Just back from TP Tahiti - Hawaii: Any Questions?

I'm working on a "review" with all the information I can cram into it, but in the meantime it occurred to me that I might be able to answer questions for anyone heading for a cruise on the TP in the near future. The only area where I might be particularly lacking in knowledge is about the shows, as we really didn't see many.

But, after 12 days, I feel that I've become pretty intimately familiar with the ship (and many of the staff), and the ports.

So, fire away. I'll be glad to answer any Questions I can. And if I can't answer the question, I'll bet I can find one of our wonderful fellow CC'ers to help out.

Right, "Monkey Folk"?

MONKEY POWER FOREVER!!!!

(inside joke: you had to be there.) ;)

how did your anniversary go? did ya have a good night/day?

lookin forward to that review of yours

:)

Looking forward to your review. We were booked on this cruise four years ago and before final payment was due, DH found out he had to have some surgery, so we canceled. The good thing is the following summer we made up for the missed trip by doing a Baltic cruise, which was wonderful. Still, I would like to go to FP sometime in the future.

Looking forward to your review. Hope you had a fantastic time!

sandy

We have booked the cruise for December 10 2007. We have cruised on HAL, NCL COSTA, AND STAR CLIPPER. How is the flight there? Is the formal night really a tux night? In the tropics l like to dress up like ALOHA FRIDAY in Hawaii or will I need a tie(with parrots on it)?

Ed/Sue :rolleyes:

We are sailing on 10/1/07 and had a couple of questions:

Did you try the speciality restaurants? What did you think of them? Was it worth it? What night would you recommend skipping the main dining room and doing a speciality restaurant?

How's the music? Any Jimmy Buffett music? :) Anything worth dancing to?

Did you exchange money or just use US cash everywhere?

What's one thing you wished you knew before you got on board?

Thanks in advance for your answers! And we'll look forward to your full review hopefully before we sail!

--Kathy

Hope to see the review soon, we are leaving Nov 6th...

Did you need to exchange money before you left....did you even need to exchange $'s at all.

How was the weather?

How was the food? on and off the ship

Can you tell me the best thing you did the whole trip!

Can you pick the best picture you took and share it with us.

Looking forward to your review and photos!! My husband and I plan to do this cruise for our 5 yr anniversary (we went to French Polynesia for our honeymoon)

Since the TP is a smaller ship did you feel the waves? Did you feel seasick at all?

Were you in a balcony room? If so which side of the ship and which area of the ship are best?

How many formal nights did you have?

Did you opt to stay in Tahiti once the ship docked and did you book the hotels with Princess?

Did you book your air with Princess?

I'm working on a "review" with all the information I can cram into it, but in the meantime it occurred to me that I might be able to answer questions for anyone heading for a cruise on the TP in the near future. The only area where I might be particularly lacking in knowledge is about the shows, as we really didn't see many.

 

But, after 12 days, I feel that I've become pretty intimately familiar with the ship (and many of the staff), and the ports.

 

So, fire away. I'll be glad to answer any Questions I can. And if I can't answer the question, I'll bet I can find one of our wonderful fellow CC'ers to help out.

 

Right, "Monkey Folk"?

 

MONKEY POWER FOREVER!!!!

 

(inside joke: you had to be there.) ;)

Hi,

Glad you had a good time. Did you happen to stay over in Hawaii? We are sailing Hawaii to Tahati next September & are looking for a hotel.

Jan

Wow, what a great response! I’ll do my best to respond in order.

First, mipps, thank you for remembering and asking. Yes, our anniversary was wonderful aboard ship. A friend who’s the DCD on the Crown sent us a bottle of champagne and strawberries, which was a great way to start the evening. It just got better from there.

And, Sandy, thanks: the cruise itself was absolutely fantastic!!!

Mek, your comment about wanting to cruise FP in the future reminded me I wanted to let everyone know that, according to the locals, the Tahitian Princess is leaving French Polynesia as of May 2008, never to return (except as a leg of the World Cruise.) I understand it has something to do with governmental tax breaks expiring. They may be renegotiated, but at this point it looks like if you want to cruise the FP on the TP you should book it sooner rather than later.

Bajaed69, the flights were long but really not bad at all. Air Tahiti Nui was really nice: lots of leg room; personal video screens with multiple movies and video games; free beverages (including alcohol); 2 meals (not dissimilar to meals served in Business or First Class on US carriers); and the Flight Attendants were attentive and professional (again, moreso than on most American Carriers.) It was an 8 hour flight (after a 6 hour flight from Boston to LA), but it really was about as good an experience as it could have been.

