Tahiti Cruises Cancelled Through 2020

[Heartfelttraveler]

Windstar has cancelled all the Tahiti cruises through 2020.

They will make an announcement today.

Letters to guests and travel agents should go out today.

Very sad.  But not surprised.

[minidonuts85]

Just took a look at their site; nothing at all comes up for 2020 now. Star Breeze, Windsurf, Windspirit...there yesterday and now gone.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[minidonuts85]

https://www.windstarcruises.com/travel-health-advisory/

Updated announcement


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[susiesan]

And it is highly doubtful January Tahiti cruises will sail. If my Jan. 14 cruise were to go, it is the second one upon resumption of having been down for almost a year. I don't want to go on a cruise that may be not at full the standards of Windstar. This could also have a ripple affect with the airlines flying to PPT. They will see a lot of cancellations for October through December cruise passengers and may start cancelling flights if the planes are mostly empty. 

 

Since Wind Spirit just arrived in Papeete yesterday, if she leaves soon we will know Tahiti is likely off the schedule for a very long time. I am so upset. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by susiesan

[susiesan]

Interesting, as of today Paul Gaugin is sailing all of their cruises through 202. The next one is Sept. 12.

Why would Windstar cancel and not PG?

[jumelle]

As much as I love Windstar I don’t want to cruise again until this pandemic is long behind us. I could not enjoy cruising if I have to wear a mask on the ship. Our sailing is not until July 2021 but I have doubts about that happening.

[susiesan]

2 minutes ago, jumelle said:

As much as I love Windstar I don’t want to cruise again until this pandemic is long behind us. I could not enjoy cruising if I have to wear a mask on the ship. Our sailing is not until July 2021 but I have doubts about that happening.

Agree jumelle. IF my January Tahiti cruise is on and I will have to wear a mask o the ship I will cancel. if this is cancelled my next cruise is Aug. 28 with oceania. if this Covid cr#p is still going on a year from now all of the cruise lines and airlines will be bankrupt out of business.

[Heartfelttraveler]

I honestly did not care about having to wear a mask from my cabin the the dining room or on deck.  In Tahiti, most of the time is spent off ship or (at my young old age) in my cabin recovering from the excursions.  I spent the last two days nailing down a COVID-19 test for Oct. 8 with results back no later than Oct. 10 12:00 pm.  Everything else was set.  I even have all my own cleaning supplies that we were schlepping half way around the world.

 

Unfortunately for me, one of the VRBO's we booked will only refund 50% of our deposit.  And I have not heard back from the Sofitel Moorea about our non-refundable payment for two nights in an overwater horizon bungalow.

 

It is, now, certainly a strange world we live in.  And I hardly recognize the USA anymore.

[Zukini]

5 minutes ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Unfortunately for me, one of the VRBO's we booked will only refund 50% of our deposit.  And I have not heard back from the Sofitel Moorea about our non-refundable payment for two nights in an overwater horizon bungalow.

 

 

 

Heartfelt, for what it's worth:  I had originally been scheduled for the September 27th Wind Spirit cruise, but proactively cancelled and moved to the spring of 2021. I had 3 nights of non-refundable rooms booked at Manava Tahiti through Chase Travel (Expedia).  It took some persistence, but Manava was willing to move our reservations to 2021, even though they were non-refundable, so don't lose hope on Sofitel.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

7 hours ago, susiesan said:

Interesting, as of today Paul Gaugin is sailing all of their cruises through 202. The next one is Sept. 12.

Why would Windstar cancel and not PG?

Actually PG is sailing August 29th  ... 14 night Society, Atolls and Marquess itinerary 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

7 hours ago, susiesan said:

And it is highly doubtful January Tahiti cruises will sail. If my Jan. 14 cruise were to go, it is the second one upon resumption of having been down for almost a year. I don't want to go on a cruise that may be not at full the standards of Windstar. This could also have a ripple affect with the airlines flying to PPT. They will see a lot of cancellations for October through December cruise passengers and may start cancelling flights if the planes are mostly empty. 

 

Since Wind Spirit just arrived in Papeete yesterday, if she leaves soon we will know Tahiti is likely off the schedule for a very long time. I am so upset. 

 

Taken today ...

Edited August 28, 2020 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[dandee2]

1 hour ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Taken today ...

More time to clean her up.

