South Pacific Cruises (Bora Bora) - Which Cruise Lines?

[flipflop104]

Hello

 

I was wanting to start researching South Pacific cruises (must include Bora Bora) for 2025 and just wondered if there's somewhere that tells me all the cruise lines that cruise round there rather than me having to go to every individual cruise line's website and doing a search for South Pacific?

 

Thanks in advance

[Essiesmom]

Easy peasy.  Go to cruisetimetables.com, click on ‘cruises to’ tab, scroll to French Polynesia, click on Bore Bora, then the month you want to cruise.  Some lines may not have schedules out yet for 2025.  EM

[Hlitner]

The Society Islands (which includes Bora Bora) has imposed some very strict restrictions on cruise ships.  My understanding is that Bora Bora will only allow 1200 cruise ship passengers on any given day.  So the OP might want to start their research by looking at smaller ships (these are generally luxury lines).  Lines like Seabourn, Oceania, Regent, and Windstar all have cruises that call at the Society Islands and would meet the 1200 passenger limitation.

 

Hank

[LHT28]

You can also try  FIND A CRUISE  top of the page

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?port=145&startDate=2025-01-01&endDate=2025-12-31&portofcall=38

[John Bull]

36 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The Society Islands (which includes Bora Bora) has imposed some very strict restrictions on cruise ships.  My understanding is that Bora Bora will only allow 1200 cruise ship passengers on any given day.  So the OP might want to start their research by looking at smaller ships (these are generally luxury lines).  Lines like Seabourn, Oceania, Regent, and Windstar all have cruises that call at the Society Islands and would meet the 1200 passenger limitation.

 

Hank

 

Hi Hank,

 

Holland America have a lot of less-usual itineraries & might have options at more-mainstream prices ?

And Princess have a number of South Pacific cruises out of Sydney, Aus., but I doubt they have ships that small.

 

JB 🙂

[Sea42]

If possible look for a cruise that does an overnight. Oceania offered this (and an overnight at Easter Island) on our cruise and it was wonderful.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi Hank,

 

Holland America have a lot of less-usual itineraries & might have options at more-mainstream prices ?

And Princess have a number of South Pacific cruises out of Sydney, Aus., but I doubt they have ships that small.

 

JB 🙂

Even HAL does not have any ship small enough (less than 1200 passengers) now that they got rid of the old Prinsendam (always our favorite HAL vessel).  They should be able to go to some of the other Society Islands, such as Tahiti, but would not be allowed at Bora Bora under the new restrictions.  And Princess's smallest ship is 2000 passengers. 

 

As to the Society Islands (i,.e. French Polynesia), having been there a few times our favorite islands have been Bora Bora and Moorea.   The best thing about the island of Tahiti is its name :).  This trend towards banning larger cruise ships from ports, all over the world, should be cause for concern to those who love larger ships.  Not only are they gradually being pushed out of many of the best ports, but the ports that still accept mega ships are simply becoming overrun with cruisers.  On one of our last visits to St Maarten we were somewhat horrified to see 5 ships docked in Phillipsburg (over 15,000 passengers).  Consider that the entire population of Phillipsburg is about 2000 souls!

 

Overtourism has become the new dirty word in our vocabulary.  And the first to get banned will generally be cruise ships because they contribute much less to the local economy than do folks who stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, rent cars, etc.

 

Hank

[mom says]

In addition to the lines mentioned by Hlitner, there is also  Paul Gauguin. Just be prepared for sticker shock. French Polynesian cruises that include Bora Bora aren't cheap, even in the least expensive cabins.

[Essiesmom]

18 minutes ago, mom says said:

In addition to the lines mentioned by Hlitner, there is also  Paul Gauguin. Just be prepared for sticker shock. French Polynesian cruises that include Bora Bora aren't cheap, even in the least expensive cabins.

Unfortunately Paul Gauguin hasn’t posted a schedule past December 2024.  EM

[mnocket]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Even HAL does not have any ship small enough (less than 1200 passengers) now that they got rid of the old Prinsendam (always our favorite HAL vessel).  They should be able to go to some of the other Society Islands, such as Tahiti, but would not be allowed at Bora Bora under the new restrictions.  And Princess's smallest ship is 2000 passengers. 

 

As to the Society Islands (i,.e. French Polynesia), having been there a few times our favorite islands have been Bora Bora and Moorea.   The best thing about the island of Tahiti is its name :).  This trend towards banning larger cruise ships from ports, all over the world, should be cause for concern to those who love larger ships.  Not only are they gradually being pushed out of many of the best ports, but the ports that still accept mega ships are simply becoming overrun with cruisers.  On one of our last visits to St Maarten we were somewhat horrified to see 5 ships docked in Phillipsburg (over 15,000 passengers).  Consider that the entire population of Phillipsburg is about 2000 souls!

 

Overtourism has become the new dirty word in our vocabulary.  And the first to get banned will generally be cruise ships because they contribute much less to the local economy than do folks who stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, rent cars, etc.

 

Hank

Very true.  I was actually following a roll call several months ago for a HAL cruise whose itinerary included Bora Bora. I had thought about booking this cruise but decided against since I didn't see how they could actually make the port call in Bora Bora. I followed the roll call to see what would happen with the itinerary.  The captain didn't announce that the ship would be missing the Bora Bora port call until just a few days before it was scheduled.  I thought it was very dishonest of HAL to keep Bora Bora on the itinerary as long as they did knowing full well that the local regulations wouldn't allow the ship to stop there.  I was sure HAL would just wait until after final payment to announce the change, but they held out until the last minute.