And, yes, Formal night really is formal, at least as formal as on other Princess ships/itineraries, if not moreso. We mostly saw tuxes and men in suits and ties, women in gowns or dresses on both formal nights. However, non-formal nights are MUCH more casual than on other ships. Aloha shirts and chinos seemed to constitute “smart casual” on the TP (much to my joy.)

Kattom, we ate at Sabatini’s once and Sterling twice and, yes, I highly recommend both. The primary reason is that the food in both is really outstanding, as is the service. Plus, the service staff in those restaurants if just wonderful; so personable and fun, yet utterly professional. And the Head Waiter, Neville, is wonderfully attentive and accommodating. I highly recommend them both. My only caveat is, if you don’t want to be rolled out of Sabatini’s like “Violet the Blueberry” in Willy Wonka, try to politely but forcefully decline the heaping portions they try to serve. The food is just outstanding, but we had to leave at least half of each course on our plates, because there was so much. Unfortunately, I can’t really say which night would be best to miss the diningroom. The food there was fine but, unfortunately, not all that memorable and was the same menu we’ve had so many times on Princess cruises that it all sort of blends together. Sorry I can’t help there. But, I will say, I don’t think you’ll regret missing anything in the diningroom after eating at either specialty restaurant. Oh, and do note that Sabatini’s and Sterling share a kitchen and wait staff and are, therefore, only open on alternating nights. If memory serves, Sabatini’s was open the first 3 nights, then Sterling, then Sabatini’s, etc. The schedule is available from the Purser’s Desk, the restaurants themselves, and are printed in the Patter.

The music was fine. They have a band onboard called The Flyers. They were fine. Nothing really to comment on, except that they weren’t too obtrusive when you’re laying around the pool wanting to relax. Pretty mellow music for the most part. A little Buffet (but not necessarily enough for my taste.) ;)

We did exchange money before we went, but I don’t know if I’d worry about it were I to go again. For all practical purposes, everywhere we went accepted US dollars and merely exchanged them FP100 to $1.00. We never had any trouble using US cash.

We had done a lot of research ahead of time so actually had quite a lot of information about it before boarding. LOL! You’ll think I’m silly, but the one thing I wish I’d known before we boarded was the best times to do laundry (late at night or during first seating dinner.) Oh, and I was surprised that the pool was saltwater and not fresh. Not a bad thing, just a surprise from past Princess cruises.

Pammie Poo, as mentioned above, we did exchange money but it really didn’t seem to be necessary at all. The weather was wonderful: high 80s for the most part, a little sticky but not too bad, really. We had a passing shower just about each morning, but this is normal for the tropics and they always passed pretty quickly. We often had patchy clouds in the morning, but they always burned off before noontime.

The food in the diningroom and Horizon Court was pretty typical Princess fare; maybe just a tad less exciting than on our last cruise on the Caribbean, but fine. As mentioned above, though, the specialty restaurants’ food was outstanding. The burgers and dogs at the grille were fine; the pizza was a little hit and miss, but I thought it was pretty good for the most part though, again, different from other Princess ships we’ve sailed on. Off the ship, I guess I can’t really give much insight, unfortunately. In Tahiti we ate at the Intercontinental (hotel food); we ate lunches on several excursions, and the food was very good in FP, especially all the luscious fresh fruit and coconut (whereas in Hawaiian excursions it was mostly pre-packaged deli sandwiches.)

The “best thing” we did? I think it would almost be a tie, but I think the drift snorkel excursion off Taha’a at our stop in Raiatea just edged out the Napali Coast Explorer adventure on Kauai. But, when they say “experienced snorklers” for the drift snorkel, they mean it. Amazing experience, but some tight spaces.

I’ll try to post a couple of the best pictures (if I can figure out how to do it.) ;)

Swisskriss, we definitely felt the waves a little more due to the size of the ship, but I didn’t really think it was bad at all. It was pretty calm while travelling among the islands. The first full day at sea after leaving Bora Bora was definitely the most active, and a couple of people felt a little queasy. But, without exception, everyone we knew felt fine by the next day and had no further problems. And, our cabin was only about 6 rooms from the bow, so we probably got more motion than others amidships. We had a balcony cabin on the Port side. As for which is best, it’s hard to say, but I thought we had a pretty good location. Sailing from Tahiti to Hawaii, we had the sunset on our side of the ship most nights, and we tended to be on the island side when we approached islands in the morning, which we liked. The only down side is that our side was also looking at the dock buildings on in ports where we docked (this was not a big deal, as we were mostly above decks or off the ship.) As for best part of the ship, it’s such a small ship you can literally get anywhere on the ship in less than 5 minutes, so it really didn’t seem to matter (as much as it does on a Grand Class ship, for instance.) We were on deck 7, which we found perfect: 2 decks up was the pool, spa, gym, Horizon Court, etc.; and 2 decks down was the Club Cabaret, Club Bar, Diningroom, Casino, Shops, etc. Again, due to the small size, it seemed no cabin was more than a 30 second walk to a stairwell/elevators.

