MARINA/French Polynesia Mar 4-19,2018 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

Still making our way down, we took a muddy (some showers/rain started) dirt road turn off with signage indicating Tiki Parc zip line and a pineapple plantation. Going into the road quite a ways seemed pretty sketchy that led to nowhere, however we soon discovered another minivan with tourist making a quick stop to view the pineapple plantation... like the Agricultural "Center" (aka. school) this was merely a private property producing a huge pineapple field... that's it... no tours, no info, no signage here. Strange that it's promoted as a site to see in various blogs and tour websites.... did I miss something?

 

 

 

Back down to the main road we went, turning right (eastward) away from the cruiseship tender and up the opposite side of Opanuhu Bay.... **NOTE, I made a mistake on the Moorea map in previous posts, when I get to page 5 I will correct it to reflect the following....

 

It is here we came across a nice beach that no one told us about, even when staying at the Hilton, called Ta'ahiamanu Beach (it will be labelled "G" on the new map). We had another beach in mind for this afternoon as we made our way around the island, so this impromptu stop was just to quickly explore and take some photos.

 

 

 

A huge parking lot across the street for this park/beach, plenty of picnic benches, lots of shade areas from the sun, and great shallow water to dip in.... let alone gorgeous views. We took note. From what I could see with the few people that were there, I did not see any other cruise ship towels.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

I made another mistake on the map to be fixed on the next page.... just down the street from this beach is a very small green sign which says "Moorea Tropical Gardens" with an arrow pointing in on the opposite side of the road pointing up what looks like a private driveway. In fact it's a shared private driveway.... and it's directly uphill at a very steep angle. It definitely looks like you;'re going the wrong way into private homes, but the landscape soon changes to a more lush and botanical feel. Reaching the parking lot after that slow & steep climb up uneven roadway, we (alone) walked up to what seemed like the entry.... no signage, no one greeting us.... were we i the right place? Strange. Climbing further up the stairs we reached a garden level with a large greenhouse where they grow their vanilla

 

 

We can also see a "house" and other structures further above so we continued climbing the path.... and there it opened up to a small store with various offerings of their jams, vanilla and other things. We saw this vanilla sold elsewhere for about 50% more so this would be the place to buy it direct. We also got to taste their lime, starfruit, and pineapple jams... delish!

 

 

They have a large undercover deck with about 4 picnic bench type tables. reading the sign they offer a lunch and dinner twice per week (I believe). We were there on an off day, so it was a ghost town. This is where I snapped that "teaser" photo at the beginning of the review to show off the Marina.... here's another one from this very deck. You can see how high we are... note the level of the mountain on the other side over the Marina, we're about the same height so that driveway to get up/down here is very steep.

 

 

Making our way down, we turned right (always going clockwise) and left Opanuhu Bay making our way around to Cook's Bay. Almost immediately when entering Cook's Bay you come across Manutea Juices and Distillery, open to the public.

 

 

It was really busy in here! So this is where everyone was rather than on the beach lol. I had read a few things about this place prior to this trip so I was glad I had this targeted. The liquors are excellent and very smooth as they still use pure cane sugar (vs. corn syrup like most of the garbage low end liquors here in North America). They had excellent tasting area where you can try various wines as well (ie. Pineapple wine!).

 

 

Coconut creme liquer, Moorea grown vanilla & banana liquers, and pineapple vodka to name a few offerings.

Yep, I came home with the Pineapple vodka with the glass pineapple inside the bottle (5100 xpf).

Regular bottles were varies in price from 2500 - 3500 xpf

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

Ok.... now we were getting HANGRY! Food was creeping up the list of priority, and I had read about a little pizza joint called Allo Pizza on line that was raved about as the #3 or #4 eatery on the entire island. I mapped it out on the eastern side of Cook's Bay, so hopping back in the car to get around to other side and there it was in plain site as we drove up the street.

 

 

It's a funky little place with stool/bar seating, a great menu and decent prices compared to other restaurants for example

 

 

 

OMG sooooooo good! Perfect real brick oven pizza with super fresh ingredients. You don't want pizza? They have salads as well. Need desert? Banana, brown suger, chocolate pizza... yowza! Totally recommended... many tripadvisor reviews were definitely not wrong (right Denise?! ;p)

 

 

Totally satisfied with lunch, we made our way as usual to the right (clockwise) to head for the public beach we were told about, Tamae Beach, close to the Sofitel hotel on the east side of the island facing Tahiti. Before we got there here's a stop at a viewpoint with Tahiti in the distance looking overtop the Sofitel resort.

