Welcome back, Kaysie

Hi Kaysie,

You've had such a long return trip home. We hope that the two back to backs in Tahiti were all that you expected.

Look forward to seeing you back on the Boards after the travel fatigue has left.

Em

Welcome back Kaysie. I am excited to read your trip report. You will have to let us know which excursions are must do. What time were you able to board Windstar on your first day? I'm sure I will have loads of questions for you later.

Hi Kaysie,

how nice of you to post so quickly considering the time change and the long flight, and the mound of laundry!

Your review and suggestions will be most welcome, but if you have time, a few questions come to mind:

1. Staffing: names of the captain and the water sports people

2. Flights and security departing Papeete: Any suggestions re departing the airport there?

3. Packing light is my goal, and that means laundry. Is the laundry service reliable? Can I sort of wear one, have one set in the laundry, and have one to spare?

4. Is a sweater needed? A windbreaker?

Thanks for your help.

Dear Pincus and Beachgirl,

Well, as luck would have it, I posted all your answers, then the computer froze up on me. Here it goes again:

Boarding: 3pm, and they mean it. Our second week we watched people start to gather at 2pm, and they had to stand and wait until 3pm to board. The ship departs at 8pm, once all the Air Tahiti Nui passengers are boarded.

Excursions:

Raiatea: The Pearl Farm was interesting and there was some pretty easy snorkeling after. This is a good trip if you're still a bit jetlagged.

Drifting the Coral Reef: This was an amazing tour BUT you must be a pretty experienced snorkeler with good equipment. You walk for about 1/2-3/4 mile. over volcanic rock and coral,(you need good reef shoes for this!) then ease into the water. For the next 25 minutes you drift over coral, some of it so close it brushes your stomach. The caveat is that you can't stand anywhere, so clearing your mask etc. is not possible, But the coral and fish are absolutely amazing. This was a favorite trip of most of the snorkeling crowd, of the entire week. Only 12 people can participate in this tour, and the tour guides, Marie and her husband, were wonderful.

We heard the 4 wheel drive tour was 90% paved roads and disappointing.

Huahine:

Lagoon snorkeling adventure: We enjoyed this trip so much, we went twice. Our guide was Delores, and she was a hoot. During the ride to and from, she entertained us with stories of her life and the island. The lagoon is an easy snorkel and had nice coral and fish.

Nature safari: This Landrover tour was said to be better than Raiatea, but still underwhelming.

The Hauhine Island Tour was also not well received.

Bora Bora:

Sharks Breakfast: This is an absolute must do. You go out and swim with sharks and rays, who are completely tame. They're fed 3-4 times a day by the tour operators, so they come very close to get food. The rays all but climb on you and are very affectionate. They have no teeth or barbs, so it's safe for you to feed them too.

After you go to a beautiful area to snorkle, where we saw the most amazing, colorful clams attached to the coral. The ray feeding goes on

here too. A great trip.

Motu Picnic. This takes place on Tuesday and is a bar-b-que on a private island. If you're on a water tour, the boat takes you there after the excursion. If you stay on the ship, the zodiac will take you there beginning at 11am. Try and get there early so you can get a lounge chair and cushion! The island is delightful.

Mountain Safari: Unlike the first 2 islands, Bora Bora goes off road most of this trip. The drivers are dare devils who delight in attacking the mountains, but they're very experienced and know what they're doing. Not for bad backs or the faint of heart

Snorkeling Safari: We heard this was a good trip, but didn't try ourselves.

Moorea:

Cata-jet tour: Most popular by far and first to be sold out. 2 people ride on this surfboard type vehicle, somewhere between a jet ski and small boat. You drive out to 2 places (about 25mph) to snorkle. The 2nd stop is ray feeding. This was definitely fun! Only 8 people per departure (8:30am, 10:30am and 12:30pm), so sign up fast!

