Just Returned From Paradise

[CruisinFools]

Not sure where to post this; just wantd to let you all know that I'm sitting here in my pareo, deleting my 172 e-mails that I received while we were in Paradise. I don't care what happened while we were gone, all I know is that when we were enjoying the beauty that is Huahine (all the islands were wonderful; Huahine just touched us in a way that the others did not - it's so untouched, unspoiled, primitive, etc.) I said to my husband, "It's really gonna suck when we die because Heaven can't possibly be better than this!" Will post a more detailed report once we get unpacked. In a (coco)nut shell, the Tahitian Prnces is stunning. The smallest, and most elegant ship we've ever been on. Due to the sizse, and possibly a little rough seas, we were rocking and rolling almost every day and night - some days and nights more than others. We could definitely see the decrease in food quality which I attribute to the purchase of Princess by Carnival, but the dining staff was fantastic. Again, I will go into more detail soon as far as my personal favorites are concerned. As for (independent) shore excursions, Marc's snorkle and motu picnic (Huahine) was a major highlight. We also enjoyed Moana Tour's Shark Feed and Ray Snorkle. Swimming with sharks was thrilling, to say the least. I am pretty thick skinned, but when FIVE sharks, all about 4 - 5 feet in length swam quickly towards me, I must admit, I got a little unnerved, but was it ever exciting! As for the Princess excursions, our 4WD Jeep Safari in Raitea was interesting, and the stop at the vanilla farm was very informative, but our guide was really more of a chauffer than a tour guide. She didn't really explain much, just drove us around. The Bora Bora Aqua Safari (helmet dive) ws outrageous, one of my favorite excursions. I would rate it a "not to be missed". The BBQ on a motu in Moorea was fun, and the 4 stingrays that were there were friendly, but I thought it was a lot of money just to be taken to a beach. To any of you who are planning their trips to Tahiti, do your research and scope out the better independent operators. Their prices are much better than Princess' and very often, you get more activities.

We met some very nice CC'rs - Steve and Carla from Sierra Madre, Alex & Rich from Denver, Ron & Cheryl from Vegas, Bronwyn & Stewart from New Zealand and Denise & Chris from Arizona/New Jersey, amongst many others. The thing about the Tahitian Princess is that, because the ship is so small, you find yourself running into the same people all the time. The familiar smiles and brief conversations were an every day occurance. Also, because of the small size, the staff and crew became very familiar with all of us.

Even going through Customs, Immigration and all that other international travel stuff went relatively smoothly. We did meet a couple of airport employees in Pape'ete (French, not Polynesian) who upheld the stereotype of French arrogance, but aside from them, the people of Polynesia were lovely.

My 50th birthday couldn't have been celebrated more wonderfully, and I can't wait to go back, but today, it does feel good to be home, knowing that I was lucky enough to have been able to visit Paradise on Earth.

Joyce

[annag]

Hi Joyce!

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Polynesia, which makes me even more excited about our upcoming cruise in August of this year. Hence, I am totally looking forward to your more detailed report, so that I could take advantage of your tips and experiences. By the way, I will also be celebrating my 50th during our cruise. Again, looking forward to your report.:)

 

Anna

[annag]

As an afterthought, where does one post trip reports on this board? :confused: I sure do not want to miss it.

 

Anna

[sprinkles]

Joyce, I am happy that you had a great time and that your DH didn't have to "hurt" you over any missed independant tours (I know you were worried about them). Welcome home, now you get to join the rest of us who still dream daily about their cruise on the TP.

 

Tammy

[travelgirl913]

Looking forward to your review since my husband and I will be on TP in August.

[Bsan1221]

Sounds Great!!!!

 

I am going April of 2006 and cannot wait.!!!!!!!!!!!

[laurasue]

I said to my husband, "It's really gonna suck when we die because Heaven can't possibly be better than this!"

If you've ever read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" you'll understand why I refer to FP as "my heaven." When I meet my 5 people it will be in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora, or snorkeling in the lagoons, or watching a sunset. ;) Oh so fabulous.

[CruisinFools]

I tend to be long-winded, so I'll try to abbreviate where I can...

Day One: Took the Fly-Away bus to LAX. Everything went smoothly and before we knew it, we were boarding the plane. We were on the 1PM flight. Best (coach) flight I've ever taken. Air Tahiti Nui is fabulous. Impeccable service and plenty of leg room, even for my husband who is 6'3". We decided to go with the Princess tranfer to the ship, which went smoothly. Entered the Tahitian Princess around 8PM and were stunned by its elegance. No chrome or glitz, just old-world style decor, lots of cherry woods, red and gold reception area and gold-tone metal. Our cabin, mini-suite category AA, cabin #8004, was lovely and spacious. It was a little deceiving at first, but we soon realised that there was tons of storage space. Met our cabin steward, Jowie (pronounced Joey) who was very friendly and polite. We immediatey asked him for martini glasses and a bucket of ice (he brought us a bucket of ice every day at 5PM for our pre-dinner cocktails). All of our luggage was delivered to our cabin, except for the one suitcase wherein we had packed a bottle of Absolut, a bottle of apple schnapps, a jar of cherris amd our shaker (got to have our appletinis!) We were afraid that our booze was confiscated, but after returning from dinner, we found our suitcase outside our cabin, with everything intact. Mixed up some 'tinis and toasted our good fortune. The rest of the evening was spent scoping out the ship.

