Tahitian Princess Review/ICB Moorea -- July 9-23rd -- PART I

[josassoc]

We just returned from our trip of a lifetime. Haven't seen too many thorough reviews (other than nancyrg -- also on our trip -- HI!) lately, so I'm going to go in detail, with a couple of extra tips that made the trip extra-special!

 

First of all, I'd like to thanks all those CCr's who've participated on this site, the information I received was invaluable in allowing me to plan this wonderful trip. My husband and I traveled alone for our 10th wedding anniversary, so we booked a 5 day/4 night prestay at the ICB Moorea, followed by the Tahitian Princess Cruise from 7-13-05 to 7-23-05.

 

FIRST TIP -- I didn't like the vagueness of the Princess flight arrangements originally offered, and I knew that I wanted to prestay only on Moorea. Also, after traveling for years with my husband, I knew he'd want to go home immediately after the cruise was over -- and would HATE lying around a ship for 12-16 hours waiting for a flight home. This factor, coupled with the cost of the over-the-water bungalow we booked at the ICB Moorea for four nights (I didn't want to waste the first night checking in at 11pm), I decided to book our air on Air France separately, arriving in Papeete at 5am on the 9th and leaving at 8am on the 23rd. I know Air Tahiti Nui also had a flight for these times, but the cost for this specific flight was always $3,000+- (each) and Princess wouldn't guarantee me that flight for a better rate. So, I just booked my own air. I paid a little more for this option, but the look on my husband's face at the end of the trip, continually pointing out that everyone was still on the ship while we were almost home...was worth the $$. He thought I was a genuis!

 

SECOND TIP! If you can, book a pre or post stay in Moorea for at least three days! We stayed at the Intercontinental Beachcomber Moorea for five days/four nights, and loved it! This resort is gorgeous!!!! I booked an OTW bungalow, and about two weeks before the cruise, I emailed them with a request for one of the four true over-the-water bungalows -- think they are 510, 511, 512 and 514. We got it -- Bungalow 510, yeah!!! This was a GREAT location, with really good snorkeling available from the deck. In fact, if you go about 20-30' perpendicular from the deck, you'll find an amazing coral reef, with fish everywhere. I've heard the comments on the Sheraton's snorkeling being better. From what I gathered, the lagoon in the Sheraton is not as "murky" (clearer water), but the snorkeling from this reef was still a great experience. I wasn't disappointed with our resort, and from what I gather the ICB offers water equipment -- kayaks, jetskis -- that all of the other Moorea resorts lack. I'd highly recommend the ICB Moorea resort!! (One caveat, its a long walk to Room 510, and this room's ladder is kinda short. Hard to get out of the water. If you're not over 5'6", ask for one of the other three OTW rooms.)

 

THIRD TIP! Bring money! Plan for how much you'd think you normally spend on food in the US -- if you went out for every meal -- then double that! There's your budget for meals! Seriously, if you don't eat your meals at the resort -- try the "The Floating Restaurant" (I think that's the name -- good food, best prices), "Le Plantation" and "Alfredo's." All good, all better priced than the resorts, but still $130ish a couple for a nice dinner. All of the restaurants pick you up from the resort. But you really should anticipate and expect the high meal prices. You'll enjoy your stay so much more, if you know and accept this fact in advance. We did go to a local market and picked up some ham, cheese, bread and snacks...but after so many water activities, you work up an appetite! Also, if you eat breakfast at the ICB Moorea, ask for the alacarte egg breakfast (it comes with meats, fruits, potatoes) for about $10pp, rather than the $30pp breakfast buffet. I learned that lesson a little too late.

 

FOURTH TIP! Also in the money arena. The exchange rate between the airport ($.83/$100cfp), to the resort ($.90/$1000cfp) to the ship ($.98/$1000cfp) widely ranged. In retrospect, the best way to handle money probably would have been to cash about $200 at the resort, and just kept it in my pocket, then charge to the Visa card any expense possible (to get the best exchange rate). But beware, I'd still have enough francs in my pocket to cover any expense, because we saw a couple of occurences (not ours) where people's credit cards wouldn't go through. They were surprised...and unprepared in one case...with no $$ in hand to pay for dinner!!

 

Now the review!