 

[Hoopster95]

From the above viewpoint, the sign for the Tamae Beach is only about another 2-3 minutes away as we turn in. It's a dusty dirt road entry, not too inviting, and we were wondering if we were in the right place. It opened up to a parking area with just a handful of other cars in front of a large grassy meadow. So we parked and walked along the paths towards the coastline

 

 

And there was the beach. I have no clue why it was recommended... the water is great but that's about it. There's hardly anywhere with shade, and there were a few areas where garbage was left, including a diaper (gross). Unlike a hotel beach where the sand is raked, this one is not so it was pretty rough on the feet with broken coral as you entered the water. Once in, floating around in the crystal clear blue water was great. Obviously we weren't overly impressed so we decided to bail after only about 1/2 hour.

 

 

 

This next part took close to an hour, however I can described it simply in this paragraph... from this beach it's only about 5-6 minutes to the Vaiare ferry terminal. After that it's about a 45 minute drive around the southern and western part of the island all the way back to the Intercontinental. Other than the starting point to hop on boats for the Lagoonarium (which we didn't go to, google it if you wish) there is zero.... nada.... nothing.... nil to see all the way around this entire part of the island. Even the so-called Polynesian Tiki Cultural center looked like a derelict abandoned building that was falling apart that we drove into the parking area (with zero cars), looked at each other, and drove right out. The concierge at the Hilton had told us there was nothing to see out that way other than a drive around the island and she was totally right... not even many viewpoints or interesting beaches/parks. So save yourself and hour (and gas) by staying and concentrating on the northern part of the island.

 

With still about 2 hours left until the final tender, we decided to drive past the AVIS and go back to that beach we had stopped for pictures earlier in the day at Opanuhu Bay. This is Ta'ahiamanu Beach (Plage de Ta'ahiamanu). Now this was much MUCH nicer.... great sand, great water, lots of shade and a beautiful view inland and of Marina within the Bay.

 

 

AVIS told us to be back no later than 4pm... we got back at 3:45 as the last car to return. Being only 10 minute drive from AVIS, we had no problem making tenders (final at 4:30pm) as there were still several other cruisers still lingering about coming back from excursions as well.

 

 

[Mumofnine]

Thank you for your very detailed review; loving it as it evokes wonderful memories of our two French Polynesia cruises on Marina and our stays at the Hilton Moorea.

Looking forward to reading more.

Will be back on Marina in Montreal on 8 May; excited!!

[Hoopster95]

Back on board, GF wanted to clean up and get ready for the evening while I wanted to check out sailaway from top deck. I headed up to check the sitelines and see what kind of activity there is. A few cruisers were enjoying the mini-golf as the ship began her spin to get out of the bay

 

 

 

 

I left the front of the ship to head aft so that I can view Moorea as we moved away. I had realized I had not been up in this area yet from the day before on my Day 1 ship "tour". On this top deck 15 (above Baristas and the library) is another sports area of sorts with a shuffleboard court as well as a croquet court.

 

 

 

Note that the super teenie tiny running track is up here... note the dark grey path in this picture beside the croquet court.

 

 

I enjoyed sailaway for quite a bit, taking the video below as the ship turned towards the "Tropical Garden" we had visited as well as the beach we had just come from... goodbye Moorea! Now it was time for me to head down and get ready for the evening as well.... looking forward to La reserve tonight!

 

6ySuPJ1RmV8

[Hoopster95]

Here's the corrected map with the addition of "G" for your reference

 

[Hoopster95]

So this evening's plan was pretty easy.... 1. get ready for dinner with a cocktail, 2. head down to La reserve for an amazing experience, 3. try to dance off some of that great food up in Horizon's once dinner was done.... we never made it to 3!

Everyone left that room relatively toasty as the wine pours were extremely generous and oh so delicious with high end wines on display. The entrees were super delicious as the questionable dinner we had last night faded away in our memories.... ok, maybe that's the wine.

 

 

I did not get a photo of every single dish, however here's what I did get. We enjoyed the Odyssey Menu. I wish I had taken more photos around the room as well during the evening and of the staff. Time flew by as I was having a great time with new table friends.

 

 

 

 

The entire dinner lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours but felt shorter. Service was impeccable and the chef was present during every course. We had the opportunity to inspect the bottles that were being served and ask any question we wanted. All in all a great evening, fully recommended. We were given a menu memoir of the evening. Here's a photo of the wines which were served.

