards? Also, what do you recommend for souvenirs and where is the best place to look for pearls?

Thanks so much!

 

Hi Doc,

We found that we didn't need French Polynesian money while we were there even though we withdrew some from the airport atm. We were able to use US dollars as well as our credit card for everything we did and purchased. I'm not sure where the best souvenir shopping is, but I will say that I shopped at the market in Papeete across from the cruise pier and I wish I would have gotten my souvenirs elsewhere as I found most items there to look cheap. I bought my pearl necklace in Bora Bora and I wish I would have spent more time shopping there and in Moorea.

 

Laura

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Laura -

Thanks so much for the information. That definitely helps as PG recommended getting $200 per person exchanged for Polynesian money. I will definitely wait and do shopping in Bora Bora and Moorea and if I need anything else I can come back to Papeete as we are spending a few days post cruise at the IC.

Laurie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Following the thread. Wonder which sailing you chose. I am looking at November,13 for 10 days. I wanted to ask experts if better waiting for some kind of sale if it ever happens? Does PG refund the difference if ever price go down after you put deposit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Following the thread. Wonder which sailing you chose. I am looking at November,13 for 10 days. I wanted to ask experts if better waiting for some kind of sale if it ever happens? Does PG refund the difference if ever price go down after you put deposit?

 

I’d love to know too. We haven’t decided yet. Still debating cruise v land. We probably won’t book until the end of this year when flights are released.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d love to know too. We haven’t decided yet. Still debating cruise v land. We probably won’t book until the end of this year when flights are released.

Beachiekeen, please share if you know more and hope some experts will chime in with their advices. This is new destination and new cruise line for us like as for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beachiekeen, please share if you know more and hope some experts will chime in with their advices. This is new destination and new cruise line for us like as for you.

There are some great threads here on this forum. Lots of great information. I read all of Tahitianbigkahuna’s threads and several trip reports.

 

All I know is I can’t get Tahiti out of my mind now! :) We are definitely going, just not sure how yet! But it has been fun researching.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...