South Pacific cruise

[Scotchick]

Need some help with booking cruise to Tahiti, etc. 4 couples, early 60's looking at cruise to the South Pacific. Which ship is the best for this cruise and how many days do we need to really see most of the islands. What is the best time of year to go, etc. Not looking at really long cruise, but considering 10 to 14 days. Also, have read about the B2B cruises out of Hawaii which don't require the long expensive flight. Any help or recommendations appreciated. TIA.

[jfv379]

Also, have read about the B2B cruises out of Hawaii which don't require the long expensive flight. TIA.

 

I'm not sure. but I don't think the B2B from Hawaii option is available anymore.

[sept10dsm]

Need some help with booking cruise to Tahiti, etc. 4 couples, early 60's looking at cruise to the South Pacific. Which ship is the best for this cruise and how many days do we need to really see most of the islands. What is the best time of year to go, etc. Not looking at really long cruise, but considering 10 to 14 days. Also, have read about the B2B cruises out of Hawaii which don't require the long expensive flight. Any help or recommendations appreciated. TIA.

This is a cruise my husband wants to do as well without the long airflight. I know this is the Princess board, but I do get mailings and have never sailed with Holland America. They have a 30 and 31 day RT San Diego CA that goes to Hawaii and the south Pacific. Something that sounds great as far as no air for some!! (you mentioned a back to back so this may be a similar time frame)

[flamomo]

We are both 60++ and did the r/t Papeete cruise on the Tahitian Princess last November. (I believe the Pacific Princess is doing them now, and she's a sister to the Tahitian.) The small ship cruise was delightful. We didn't find the flights between LA and Papeete to be bad. The customer service on the Air Tahiti Nui flights was excellent.

And this cruise was, for me, the best cruise ever, and I want to do it again!

[shark410]

We did it on the Tahitian Princess in March a few years ago and loved it.

Originally booked for November but ship was overbooked and they made us an offer we couldn't refuse to switch to later in the winter.

Plane trip was not that bad. Most of the islands are very similiar to each other so I don't think it is necessary to see oodles of them. Lots of natural beauty and water activities are the attractions rather than man-made structures. Ours did go to Raratonga and we made it there after being warned many ships don't get in there. Would not have been a big loss had we not gotten there.

The trips that include Hawaii add a lot of sea days so that part is a decision only you can make.

[Toto2Kansas]

Several years ago we were able to do the B2B from Hawaii to Tahiti and then back to Hawaii. It was 12 days each way if I remember correctly and were onboard for 24 days total. Would love to do that again, but they are very few and far between, if available at all anymore.

 

The end of this month we are sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti, and then staying onboard for the 10 day cruise around Tahiti. We will have one long flight home from Tahiti, but figured it was better than what we originally had booked where we had to fly RT to and from Tahiti. (I have to admit, those flights are the only downfall to this itineary, and are really long as they are at least 8.5 hours from/to LAX each way. This cruise ends up being 21 days adding both cruises together.

Good Luck, I hope you can manage to find an itinerary where you don't have long flights both ways, but they are quite difficult to locate.

[Kinkacruiser]

We are both 60++ and did the r/t Papeete cruise on the Tahitian Princess last November. (I believe the Pacific Princess is doing them now, and she's a sister to the Tahitian.) The small ship cruise was delightful. We didn't find the flights between LA and Papeete to be bad. The customer service on the Air Tahiti Nui flights was excellent.

And this cruise was, for me, the best cruise ever, and I want to do it again!

 

I would also recommend this one. We flew from Sydney to Papeete to join this cruise. There was ample time at all the islands and we had a marvellous time over the 12 days .

Cheers,

Anna

[cmarshall9]

We are looking at a Princess itinerary in January 2011 where we would fly to Tahiti, cruise the islands and sail back to Hawaii. We figure if we spend a week in Hawaii on both ends of the trip, it will make all the flights easier.

[Hlitner]

Despite the fact that we do really like Princess, we would not recommend Princess for a Tahitian cruise. These days, we would prefer the Paul Gaughin on which you can book a 2 week cruise among the islands.

 

Hank

[OutSyder]

Several years ago we were able to do the B2B from Hawaii to Tahiti and then back to Hawaii. It was 12 days each way if I remember correctly and were onboard for 24 days total. Would love to do that again, but they are very few and far between, if available at all anymore.

 

We did this in 2003 aboard the Dawn Princess and it remains one of our most favorite cruises. I really do wish that Princess would offer Hawaii/Tahiti RT more often.

[Toto2Kansas]

We did this in 2003 aboard the Dawn Princess and it remains one of our most favorite cruises. I really do wish that Princess would offer Hawaii/Tahiti RT more often.

I totally agree, these back to backs are so great because of the shorter flight times. The last time we cruised this itineary was in 2002 on one of the last sailings of the old Crown Princess, before she left the fleet. It still stands out as one of our best cruises of all. :)

[irislady]

We did the Princess Tahiti-Cook Islands on the Tahitian Princess in fall of 06. It was a wonderful cruise. We enjoyed the smaller ship. Bora Bora and Moorea were gorgeous, but Tahiti itself is not all that spectacular, nor were we impressed by Roratonga. Raietea was nice enough. Friends we met onboard were doing this cruise for the second time to mark their 5th wedding anniversary, and plan to return again next year for their 10th. They asked if we wanted to take this cruise again, but frankly, once was enough. We found Kauai to be even more beautiful and much easier to get to, so no more Tahiti for us.