 

 

And the winner of the evening for us? Surprisingly for me, a Chardonnay.

 

 

With dinner done, we headed for our cabin to chill out and then get a great night's sleep.. We had contemplated staying up a bit, however also had in mind we had a very early morning coming with our first private group excursion in Raiatea.

[Hoopster95]

Will be back on Marina in Montreal on 8 May; excited!!

 

Thank you for the kind words. I just looked up your sailing... superb itinerary! I've never seen an itinerary like that before concentrating on Quebec, and especially only 3 1/2 sea days from Newfoundland to Cork. Have a great cruise :D

[musicmom3]

Whatever venue we went to (ie. night #1 in Jacques), we went over the menu with the waiter and he came back with options/recommendations from the chef, was very easy and wasn't an issue.

It was I think the 2nd day when my GF mentioned to our butler that she could not eat one of the canape's due to cheese. It was at that point he took note and provided us with the daily form for the MDR for the next night's dinner, as they would take note and provide options for the next day. because we only visited the MDR once, we never used this service

 

Thanks for the info, sounds very manageable and less stressing than trying to run down every chef on Day 1 to get on the books.

[delee78]

LMAO!!! Thanks for the Patrick post. It brought some brightness to an otherwise damp and chilly morning in Philadelphia!

 

Patrick said he might just have to create a CC account to respond!

Well, after catching up on the last two pages, I can't begin to imagine how helpful this will be for Oceania cruisers sailing to FP. Or, anyone just sailing the Marina! Or, anyone just going to FP! This is amazing. Thank you for taking the time to do it. I know how long it takes to read it and write these teeny-tiny responses! I can't imagine how long it takes to load photos, map out the entire experience, break it into small chunks, write all of the commentary, and post it. Thank you!

I haven't had time to really catch up with my mother yet, so I told her to read this! LOL!

 

OK, so first to Allo Pizza. If you are on Moorea, are hungry/hangry, and want a laid back atmosphere, then go to Allo Pizza! I live in the Northeast of the US, which has arguably some of the best pizza outside of Italy. And, we went there twice in our post-cruise stay. The pizza is amazing. I had the banana dessert pizza that Hoopster eluded to on his previous post. It was so good that I have a hard time describing it.

 

Hoopster's map of Moorea is excellent. I would recommend getting to the Belvedere at a time when limited tourists are on the island. Not only will the drive be less intense with the turns and narrow road, but the photos are unbelievably gorgeous without fellow tourists doing their best unintended photo bombs!

 

One small clarification - the priority tender system Hoopster mentioned is for Oceania suite class and higher. So, Oceania Suite, Vista Suite, and Owners Suites do not have to wait for a tender ticket. I purposefully chose one of these suites (Vista) for the priority tender system as this cruise is almost complete tender ports. However, it was definitely more balanced that other tender experiences from my past. On those past cruises where we had a tender port, the cruise tours typically took up the first hour or two of tenders. However, on this cruise where the Oceania tours were a bit more spread out, the first few tenders tended to be the colored tickets. We would go to the island for a run on the mornings where we didn't have a tour, and the first tender was always for independent travelers. For the mornings where we overnighted in Bora Bora and Nuku Hiva, the first tender didn't even require a ticket. You just walked on. The first tender on the second day in Bora Bora had a grand total of 3 passengers! My best advice - just get down to the theater early and you'll probably have no issues getting to the shore for your private tour.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of the review!!!

[Sny]

Really enjoying this. We will be on Marina in the Baltic this summer; but are booked Papeete to Auckland next March on Crystal Symphony. You've given me tons of idea vis a vis the days in Papeete and Moorea. Keep it coming, please.

[LHT28]

Just a question about GF's food intolerance...when and how was that communicated to Oceania? I have a food allergy so want everybody to know about it in order to avoid any cross-contamination, but I couldn't find anywhere to list allergies on the website profile and, when I phoned the company, was told to make the rounds of each dining venue to speak to each chef on the first day

I cannot believe the res dept sometimes :eek:

 

If you used a TA get them to make a note on your file of your allergy if not call the special services desk tell them

On day 1 you will need to make the waiter aware of your allergy after that they will send menus a day or 2 before for you to check what you want & they will make the dish (if possible) to avoid your food allergy

If you eat in the Buffet or tea ask the chef before you eat what would be safe for you

Enjoy

[Hoopster95]

LMAO!!! .....My best advice - just get down to the theater early and you'll probably have no issues getting to the shore for your private tour.