There were 2 formal nights and, as mentioned above, people really seemed to go all out, which was fun. But, “smart casual” nights were VERY casual. Mostly Hawaiian/Aloha shirts for men, and Hawaiian print tops and dresses for women, with the usual polo shirts and other short-sleeved shirts/tops thrown in.

Our cruise actually started in Tahiti and, yes, we flew in a night early and stayed at the Intercontinental, which was quite nice and very convenient. We did not book that through Princess. However, we also stayed 2 nights in Honolulu at the end and we did book that through Princess, which turned out very well for us. Princess put us up at the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel right on Waikiki Beach. We really liked the hotel, due to its history, architecture and central location. Through Princess we got a substantial discount on the room rate, and they provided a shuttle bus from the ship to the hotel. Further, because we were off the ship by 10:00 a.m., but couldn’t check into the hotel until 3:00 p.m., Princess and the Royal Hawaiian arranged a “hospitality suite” for us and allowed us to use the facilities and grounds. Some people complained that the suite was too small – and it was small – but it had seating and a couple of bathrooms, including a shower. We merely used it to settle in a bit, change into our swim trunks, and go out to the pool and pool bar. We did choose to check our carry-on bags with the bellman, rather than leaving in the suite, which is recommended. I believe a similar arrangement is available if you are debarking in Tahiti, though you might want to confirm.

We booked our own air travel plans because we were using miles, but I know friends used Princess and I believe they got a decent rate and had no difficulties.

Jan, see above. We really enjoyed the Royal Hawaiian, though friends who stayed at the Outrigger just next door also liked it quite a lot, and other friends who stayed at the Moana Surfrider 2 doors down said it was one of the nicest hotels they’ve ever had (though, they were on their honeymoon and were upgraded to a suite with 2 balconies looking over the beach and water, which may have had something to do with that.) ;)

So, that's it for now. Hope you find the info helpful, and I KNOW you'll have a wonderful time. She's a lovely ship, with a fantastic staff, and the islands are just fantastic!

Now ..., to see if I can figure out how to upload pictures .... :cool:

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

We are going on the Sapphire Princess for a 31 day cruise from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles in Apr. 08 & 1 of our ports of call is Papeete, Tahiti. We are thinking of booking Princess tour "Papenoo Valley & Waterfall by 4WD" for 3 1/2-4hrs. We were wondering if you took this tour or know of someone who did & what they thought of it. Would appreciate any comments.

Also, don't know what other ports you stopped at but anything you could tell us about the S. Pacific ports would be appreciated, such as, Fiji, Bora Bora, Pago Pago & Rarotonga. Thanks so much.

Okay, gonna try to post a few fav's.

And since that worked so well, a couple more

Yes, I had heard that Princess is pulling out of FP. :( Guess it's either Regent - ouch, or a land based trip - double ouch!

Luckily, we have been to FP twice but a third time would be a treat before the TP moves on:)

I just loved reading your Roll and am happy to see you enjoyed your trip!

We leave on 10/31 and I am so hyped to go. Thanks for being generous in your information and I can't wait for the review.

So when did you happen to get that laundry done? Coins or tokens from purser?

Thanks also about the info regarding the salt water swimming pool and the location of 2 decks up and 2 decks down from Deck 7 (we are on 7 also).

When you got your strawberries & champagne, did they give you a card (like I have read here) or did they have it in your cabin or did they deliver to you? I was thinking of doing something ahead of time to surprise my sister and parents but want it in the cabin before they get there or at least delivered to them rather than a card letting them know about the surprise.

Mahalo:D

Piikea

Do I need a converter for cell phone charger, dvd player etc?

thanks

Ok 5:oo when is the best time to do laundry?

Your underwater pictures are lovely. What camera did you use?

Also Princess is still showing a cruise for September 28 2008, so that may be her last one in FP as it goes from Hawaii to Tahiti.

Your review was great, thanks very much!:)

Thanks for all your great tips. I'll be heading over in Febr on the Tahitian Princess for my first time in the South Pacific. I've cruised with Princess for over 20 years, but have never done Tahiti, can't wait. You guys make it sound uber fun! Thanks.

I've always loved Sabatinis and the other specialty restaurants. It's like the food used to be on cruise ships. I love them. Glad that the TP has these as well.

You've answered a lot of questions and made me anxious to go. Thank you!