 

[Dd3thomas]

Well I am conflicted.  We are on the Jan 7th, Tahiti Cruise, IF they sail, we would be the first ones. This would be first time to Tahiti and we have never sailed Windstar before so we wouldn’t have anything to compare it too as far as pre/post sailing quality and any restrictions they put in place. Was really hoping that the fall sailings would give them time to work out the kinks and they would have everything figured out by Jan.
I guess I will start looking at backup plans to just fly to Tahiti and island hop, see what that looks like or options to reschedule later in the year? Maybe being the first and nothing to compare it to wouldn’t be that bad? It’s just a lot of $ to sit on hold, waiting on an IF? This was scheduled as a big special birthday, once in a lifetime type of vacation. Not sure what to do, keep date and island hop on my own, hope the cruise happens and be the guinea pig - advice please.

[jumelle]

I would not want to be a guinea pig. Our cruise is scheduled for July 2021. We have never been to Tahiti either and we would not want anything to spoil this cruise of a lifetime. So many things could go wrong. First of all, French Polynesia could shut down as they see more Covid cases. There is too much risk in my opinion. I just hope that by July next year things will have changed and things go back to some kind of normal.

 

PS She could sure use a coat of paint!

[susiesan]

D3thomas: have you asked Windstar for a delay in making the final payment so you have time to see how things are going? I am on the cruise after yours, Jan. 14, and I don't have to make the final payment until Dec. 15. My precruise 2 night hotel stay is cancellable with no cost, my plane tickets are wards from UA and can be cancelled and the miles redeposited at no charge.

 

From what I hear, as these fall cruises are cancelled many people are booking further into 2021. So this later cruises are filling up and there are no discounts. I got such an unbelievable deal on my date, almost half price, that I will wait until the very last minute to see if it is a go. If I had to change it to a later date in 2021 and it cost regular price I wouldn't go.

 

Also, don't forget that later in the year Wind Spirit is leaving Tahiti and being replaced by Star Breeze. So you would lose the experience of this cruise on the sailing ship which is one of the other reasons I chose my second Tahiti cruise to be with Windstar. I did this cruise 15 or so years ago with Rennaisance, 650 pax ship, and said if I ever go back to Tahiti it will be on a Windstar small sailing ship. It is a wonderful experience, the closest thing to being on a private yacht you can get. I have sailed on her sister ship twice, Star Pride once, and I prefer the small sailing ships.

 

Keep an eye on the Windstar web site to see if your date is still selling to get a feel for how full the ship might be. Try to get your final payment date extended.

[Strenz]

I do not think anyone should worry about a cruise in Tahiti with Windstar Cruises. We crossed the Pacific with WS and took their first cruise back after Wind Song  sunk. It was glorious, nothing was askew, perfect. Plus for the exceptional beauty of the Lagoon you want to be under sail. We had to pinch ourselves that we were so fortunate to be under sail it added to the magnificence  of the experience. If they go, go you will not regret it. I know we have the problem of the pandemic but  I have  faith in WS Cruises because they have always been safety first. I do not in the least this will take away from the experience of the shear beauty. We live in New England and do not love flying so for us rather 19 days sailing than 16 hours flying so for us this was truly once in a lifetime and that it was. Happy Sailing. 

[Strenz]

One more thing. On the WS site I saw the Wind Spirit was in Tahiti all of 2021, they do a few long trips to Australia and Singapore in November and part of December but back in Tahiti in mid December and all of 2022 they are in Tahiti. I hope that this is correct. I am sure with the world the way it is there will be some changes. Who knows? Happy Sailing

[Dd3thomas]

3 hours ago, susiesan said:

D3thomas: have you asked Windstar for a delay in making the final payment so you have time to see how things are going? I am on the cruise after yours, Jan. 14, and I don't have to make the final payment until Dec. 15.

I did, they extended by final payment date till Dec 5th.  We also used points for airfare and can get them back without penalty. I used our hotel perk for pre cruise room with no down payment and can cancel all the way up to 72 hours prior with no penalty. My pre booked Bora Bora excursion was done through Marriott Activities, again no worries, all refundable.   We REALLY want to go, even if they cancel the cruise and Tahiti stays open. 
You make great points about the rebooking and cost.  We got an amazing price as well and can’t get that later on in the year.

I guess I will start researching backup options Just in case and be try and have patience to see what happens.  At 30 days out we will know more.

