French polynesia

[villauk]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:42 PM, C4HCG said:

Doing Hawaii in May on the Edge - Honolulu to Vancouver. Having 4 nights in Honolulu first - this is the wife’s dream holiday and is for our 30th wedding anniversary - a present to ourselves. Staying in the Rainbow Hilton or whatever’s it’s called - hope Honolulu is as good as my wife thinks it is - she bases this on watching Magnum, Hawaii 5 0 and old Elvis films 😂

 

We did Hawaii for our honeymoon, many moons ago 😂, and really enjoyed it. It wasn’t on a cruise, but island hopping to several of the islands.

 

I have also been watching the same TV programme, just a pity it’s now Susan doing the presenting a not Jane - each to their own, but she’s definitely not our favourite. However, the itinerary to French Polynesia looks fabulous. It may be worth considering that NCL offering if it’s more about the itinerary than ship.

[prim8keeper]

Like a few others in this thread we decided to book with Windstar for Tahiti in 2025. We booked during one of their sails which included their version of all included (beverage package, WiFi, OBC and gratuities) at the base price. We are doing their 7 day sailing which visits several of the islands (Moorea, Raiatea, Taha’a, Bora Bora and Huahine) out of Papeete. One thing that I also discovered was when a lot of the larger ships visit it is not necessarily the best time to visit which is June through September. On top of that Windstar has various events on two of the island and can stay in port longer. Certainly worth considering given the time to get there, etc. We are thinking of also pairing it with some time on Bora Bora.

Edited January 23 by prim8keeper

[LIMPIT]

6 hours ago, villauk said:

 

We did Hawaii for our honeymoon, many moons ago 😂, and really enjoyed it. It wasn’t on a cruise, but island hopping to several of the islands.

 

I have also been watching the same TV programme, just a pity it’s now Susan doing the presenting a not Jane - each to their own, but she’s definitely not our favourite. However, the itinerary to French Polynesia looks fabulous. It may be worth considering that NCL offering if it’s more about the itinerary than ship.

That was our thoughts on the Norwegian Sailing, it’s all about the itinerary, first cruise with Norwegian so will keep a open mind, saying that my daughter sailed with Norwegian last year and had a great time, so we shall see 

[debfed65]

Good Morning 

 

We are very excited going to some of the islands in French Polynesia doing the TP Sydney to Hawaii on Edge this coming April.  They also have a great 14 day itinerary from Sydney round trip this coming January and again in March 2026.  Looks like they only do that itinerary once a season and it offers different ports than the TP. 

 

I am hoping someone following this thread can help me out with a question.

 

We are stopping in Raiatea, Papeete & Moorea.  I am trying to find information on doing a water taxi in Raiatea (Uturoa) to Motu Ofetaro just to have a relaxing beach day.

 

Has anyone done this? Did you pre-book with Te Mara Nui? Does anyone know if you can just get a local water taxi at the pier once we get off the tender, or does it need to be pre-booked?

 

I did post this on the South Pacific Islands port of call forum but no-one has replied so I am hoping someone here might have some insight.

 

Thanks!  Debbie & Ron

[JLMcruise]

7 hours ago, debfed65 said:

We are stopping in Raiatea, Papeete & Moorea.  I am trying to find information on doing a water taxi in Raiatea (Uturoa) to Motu Ofetaro just to have a relaxing beach day.

 

Has anyone done this? Did you pre-book with Te Mara Nui? Does anyone know if you can just get a local water taxi at the pier once we get off the tender, or does it need to be pre-booked?

 

We did the reverse cruise this October on the Solstice. In Raiatea - the tender drops you off and there is a "Welcome Center" were you can book a taxi boat to the Motu... There is a grocery store not far away if you want to pick something up to eat. Bring water with you and maybe some snacks. There is a grocery store not far away if you want to pick something up to eat and bring it with you. There are picnic tables on the Motu. It is very relaxing and beautiful views. Walk the entire Motu. Not a lot of sea life when we were there.  I had water shoes-  which you will need in Moorea if you plan a water activity there. We had the best free whale watching in Moorea. The mom whales just gave birth and the baby whales were breaching all over. We watched the whales for over an hour from the ship. The moms were slapping their tails on the water to make the babies swim.  We were only in 90 feet of water so the whales were very active on the top the water. Enjoy your cruise!! 