 

Haha! I thought you guys would get a laugh out of that ;p

100% perfect advice regarding tenders as I will show you as we go forward. Remember what I said about Moorea timing for the tenders.... there'll be another small delay day 2 in Marquesas I'll point out as well. We learned quickly what to do, but required pre planning the night before and an early appearance in the theatre in the morning for the coloured tender tickets.

 

LHT28 made more great recommendations regarding food allergies, somewhat the same as what I said in previous post. They will be accommodating when you show up and tell them. At the Terrace a maitre'D will walk around with you if required and go over the ingredients with the Chef for example.... GF had no problem asking questions, the servers there were incredibly knowledgeable about what ingredients are in the various dishes and trained as such even without the Chef. With regard to "making the waiter aware" the day before, I suspect that is for MDR if you go there nightly. I know a couple who asked for a received same waiter and table nightly so that staff would know your needs day 1... GF received MDR menu each night before in our cabin from our butler for the MDR the next day so that she can make selections for the next day without worry, and was offered that the Chef would make changes a la carte for anything specific on the menu if it needed a slight change.

[Hoopster95]

Day 2 - Raiatea (March 9)

 

It was starting this day especially that I was extremely grateful for the friends I had made at roll call pre cruise. I was grateful even before... not knowing anything about the islands whatsoever, I leaned on the experience of specifically two other couples who had sailed on O before and to these islands. Having just gone through a horrible few months watching my mother pass away in hospital (ie. 4-6 hrs in the hospital every day incl Xmas, etc) and also trying to run my business 24/7, it turned out I had little time to research what I wanted to do let alone plan anything, and simply asked to be reserved on various private excursions that were offered on our roll call without really looking into them all that much.

 

It's here that I wish to give a major thank you to Ruth & Larry. They are an extremely experienced well traveled couple and great to hang around with... you'd find them everyday during Happy Hour up at Horizons! Excellent communication and organization for the entire group on 4 private excursions, and was super to me to help me pre cruise via email and all the questions I asked about Oceania. I second huge thanks goes out to Manfred & Iris from Germany. They sailed on O 6 times I believe here in FP, so they knew the ropes. They were also the highest level cruisers on board with the most number of nights with O. Like Larry & Ruth, I emailed Manfred many questions pre cruise and helped me a ton. They are both stayed on board Marina on the current TP to LA through Hawaii.

 

A massive and extremely sincere thanks to all four of you. Hopefully we can cross paths on another cruise someday.

 

I had little knowledge about Raiatea. Reading the info sheet provided by O nightly bedside, it's the 2nd most populated island in FP. Also being the only port where we dock, I assumed seeing perhaps a larger island/city as we sailed in... just as beautiful and serene as any other island. What a great day we had coming up weather wise!

 

 

Up to the last 3 days of the cruise, our normal morning routine was to go get triple Americanos at Baristas, get somewhat packed up and ready for the day, and then go to breakfast outside at the Terrace while we sailed in to watch the views as we dined. For my RCL friends, the back of the Terrace is exactly like the back of the Windjammer on Radiance Class ships. We had several dinners out here as well as we just loved it.

 

 

 

The port area did turn out to be relatively large (in comparison to all other island) but no where close in size to Tahiti.

 

 

Note once again that these photos are from my port side balcony, a common theme that the views for most of the ports better from this side I believe as the ship enters the channel and docks. There's a small'ish "Caribbean-like" port shopping area here where cruisers can hang out, ship for trinkets and such upon returning from an excursion.

 

 

And here's the other side of the main port area, another shopping "mall". Note the small marina with just a few boats at this time center-left of the photo.... Also the yellow/orange logo of the shell gas station... simply a very short 5 minute walk from the ship as you depart to find various excursion companies and their boats for the day. There were other options available here as well as you walked outside of the port area, so like Moorea, Raiatea was a rare opportunity to not have anything planned and still be able to choose an option at the last second when departing the ship. I suspect this caused a false sense of security for the remainder of the ports for those who hate planning and just do things spontaneously

 

[Hoopster95]

If you're a business man, and you had a captured audience of 1200 people showing up for only one day of the year, would you want to sell your product to only 12 of those 1200, or maybe sell 100 of whatever product you are selling? Larry had booked a private.... "private" ... excursion for 12 people with L'excursion Bleue. https://www.tahaa.net/index.php/en/

 

We walked over to the marina as described to us pre-cruise to find his boats, extremely easy to find.... there they were by the Shell Gas Station, the exact same boats as advertised on the pictures on their website.