Dolphin and whale watching: Michael Poole conducts this trip who is very knowledgeable. I personally did not care for his presentation style. I felt like I was in a schoolroom and there would be a quiz after. We did see some dolphin, but they were in a "sleep mode" so there was no jumping or frolicking. I'd say skip this but do go to his lecture in the evening. That was interesting.

Parasailing: We heard this was great.

Discover Moorea Tour: Ditto.

Motu Beach Picnic and Ray Feeding: This was really horrible, beacuse the Paul Gaughin AND The Tahitian Princess were both in port. This small Motu held tons of passengers. I quit snorkeling when I was bashed by another snorkeler and almost hit by a boat. Everyone complained about this trip. Plus we only saw one ray, but I would've stayed away too if I were them! This may have been an OK day if the other ships weren't in port. So be sure and check this if you go.

Pincus, here's your answers:

The ships captain was Andrew Walsh, who was wonderful, but he left for vacation the day we disembarked and will not be returning to the Windstar. I think he'll return to the Med after vacation. There was a male/female dive team. I think his name was Dave, but I'm not positive. We heard nothing but great things about them and the dives. The exception would be dive # 1 in Raiatea, where some of the divers were grumbling that they only went down 15 feet. I'm certain that was for safey reasons, so they could ascertain the expertise of their divers. After that all we heard was "awesome." The divers were mostly in their 20's and early 30's.

Departure in Papeete: I had heard this could be wretched, so we did all we could to assure it wouldn't be. We had a day room at the Sheraton, which is well worth the $$. The Windstar buses were departing the Sheraton at 8pm for the 10pm ATN departure. Another couple and us took a cab at 7:45pm. This was perfect. We breezed through security (2 checkpoints) and ATN check in. We were at the gate in less than 30 minutes, and that included a stop at duty

free. The cab was $25, $15 base, plus $1 per bag and $1pp for the two extra passengers. So if you went with just one couple and 4 bags, it would be $19. This defintely eliminated the aggravation of long lines, etc. Just let the hotel know you want them to order a cab, as cabs do not hang around like they do in the US.

Laundry: Laundry is $3 per piece, whether it's undies or a shirt. To be honest, many people wear the same dress/shirt at least twice during the cruise. I spent my days in bathing suits and a cover up, my husband in a bathing suit and T-Shirt. The people going on the shore tours were mostly in shorts and T-Shirts. Men wore tropical shirts and long pants in the evening, women were mostly in sundresses.

Windbreakers/Sweater. No, no, no. Our biggest complaint was the lack of air conditioning in the lounge and dining room. It was uncomfortable, especially in the rear of these rooms. We finaly started getting tables

right behind the dining room host, as the cool air blew in from the hall! I don't imagine this problem will be resolved until they go into dry dock. It was a complaint we heard from many passengers.

I think I've covered all your questions. Hopefully this time it will post!

Kaysie

Kaysie,

what a thorough, and most helpful, note. Thank you so very much.

It will take me a while to digest all of this information...

Thanks again!

Kaysie,

Thank you so much for all your information. I will take your advice on all the excursions. I have to say that I am glad that the air conditioning wasn't blasting as I am always cold. I'm actually looking forward to the warmer weather.

Thanks again for all your helpful information. 1 week from today to go. Can't wait!!!

Beachgirl,

I'll keep checking back here should you think of any other questions, before I get around to posting my review. I assure you, you will not be cold on this trip! You might also want to take a peek at the Radisson boards, as a recent PG cruiser has posted some other excursion info. I can't recall (sorry brain's still a bit fuzzy....Did either you or Pincus ask about pearls?) Let me know and I'll do my best to stay current here.

Kaysie

Hi Kaysie,

Thank you for your posts--they have been very helpful. My husband and I are going on the Tahiti-Marquesas cruise next month (29 days to go, but who's counting )

Anyway, I would like to know about the water sports platform--when is it used--sea days, port days, daily?? As my DH and I both love the water we're looking forward to doing activites from the platform when we're not doing excursions,etc.(do they offer windsurfing--as some pictures indicate).