That night, and every night thereafter, we were rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the ship on the water. Yes, we most certainly felt the swaying of the ship. Glad I had my Bonine with me. In fact, for the first half of the cruise, the ship rocked and rolled a LOT! There were several folks on board who were noticeably seasick.

The next day, we went to the marketplace right outside the dock and bought a nice flower arrangement for our cabin. Everything was very expensive, except the flowers. An arrangement that would ordinarily go for $40 in the States was only $15. However, a stamp for a postcard was $1.30! There was no real beach and I didn't want to search for one, seeing as how we had beach activities scheduled for most of the cruise, so we wandered around town and then headed back to the ship. We set sail at around 5PM and naturally, the sunset was spectacular.

More to come...

[CruisinFools]

Our first stop was Huahine, a small, unspoiled, untouched island that I had never heard about. I fell in love with it immediately. We had planned to take Marc's Motu Picnic and Snorkle excursion which was similar to the one offered by Princess, for about $20 per person less. Now, I'll tell you, ther were plenty of (obviously) wealthy passengers in the ship (my husband and I were not 2 of them!), and saving $40 bucks is a big deal to me. However, I am always a little leary of independent tour operators as we were ripped off in Jamaica. Well, FP is as far from Jamaica (or Mexico for that matter, which we also dislike) as you can get. The (native) people are warm and friendly and are of their word. I reserved a place on Marc's excursion, with no deposit and they were right there, on the dock, waiting for us. It was actually in the same exact place where peole who were taking the Princess tour met. We were met by Marc, his partner Monte and our captain, Armando. About 10 of us hopped into Marc's waiting boat and off we went to our first snorkle stop. (I think Princess only took their peole to one plkace; Marfc took us to two.) After snorkelling the most beautiful waters we had ever seen, we were taken to a large motu where we had poisson cru for the first time. Not being fans of sushi, we were hesitant to eat this raw fish meal (raw marlin, mixed with lime juice, like ceviche, paper thin slices of onion, tomato and cucumber and freshly squeezed coconut milk). So as not to insult the cook, we tried a little portion of the poisson cru and immediately went back for a larger portion. It was delicious! We also had grilled grouper and swordfish, fresh fruit, rice and unlimited rum punch and Hinano beer. To put it bluntly, this was one of the best days of my life. It was my first real taste of Paradise and it was delicious! We returned to the dock later that day and Monte invited us to the little restaurant that was really, the only "business" there. We told us that we were "family" and he treated us to a nice cold beer and wonderful conversation. Monte is a world traveller and spent many years in Southern California. I promised him that I would send him torillas from the States, as he missed Mexian food.

Back to the ship with thoughts of how we could stay on this primitive, unspoiled Eden.

The next day was a Sea Day. I played Bingo and we also played (and won) the Trivia game. The prize was a travel clock, which was great since there was no clock in our cabin and we did not bring one with us.

Our next stop was Raratonga. We bought a ticket on a shuttle (arranged by Princess) for $8.00 round trip to take us to Muri Beach. It was beautiful, but the current was very strong. Felt more like swimming in a river rather than in a secluded lagoon. We hung out that day with Alex and Rich, a couple of CC'rs we had hooked up with the night before. Lots of fun. On our return to the dock, we hopped off the shuttle and wandered around the village. I loved Raratonga. It reminded me of a little hippie village. Very Bohemian, like an artist's colony. I could stay here, too!

More to come....

[annag]

Hi Joyce!

 

I am totally enjoying the review of your cruise--thank you for taking the time to write, since your experiences are so very valuable to people like us, who are currently awaiting our cruise. Also, I was very glad to hear about your thoughts and experiences as to Marc's Motu Picnic, since this is the one we also reserved, having the same identical reservations which you apparently had. So, I am glad that you found Marc's to be enjoyable and a good value.

 

A question here, did you meet/hear from anyone who took Princess' Nature Walk in Rarotonga and any opinions as to this outing. I reserved it through Princess, but I understand that I can cancel prior to the excursion and just do what you did, go to the beach and stroll around the village.

 

Also a housekeeping item, did you bring your own beach towels or did you just take the ones from your cabin? We certainly have the towels, but they will take 1/2 of a suitcase to pack.

 

Again, thank you for your report.

 

Anna

[laurieb]

Marc's is the best excursion I have ever been on! I can't wait to go back in Jan. of 07. Thankyou for sharing your experiences, it brings back great memories.