 

 

 

Problem is, more people than us 12 were waiting and more showing up, all lining up to pay him and his partner. All we assumed is that he had multiple boats going to various tours. Makes sense. However, after a short wait a larger water-taxi type boat seating probably around 30-40 people pulls up and he herds us into it. Well, Larry & Manfred were non too pleased, but what to do? I wasn't too concerned because I had no clue what we were getting into anyways and just wanted a great day. Two couples in our party asked for a refund and left as this was not a private tour, more like a larger cruise sponsored excursion. They got their refunds, and I thought we would go, but we just sat there.... and sat there...and sat there longer! Finally after much time, two more couples were coming on. We are pretty sure that the tour provider went out and re-sold those two vacated spots to new participants, making us wait there for about 1/2 hour.

 

 

First world problems cleared up, it was finally time to go and just totally enjoy this day! Things happen on vacations and you have to let them roll of your shoulders and continue on. Motoring away from the marina, we were excited about having a great day out exploring with gorgeous weather.

 

 

 

Below is a map of what this excursion entailed. We in fact did not see any of Raiatea whatsoever. We motored over to neighboring island Taha'a, sailing only on the western of the island (unlike the website which shows a circumnavigation). I've circled the cruise port area at the north end of Raiatea, and made a small legend on the top right

 

[Hoopster95]

1st stop.... swim & snorkel with sharks and stingrays! YES!! Always wanted to get try getting into the water with the sharks.

 

Big time note here.... Larry informed me pre-cruise to bring your own snorkel gear. Turns out that most all the tour providers do not carry much equipment (if at all) unlike the Caribbean tour providers. And don;t go for the cheapest, get something with at least tempered glass goggles so that you can see properly. There is nothing more aggravating than being out in the middle of nowhere with horrible leaking equipment that does not fit. Used daily at the Hilton (and also later at the Interconontinental) let alone almost daily here on the cruise, bringing along dependable better than average snorkel gear was likely the most important piece in my luggage this entire trip and not as clumsy at all as I thought it would be (ie. packing in luggage).

 

I was geared up and ready to roll!

 

 

How super awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was having the time of my life. I think everyone else was too. This gives you a decent idea of how close you are to them... about 5-6 feet is the closest they get to you... unless they're hungry!! {-- joking!--}

If you try to dive to chase them, or go toward them, they will veer away and not interested at all.

 

 

I tried to get a few selfies with a shark in the background but was just too darn difficult, especially note my eyeballs keeping tabs at the corner of my eyes... heck ya! I'm not turning my back on one of these guys!!!

 

 

Plenty of stingrays as well, but not to the extent of Stingray City in Cayman or Antigua for example.... much less in this open ocean, but they were just as curious and care free as the sharks. We didn't bring anything to feed them so they didn't congregate around us... perhaps feeding would also interest the sharks?

 

 

This was an awesome start to this excursion. Thumbs up!

 

 

V8hexDbQQko

[musicmom3]

I cannot believe the res dept sometimes :eek:

 

If you used a TA get them to make a note on your file of your allergy if not call the special services desk tell them

On day 1 you will need to make the waiter aware of your allergy after that they will send menus a day or 2 before for you to check what you want & they will make the dish (if possible) to avoid your food allergy

If you eat in the Buffet or tea ask the chef before you eat what would be safe for you

Enjoy

 

Thanks for the info. Is the Special Service Desk located on the ship or is that a place I call beforehand? I can't find any mention of that on the Oceania website, and when I Google, I am directed to a medical-supply firm that partners with Oceania to assist cruisers with special needs. Though my TA has noted my allergy on our reservation, she warns that in her experience allergies noted that way can fall through the cracks, so I'd definitely like to call the mysterious Special Service Desk as well as talk to our waiters and chefs.

[LHT28]

Thanks for the info. Is the Special Service Desk located on the ship or is that a place I call beforehand? I can't find any mention of that on the Oceania website, and when I Google, I am directed to a medical-supply firm that partners with Oceania to assist cruisers with special needs. Though my TA has noted my allergy on our reservation, she warns that in her experience allergies noted that way can fall through the cracks, so I'd definitely like to call the mysterious Special Service Desk as well as talk to our waiters and chefs.