Thanks!

The Sports Platform was open every day, for varying hours. Most times it was a few hours in the afternoon, once the divers had returned from their dives. Yes, they had windsurfers, but you had to be experienced to use them. They also had kayaks, and of course, the banana boat. The zodiac would take you water skiing, as long as you brought someone to watch you in the boat. The Sports Platform only closed once due to high winds. Aside from that, it was open daily when we were in Port.

The Marquessa's sounds awesome. They were hyping it on our cruise, saying it's like Tahiti was 100 years ago, before tourists found it! I'm sure you'll have a blast!

Kaysie

Hi Kaysie,

I did not ask about the pearls. Any recommendations on where to shop? I do have a couple of questions: is there an iron on board? Everything I'm packing is cotton of course and will be a complete mess by the time I arrive. What did you think of the service on board Windstar? I've heard nothing but great comments about the service but would like to hear your comments. Also I believe I read that you did stay at one of the Pearl Resorts for one evening. My husband and I will be doing a post cruise stay at the Tahaa Pearl Beach and I was wondering if the dress is causal on land as well as the ship.

I'm sure I will think of a thousand more questions later so please keep checking back if you have the time. Thanks Kaysie!

You might try www.airtahiti-nui.com for on-land suggestions. They have an extensive bulletin board with lots of suggestions.

Sorry--that site is www.tahiti-explorer.com

Hi Beachgirl......

Here's your answers:

Pearl Shopping: By far, the most favored store was the Black Peral Gem Company on Moorea. They had exquisite jewelry, and prices to match! I satisfied my pearl cravings with the ladies who had booths set up right where the tenders drop you off! They had some nice pearls at a fraction of the cost, but you have to really hunt to find the good ones. I met one young lady there, Tiare, who told me her Uncle owned a Pearl Farm. I ended up buying from her on 3 different occasions, and her pearls checked out with my jeweler just fine. However, she's only there on the day the Paul Gauguin is in port, which is Thursday. You'll have to go back to Cook's Bay to find her, as the ship changes bays in Moorea from Wednesday

to Thursday. It's a short ride by land. None of these ladies set their pearls in anything precious, but I'm very happy with my purchases. My jeweler here will rework the settings for a fraction of the cost in Tahiti.

Iron: None in the room, nor is there any passenger laundry area. You can send it out. Here's a suggestion that has always worked for me, and was passed on to me by a flight

attendant. Go to your dry cleaners and get a bunch of their plastic bags. Cover every dress separately with one bag, leave it on the hanger, and pack it in your suitcase. I just double 5 or so hangers over so they fit in the suitcase. Unpacking is a snap, since all you do is hang the stuff up in the closet. Dresses and men's shirts stay wrinkle free! Honest. I never have to iron. The only fabric this doesn't work as well with is linen. Everything else comes out perfect, even after 48 hours or so stuffed in a suitcase.

Service: Well this was interesting. I noticed that different Servers seem to latch onto different passengers. We knew one wine stewart from a previous cruise, Gino, and he was always very attentive to us. The other wine stewart who was excellent was Raymundo. We never wanted for a drink, no matter where we were. They were also good about bringing us water, etc. Our favorite Server in the dining room was Putu. He was young and I think pretty new, but

very anxious to please. I would suggest finding an area of the dining room where you are comfortable, and keep requesting the same Server, so they get to know your needs. At breakfast and lunch, we were mostly served by Sandy and Dadoong. Sometimes they were great, other times we would wait 10 or more minutes. It was very spotty. Our room stewart was very good, but we rarely saw him. Room service was fast and efficient. So I would say look for Raymundo, Gino or Putu and you'll be in excellent hands.

Dress on land: If anything this was more casual than on the ship. We dined at an expensive French restaurant at our OWB hotel (The Intercontinental Beachcomber in Bora Bora) and we saw jeans as well as men in casual shorts. On the islands, women wear pareos more often than not. No need for anything dressy anywhere that I could see.

