Just back from Ocean Princess in Tahiti. WOW!

[ottawapuppy]

Soooo--we have taken the cruise 6 times and in 2011 we took it twice and haven't been back for a couple of years--I'm sure you enjoyed entertaining in the suite--great place for sailaway and have had a couple of meet and greets there--

 

Halfway through the cruise, we stopped referring to it as our "trip to Tahiti", instead we started calling it our "first trip to Tahiti".

We're already considering another visit.

 

Mike

[Judycpro]

We did this cruise in 2005 when it was the Tahitian Princess. We absolutely loved the cruise, the ship, the staff, room, just Eveything? We are thinking of doing it again. We were in an Aft balcony, overlooking the wake. Loved the location of the room.

 

Before the cruise we stayed at the IC in Papeete, in a bungalow over the water. Nothing compares to the waters and sunsets in French Pokynesia.

 

All cruises pale in comparison to this one.

 

Judy

[MGnut]

We're just back from a 10-day cruise on Ocean Princess in Tahiti and French Polynesia.

To sum up the cruise: WOW!

 

The ports on this cruise were absolutely amazing. The scenery and landscape of the islands is breathtaking. We did some great excursion (booked on our own and through the ship) and visited some beautiful spots.

 

I had my doubts about cruising on such a small ship (I love the facilities and options available on a larger ship) but I must admit the experience was outstanding.

 

I've posted some pictures and my journal from the cruise on our web site at www.cruisenotebook.com (click the Ocean Princess link on the right-hand side of the web page). I also uploaded the Princess Patter daily newsletters if you want to see what the schedule of events was like during the sailing.

 

If anyone has any questions about the ports or the ship, please ask.

 

Mike

 

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. We were on this ship out of Papeete (as the Tahitian Princess) twice - (in 2004 and 2007), and they were two of our very favorites. One went south to the Cook Islands, and the other went north to the Marquesas (too rough to land, though). I swear, to us the Polynesian Islands are about the most beautiful spots we have ever seen.

 

And we really loved the ship. The library is soooo beautiful!

 

Howard

[Bimmer09]

I loved the Ocean photos and commentary so much I have been working my way through all your voyages....just read Brilliance of the Seas this morning as I am visiting some of those ports Sept. 2014 on the beautiful little Ocean Princess.

 

You have really gotten the cruise bug-as have I- and are living the life! Your enjoyment of the cruise and of each other's company is apparent in every photo

and you are very fortunate to have found each other. You look like people I could have a good drink and a chat with and of course Dory is a cool companion to take along on a cruise. Nice little trademark!

 

Do you have another cruise planned at this point?

 

Best wishes and thanks for sharing,

 

Norris

in Chicago

[jnc411]

Oh thanks , it is on our bucket list.

Cori

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[NYCRUISR]

Great pictures..... definitely on our Bucket List also.

[Bimmer09]

Do you have another cruise planned at this point?

 

I just scrolled back up through the posts and saw that you are sailing on Celebrity Reflection-so there's my answer.

 

Norris

[poncho1965]

This is a cruise we hope to do some day. Loved the pictures, thanks for sharing!

[Commodore]

You've answered all my questions about this ship as I'll be on it in 2 weeks for Singapore to Rome.

Thanks for a great review.

[homeinboca]

Hi Mike, Thanks for posting your review, I just read your blog posting as well, great information and done very well.

 

We are looking into this cruise in 2015 to celebrate our anniversary. Did you consider arriving early or staying after at one of the over-water bungalows at one of the resorts? We are looking into this and thought since we are traveling so far from Canada, might as well stay on a few days.

[Drews_Cruise]

After seeing your pictures, this one definitely hits our bucket list of future cruises. Thanks for sharing!. We love the smaller ships too but our trip from Vancouver to Hawaii in 2010 was very rough and half the ship was ill for the first 3 days at sea.

[cflutist]

OP,

 

We were on this cruise with you. It is one of our favorite destinations and was the third time we visited (2004 and 2007 on the Tahitian Princess). We had wonderful weather too!!!

 

In 2004 we also visited the Cook Islands and in 2007, the Marquesas. Too bad Princess doesn't go there anymore. There were no organized shorex on the Marquesas (Niku Hiva and Hiva Oa), but rather they picked us all up on their school buses (similar to Le Truck) took us to a place and put on a free dance show.

 

Links to our pictures can be found in my signature.

 

I really liked how you put your website together. Much nicer than how my hubby just puts them out on our Webserver.

[MGnut]

OP,

 

We were on this cruise with you. It is one of our favorite destinations and was the third time we visited (2004 and 2007 on the Tahitian Princess). We had wonderful weather too!!!

 

In 2004 we also visited the Cook Islands and in 2007, the Marquesas. Too bad Princess doesn't go there anymore. There were no organized shorex on the Marquesas (Niku Hiva and Hiva Oa), but rather they picked us all up on their school buses (similar to Le Truck) took us to a place and put on a free dance show.

 

Links to our pictures can be found in my signature.

 

I really liked how you put your website together. Much nicer than how my hubby just puts them out on our Webserver.

 

A bit off topic, but we were on those same cruises those same years. Do you have records of who the captains were those years? If so, could you please email me at battanhr at comcast dot net?

 

Howard

[flamomo]

As soon as I saw the title to this thread I just had to read it and reply. I was on the same ship and itinerary a few years ago with a cruising friend, and we had the most wonderful time. Both the small ship and the gorgeous itinerary were beyond great. Some of my best cruising memories come from this cruise, and I would love to do it allover again.