Edited January 31, 2023 by mnocket

[Sea42]

Another option is to take a cruise that ends in Tahiti and then fly to Bora Bora for a few days' stay before returning home. It's about an hour flight. Even with the high cost of a over water bungalow, it would be a great experience and probably less expensive in total than a small ship cruise.

[Joebucks]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Overtourism has become the new dirty word in our vocabulary.  And the first to get banned will generally be cruise ships because they contribute much less to the local economy than do folks who stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, rent cars, etc.

 

Where do you get that hotel people spend more? If you're counting the hotel revenue, then of course. However, cruisers also eat and restaurants, rent cars, shop, use taxis, go on excursions, pay taxes, etc etc. 

 

The case against cruise ships is largely because space is limited and those with say, want to preserve the experience. They don't want a lot of the riff raff "ruining" the destination. 

[Hlitner]

25 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Where do you get that hotel people spend more? If you're counting the hotel revenue, then of course. However, cruisers also eat and restaurants, rent cars, shop, use taxis, go on excursions, pay taxes, etc etc. 

 

The case against cruise ships is largely because space is limited and those with say, want to preserve the experience. They don't want a lot of the riff raff "ruining" the destination. 

There have been multiple studies done on the subject.  One study can be found here:

Cruise Tourism Pt 3: Impacts on Economy and Communities - Ranggo Magazine (myranggo.com)

 

When we were vacationing in Key West we also read some local articles on the topic (about 2/3 of residents voted to ban or restrict cruise ships).  In that town, many locals were unhappy that some nice locally owned boutiques had been "forced out" by cheap T-shirt shops, Diamonds International, and other businesses that target cruise ship customers.   The citizens of Bar Harbor, ME have also decided to ban cruise ships because they simply do not want to be overun by thousands of cruisers.  A local bar/club owner told me "we loved cruise ships until we didn't!"   In Key West, when they went through the cruise industry shut down (because of COVID), many local businesses found they did not miss the ship and liked that the town was not wall to wall people.  They also realized that for the first time in decades, the sea water around the island was actually clear.  Apparently, the big ships stir up the bottom silt, thus making the local water somewhat cloudy and bad for snorkeling, diving etc.  

 

We do think you are also right when you talk about the "riff raff."  Folks that pay the big bucks to stay on islands like St Barts and Anguilla do not want to deal with thousands of day visitors that crowd their beaches, strain their infrastructure, etc.   The issue of environmental damage is the main reason why ships have now been banned from Venice, Italy's decent cruise port.  Bottom line is that there are multiple reasons to ban or restrict ships and it is now having an impact on cruise itineraries.  

 

Anecdotally, when we visited Puerto Vallarta on a cruise ship we walked around town and stopped for a few beers and lunch.  Total money spent was less than $50.  We now live in Puerto Vallarta (for 10 weeks a year) and we spend a LOT more than $50 a day between our Condo, meals, bars, clubs, etc.

 

Hank

 

 

 

[evandbob]

Bora Bora IMO, is better suited to overnight stays in horizon over water bungalows than taken in via a short cruise stop. From a ship, one may splash a bit in the lagoon, but not enough as the immersement one gets from watching 1000's of aqua blue water molecules change color from your bungalow's lounger.

 

Taking your cabin's ladder down into the lagoon each morning is highly exhilarating; watching sea life at night under your bungalow through glass floors is mind boggling.

[flipflop104]

Thanks for all your replies, they are very helpful and give me a nice starting point 😁

[K32682]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:35 PM, Hlitner said:

When we were vacationing in Key West we also read some local articles on the topic (about 2/3 of residents voted to ban or restrict cruise ships).  In that town, many locals were unhappy that some nice locally owned boutiques had been "forced out" by cheap T-shirt shops, Diamonds International, and other businesses that target cruise ship customers.   The citizens of Bar Harbor, ME have also decided to ban cruise ships because they simply do not want to be overun by thousands of cruisers.  A local bar/club owner told me "we loved cruise ships until we didn't!"   In Key West, when they went through the cruise industry shut down (because of COVID), many local businesses found they did not miss the ship and liked that the town was not wall to wall people.  They also realized that for the first time in decades, the sea water around the island was actually clear.  Apparently, the big ships stir up the bottom silt, thus making the local water somewhat cloudy and bad for snorkeling, diving etc.  

 

I visited Key West both before and after the cruise ship explosion and was appalled at what the city had become. In a couple of decades it went from funky, off-beat, end-of-the line sort of place to just another scuzzy tourist trap. I can understand why locals prefer not to contend with the daily tsunami of often obnoxious cruisers.

 

Meanwhile on topic, I've been on a cruise that went to Bora Bora and the island is nothing particularly special.  Plop it into the Caribbean and it might be in the upper quartile of islands. Were I to go back I'd definitely not cruise and agree with the earlier suggestion to fly there and rent an over-water bungalow.

  

[GeroWA]

We cruised with Celebrity Eclipse in September on a re-location cruise from Hawaii to Sydney. It was a 16 day cruise with just 4 ports of call - Bora Bora being one of them. We had a most enjoyable and relaxing time. Celebrity also do the reverse cruise in ?March

[Hlitner]

12 hours ago, GeroWA said:

We cruised with Celebrity Eclipse in September on a re-location cruise from Hawaii to Sydney. It was a 16 day cruise with just 4 ports of call - Bora Bora being one of them. We had a most enjoyable and relaxing time. Celebrity also do the reverse cruise in ?March

The Eclipse will no longer be able to call at Bora Bora because it exceeds the passenger count limitation.  Some cruise lines (too many IMHO) have a habit of not telling passengers about itinerary changes until after final payment or even after embarkation.  

 

Hank