[susiesan]

Thomas: which hotel are you staying at with hotel points? I have a lot of Marriott points and could not find one to use them at. We are on the Tuesday UA flight and are staying at a small hotel, Fare Tahiti Suisse Guesthouse. It is in downtown Papeete and we can walk to the food trucks for dinner.

 

Which excursion on For Bora did you book? Should we actually go, I am glancing at excursions at the ports and we will be in BB for 2 days. I don't want to spend a lot of time on researching shore ex if we don't end up going.

 

If the cruise is cancelled I am not going, I am not interested in a hotel stay vacation. I never do them. I will find a last minute cruise from the US, SJ, or Mexico if any ships are sailing in January and/or Feb. It is easy to get to closer sailing ports and I can use AA miles to get there. it almost won't matter what cruise it is-it will have been a year since I was on a cruise on vacation, last one was Oceania Sirena last week of January 2020.

Edited August 30, 2020 by susiesan

[Dd3thomas]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

Thomas: which hotel are you staying at with hotel points? 

Pre cruise we have the Intercontinental by the airport booked. I couldn’t find anything on Tahiti to use Marriott points for but you can go to www.useaamiles.com and use American Airline miles to book a hotel. Both my husband and I travel for work so we had lots of miles. I used AA miles for the airfare to PPT (Air Tahiti Nui is not part of the alliance but are partners) and the pre cruise hotel.

We used Marriott points for Bora Bora (St. Regis) and splurged for an over the water bungalow the one night in port and used activities.marriott.com to book a half day lagoon sail. Return flight we used a United points.
All things considered, the Windstar cruise is the only thing we are paying money for so far, and that was super discounted. We expected to book other excursions but I have not researched any other stops.

I am finding a few 5-10 day “rent a cabin” on catamaran cruise that could be an interesting backup.

[Jojo Inferno]

@Dd3thomas my husband and I were on the last planned Tahiti cruise for 2020, setting sail on the 28th. We are now scrambling to decide if we will do a cabin charter or scrap the whole trip. What catamaran's are you considering?

 

We're eyeing the Bora Bora Dream 8 Days via Dream Yacht Charter, but making it in and our of Raiatea with luggage (I'm planning to bring my SUP) adds another whole level of logistics.

[msears101]

Hi Jojo,

 

If you are planning on flying from PPT to another French Polynesian Island, check into luggage restrictions.  They are VERY tight.  I have been to FP several times, and twice, going to another island, at least one passenger had to leave luggage behind for weight or size issue or the cargo hold being filled with priority cargo.  You can find the restrictions on https://www.airtahiti.com/   Note:  Air Tahiti Nui and Air Tahiti are not the same.

 

You might want to consider renting a SUP.

 

Enjoy your trip.  I would love to hear what you finally decide regarding your trip and a cabin charter.  Sailing in FP is breathtaking.  I would encourage you to go either way, even if it is postponed.

[milepig]

On 8/27/2020 at 8:54 PM, dandee2 said:

More time to clean her up.

 

That pic makes here look like a rust bucket! Just a bad pic, or have I missed some news about plans - is she mid-painting?

[susiesan]

2 hours ago, milepig said:

That pic makes here look like a rust bucket! Just a bad pic, or have I missed some news about plans - is she mid-painting?

That picture is from last week when she arrived in Papeete. She had been hanging out in the Philippines during the shutdow, then sailed from there to FP. Wear and tear from sailing in the Pacific. Since she is not doing cruises until January, maybe, there is time to sail somewhere in that part of the world to be painted and spruced up and then return for Tahiti sailings in January (I hope).

[Dd3thomas]

On 8/30/2020 at 12:06 PM, Jojo Inferno said:

@Dd3thomas my husband and I were on the last planned Tahiti cruise for 2020, setting sail on the 28th. We are now scrambling to decide if we will do a cabin charter or scrap the whole trip. What catamaran's are you considering?

 

We're eyeing the Bora Bora Dream 8 Days via Dream Yacht Charter, but making it in and our of Raiatea with luggage (I'm planning to bring my SUP) adds another whole level of logistics.

I'm still researching, saw the same Dream Yacht Charters as an option.  Also found some possibilities (not checked deeper into or reviews yet) on  12knots, tahititoursme.com, and poseidoncharters.com.

This would be our first time going to Tahiti and most of the yacht cabin rentals leave from the outlining islands.  You may already know but I discovered that Air Tahiti has multi-island pass options that appear to be about the same or less than what I was looking at for just PPT to Bora Bora round trip.