Hi gang,

Sorry for the delay in responding. I’ve been having some nagging problems accessing this site.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to the most recent questions.

First, to answer the persistent laundry questions (for Foxtrot, et al):

• MONEY. the machines take U.S. quarters and do not need or take tokens. We took quarters with us, but you can also get change from the Purser’s Desk.
  
• BEST TIMES. At sea days are (understandably) the most busy times for the laundry room. We talked to folks who had, for instance, scheduled an afternoon excursion on port days and would do their laundry during the morning hours when many people were off the ship (and vice versa.) I found that the best times to do laundry seemed to be late at night (but who wants to do that when there are shows to see and gambling to be done and general revelry to be had?) We had late seating for dinner, and I found (quite by accident) that after about 4:30 – 5:00 the laundry room seemed to be relatively quite, except for people ironing their clothes for late dinner. But, you can also find free machines at various times throughout the day if you’re willing to keep checking in.
  
• LENGTH OF CYCLES. People were very nice about the limited laundry resources, but they do tend to get a little testy if you leave finished clothes in a machine. So, it’s a good idea to time your machines. The washers tend to run 20 – 25 minutes (depending on what cycle you choose) and the dryers 40 – 45 minutes (I never once needed an entire drying cycle for my clothes, by the way.)
  
• DETERGENT. I think I may have mentioned before, there is a detergent dispenser attached to each washing machine, and it’s free. You simply push a button on an electrical box mounted above the machine. Just make sure you push good and long to get enough soap.
  
• CLEAN THE LINT TRAPS. The biggest complaint people had was the dryers’ efficiency dropping, but we found that this was because there were 2 lint traps, instead of the traditional 1. There is one in the dryer, but there is another in-line mounted in the pipe leading up from the dryer to vent outside the laundry room. There is a metal box mounted in-line with a small lint trap that you can pull out and clean. If this is clean, the dryers worked VERY well.

Shelby Cruiser, my apologies: it looks as if you were posting when I was posting the pictures and I didn’t see your questions until just now. In Tahiti we did, indeed, do a 4 hour 4WD tour up into the mountains and valleys of the interior of the island, that included a fun and refreshing dip in a mountain waterfall. We took Patrick’s tour, however, and I’m not familiar with the one you mentioned. I have a feeling they would be similar, though. I can tell you we had a great time on ours. We were with 2 other couples from the CC Board, and Patrick was very informative and fun. I should say that, while I enjoyed the ride quite a lot, it was a little rough, so be prepared for that. But, I think it was well worth the time and trip. In fact, we left our hotel, got in line to check in at the ship, dropped our luggage with Princess and went on our tour (since our cabins weren’t going to be available til later in the day, anyway), and I think this was a great way to spend the extra time on the island. The same should work if you’re ending your trip in Papeete, as well.

Of the other islands you list, we only visited Bora Bora on our cruise, and we liked it quite a lot. It was a tad more developed than Moorea or Reiatea, but not too bad. We did a lagoon boat tour that included snorkeling over coral gardens (and a swim with some reef sharks), swimming with stingrays, and a stop for fresh fruit and coconut at a little motu before returning to the port. We then took a $5.00 (per person) cab ride a short distance to the famous Bloody Mary’s for lunch (and met up with a BUNCH of other CC Board folks, as well as ship’s staff), and had a wonderful time. There seemed to be a lot to do on Bora Bora. Oh, and the ship anchors and tenders passengers ashore here.

HiMagicFan, the champagne and strawberries were delivered to us in our stateroom. Likewise, we ordered and had champagne and strawberries delivered to 2 other friends we met on the trip (one couple who were newlyweds and one who got married during the cruise.) These were also delivered to their cabins, but we arranged this through the bartender in the Club Bar (Ramona – who became a very good friend very quickly ;) ), and not through the purser’s desk or roomservice. I would recommend this. “Friend” or not, we’ve found that a small gratuity will assure that you can get pretty much anything you want done aboard ship. I will say that, because things are a little hectic that first night aboard ship, and because the process on the TP is so unusual, it may be a bit more difficult to arrange for something to be waiting for your sister and parents before they arrive at their stateroom the very first time, though it would most definitely still be worth asking – I would recommend speaking to a “real person” (such as a purser, bartender, head waiter, etc.) rather than making arrangements to room service via phone, though. And, I have no doubt that you would have no trouble arranging for it to be in their cabins when they return from dinner at the latest. Later in the cruise, we had no difficulty designating the time we wanted the champagne delivered. Good luck!

