Post cruise hotel in Papeete

[stellaB]

Having considered lots of useful info on this site about disembarkation day from Tahitian Princess in Papeete am now considering a post cruise hotel stay. If booked through Princess this will likely be Intercontinental Beachcomber and will include all tranfers but will taxis from ship to hotel and from hotel to airport be less chaotic and if so what are prices? Also, trying to decide between 1 night or 2. Is airport less busy (relatively speaking!) on either of these nights and if so which? Have seen lots of different reports on checkout time at this hotel with some people getting an extension until as late as 6pm. Any tips?

[mountainhouse]

Lots info about stays in Papeete is in the Port of Call forums (Pacific Islands). For convenience we stayed at Le Mandarin, very close to the ship. But that's certainly not a resort. Enjoy your cruise.

[ellbon]

The IC on Moorea was wonderful; but not sure of Papeete. On a tour I drove by it and it looked ok. I would stay two nights because check out is before noon and flights are at night. Airport is always crowded and hot. Airport does not have A/C.

[Spikesgirl]

When we did our pre cruise, we stayed at the Sheraton and post cruise, we stayed at Le Meridien - both Princess choices. Probably has changed now, but Princess's hotels are lovely and you'll have a great time. We were able to negotiate a late checkout and stayed in our room until 7:30 p.m. of our departure date. Just let the front desk know you want to do this and I'm sure that they will work with you.

 

To be honest - the airport is ALWAYS crazy. We stayed three days after the cruise (the next cruise had already left) and it was a madhouse. We arrived three days early, equally a madhouse, and it was 12:30 a.m. when we got there. The airport is small, so two planeloads of people (one coming, one going) will fill it up.

 

Gosh, I'm trying to remember what we paid for the taxi out to the hotel. it was a long drive and during the middle of the day, it took us nearly 45 minutes to get there. The IC is downtown, so it shouldn't set you back all that much. Make sure you chat with your drive beforehand and set a price out to the airport. The hotel arranged one for us (it was about 15 minutes to the airport from Le Meridien) and it set us back about $20 in 2004.

 

Sorry, but if you post on the Ports of Call - Pacific Islands board and ask for Meherio, he can give you updated info as he lives there.

 

Cheers!

 

Charlie

[texswamper]

We stayed at the IC 2 nights precruise in August 07. We stayed in an OWB and loved it! The property is beautiful and there are many places to enjoy walking or just laying by the pools or lagoon. We also paid for a day room after the cruise and stayed at the hotel until 6pm the night of our flight.

 

We took a taxi from the ship and then to the airport. Neither were too expensive, but I can't recall exactly what the fare was. You can check out the photos of our IC stay in the webshots link below the "sailed" box. Enjoy your visit to paradise!

[margord]

We stayed at the IC post cruise in a OWB and it was awesome.

[flamomo]

What does the IC Papeete charge for a "day room" (approximately).

We understand that passengers can still use the TP as a home base on disembarkation day till time to go to the airport for the late night flight. You don't have access to a cabin that day, but can eat at the buffet and relax on the ship, I presume we could use the pool too if we wanted to??? ANd I read that one can use the spa showers too.

[ShelbysMom]

We did not do a post-cruise stay and opted to fly out the night of disembarkation day.

 

Honestly, we prepared ourselves for the worst. We had the added twist of travelling with a 2 year old and figured that it would just be awful since he wouldn't nap, etc.

 

It turned out to be fine. After leaving our cabin, we checked our carry on bags at the steakhouse and headed out to do some last minute souvenir shopping in town. We came back to get some lunch, then took the afternoon bus tour offered through Princess. We came back to the ship and grabbed some dinner. We hung out in the Tahitian Lounge where it was cool and relatively quiet. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the lounge for our group to be called to get off the ship.

 

If we'd had to leave the ship and hang out at the airport all day, then we would have taken a day room. But with the ability to use the ship's facilities and eat on board, it wasn't half as bad as we prepared ourselves for.

[j!m]

we stayed at the IC and had a wonderful stay

 

they have a great restaurant, le lotus

 

and there is nothing like watching the sun set over moorea from the balcony with a nice martini

 

the airport has always been a mess when we were there (2x) small and no ac

 

our flights left late and hotel let us have a late checkout, no charge

 

we left room about 5, checked our bags, had a nice dinner then went to airport, it was packed as usual

 

you will not be diappointed

 

have a great trip its a magical place

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We stayed at the IC post cruise and really loved it. It has great pools and wonderful views. You should note that there are no restaurants within walking distance. Unless you want to take a taxi, you will be eating at the hotel restaurant. The food was okay, but very expensive as is everything in Tahiti especially with the exchange rate. As an example, my DW had a bowl of spaghetti for dinner (nothing else). It was $27. A hamburger was $20.

[laurieb]

we have stayed at the IC Papeete post cruise twice, we loved it the first time, and had all kinds of room issues the second. It is a lovely resort with beautiful pools to relax at. just be sure to check out your room before you accept it. we got late checkout and were able to stay in our room until 10pm(we had a 12:30am flight) for an extra 100.00. there is a grocery store within walking distance with a wonderful selection of food you can take back to your room, and very affordable. the taxi from the ship was around 25.00US, the trip to the airport from the IC was about 20.00US.

[land lover]

We stayed at the IC post cruise in a OWB and it was awesome.

 

I agree. Search the Tahitian thread under IC beachcomber, several of us really detailed the hotel, even suggestions about the best rooms/OWBs

[stellaB]

Thanks for all your feedback folks - very useful. I will certainly follow up some of the other links mentioned. There seems to be a lot of variation as to whether late checkout comes free or at a supplement, I wonder what the secret is.

Laurieb - very interested to see you sail Celebrity also. This has always been our favourite cruiseline to date and this will be our first time with Princess. Would be very interested to hear your opinions as to how the two compare, especially as to food (which was always awesome on Celebrity ships)