Pacific - not dead yet..Tahiti 2020

[land lover]

look what i just found..... these are 2005 itineraries don't get to excited

Edited April 10, 2019 by land lover

[land lover]

Check this out....... I've got to get back to work.....nice to have a break on CC...................enjoy everyone.....

Edited April 10, 2019 by land lover

[icat2000]

9 hours ago, cheznandy said:

Awww......one day! We had already decided on the Shanghai to Freemantle repositioning before I knew about these ones, hey but one more inside cabin for you all!!

We also booked a 2 week Vanuatu/ New Caledonia cruise on Sapphire, a perfect ship for cruising around the South Pacific.

Good luck for all your bookings everyone,  I look forward to your future Blog J, and tell G these cruises are priceless😜

 

Chez - I'm going to book a cabin on that cruise today for 2021. If its the same one your thinking off. 

[icat2000]

1 hour ago, land lover said:

look what i just found..... these are 2005 itineraries don't get to excited

Now why can't Princess do a couple these itineraries. Especially the top one. 

[icat2000]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to wonder about the cost of airfare to or from Tahiti. Apparently that isn't important to most folks here. I'll wait until the cruises are actually posted and check EZ Air pricing but I've always been told that flights too and from Tahiti were killer expensive.

I have checked them out from Melbourne, Australia and its about $1,200 AUD return. Its also a 9 hour flight so there is that to factor.  Not sure from LA or flying distance. 

 

I really want a balcony for this cruise. But I think I might have to go in the belly of the ship as I need to factor in 2 airfares as well. My partner would be happy in an inside cabin. But I might make him eat beans on toast for few months (just kidding, maybe no takeaway) so I can have the balcony experience. Haha. 

[Coral]

I just got the Elite email:

your elite booking window opens soon Experience the dreamlike destination of Tahiti & French Polynesia with an exclusive opportunity to book early for the best possible stateroom! Your exclusive Elite Member only booking window opens Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. Set sail on Pacific Princess and enjoy a relaxed ambience in an intimate small-ship setting on 9-day or longer cruise. Visit unique ports like Bora Bora, where you’ll find awe-inspiring views of majestic mountains sculpted by ancient volcanoes, a shimmering lagoon and a barrier reef dotted with tiny islets.

Edited April 10, 2019 by Coral

[azbirdmom]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

I just got the Elite email:

your elite booking window opens soon Experience the dreamlike destination of Tahiti & French Polynesia with an exclusive opportunity to book early for the best possible stateroom! Your exclusive Elite Member only booking window opens Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. Set sail on Pacific Princess and enjoy a relaxed ambience in an intimate small-ship setting on 9-day or longer cruise. Visit unique ports like Bora Bora, where you’ll find awe-inspiring views of majestic mountains sculpted by ancient volcanoes, a shimmering lagoon and a barrier reef dotted with tiny islets.

 

I just got it too.  At least we have an answer.  And in 6 days those of us wanting to book will find out if we can book our desired cabins.

[cheznandy]

1 hour ago, icat2000 said:

Chez - I'm going to book a cabin on that cruise today for 2021. If its the same one your thinking off. 

Yes, 28th February 2021.

I think the only choice for Tahiti from Australia is flying Air NZ or Fiji Airways  then taking  Air Tahiti Nui, can be booke on one ticket. Good luck!!! 

[PescadoAmarillo]

On the Pacific Princess, do consider a Deck 3 porthole obstructed ocean view cabin instead of an inside. The fare difference is very small, and the only obstruction is the size of the porthole itself. We did our entire first season on the Pacific Princess on Deck 3, and most of our second season, too, IIRC. Be aware that, though the tenders load from Deck 3, you’ll have to walk to the aft stairs and up to Deck 4 and forward and then down again to Deck 3 to get to them. A Crew Office prevents passengers from walking straight out to the tenders. 

 

Regarding tenders, once in French Polynesia, all the ports are tender ports except for Raiatea and Papeete. But the ship is so small that open tender was always being called by 8:30am after an 8am arrival. 

 

Easter Island is a tender port, too, and often missed due to weather. Sadly, I think the ship has only one day there so just one chance to make it work. It’s a small island, and it is possible to see the three major sites in one day, for just a flavor of what it has to offer.

 

Just a little excited!

 

My blog in my signature has information on all of these ports except the South American ones. 