Oh, and no, you don’t need a converter for anything aboard ship (if you’re coming from the U.S.) But, I do note there is a dearth of electrical outlets: one in the bathroom and one above the desk/vanity in the main cabin. The one in the bathroom did not accommodate the type of plug that has one prong bigger than the other (I know there’s a name for that, but I forget what it is), but the outlet above the desk did. We had no trouble charging our phones, iPods, laptop, DVD player, etc.; we just had to alternate what was plugged in where.

Are we there yet? (by the way, love the username), thanks for the compliment and the question. I have the best compact point-and-shoot digital camera ever (was that too much?): a Canon Powershot SD 800 IS. Here’s a link http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Image-Stabilized-Optical/dp/B000HAOVGM/ref=pd_bxgy_p_img_b/105-5660466-4999646

It’s incredible. I also bought the dedicated Canon underwater case for it which also worked incredibly well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J4DGS0/105-5660466-4999646 It may be a little more expensive than some of the “generic”, one-size-fits-all cases, but I decided it was worth it to protect my investment.

One caveat: I thought the underwater pictures came out really well as is. But, while aboard ship I took a couple of the computer classes offered, teaching aspects of PhotoShop Elements, and learned that it includes some very simple tools to quickly and easily "fix" underwater images. I got it (on sale) when I got home for $79.00, and it has been well worth the price. With one or two clicks I can remove about 90% of the water distortion and restore about 90% of the color to the images. I hasten to note, I am NOT enhancing the color in the pictures in any way. PhotoShop has merely allowed me to restore the clarity and color I saw underwater when I took the pictures originally. I can highly recommend the Canon camera, the underwater case and PhotoShop Elements (and no, I am not being paid by any of the above.) ;)

Fullsailmom, you’re very welcome. I hope …, no, I KNOW you’ll have a great time!

Now, back to sorting through my photos and finishing my full review. :D

Thank you for the reply and the compliment as well.:D I have 4 children.....hence the name.;)

The camera you have is the one my dd just bought last month and ruined when she took it into a canoe on Lake Huron and tipped over.:eek: We have sent it away but haven't heard yet if it is fixable. For the 2 weeks she had it she loved it though!

That is great to know you can get a housing for it. Maybe we will just buy the same one. Also thanks for the tip about the photo shop elements. I will definitely look into that.

It is so nice of you to help with all the questions, have a great day!:)

So Ramona has moved to the Club Bar?!? When we were there in July she was at the buffet in the mornings and one of the other bars in the evening. Her husband was our waiter in the dining room and she would finish her shift at 10pm and come in to get him. We were always still at the table and would apologize to her for keeping him so late.

You're right about deck 7....it's a great location and easy to get anywhere. We were in 7091 which was a balcony room toward the back of the ship. We were just 3 doors down from the back staircase over the Club Bar/Dining Room. It was a great location.

Glad you had a great time. I love that picture of the turtle - beautiful colors.

Are we there yet, I am SO happy to help however I can. People on here have been so helpful to us and so generous with information, it's the least I can do to return the favor.

But, that's horrible about your daughter's camera. I hope they're able to fix it. If there's any possible up-side, though, it might be that they've already come out with a newer model, with more megapixels, etc., so the SD 800 has gone down substantially in price (from when I bought it, anyway.) And I'll tell ya, 7.1 MPix is more than enough for me. They're hard to e-mail at that resolution as it is. ;)

I was also glad for the underwater case when we did the Napali Explorer trip on Kauai. What an amazing excursion, but man oh man did we get wet. Most people had to put their cameras away in the lockers under the seats for a good 1/2 the trip, but the case protected mine just fine. Highly recommended.

Kiwigirl, yeah, Ramona is at the Panorama coffee bar in the morning and the Club Bar in the afternoon through dinner and then in the Casino after that. And Doru is awesome! I only WISH he had been our waiter. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that wasn't great about this cruise. For the very first time ever on a Princess cruise, our waiter and assistant waiter were well below par. But, hey, we rolled with the punches. We did get to know Doru through Ramona and because he was out waiter for the wine tasting we did.

Oddly enough, we became fast friends with so many of the bartenders and wait staff: Ramona, Sabastian and Richard (Club Bar in the afternoons and after late dinner), Alex, Filip and Manuel (Casino), Julio and Jorge (Tahitian Lounge). We just had way too much fun. ;)

Oh, and you of all people may understand this. Our trip was just incredible, but we missed our doggie SO much, it's incredible!!! And I'm still amazed how much alike our pups look. ;)

5:00_Somewhere,

You are totally awesome and very generous in sharing. I appreciate your response and have changed some plans accordingly. I also want to thank you for and your roll mates for making it fun to peek in on you guys.

I am so totally looking forward to my trip Oct31!

Thanks!:D