You could call the main 1 800 number & ask for the special services desk or your TA should be able to get the number for you

You should advise them ASAP

You can speak to the Maitre'd when you go to dinner the 1st night after that the menus should arrive at your cabin

 

the 1st day is the only problem so do ask about the ingredients

 

When you go to the dining venues other than the TERRACE or WAVES they will ask your room number.... it is flagged & they have the special menu noted ..if they do not pull it out from under the podium then mention you have a special menu

 

It is all very seamless in the dining rooms

 

enjoy

 

PS I take a highlighter to mark the dishes I want so there is no mistake

[JimandStan]

Thanks for the info. Is the Special Service Desk located on the ship or is that a place I call beforehand? I can't find any mention of that on the Oceania website, and when I Google, I am directed to a medical-supply firm that partners with Oceania to assist cruisers with special needs. Though my TA has noted my allergy on our reservation, she warns that in her experience allergies noted that way can fall through the cracks, so I'd definitely like to call the mysterious Special Service Desk as well as talk to our waiters and chefs.

 

Once you are put on the food Allergy list by your agent, the process is seamless.

 

On the ship, a chef will be assigned to your "case" and will have left a card in your stateroom with contact information before you get on the ship.

 

After a discussion of your specific requirements and requests, along with a description of what your generic options are for each restaurant, you will begin to receive printed menus with the Grand Dining Room selections which meet your needs.

 

For other restaurants, either contact "your chef" or speak to the chef at the venue.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[musicmom3]

You could call the main 1 800 number & ask for the special services desk or your TA should be able to get the number for you

You should advise them ASAP

You can speak to the Maitre'd when you go to dinner the 1st night after that the menus should arrive at your cabin

 

the 1st day is the only problem so do ask about the ingredients

 

When you go to the dining venues other than the TERRACE or WAVES they will ask your room number.... it is flagged & they have the special menu noted ..if they do not pull it out from under the podium then mention you have a special menu

 

It is all very seamless in the dining rooms

 

enjoy

 

PS I take a highlighter to mark the dishes I want so there is no mistake

 

Excellent advice, thanks. Just called the 800 number and General Info advised that there is no direct line to Special Services--it all goes through the 800 number. SS won't be back until Monday, so I will call back. All very helpful info, and I appreciate hearing that handling allergies is seamless. (I will also be packing a highlighter for the menus, good tip.)

[Hoopster95]

Once you are put on the food Allergy list by your agent, the process is seamless.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Hi JimandStan. You are another excellent source of info on these boards that I didn’t remember to mention by name. I read and learned from many of your posts. Thank you. Hope you’re enjoying following along [emoji846]

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[GeezerCouple]

Hi Hoopster95,

 

I'll read through your wonderful comments next, but I have a specific question, and someone on another thread

( https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2618540 )

suggested that I ask here.

 

It seems that the Deck Plans for the Marina, as posted on the Oceania website, is, um, not accurate.

It shows that the Marina has the same T Pool on the forward Spa Deck, rather than a hot tub (or is it two?).

Do you happen to have a photo that would show the hot tub(s) on the Spa Deck, and perhaps give a sense of the size?

 

And do you remember if there was a "Sanctuary" area on the Marina, as there is on the Riviera?

 

I'm trying to get accurate info about some specific areas on the Riviera that DH especially enjoyed, so I can be sure his expectations are appropriate ;)

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

[shirazcruiser]

Do you have to bring your own snorkel gear if you book an Oceania excursion? I travel with my own mask, but lugging fins is cumbersome. We plan to stay at the Hilton Moorea and the Papette Intercontinental. You mentioned they offer free snorkeling at the Hilton, so does that include equipment? Love your review as we're planning a PH2 for the spring 2020 sailing.

[Hoopster95]

Do you have to bring your own snorkel gear if you book an Oceania excursion?

 

Specific to Oceania excursions I don't know, however I assume since they are contracting local companies I would think the chances of providing 50 people on an Oceania excursion with 50 sets of fins would close to slim and none in my opinion. Perhaps someone who did strictly Oceania excursions in FP can comment? Now having seen these operations, Larry's advice to bring my own equipment was probably the most important of the entire cruise.

 

We plan to stay at the Hilton Moorea and the Papette Intercontinental. You mentioned they offer free snorkeling at the Hilton, so does that include equipment?

 

Both of these resorts is what we did. Great snorkeling at the Papeete Intercontinental as well. They do have equipment for guests.