[debfed65]

35 minutes ago, JLMcruise said:

We did the reverse cruise this October on the Solstice. In Raiatea - the tender drops you off and there is a "Welcome Center" were you can book a taxi boat to the Motu... There is a grocery store not far away if you want to pick something up to eat. Bring water with you and maybe some snacks. There is a grocery store not far away if you want to pick something up to eat and bring it with you. There are picnic tables on the Motu. It is very relaxing and beautiful views. Walk the entire Motu. Not a lot of sea life when we were there.  I had water shoes-  which you will need in Moorea if you plan a water activity there. We had the best free whale watching in Moorea. The mom whales just gave birth and the baby whales were breaching all over. We watched the whales for over an hour from the ship. The moms were slapping their tails on the water to make the babies swim.  We were only in 90 feet of water so the whales were very active on the top the water. Enjoy your cruise!! 

Thank you so much for sending this reply!  That is exactly the information I was looking for. 

 

What a wonderful story about the whales...a lifetime memory for sure!  I can only hope we will see something as magical as that! 

 

In Moorea, we are thinking of renting bicycles &/or scooter to explore the island on our own...or just take a taxi to a beach and relax. We have a busy day Scuba Diving in Papeete and are want to go to the market before getting back on board, so these lazy days on a beach sound like a little piece of heaven to me 🏝️

 

Thank you again, and any other tidbits you would like to share would be welcomed  

[JLMcruise]

15 hours ago, debfed65 said:

Thank you so much for sending this reply!  That is exactly the information I was looking for. 

 

What a wonderful story about the whales...a lifetime memory for sure!  I can only hope we will see something as magical as that! 

 

In Moorea, we are thinking of renting bicycles &/or scooter to explore the island on our own...or just take a taxi to a beach and relax. We have a busy day Scuba Diving in Papeete and are want to go to the market before getting back on board, so these lazy days on a beach sound like a little piece of heaven to me 🏝️

 

Thank you again, and any other tidbits you would like to share would be welcomed  

In Moorea it is easy to take a taxi to the public beach. Its more like a grass park with a small beach and a restaurant. We were able just to get a taxi back to the ship without difficulty. We booked a restaurant with a  water taxi included to CoCo Beach. They give you a table with shade and you can go snorkel or swim. Saw lots of sharks and sting rays. Its not the best beach for laying on the sand but it is beautiful! The restaurant has drinks and good food. You should make a reservation to do this. When we where there they would only transport guests who had reservations.

[debfed65]

51 minutes ago, JLMcruise said:

In Moorea it is easy to take a taxi to the public beach. Its more like a grass park with a small beach and a restaurant. We were able just to get a taxi back to the ship without difficulty. We booked a restaurant with a  water taxi included to CoCo Beach. They give you a table with shade and you can go snorkel or swim. Saw lots of sharks and sting rays. Its not the best beach for laying on the sand but it is beautiful! The restaurant has drinks and good food. You should make a reservation to do this. When we where there they would only transport guests who had reservations.

 

Thank you again for this information!  CoCo Beach looks amazing, I just spent some time on trip advisor and you tube looking at everything as well as their website.  I see where you pre-book the water taxi online on their website. 

 

 I think we will be tendering into Papetoai in Opunohu Bay.  Was that the same for you?  

 

Can you walk to where the water taxi picks you up, or do we need to take a taxi to get to the meeting point?

 

Thank you again,  Debbie & Ron 

[SbbquilterUT]

We are sailing on the Edge from Sydney to Hawaii with stops in French Polynesia - it is part of the repositioning for the Alaska season.  Rebooked cancelled cruise from 2021.  

[JLMcruise]

3 hours ago, debfed65 said:

Can you walk to where the water taxi picks you up, or do we need to take a taxi to get to the meeting point?

 

We took a taxi to the water taxi pick up - It was about 10 minutes by car.

[zestyzorra]

Are there a lot of mosquitoes in French Polynesia?

[daydreamer16]

21 hours ago, JLMcruise said:

In Moorea it is easy to take a taxi to the public beach. Its more like a grass park with a small beach and a restaurant. We were able just to get a taxi back to the ship without difficulty. We booked a restaurant with a  water taxi included to CoCo Beach. They give you a table with shade and you can go snorkel or swim. Saw lots of sharks and sting rays. Its not the best beach for laying on the sand but it is beautiful! The restaurant has drinks and good food. You should make a reservation to do this. When we where there they would only transport guests who had reservations.

We are planning to take a taxi to the Hilton in Moorea. We will be tendering in from the Grand Princess. Were there a lot of taxies available & did they only accept XFP currency?

 

Thank, Denise

[kjc852]

1 hour ago, zestyzorra said:

Are there a lot of mosquitoes in French Polynesia?