We arrived in Tahiti, Saturday, at 5:30am. Weather was warm & somewhat muggy. July weather is the best, in fact we had almost no rain (only once in the middle of the night) for our entire 14 day trip. The Airport checkout through customs went smoothly and we hopped an AirMoorea "puddle-jumper" plane to Moorea. The AirMoorea terminal is at the end of the airport and has a nice little refreshment bar and restrooms. The AirMoorea plane was small, and the flight lasted only 10 minutes. It went too fast to really get nervous, so anyone (like me originally) who is thinking twice about this form of transport to Moorea should go for it!

 

We got to Moorea by about 7am. When we arrived in Moorea, we rented a car from Eurocar (which we could return at our resort), since we wanted to explore the island and we had much too much luggage. The island is still sleepy around this time, so we just tooled around the whole place, then checked into our resort. The people welcomed us at the resort, suggested we have some breakfast (just gave them our name...and it was charged to our room) and we could use a transit room (effectively a bathroom with shower) to clean up and change. We did, then went down to the beach for about an hour, then as we were passing the desk to go back to our car, they informed us our room was ready, at about 10:30am. We snorkeled, had lunch on the deck/balcony and enjoyed ourselves for the afternoon. We then went down to the concierge and booked the Saturday evening Seafood Buffet and Polynesian Show. The seafood buffet was amazingly large -- like a midnight ship buffet -- with a great selection of food (including chicken and steak). We were seated on a sandy area with candlelit tables, with a large stage at the front of the seating area. A small group played music while we ate. Dinner started at 7pm, and at about 8:30pm, the dancers did their show. It was our first polynesian show...and after awhile they do blend together...but we enjoyed ourselves and ate well. We called it a night after the show.

 

The next day was Sunday. Generally, everything is closed on Sundays in French Polynesia. We had picked up an Albert's Tour brochure at the Moorea airport, and they had two tours we wanted to try, one of which was available for Sunday, the Boat Tour and Pinic excursion (8,000cfp per person). It first stopped at a spot where you could swim with black tip reef sharks, and to another spot with more sharks and stingrays. It was amazing and fun!!! Then we went over to a motu for a picnic and hung around the beach for a couple of hours. It was a GREAT DAY! I would highly recommend this tour. We took a nap, then went to dinner to Alfredo's that night. We ordered pasta...which was OK...but later heard the steak was much better. A singer was setting up, looked like fun, but we called it an early night.

 

Monday morning, we had booked Albert's 4x4 Inner Island Tour. The jeep took four couples throughout the island, winding up to Belvedere Point (amazing views), a sacred buriel site, check out the "sacred river eels" and the distillery. There, they line up about 10 shots of different alcohols. Got a little buzz, and bought some "Tahiti Drink" (great alcoholic punch drink, we had throughout the trip...along with Hinano Beer). We also had a sunset sail booked for that evening with the hotel...met up with two other couples we had met on the 4x4. Beautiful sunset! All six of us were missing the "nightlife" (none on the island), so we made our own that night and went to a great dinner at the Floating Restaurant, then back to our balcony for a few drinks after dinner. First late night we could stay up for since was got here!

 

Tuesday we we're a bit hung over, and the weather was a little cloudy, so we just hung out in our room, snorkeled and napped. We went to La Plantation for a really nice dinner, then came home and packed for our cruise the next day. Our stay in Moorea was almost over...but a truly memorable experience!

 

Cruise review to follow on Part II:

[nancyrg]

I am enjoying your review-it takes me back to Tahiti! I am sorry I did not get to say goodbye or see Grady's new tatoo! I heard that you all left early-very smart! We took a room at the Beachcomber & got off the ship early-hung out at the pool all day & then we were able to clean up before the flight-you were probably home before we ever left Tahiti!

 

nancy

[Oregonian]

I have several questions on your fourth tip (money exchange).

 

First of all, I assume that all of the rates you quoted were supposed to be in $ per 100 CFP (you wrote per "1000 CFP" for the ship and resort).

 

Second, were you saying that it cost 83 cents to buy 100 CFP at the airport, or that one dollar bought 83 CFP? If 83 cents bought 100 CFP at the airport, then the airport gave the best rate on converting $ to CFP (you could buy 100 CFP for only $0.83) whereas the ship gave the worst rate (it cost $0.98 on the ship to buy the same 100 CFP). If, on the other hand, you meant that one dollar bought 83 CFP at the airport, then the ship gave the best rate (you could get 98 CFP for your dollar) and the resort gave the worst rate (you could only get 83 CFP for your dollar).

