Just Back from PG

From our 5/6/06 PG Cruise:

Airline: Air Tahiti Nui - good, no problems; FAA Airport - Immigration slow, ATM didn't take my card or the person before me, but change bureau open late. Didn't need much local money, most places took CC. Tours guides took $ tips. No A/C just fans in airport.

Cruise ship - cabin great, spacious lots of storage, two 110 outlets in cabin. Internet cafe had 4 computers for use, $3.95 1x hook up fee then either .35/min as you go or .25/100 min or .20/250 min. Wireless hookup available in internet cafe.

Fitness center had good machines and hours.

Food and service excellent. Don't miss local Tahiti dancers on Monday. Guest anthropologist from New Zealand on Mutiny on the Bounty excellent.

Islands - Raiatea Island tour had American guide, she lives there and was very informative. Motu great but gets hot after several hours.

Bora Bora - waverunner very good especially when the locals climb a palm for a coconuts. Waverunners better here than Moorea. Bora Bora poor Island, but fantastic lagoons. Swim with the string rays and (sharks) amazing. Guide tells you the sharks won't bother locals.

Moorea well developed Island, can rent car and drive to Belvedere and around Island for about $55 -$80. Gas very expensive. Post cruise at Radission very nice. Weird A/C set up though. You need card key to activate and if you open doors it shuts off. Island tour of Tahiti not that bad, it kills some time before you can into your room. Guide was informative. Bring sunscreen, water shoes, ($30 on ship), cameras and lots of film. Enjoy!

dsamp578 Las Vegas

Thanks dsamp578 for the info...was there some type of local entertainment on board every evening? Are lectures regarding the local culture/history given everyday? Are the pools onboard the ship open every evening and were they crowded? Should we bring insect repellant for the day on the motu? Did you do an excursion on every island and did you book thru the cruiseline or independently? And did you buy any Tahitian pearls? If so...were certain islands better than others for that?

Sorry didn't mean to bombard you ...I am very excited about this upcoming cruise for us...We also booked a 2 day post cruise stay in Papeete...did you explore on your own or did you just relax? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer...will you be posting some of your pix?

Anyway enjoy your future sailings...

luv2cruise450: Like you I've done some cruising -14 after PG. But this ship is different. You asked about the pool being crowded and entertainment at night. The ship only has 300+ passengers. The one pool never had more than 3 to 4 in it. But you are surrounded by beautiful water so you don't really need to be in a pool on ship. The entertainment is handled by the crew, the piano player, or the one band aboard. You are so active during the day, the entertainment at night at 930 or 1000 isn't a big deal like other cruises. Yes there are several lectures during the week. One on Tourism and the Environment, another on The Dolphin and Whale Population by Dr Michael Poole. We booked through the cruise line. Prices seem to be competitive with outside operators. It saves a lot of time to reserve the tours on line through RSSC. Your tickets are delivered to you when you board. You can always change them up to a day before the tour. The Sunset tour on the Cat on Bora Bora was sold out, so we were glad we booked in advance. Bring insect spray for the land cruises. I remember using it twice. Once on Le Truck On Bora Bora, and on the Land Tour on Raiatea. We liked Bora-Bora for the water, Moorea for the Island and Mountains. But all have their own beauty and features. We explored and relaxed. The ships pace is perfect - no loud announcements about bingo etc. Ship emergency drill is actually held the 2nd day at 1015. Life jackets are on the decks, no dragging them up the stairs from your cabin. The ships marina is very unique. It's a different cruise experience, you'll love it. I might post some pictures this weekend.

dsamp578

We are leaving this Saturday on the PG. Do you know how early they let people board? We will be at the Intercontinental the night before and wanted to get on as early as we could. We will get our own taxi to the pier. I want to be able to drop off the luggage and then go to the market everyone talks about to get flowers.

Was the casino crowded at night?

Thanks.

In general, the PG does not allow early boarding. They might let you just drop your bags off and go shopping, but be aware that the Marche is closed on Saturday afternoon. It's a good idea to take your own cab.

Is the Marche where we go to get the flowers? Is it open in the morning? If we are able to drop off our bags, what can we do in the area?

When you said it was a good idea to take our own cab, were you meaning it would be much less hectic that taking the Regent transportation? What time do you suggest we get the cab to go to the dock?

I have read so many of your posts and have written down much of your advice as this is our first Regent cruise. We have cruised many times with Celebrity, but I know this will be a different experience and I appreciate everyones' help.

Is the Marche where we go to get the flowers? Is it open in the morning? If we are able to drop off our bags, what can we do in the area?

When you said it was a good idea to take our own cab, were you meaning it would be much less hectic that taking the Regent transportation? What time do you suggest we get the cab to go to the dock?

I have read so many of your posts and have written down much of your advice as this is our first Regent cruise. We have cruised many times with Celebrity, but I know this will be a different experience and I appreciate everyones' help.

Hi, yes I meant a cab was less hectic. The ground carrier does an okay job, but there's always some hassle or other. I would not hurry, just arrive around 3. You can usually just walk right on the ship (I mean there won't be a line.)

