Pacific Princess Tahiti Preview, October - November 2015

Here is a preview of the Pacific Princess cruise program for late 2015. This schedule has not yet been released on their web site. It appears to be "leaked". This schedule should be announced in a press release any day now and go on sale in May.

As you can see, they have four "Tahiti & Polynesia" cruises and one "Marquesas & Polynesia" cruise. This is a significant reduction from the 2014-2015 schedule with nine "Tahiti & Polynesia" cruises and three "Marquesas & Polynesia" cruises. (They also need a geography lesson on the difference between crossing the Equator and the International Date Line.)

This schedule is not good news for FP cruisers. With a reduction from 12 Tahiti round-trip cruises down to just 5, there will be a lot fewer cruise berths available in the FP market. This will reduce or eliminate the need for Princess and Paul Gauguin to offer discounts to fill berths. If you are looking for a discount, the 2014-2015 season may be your last opportunity for a while. After the 17-Nov Hawaii & Tahiti cruise, the Pacific Princess will go on a "50th Anniversary Mexican Riveria" cruise from L.A., do a Panama Canal transit, and then begin the World Cruise on January 3.

Windstar is now back in Tahiti.

Oceania and Regent are both travelling to Tahiti.

So there will be options.

Of course IMO there is no alternative to the PG it wins handsdown.

Thanks for reminding me that Windstar has an extensive Tahiti cruise schedule comprised of 26 7-day cruises in 2014 and a similar number in 2015. Their 2014 lead-in fares range from $2200 to $3000. This is considerably less expensive than most other cruise lines in FP, with the exception of Princess which is running $1500 to $1700 for 10-day cruises.

The problem I see with cutbacks in Princess' schedule is the lack of economical cruises in FP. There are lots of cruising choices for the well-to-do. But the majority of CC participants are patrons of the mass-market cruise lines, like Princess. This particular region is getting less economical for us "average Joes" that actually like the value provided by the likes of Princess and others.

One of the many reasons I really miss Toto2Kansas is that she provided a voice for Princess cruises in Tahiti that is now missing on this board. Even though she regularly booked the Owner's Suite, she was never condescending to us folks booking inside cabins.