 

Third, which airport rate were you using (LAX or PPT)?

 

Finally, was there a limit on what you could change on the ship? If not, and if they give the best rate (which by the way is just about exactly the official exchange rate), then it makes sense to change money on the ship if you are planning a post-cruise stay (as we are in September).

 

Ira

[Thymegirl]

What a great review! I am looking forward to the rest of it. Can you tell me a little more about your sunset sail? Did it stay in a lagoon? I tend to get sea sick, but if it stays in a calm area I'd be okay. Thanks.

[josassoc]

I'm an appraiser, and I swear the exchange rate situation stumped me the whole trip. I must have been on vacation! At any rate, the (LAX) airport gave me the crappiest rate and the cruise ship the best. In fact, while we were in Raratonga, I never did find out what the NZ exchange rate was. We rented a car there, and pumped some gas...$47NZD. The girl at the station offered to take $47 USD, and I knew she was trying to "dupe" me (that deal was definitely not in my favor), so I just used the credit card for the rest of the day. I'll let Visa sort that one out!

 

Nancy,

Grady is very proud of his shark tatoo. Sorry we didn't say bye either. I hope you have just as much fun on your next Polynesian cruise next year.

Lisa

[got2go2mo2]

Lisa, $47 NZD = $32 USD at today's rate according to oanda.com currency converter.

 

Kathy

[josassoc]

Glad I didn't give her the $47US.

[josassoc]

Forgot to answer one question. No there was no limit on how much you could exchange on the ship. But, one caveat, the ship only carries multiples of $1000cfp (or about $10USD increments). Any large sum of money -- we needed cfp for a tatoo that had to be in local currency -- left us with a huge and inconvenient to carry bankroll.

[laurieb]

we found that the ship had a better exchange rate than the airport. using a visa card as much as you can is a very good tip. when we were on the ship we were able to exchange any amount we wanted. maybe they changed thier policy.

[nancyrg]

I just checked my credit card bill & I definately got the best exchange rate from visa & american express-I found credit cards are accepted everywhere & I needed very little cash

[laurieb]

I agree that visa is better, but for exchanging us for xfp the ship gave us a better rate. we used our visa whenever we could

[MichTraveler]

Excellent review jossaoc. Thanks!

 

Nancyrg:

... We took a room at the Beachcomber & got off the ship early-hung out at the pool all day & then we were able to clean up before the flight-you were probably home before we ever left Tahiti! nancy

We also want to book at room at ICB to hang out waiting for the late flight home. Our cruise ends on a Thursday. Did you book for Wednesday night (before last cruise day) check-in and get a late check-out on the next day, or check-in early on Thursday (last cruise day) while waiting?

[nancyrg]

Our cruise ended on Saturday-we booked our room for friday night & got late check out for saturday-if not then your room is not guarenteed until 2pm & I did not want to risk it-now I will say that I saw folks checking in & getting rooms earlier then 2pm. We told the hotel that we would be there saturday morning & leave saturday evening & this worked out fine for us.

It is a very relaxing way to spend the last day and it is great getting off the ship early-no lines, no hassle!

enjoy your trip!

 

Nancy

[MichTraveler]

nancyrg: Thanks. I just booked our room for the post cruise. So now we have pre-cruise, cruise, and post-cruise reservations done. Now, the waiting .....

[kootz]

Where is Part 11??? We all would love to hear the rest of the review

[Oregonian]

josassoc,

 

Where on the ship do you change $ into cfp ... the purser? Will they take traveler's checks or credit card (or better yet, let you charge it to your room account)?

 

A related question (if you know) ... can you buy chips at the casino and charge to your room?

 

Ira

[laurieb]

you can change money at the purser's desk, no problem with traveler's checks. I believe that there is an ATM in the casino where you can get cash to take and have changed.

Yes, you can charge chips to your room.

[aadaneboy]

Yes, it can be done, but beware. On a 12 day cruise last year in the mediterranean, we elected to save some of our US currency in case of emergencies, and the casinos will only accept US moneys. We elected to charge chips/cash to our room. Well 100.00 here, and 200.00 there....our final bill for the 2 of us was 3500.00--oops...a little too much gambling and drinking! (with only a few excusions through the ship).

 

Definately easy to misuse this option--if you don't pay attention.