The Marche is open in the morning, yes, and you can certainly buy flowers there. There may be other places open in the afternoon, can't say. I also don't know the precise time the market closes, but I know it's closed after lunch.

Downtown Papeete is not a treat, particularly. I would stay at your hotel and enjoy the pool. If you want to do an excursion to Papeete, you could do it in the morning, and return (although $$ at stake.) Remember, it's hot. If you are doing the RSSC air program, you get to stay on the ship the last morning, and that's the time to go shop in the market.

I have no idea whether you can actually drop your bags at the ship, by the way.

I thought, "Of course they'll let me board early - it's RSSC!" So, I arrived at the ship at noon... Nooooo...

Absolutely not allowed to board the ship. But they DID take my luggage and I watched as they took it on board. With the Marche closed and little to do, I just wandered about, ate at a local EXPENSIVE restaurant, visited the official tourist bureau, and hung around the park. I was within visual distance of the ship and was watching to see if they allowed any others to board - they finally appeared to let a couple on around 2:30, so I hurried over, and VIÓLA (French for Vóilá) - I was on!

Do you recall who the onboard band was? Just wondering if Siglo is back yet.

Pat

It was Time Stealer Band.

dsamp578

dsamp578...Thanks very much for taking the time to answer my questions...hope to see some of your pix soon...

Hi dsamp578 - do you recall if the cabins had VCRs or DVD players? Thanks for your review!

In our cabin, which was the lowest cost, we had a 13 inch TV with a VCR built in. No DVD. You can check out videos from reception. We didn't bother, too much to do. They had Fox news, 1-2 French channels and some movie channels. A small satellite newssheet was delivered each morning to your cabin. You could order satellite versions of several newspapers like USA today, for a nominal fee. The set did have a video and audio input on the front which made it handy for previewing digital pictures or hooking in a portable DVD if you wanted. I'm guessing the VCR was NTSC standard, but being a European leaning and a French built ship, it could have been SECAM or PAL standard. It certainly wasn't HD! Probably too much info.

dsamp578

NTSC......we could view our photos easily last November. If they changed out the TVs during the drydock refurb, can't comment!

dsamp;

Great information. We are going on the 10 day 7/12/06 and are now looking at tours. There is great info. from you and on the board. Some questions:

Were there any tenders to beaches other than the Motu day?

Did you book everything ahead or were some still available when you were on board? (We didn't want to book every minute with something....need some relaxing time too!)

Could you walk to any shopping areas from the dock? Do you recommend any in particular? Just for misc. souvenirs???

Did you make restaurant reservations in La Verandah ahead?

Well....I'm sure I have many more questions!! Oh....which snorkel tour did you like the best/the least? We like to snorkel but not with strong currents!

Thanks

Carol

On the tours, we didn't book any on board, all by internet. So I'm not sure what was available on board. Some like the Sunset Cat Cruise on Bora Bora was sold out. I'm guessing Wave Runners might sell out.

They did have a tender for a beach on Bora Bora the second day. Some passengers found a cab on Moorea and Bora Bora to take them to a beach and return a few hours later. Apparently that worked out ok.

This isn't a big shopping cruise like Cozumel or the Virgin Islands. Raiatea, shops closed, it was Sunday, Bora Bora small town with very limited shops. Moorea, there were several stalls set up at the pier where the tender docked. The vendors at these stalls had a few good items. Also three rental car agencies had set up with a few cars on this dock for the benefit of the passengers. Tahiti had the most stores, but you need to get off the ship on Saturday morning because most of the stores close at noon. The market was highly recommended. The tour guide on Tahiti said it best, it's expensive for most items because they import so much. So clothing etc is cheaper in the States. Flowers from the market are a good buy pre-cruise to put in your cabin since you can't take them home.

You need to make reservations for La Verandah as soon as possible aboard. They fill up fast.

Snorkling was good with the sting rays on Bora Bora. The lagoon is beautiful. Snorking was also great on the Motu. Currents weren't a problem for us.

dsamp578

dsamp:

Thank you so much....this info. was very helpful! We definitely want to do the waverunners and your info. will help us pick which BB snorkeling to do.

We are traveling with another couple so better book the most important to us now in order to be sure of 4 places! This will be our first Tahiti and first Regent...This board has been such a help!

Thanks again,

Carol

This might sound like a crazy question...do the flowers that you buy at the Marche come with a vase, or does Regent supply one for you? I plan on doing this and I'm hoping the market will be open on a Wednesday (does anyone know?)

Also, I was interested in the catamaran sunset cruise in either Bora Bora or Moorea. Did you enjoy that? Any feedback from passengers that did this in Moorea?

We're doing a 10 night cruise in August for our honeymoon and I cannot wait! First time cruising Regent and first time in FP.

We did enjoy the sunset cruise on Bora Bora. There was 8 couples aboard and it was a nice peaceful trip with champagne. I'm not sure about the vase for the flowers.

dsamp578

On each of our trips I've been happy with the few flowers in a bud vase that that Regent supplies. Of course we were in a regular size cabin and the bud vase was easily moved from the coffee table to a shelf when we had room service.

During our February cruise, we also did the sunset cruise in Bora Bora and enjoyed it very much. I posted pictures from it, including the PG lit at night.