[CruisinFools]

Ia orana! (pronounced yarana - a Tahitian greeting). In answer to your question, we did bring our own beach towels, but it was only to wrap our booze in! We enjoy mixing appletinis (it also cuts way down on your bar bill) so we packed a bottle of Absolut and a bottle of apple schnapps. I told my husband that we could cushion the bottles amongst our clothes, but he wanted to wrap the bottles in towels, "just in case". Princess provides beach towels, so you needn't bring your own. Plus, you can always ask your cabin steward for extra towels, or you can snag a couple from the pool deck. As for Raratonga, the Nature Walk sounds beautiful, but you can enjoy a nice beach day for about $8 per person. There's a table right on the dock (the sign said Princess Shuttle) where you can purchase round trip bus/shuttle tickets that will take you to, and pick you up from Muri Beach. The ride is about 10 - 15 minutes one-way. It's a beautiful lagoon with clear water and white sand. One note on beaches - we wore our beach shoes almost everywhere. There are lots of shells and coral.

After Raratonga, we had another Sea Day, which we love. We were blessed with great weather, nearly the entire time.

Our next stop was Raiatea, a port stop, not a tender - finally! WE had heard that there really aren't any beaches on Raiatea, so we booked a Princess shore excursion, a 4WD Jeep tour. This one day was a little overcast, so we were glad we didn't opt for a beach. There were about 4 or 5 other Jeeps and I guess we picked the wrong Jeep. It was just OK. Our tour guide was really nothing more than a chauffer. She really didn't tell us much, although I saw other drivers, stopping on the roads to point out various items of interest. We were driven through a rain forest of sorts, it was very nice. We went to a sacred area where they used to practice human sacrifices. We got a good narration from another driver while our driver hung back and chatted with some locals. The we went to a vanilla farm which was quite educational. At dinner that night, we heard from a couple of our table mates that they had booked a snorkle excursion to one of the motus (apparently, the motus are the only places in Raiatea where there are actual sandy beaches.) and had a fantastic time. They did the drift snorkle, which is recommended only for strong swimmers as the current can be trecherous. The ship was docked in Raiatea until 6AM the next morning, but most everyone just stayed on the ship as there as nothing to do in Raiatea at night.

We sailed for Bora Bora and reached there at around noon. Another tender stop. We had booked the Aqua Safari Helmet Dive through Princess. This was my favorite excursion. They take about 18 people in a boat out to this area where 6 people can go down at a time. While waiting for our turn, we snorkled in the crystal clear waters. Once it was our turn, the professional divers that were with us put on the helmets for us, showed us how to decompress (hold your nose and try to blow; it pops your ears), and took us down about 12 - 15 feet. (Compressed air is forced into your helmet, which is tethered to the boat. This is how we can breathe underwater.) It was magnificent. Along with your special helmet (which is surrounded on 3 sides by plexiglass so you can see all around), you have a little mesh bag with bread in it. Just shake the bag so that some of the wet bread an float around and you will be surrounded by fish of all kinds. I mean you are literally surrounded! It was so cool. The little fish swam right up to my helmet, as if to say, "who are you?" We were down there for about 30 minutes and I didn't want to leave. The diver indicated to me by way of sign language that if I wanted to stay, that I'd soon be "sleeping with the fishes."!! Haha. You come out of the water and your head is totally dry. It was weird seeing people emerge from the water with their hair-dos intact! Due to health reasons, I am not alloowed to scuba dive; this ws as close as I'll come and I loved every minute of it. Worth every penny.

We stayed in Bora Bora overnight and the next day, we took the Moana Tour's Shark Feed and Ray Snorkle, an independent and also, a good value compared to the excursion offered by Princess. We were supposed to have been met on the dock by a shuttle that would take us to the point where we would get in the small ship that would take us out to the sharks and rays, however, there was a change in plans and were picked up by a small (SMALL) boat instead. No worries. From what I understand, Princess doesn't allow anyone in the water for the shark feeding. Well, on Moana Tours, they really encourage yo to go in. We got to the where the sharks were (black tips, about 4 - 5 feet long!). The boat driver threw in some food and the sharks came around quickly. He told us, "Well, you folks paid for this, go on in!" I told him that I'd feel better if he gave them more food, but he just laughed. So in we went! I couldn't believe it. It was very thrilling and I just kept saying to myself, "don't splash, don't splash." At one point, 5 of the sharks came swimming up to me pretty quickly. They circled me and went on their way. I was breathing through my snorkle and probably hyper-ventilated a little. I must admit, seeing all those sharks (and they really look like sharks!) got me a little unnerved, so I went back into the boat to sit a while. It was almost time to go anyway. We then went to swim with the rays, which we've done before (in Grand Caymen) - always fun. We got back to the main island where we shopped a little (shopping doesn't interest us at all, just looked for souvenirs.) and tendered back to our ship. That night was our second Formal Night and at dinner, we had everyone's ears as we told them about our shark adventure.

Moorea tomorrow.....