 

Now on our Tahitian Princess next month, my future wife keeps reminding me to take it easy in the casino........but I had fun and that is all that matters, right?

[Oregonian]

I'm on the cruise before you (less than a month to go for me now!). I'll try to make sure the casino still has some money left when you get there.

 

Actually, I will set a modest limit for myself in the casino. My bigger interest is whether I can withdraw cash either in the casino or the purser's desk using my room account (and hence my credit card) for use ashore so that I don't have to bring so much cash with me. From what I've read the exchange rate on the ship is actually pretty good.

 

Ira

[travelgirl913]

Just off the Tahitian Princess 8/12 and if you take money out at the casino they charge you a 3% fee. What we did was sent ourselves gifts of casino credits charged to our credit card for no fee. We sent ourselves $500.00 and the coupons were waiting for us in our room. Then we also got the frequent flyer mile points for using our credit card.

 

 

Only problem was the casino cashier didn't have them listed. It took serveral visits to the front desk and four days later for the front desk to get their act together and send the confimation to the casino. Even though we had the vouchers it meant nothing. Hopefully since we did this now the Tahitian Princess will know what to do if you guys send money by this method you won't have any problems.

Judith

[starsjohn]

I ha ve heard that cash from the ATMs on Princess ships is billed to your credit card as a cash advance instead of to the room account as an shipboard purchase. Is this true??

 

Some credit cards will charge up to 28% immediate finance charge with no grace period on cash advances. Other cards will not honour charges made in a Casino for the purposes of gambling.

 

In Vegas, a friend used his card at an ATM for casino cash and his entire card balance at 6% went to 28% for using this one time cash advance.

[aadaneboy]

Once, on an island in the Caribbean, our ATM card was not accepted at pier bank machines. Fearing the worst, we went to the Purser's desk (since the ATM on the ship was INOP 90% of the cruise). We were able to charge 200.00 on our credit card, but it went through as a regular charge. No cash advance. This was a couple of years ago on the Dawn, but it saved us the frustration of missing the island and souvenir buying.

 

Oregonian, please save us some money at the casino. Although I'm not quite sure how often we will be visiting it since the TP spends 3 of the nights in port, I am assuming the casino will be closed those nights. Obviously a good thing for me! Incidently, I went the the UO in Eugene 91-95. I absolutely love Oregon, and go there every year for a wine festival. King Estate is our favorite. Take a trip down to the vineyard on Territorial HWY in Eugene. It is amazing! If you do, tell Mary Belando (tasting room mgr) that Todd and Holly sent you! She'll take good care of you. :)

[Oregonian]

Aadenboy, we love wine, but haven't discovered King Estate yet so will have to give it a try when we're down there. My current favorite wine is an Oregon Pinot ... Doumain Drouhine's Laurene (not priced for the faint of heart). As to U of O, we're die-hard Bruins but have lots of friends at the other Pac-10 schools including U or O. Our daughter is a Sr. at U-Dub and I have nothing but positive things to say about that school too.

 

Judith, that's a great suggestion about sending ourselves a gift of casino cash, thanks. Our independent excursions alone come to $1,000 in cash needed for the providers, not to mention pre- and post-cruise stays. As you point out, this gift means I can take less money with me up front.

 

Ira

[aadaneboy]

That is a great idea about pre purchasing casino credit. We even took it a step further, and told our friends who didn't know what to get us for our wedding, that they could buy us gifts on board.

 

I purchased Princess's deluxe honeymoon package, which I am very excited about. My fiance has no clue--or at least she pretends not to.:rolleyes:

[aadaneboy]

hope this doesn't post again. I just hit the wrong button and not sure if it posted the first time.....

 

since the TP will be our honeymoon, we told our friends who didn't know what to get us for a wedding gift about purchasing casino credit, wine, etc via princess. We have so much already, and most of our wedding registries are almost full. We really don't need much, since we have 2 full households to combine. We had a huge garage sale a few months ago, and made 1000.00 from it (used as a payment to the cruise). After receiving the stuff we have registered for, we could have another one, and probably make just as much.:)

 

Oregonian, as for King Estate, their Pinot Noirs are incredible--the best 3 being their Domaine, King Estate's Pfeiffer Pinot Noir, and their Croft Pinot. 40-50 a bottle, but well worth the price...their reserve is good too, as is their Pinot Gris....