We recently spent 12 days in French Polynesia last August (5 days at the Hilton on Moorea and a 7 day cruise on Windstar’s Wind Spirit).  We packed several cans of bug spray after reading several warnings about the mosquitoes on here and other sites.  Bug spray never left our luggage and we never noticed any mosquitoes!  Perhaps time of year you visit might make a significant difference in the mosquito population, so take precaution if concerned, yet wanted to share our experience.

[JLMcruise]

2 hours ago, daydreamer16 said:

We are planning to take a taxi to the Hilton in Moorea. We will be tendering in from the Grand Princess. Were there a lot of taxies available & did they only accept XFP currency?

 

Thank, Denise

Our taxi took American $

[JLMcruise]

4 hours ago, zestyzorra said:

Are there a lot of mosquitoes in French Polynesia?

We were there in October - no bugs.

[TRLD]

On 1/21/2024 at 12:16 PM, Northern Aurora said:

We've been to Tahiti three times and we also more impressed with Mo'orea and Raiatea than the island Tahiti itself.  We also have been to Bora Bora three times and much preferred it.  However, Bora Bora is restricting some cruise ship traffic due to concerns regarding infrastructure.

It is limiting cruise ships to 1200 passenger. The larger ships were viewed as having too much of a negative impact on the island and its land based tourists.

[LIMPIT]

22 hours ago, TRLD said:

It is limiting cruise ships to 1200 passenger. The larger ships were viewed as having too much of a negative impact on the island and its land based tourists.

Not true 

[Traveling Fools]

Consider booking with Paul Gauguin.  They are considered a local company and do not seem to experience the difficulty maintaining their published itineraries other lines with larger ships have.  Passengers who have previously sailed with them with whom I have had face to face conversations with all raved about them.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. We totally love Polynesia. Blessed to have visited many times. No bugs lol. By sea and air. From Hawaii and NY. Once a direct from JFK on ATN but they no longer have that flight sad to say. 

 

 

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, LIMPIT said:

Not true 

What is not true. Even the article you posted stated what I said about Bora Bora. Which is the island that is limiting visits. I did not say anything about other French Polynesia islands, only Bora Bora. That is the island that limited ship sizes because the passenger numbers were considered to be negatively impacting the island and land based tourism.

[jbcallender]

We went on a Tahiti to Hawaii 12-day on another line in 2022  We enjoyed it immensely.  Bora Bora is more beautiful in person than any pictures you've seen.  The people are wonderful.  I highly recommend that itinerary. 

[the penguins]

On 1/21/2024 at 9:05 PM, NMTraveller said:

When you were in Bora Bora did you rent a car or take local taxi/Uber?

In both Bora Bora and Moorea we did private tours that took us way inland - or as inland as its possible to get.

Mooreia: the attraction is definitely the flowers/ plants and the fabulous views that featured so prominently in the film South Pacific.

Bora Bora: has just one road around the island - we choose a tour that included some WW2 sites.

Both tours featured "air conditioned" vehicles that turned out to be open backed trucks. Both tours had great guides.

Pics of both will follow 

 

 

[the penguins]

15 hours ago, TRLD said:

What is not true. Even the article you posted stated what I said about Bora Bora. Which is the island that is limiting visits. I did not say anything about other French Polynesia islands, only Bora Bora. That is the island that limited ship sizes because the passenger numbers were considered to be negatively impacting the island and land based tourism.

Plus the ships have to enter through a hole in the reef blasted out by the American Navy in WW2 - The size of the gap, depth of the water and the very narrow channel are all limiting factors.

[Dolebludger]

I know of no ships currently doing itineraries totally in FP with a passenger load of much over 300.  Silversea will start doing these itineraries in 2026 with close to 400 passengers. We did an itinerary on Regent that was partially FP in a ship of about 700 passengers. We have been to FP about ten times. Based on what we have experienced, Bora Bora is not capable of handling n more than 1200 cruise guests. In fact, that number should be set much lower. Not only for the benefit of the islands, but for the benefit of the passengers, who would not like being in paradise with a mob.

[the penguins]

27 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

I know of no ships currently doing itineraries totally in FP with a passenger load of much over 300.  Silversea will start doing these itineraries in 2026 with close to 400 passengers. We did an itinerary on Regent that was partially FP in a ship of about 700 passengers. We have been to FP about ten times. Based on what we have experienced, Bora Bora is not capable of handling n more than 1200 cruise guests. In fact, that number should be set much lower. Not only for the benefit of the islands, but for the benefit of the passengers, who would not like being in paradise with a mob.

we were lucky got in on Solstice