[Happycows]

Hi all

Another member from Oz here who too is very excited about these cruises as we love to snorkel and like smaller ships. We are not elite, but hope to book once all of you are done lol.

Just wanted to thank cheznandy for info on flights  from Australia and pescadoamarillo for info on the cabins (have got so much information and great reading from your blog).

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Happycows
Spelling

[icat2000]

1 hour ago, cheznandy said:

Yes, 28th February 2021.

I think the only choice for Tahiti from Australia is flying Air NZ or Fiji Airways  then taking  Air Tahiti Nui, can be booke on one ticket. Good luck!!! 

The time release 9 am PDT is like 2 am our time.  I might just book a couple of cruises on the new ships coming down here if I miss out on a cabin on our preferred date. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by icat2000

[polmcs]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to wonder about the cost of airfare to or from Tahiti. Apparently that isn't important to most folks here. I'll wait until the cruises are actually posted and check EZ Air pricing but I've always been told that flights too and from Tahiti were killer expensive.

 

From LAX to PPT (Papeete) you are looking at around $1K return for economy, about $2K return for premium economy and anywhere between $5K and $6K for business and a lie flat seat based on historical data for the November timeframe on Air Tahiti Nui. I’m hoping that Princess and EZAir can work some magic on those fares.

 

It’s about 8hrs 20 mins there and 7hrs 40 mins on the return depending on the winds aloft, so less than a trip to the UK from the West Coast. Last time I flew to PPT, I lived in Phoenix and did a PHX-HNL-PPT routing on Hawaiian at the pointy end of the plane where the free beer lives, so just under 12 hrs in the air plus layover (but what a place for a layover), but I think I could cope with Premium economy if flying direct.

[Thrak]

27 minutes ago, polmcs said:

 

From LAX to PPT (Papeete) you are looking at around $1K return for economy, about $2K return for premium economy and anywhere between $5K and $6K for business and a lie flat seat based on historical data for the November timeframe on Air Tahiti Nui. I’m hoping that Princess and EZAir can work some magic on those fares.

 

It’s about 8hrs 20 mins there and 7hrs 40 mins on the return depending on the winds aloft, so less than a trip to the UK from the West Coast. Last time I flew to PPT, I lived in Phoenix and did a PHX-HNL-PPT routing on Hawaiian at the pointy end of the plane where the free beer lives, so just under 12 hrs in the air plus layover (but what a place for a layover), but I think I could cope with Premium economy if flying direct.

 

We're flying from Sacramento, CA to Heathrow this fall. Since we have to fly economy (too freaking poor for anything else!) I wanted to fly Virgin Atlantic. Other airlines were cheaper but... Virgin Atlantic (and every cheapo booking site in the world) wanted something like $3,500 each one way for that airline. OUCH! EZ Air - with the exact same flight numbers was $306 per person. (It actually went down to $303 per person but I didn't rebook.) Hopefully EZ Air might have a similar discount on flights for these cruises. That would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cool. 😎

 

I have a feeling my wife would rather book the cruise on this list that goes from Vancouver to Hawaii and dumps you off there and then spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii. It's obviously not something one can do from the US and it would at least give us 10 days on PA (Pacific Princess) as we have never sailed on her and these may well be the final cruises for this ship with the Princess fleet.

 

I would love to go back to Bora Bora and I think she would as well. We did the 28 day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise on Emerald Princess in October of 2017 and absolutely loved it. (Okay... Pago Pago was kind of poopy and we did something a bit different - day pass to a resort - in Tahiti and didn't really experience it so I'm unsure about that port stop.) However, I think we would both love the South Pacific cruises listed here although 35 days seems like a bit much for us.

 

Whatever. It seems there are a lot of folks who have been dreaming of having these cruises repeated on PA. I wish all of you the very best (and am sooooooooooooo very jealous of those of you who can book freaking SUITES for this sort of cruise!!!) and hope you get the cabins you want. Most of you who are really after these cruises are Elite and will have the one day window in order to (hopefully) snag the cabins you want. GOOD LUCK to all of you!!!

[RMMariner]

It will be interesting to see what the demand actually is. If I remember correctly, Princess had to heavily discount its final cruises in French Polynesia because of a lack of demand.