 

Air Tahiti Nui did have excellent service even in coach, but it's still a l-o-n-g flight from LA. Also switching terminals in LAX was a nuisance, and we were really glad we had booked a longer layover there to make sure we caught our connecting flight.

[tahitiluvr]

I went on the Tahitian Princess Tahiti and Cook Islands cruise for my honeymoon a few years back. It was the best vacation my husband and I ever went on. Be sure to spend the few extra $$ and book at least a oceanview room. The color of the ocean is definitely worth it.

Even now, 2 years later, I can't stop talking about that cruise and I can't wait to go back. If I only had the money...

[jacketwatch]

We dod the 10 day FP cruise on the Tahitian Princess in 2006. Clearly it was one of our best cruises as the scenery is breathtaking. The best time to go is our summer or their winter as it will be dryer and less hot. We went in August and the weather was nearly perfect. The PG is also an option though the price will be double or more. The ships Princess uses for this route are very nice. You should like them I think. :)

[Chesterpeake]

We are both 60++ and did the r/t Papeete cruise on the Tahitian Princess last November. (I believe the Pacific Princess is doing them now, and she's a sister to the Tahitian.) The small ship cruise was delightful. We didn't find the flights between LA and Papeete to be bad. The customer service on the Air Tahiti Nui flights was excellent.

And this cruise was, for me, the best cruise ever, and I want to do it again!

 

Taylor1, this was very good advice. The best cruise I ever had was the Tahitian Princess (French Polynesia to Honolulu). Air Tahiti Nui was great, but it was a long flight from LAX, especially after flying cross country from Baltimore with a four plus hour layover. But, I'd do it again (perhaps overnighting in LA as I will do for my next cruise on Golden Princess).

Consider this itinerary as the flight home from Honolulu is shorter and doesn't have to leave late at night as the return flights from Pa'peete do.

This itinerary is only done a few times during our summer season, I believe.

We left Pa'peete and visited: Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Kiribati(Christmas Is.),Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and Honolulu.

[Scotchick]

Thanks everybody for your replies. Picked up a few good tips here.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:) HAL has a 31 day cruise -- R/T from San Diego in Sept. and Nov. 2010 which you may want to look at. This cruise also goes out this coming

Jan. 2010 with two overnites in Tahiti and Bora Bora for 33 days. The fall sailings

in 2010 have eliminated the overnite stop in Bora Bora. (bummer).

This itinerary is very attractive to us as the very long and expensive

airfare has been eliminated. We are hoping to do it for our 40th wedding

anniv. :cool:

[sept10dsm]

This is a cruise my husband wants to do as well without the long airflight. I know this is the Princess board, but I do get mailings and have never sailed with Holland America. They have a 30 and 31 day RT San Diego CA that goes to Hawaii and the south Pacific. Something that sounds great as far as no air for some!! (you mentioned a back to back so this may be a similar time frame)

Yes, I wrote of this cruise. We live in NJ so a long drive to the port for us, but we've driven to CA a few times in the past. I think it's great to be able to get Hawaii and the south Pacific together with no air!! The cruise itself wasn't a bad price either for what it is and saving air!! My husband wants to go to the south Pacific as well but the flight costs and flight times it's a lot. This way we get to do Hawaii as well. I only have 3 states left that I haven't been to at least once Hawaii, OK and AL. The other 2 (OK AL) just weren't included in the 6 cross country trips!!

[luvnz]

You will love this cruise!! I would recommend scheduling to get there a day or two before your cruise since flights are limited. Without getting into all of the details, our 8.5 hour flight turned into 27 hours because of mechanical difficulty on Air Tahiti Nui. (Not to mention the extra day and a half that we had to spend in LAX) They only have two airplanes flying between LAX and PPT and did not have any extra planes to send, so they sent us via Air Nippon which had to make two stops in Japan first. (BTW, Air Nippon is fantastic) So we missed the day and night we had booked at a resort before we were to board the ship, and we missed the day, night and part of the next day before the ship left Papeete. The captain delayed leaving since some of the passengers having to do this detour were Princess crewmembers. We wouldn't have made it otherwise.

 

The cruise was fantastic and I can't imaging a better place to de-stress after long flight delays.

[anniversarycruiser40]

I would go for the 10 day cruise to French Polynesia on whatever ship is going there! Best and most romantic cruise we have been on. We were on the Tahitian Princess in July 07 celebrating our 40th anniversary and had a wonderful time. We have been to Maui and Kauai and it doesn't compare to French Polynesia (more exotic, unspoiled, crystal clear water with great snorkeling)!! We even did a renewal of vows and it was very special. Just wish we could afford to do it again!!! Maybe some day..... It even made the 8 1/2 hour flight worth it. Just hope you aren't behind someone who keeps their seat back the whole time:eek: