Flight time upon disembarkation.....

We are looking at a possible Paul Gauguin cruise this fall. I am looking into booking our own air, and am wondering what would be the earliest flight time we could make on disembarkation day? There is a 8:40 am Air France flight, and it looks like the itinerary we are considering has us coming into Papettee the night before. Otherwise we would need to stay 2 additional nights before the next flight....obviously there are worse things! :)

Thank you in advance!

The ship always comes to Tahiti the night before disembarkation. You can disembark that night or anytime the next morning.

Thanks Emdee! :)

If you are leaving disembarkation morning try to do a 2-3 day pre cruise!

Why Air France?

Looking at taking the air credit, and like the Air France arrival time of early morning the day prior to the cruise, rather than the included ATN flight that arrives late evening the day of boarding. I am also not wild about waiting all day to take a late evening flight home after a relaxing cruise experience! Would need to add 2 nights post cruise if we don't take take the early flight on disembarkation day because they don't fly every day....in which case I am not sure if we would want to stay in Papetee, especially if we come in a day or two pre-cruise. To be honest, I haven't read great things about ATN, and since we are often spoiled by using AA miles for Business class when flying long haul (not available for this trip), I am looking to purchase the Air France premium Economy to have a comfortable flight.

Open to suggestions regarding flight and accommodations 😊

Yeah ATN has deteriorated badly since 2005. Service and food are hit or miss. You don't have to fly in the day of the cruise using PG air by the way. Where would you be flying from?

As far as accommodations go; on Tahiti the IC is the most popular and my favorite and on MOOREA it's the Hilton although my next stay there would be the Sofitel. I enjoyed my stays at the Moorea IC but the water just isn't as nice as the other two.

Thank you Twin123185. I was guessing we could arrange PG included air for an extra day prior to the cruise, but I am looking at using the air credit and flying Air France because I can purchase premium economy seats. The upgrade to business was extremely pricey going through PG, and we can't find AA mileage award seats. Thank you for the hotel recommendations....I think the Intercontinental would be our choice for a night or 2, and I have contacted them to see our options with an early morning arrival (early check in $, regular checkin but relax by the pool & lunch???).

The ferry to Morrea is another possibility I will look into.

PG has confirmed we can disembark at anytime after the ship docks in Papetee at the end of the cruise.....does anyone know of there are usually taxis available in the early hours (6am), if we don't stay a couple days post cruise?

Thank you everyone! The PG experience sounds very different and fun!

Air Tahiti Nui only releases 2 business class award tickets per flight. You have to try for these 330 days in advance when they are released. Expert flyer is very good to see these as well as to put in an alert should,they become available.

Thank you.....I have heard the magical 330 day award booking throughout this past week as we researched cruise possibilities! We have been fortunate on our trips to Europe, but I think we will just need to plan to save our miles for other trips and go ahead and plan our French Polynesia bucket list trip now 😊

If you have Delta miles once in a blue moon you can use them for ATN. It's rare though. I got lucky once. 2/3 of the Delta people on the phone didn't even know. I hung up until I got someone willing to go the extra mile.

You might also want to consider Hawaiian Air through HNL depending on where you are starting from. I did 2 years ago from JFK

Thanks Twin123185. We do not have Delta miles, but we have elite status with American who is partnered with AT and Hawaiian. We do as you do, and call back until we get an agent that knows the logistics.....unfortunately, no luck with this one so far

You and others who are PG alum......is late October a decent time sail?

Thanks you 😊

October is an excellent time.

Agree with Emdee. Check out Hawaiian if you are on the ease coast. 2 years ago much cheaper than others. Points and dollars.

If you have the AA miles I would not bother to call AA to see if flights on Air Tahiti Nui are available. Instead use http://www.expertflyer.com. They do show award availability on TN and you can then call AA when you know what flight has availability.

EF charges a fee per month but you can get a 5 day no charge demo. It is invaluable.

If you have the AA miles I would not bother to call AA to see if flights on Air Tahiti Nui are available. Instead use http://www.expertflyer.com. They do show award availability on TN and you can then call AA when you know what flight has availability.

 

 

 

EF charges a fee per month but you can get a 5 day no charge demo. It is invaluable.

Do you use basic or pro?

Thank you all for the positive vote on October AND for the flight research info!

Unfortunately, Hawaiian Air flight days don't work with our trip. I will look into Expertflyer.com

I appreciate this boards wealth of information 😊