 

By the action on this board, I think the interest may be back. I too wish everyone luck, just hopefully leave a couple cabins for us non-elites.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to wonder about the cost of airfare to or from Tahiti. Apparently that isn't important to most folks here. I'll wait until the cruises are actually posted and check EZ Air pricing but I've always been told that flights too and from Tahiti were killer expensive.

 

In that case, you will be lucky to get the cruise booking you want.

 

Cruises go on sale next week.

 

The earliest EZAir prices will be available is November, 330 days from the first cruise date.

 

So if you want to see EZAir prices first, you will need to wait until at least November to book.

[caribill]

2007 pricing:

 

10 days in a balcony cabin: $878.75 per person including taxes, fees.

 

Air Tahiti Nui from LAX: $1214.80 per person round trip

[kennicott]

On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 2:32 AM, Coral said:

The prices have been posted.

 

PC_2020_Tahiti_FaresAmenities_TA_03_2019-3.xls 54 kB · 59 downloads

I sure appreciate you providing that link with dates and rates. Got the thread back on track. I was a little frustrated the other night trying to figure out what was going on, with all the different schedules for ships other than the Pacific Princess being posted. I have to apologize to my Aussie and Kiwi friends as I didn't mean to belittle their part of the world. Sydney is one of our favorite ports. I realize the weather around Easter Island can get snotty, meaning a missed port on occasion but we take the chance anyway. Also, we get to see Pitcairn, (you can't get off there I know as I had a friend who used to work on the island) but the "Mutiny on the Bounty" 1789 nostalgia is worth it. Captain Bligh was with Captain Cook in Alaska in 1778 and Bligh Island in Prince William Sound was named after him (I was born and raised on the Sound). In fact, the big reef on the northwest side of the island is where the tanker, the Exxon Valdez, grounded in 1989, Bligh Reef

[CruisenOne]

18 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

On the Pacific Princess, do consider a Deck 3 porthole obstructed ocean view cabin instead of an inside. The fare difference is very small, and the only obstruction is the size of the porthole itself. We did our entire first season on the Pacific Princess on Deck 3, and most of our second season, too, IIRC.

Deck 3 Cabins are great.

My issue is the Princess Booking Site.

IF all Inside Cabins are booked, one can not see Deck 3 open Cabins.

Takes a call to Princess

 

 

 

 

  . 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by CruisenOne

[miagirl]

On 4/10/2019 at 4:17 AM, chamima said:

These are only the starting prices. There are 10 categories of balcony cabins and I would imagine those prices are for the lowest obstructed view. Makes it hard to compare with other categories.

 

I just pulled up our invoice from our last 10-day in Tahiti in the fall of 2015.  We were in the lowest category mini (I actually like to feel the motion of the ship).  Unbelievably,  this fare for 2020 is $300 less than in it was in 2015!  and that doesn't include the extra $100 off for the launch fares, so it's $400 less in 2020 when factoring in that!  Amazing.  

[Woobstr112G]

23 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

On the Pacific Princess, do consider a Deck 3 porthole obstructed ocean view cabin instead of an inside. The fare difference is very small, and the only obstruction is the size of the porthole itself. We did our entire first season on the Pacific Princess on Deck 3, and most of our second season, too, IIRC. Be aware that, though the tenders load from Deck 3, you’ll have to walk to the aft stairs and up to Deck 4 and forward and then down again to Deck 3 to get to them. A Crew Office prevents passengers from walking straight out to the tenders. 

 

Regarding tenders, once in French Polynesia, all the ports are tender ports except for Raiatea and Papeete. But the ship is so small that open tender was always being called by 8:30am after an 8am arrival. 

 

Easter Island is a tender port, too, and often missed due to weather. Sadly, I think the ship has only one day there so just one chance to make it work. It’s a small island, and it is possible to see the three major sites in one day, for just a flavor of what it has to offer.

 

Just a little excited!

 

My blog in my signature has information on all of these ports except the South American ones. 

I for one am a little more than a little excited.....😆😆😆

 

Bob

[RMMariner]

3 hours ago, Woobstr112G said:

I for one am a little more than a little excited.....😆😆😆

 

Bob

 

Me too. My wife and I bicycled around the Pacific for over a year on our honeymoon. We started in Rarotonga because Tahiti was so expensive. I have wanted to go there since I watched Mutiny on the Bounty as a kid.

