French Polynesia and S Pacific cruising

[pauletto]

We are interested in joining a cruise out of Honolulu, cruising to ports which include Papeete, Bora Bora, and back to Sydney. Has anyone done one of these cruises, perhaps on the Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity or Princess? I would be interested in hearing any feedback, especially with regard to weather we may encounter and would these cruise ships are more attractive to the mature travellers.

[flamomo]

I haven't been to Australia yet, but have cruised with Princess twice in the South Pacific.

 

Initially I flew, with a friend, r/t Papeete, to cruise for 10 days in the Society Islands (aka French Polynesia).

 

The 2nd time we did a 28 day cruise r/t Los Angeles, and visited 4 Hawaiian ports, Samoa and American Samoa, Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea, before cruising 8 days back to LA.

 

Both were wonderful cruises, the seas and weather were amazingly good throughout, and the places we visited were incredible.

 

If you check my cruise history, listed in my signature, you will see I have had a pretty active history with Princess. I am a "mature cruiser" (mid 70s) and find the Princess ships and style of cruising to my liking. Classy without stuffiness is how I describe it.

Edited September 20, 2016 by flamomo

[LHT28]

HAL have a couple of cruises from Honolulu in Oct

Option 2 would be fly to PPT & sail back

there are a couple of line that do that route

Oceania, Crystal

 

You can do R/T from Sydney

Sail from Sydney to PPT & fly back

many options to choose from

 

 

Due to the length of the cruise I would think the pax would be more mature ages

 

use the link at the top "find a cruise" to find what is available

[pauletto]

Many thanks for your helpful comments. Have explored cruises further; the more you read over what is on offer, the better informed you become. I must admit that we're leaning towards a Princess cruise, as we so much enjoyed our last cruise to Fiji and the S Pacific, but NCL have a very attractive itinerary for the places we want to visit. We're in our 70's and am wondering if NCL's style of cruising will match up to Princess. Any thoughts on this?

ps: another factor to be considered on a lengthier cruise is that NCL no longer have self-service laundry facilities whereas Princess does.

[NMLady]

Many thanks for your helpful comments. Have explored cruises further; the more you read over what is on offer, the better informed you become. I must admit that we're leaning towards a Princess cruise, as we so much enjoyed our last cruise to Fiji and the S Pacific, but NCL have a very attractive itinerary for the places we want to visit. We're in our 70's and am wondering if NCL's style of cruising will match up to Princess. Any thoughts on this?

ps: another factor to be considered on a lengthier cruise is that NCL no longer have self-service laundry facilities whereas Princess does.

 

I am mid-70's, hubby is mid-80's and we have done many NCL cruises so obviously we like NCL's freestyle, casual. However, since you like the classiness of Princess I am not sure that NCL is for you.

 

Laundry on NCL does not have to be a problem since at least once a week, and more often on longer cruises, they offer an "all you can stuff in the bag" special for $19.95 and the bag holds a lot if you roll the clothes, stuffing sox and/or briefs in the corners. We can usually fit at least five days' worth of clothes for both of us in the bag.

Edited September 24, 2016 by NMLady