I'll keep checking back for any other questions.

Have a great weekend.

Kaysie

Thank you Kaysie for your response re: the sports platform. If the conditions are right windsurfing in "paradise" would be a highlight(husband & I began windsurfing over 20 years ago). All the other activities sound great as well. Don't know much about the Marquesas Islands but what you described "like Tahiti 100 years ago" sounds very intriguing to me...can't wait!

Kaysie,

Thanks again for all your valuable advice. I will absolutely take your recommendation regarding the dry cleaning bags. Great idea. Interesting comments regarding service. I will look for Raymundo, Gino or Putu for excellent service.

Only 4 days remaining! If you think of anything else that you would like to pass on, I will keep checking here.

Thanks again Kaysie for all your advice.

Beachgirl, I agree that Kaysie has been most helpful.

We're looking at the September Marquesas trip, so her up to date information is as helpful to us as to you.

Kaysie,

DH has a question re luggage: could you check it all the way through on the return flight? Did you have any experience with cable ties, TSA locks, or locking luggage?

Thanks for all of your help....

Kaysie, we've run into a snag with our TA and Windstar re a day room at the end of the cruise. Windstar wants to charge us $180 for the day room...that's $90 a person. That seems like a lot considering the cost of the pre-cruise package at Sheraton...I thought I read on the other board that your total was $98.

Advice and comments, please.

Pincus:

Re: Luggage. Your luggage is checked through to your final destination by Air Tahiti Nui. However, you must claim it in LAX, clear Customs, and recheck it. At this point they tell you to remove ALL locks. We had combination locks and had to remove them. I don't know if they cut off, or replaced, the new plastic locks some people are using. My luggage got home just fine, with everything in tact.

Re: Day Room. I think the $98 charge was part of the Promotion offered by Windstar at the time of our sailing. The $90pp rate could very well be their standard rate. Our sailing was in the off season, and they offered a few promotions to help it sell. In hindsight, I would gladly pay $180 for that day room. The problem is, should you try to book it direct, or even book a room at another hotel, you would be subject to the standard 3pm check in time. Remember the $180 includes all taxes and transfers, plus the early check in. You really need this before you embark on the long trip home. If you want to wait, some people booked this room onboard. Hope this helps!

Hi Kaysie--Glad to hear you had a good cruise. We are doing a back-to-back Tahiti in the fall. Suzy Cruisy wrote some pass. left the ship the evening before the final disembarkation for flights home. Did anyone do this on your cruise? I'm considering this to avoid a long, last day.

Hi Linda Kay,

No. No one got off our cruise to go home a day early. You leave Moorea about 5pm, and arrive in Papeete between 10 and 11:30pm. The Captain determines how long that cruise will take, based on how much water they need to dump. The ship zig zags back to Papeete. (Not to worry, the water is processed and safe to dump, just not safe to reuse) So, you would have to get off in Moorea and take the high speed ferry (30 minutes) back to Papeete to make an evening flight. Plus, if you're getting your air from Windstar, they may very well charge you to deviate. The last night on board is rather magical, even the 2nd time around. I wouldn't take this option. We really enjoyed one more chance to hit the Marche in Papeete and the relaxing afternoon and early evening around the pool at the Sheraton. Trust me, you won't want to miss even one day in Tahiti.

Hope this helps.

Kaysie

Kaysie--Thanks for responding. I thought the ship was back before dinner! A day room is the only way to go in that case. LindaKay

Kaysie,

thanks so much for the very helpful, and clear, answers on luggage and day rooms.

Am guessing that Beachgirl will be on her way tomorrow.

Thanks again.

Kaysie,

Reading through your posts for Beachgirl and Pincus have been extremely helpful for me. We set sail on September 3 and CANNOT wait!

Thanks again for all the tips!

Hi CindyMac,

Glad you found the information helpful. If you think of anything I haven't posted, feel free to ask. I still check back on this board from time to time. Have a great day!

Kaysie