 

We had the wonderful Captain Ravera (hope that's spelled right!) for our cruise .... the most visible and sociable captain I have encountered. He loved his "White Lady".

Was he also your Captain?

[paul929207]

Captain Ravera was with the Tahitian/Ocean Princess until either late 2011 or early last year. He is now with P&O Australia on one of their ships. Justin Laws took his place, but has moved on to the Grand Princess.

[dstables]

Hi Mike, Thanks for posting your review, I just read your blog posting as well, great information and done very well.

 

We are looking into this cruise in 2015 to celebrate our anniversary. Did you consider arriving early or staying after at one of the over-water bungalows at one of the resorts? We are looking into this and thought since we are traveling so far from Canada, might as well stay on a few days.

 

We were on this same cruise as the OP and we flew in two days before we sailed. We decided to do a b2b, first the 10 day Tahiti cruise and then the 11 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise. We saw better value in doing the b2b as it is very expensive staying in Tahiti or Bora Bora. Hotels and food is very expensive (and the food is not very good) and we had a much shorter and cheaper flight home from Hawaii. Direct and just under 6 hours. We also enjoy sea days as the 11 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise has 5 sea days to get up to Hawaii. We agree with the OP that this was a trip of a lifetime! All ready planning our return visit for 2015. :)

[ottawapuppy]

Dory is a cool companion to take along on a cruise. Nice little trademark!

 

Do you have another cruise planned at this point?

 

We got Dory on the way to our first cruise, and she has come along on everyone since. She has a legion on fans of Facebook...

 

We have two cruise booked for the next little while. Celebrity Reflections in the fall of 2013 (our honeymoon), sailing from Rome to Miami and an eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Silhouette.

 

I am really pushing for a sailing on the new Royal/Regal Princess and am going crazy waiting to hear what is on Quantum of the Seas. So many ships, so little time (and money)

 

Cheers,

Mike

[ottawapuppy]

Did you consider arriving early or staying after at one of the over-water bungalows at one of the resorts? We are looking into this and thought since we are traveling so far from Canada, might as well stay on a few days.

 

I hear you! It is a long way to fly. It took us 24 hours from diembarking the ship to walking through the door of our house back in Ottawa.

 

We stayed a few days before the cruise at the Manava Suite Resort in Papeete. We would have loved to stay in an overwater bungalow, but the prices were just beyond our reach. We saw many of the bungalows in the different islands, and I think next time around we will go whole hog and try to stay in one. We saw some really gorgeous ones, like the two story ones at the Hilton in Bora Bora, or the one with personal infinity pool at the St. Regis in Bora Bora.

 

Mike

[ottawapuppy]

Was he also your Captain?

 

Our captain was Mario Caruzzi. Loved his italian accent during the daily navigation reports over the PA system.

 

Mike

[ottawapuppy]

We decided to do a b2b, first the 10 day Tahiti cruise and then the 11 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise.

:)

 

There were several people on the ship who did the B2B. Oh, we were so jealous!! We SO wanted to stay on for another 10 days. Did oyu have nice weather on your way to Hawaii?

 

Mike

[dstables]

There were several people on the ship who did the B2B. Oh, we were so jealous!! We SO wanted to stay on for another 10 days. Did oyu have nice weather on your way to Hawaii?

 

Mike

 

Excellent weather! Just one day our of the 11 that was not great, one sea day was very rainy and the seas that day were very rough. Other than that the other 4 sea days were wonderful! Now the temperatures were not as hot and humid in Hawaii, but were sunny and warm!:)

 

Melanie

[gingera]

We loved Tahiti! Such a beautiful place....we will be going again in 2014 on the Golden...Thanks for sharing!!

[gingera]

I hear you! It is a long way to fly. It took us 24 hours from diembarking the ship to walking through the door of our house back in Ottawa.

 

We stayed a few days before the cruise at the Manava Suite Resort in Papeete. We would have loved to stay in an overwater bungalow, but the prices were just beyond our reach. We saw many of the bungalows in the different islands, and I think next time around we will go whole hog and try to stay in one. We saw some really gorgeous ones, like the two story ones at the Hilton in Bora Bora, or the one with personal infinity pool at the St. Regis in Bora Bora.

 

Mike

 

We did stay on Moorea, in a bungalow over the water pre-cruise.....we were situated right next to the dolphins pens....they kept us awake at nite, jumping and splashing water.....

 

I would encourage everyone to do this. It is really quite an experience.

 

Tahiti is one of our favorite trips...

[2ndsailing]

We were on this same cruise as the OP and we flew in two days before we sailed. We decided to do a b2b, first the 10 day Tahiti cruise and then the 11 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise. We saw better value in doing the b2b as it is very expensive staying in Tahiti or Bora Bora. Hotels and food is very expensive (and the food is not very good) and we had a much shorter and cheaper flight home from Hawaii. Direct and just under 6 hours. We also enjoy sea days as the 11 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise has 5 sea days to get up to Hawaii. We agree with the OP that this was a trip of a lifetime! All ready planning our return visit for 2015. :)

 

We stayed in an over water bungalow in Moorea when we did our cruise 5 years ago. We're doing this cruise again in 2014. We're doing what you did in reverse. Sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti and then staying on the ship for Tahiti. I priced the over water bungalow at the hotel we stayed at the last time and decided to cruise to Tahiti instead.