 

Looking back, I wish we had gone back then (in the 1990s) but this is really our first time that we had the opportunity to go since then. 

 

Hoping so much that we can manage to go on this trip. We are thinking of one or possible two of the ten day trips b2b. Too many sea days on the cruises getting their and away for me. Plus 20 days is absolutely the longest amount of time that I could be away.

 

Anybody here bicycled on any of the islands? I am going to try to circle some of them while we are there. Bora Bora, Huahine and Moorea for sure. Of course not Rangiroa. Worried about Tahiti. Is the traffic so bad? My wife is less enthused. Anyone else want to come?

[land lover]

23 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We're flying from Sacramento, CA to Heathrow this fall. Since we have to fly economy (too freaking poor for anything else!) I wanted to fly Virgin Atlantic. Other airlines were cheaper but... Virgin Atlantic (and every cheapo booking site in the world) wanted something like $3,500 each one way for that airline. OUCH! EZ Air - with the exact same flight numbers was $306 per person. (It actually went down to $303 per person but I didn't rebook.) Hopefully EZ Air might have a similar discount on flights for these cruises. That would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cool. 😎

 

I have a feeling my wife would rather book the cruise on this list that goes from Vancouver to Hawaii and dumps you off there and then spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii. It's obviously not something one can do from the US and it would at least give us 10 days on PA (Pacific Princess) as we have never sailed on her and these may well be the final cruises for this ship with the Princess fleet.

 

I would love to go back to Bora Bora and I think she would as well. We did the 28 day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise on Emerald Princess in October of 2017 and absolutely loved it. (Okay... Pago Pago was kind of poopy and we did something a bit different - day pass to a resort - in Tahiti and didn't really experience it so I'm unsure about that port stop.) However, I think we would both love the South Pacific cruises listed here although 35 days seems like a bit much for us.

 

Whatever. It seems there are a lot of folks who have been dreaming of having these cruises repeated on PA. I wish all of you the very best (and am sooooooooooooo very jealous of those of you who can book freaking SUITES for this sort of cruise!!!) and hope you get the cabins you want. Most of you who are really after these cruises are Elite and will have the one day window in order to (hopefully) snag the cabins you want. GOOD LUCK to all of you!!!

 If I remember correctly, saw a photo posted on CC of a very cute travel trailer and  have read about some pretty nice road adventures you & DW have taken....bet many who are booking suites wish they had your tenacity.

 

Am trying to a book flight  thru EZ air..wish my results were as good as yours.

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by land lover

[RMMariner]

I figured this would be the place to ask.

 

I have now done some research on the Pacific. It seems there is only set dining and that most of the tables are set for 4. Is this always the case? Are there larger tables? Can we request a table for 6 or 8? Basically, is there any flexibility or are you stuck at a table for the entire cruise?

 

We have always done anytime dining. We get to meet more people and by the end of the cruise, we are usually sitting at a larger table with a couple of other couples that we have particularly got along with.

 

Can you show up at the same time and move tables or do you always have the same dinner companions? Only on a couple of occasions have we had dinner companions that we would rather not dine with again, but it is a concern.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by RMMariner

[caribill]

38 minutes ago, RMMariner said:

I figured this would be the place to ask.

 

I have now done some research on the Pacific. It seems there is only set dining and that most of the tables are set for 4. Is this always the case? Are there larger tables? Can we request a table for 6 or 8? Basically, is there any flexibility or are you stuck at a table for the entire cruise?

 

We have always done anytime dining. We get to meet more people and by the end of the cruise, we are usually sitting at a larger table with a couple of other couples that we have particularly got along with.

 

Can you show up at the same time and move tables or do you always have the same dinner companions? Only on a couple of occasions have we had dinner companions that we would rather not dine with again, but it is a concern.

 

 

Yes, they have a number of tables for 6 and for 8.

 

Being traditional fixed seating, your are at the same table with the same dining companions for each segment. If you really wish to switch due to who you are seated with, the Matre d' can usually move you to a different table.

[paul929207]

The Pacific only offers traditional dining. There are two seats. Something like 5:30& 8.

 

There are large tables available as well as tables for 4 and for 2. Request your preference when you book.

 

You cannot change tables during the cruise. You will eat at the same table with the same waitstaff and same dinner companions for the cruise. Of course you can go to a specialty restaurant or the buffet any evening.