Tahiti and the South Pacific?

[cyndeeee]

We are thinking of taking our next cruise in 2005 to the SOuth Pacific. Which cruise line do you think would be the best? I heard RCI use to do this route, but I'm not sure if they still do. ALso, Princess and WInd Star do, ANd what time of year would be best?

 

thank you

[rdowney]

Windstar is pulling out of Tahiti although I don't know the exact date. We used Radisson in Tahiti and were extremely happy with the cruise. You can watch Radisson for various specials on that itinerary.

 

Generally, the best weather in the tropical South Pacific is during the North American summer. Our winter is rainy season there. We went in late November and early December, which was a reasonable compromise between escaping winter in Minnesota and avoiding the worst of the rain in Tahiti.

[imsulin]

Radisson's Paul Gaugin and Princess' Tahitian Princess do Tahiti cruises. I've never heard of RCI doing them. rdowney is correct about the weather, since Tahiti is in the southern hemisphere, so the weather will be opposite ours. I went to Fiji in January of 2000 (further south and west...just above New Zealand), and it was very hot, humid, and rainy. Still loved it, though!! Just an FYI...Tahiti is VERY EXPENSIVE!!!

[Smooth Sailing]

We were on the Tahitian Princess in March of 2003 (10 day cruise). This was a great criuse - the islands are very lush and tropical - very mountainous. This ship is fairly small - a little over 30,000 tons - however, most of the outside rooms have private balconies and the price was very good. The airfare will run a little over $1,000. per person - I believe we booked our deck 8 cabin with private balcony for $1,100. per person and remember this is for a 10 day cruise that includes a trip to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The weather in March was beautiful - not a drop of rain - the rainy season had just ended. I would suggest that you go in late March or April. Have fun !!

[Jackiealu]

I just booked the Tahitian Princess 10 day cruise out of papeette. We booked for mid September 2005. Any ideas what the weather will be like at this time.

Jackie

Jackiealu@aol.com

[imsulin]

September will be their spring, so would be at the beginning of the rainy season. Not to worry, though.

[rdowney]

You will be fine in September. The table that I checked with 9 years of data, showed an average of 2.1 inches of rain in September--barely above the 1.7 in August, which was the driest month. The high was 16.9 in March. This was for Tahiti; numbers could be different on other islands or even on different parts of the same island.