Enbarkation/Debarkation Questions

Hi,

We are researching a future P.G. cruise but have some questions/concerns we hope past P.G. cruisers can help with.

What is the typical wait time between between landing at the airport and being able to board the ship? I've read somewhere, depending on the particular cruise you may land late at night, or early in the morning?

Also on the day of departure, how long between leaving the ship and boarding airplane for the return flight.

I was told P.G. offers some hospitality areas to wait at. Can you describe what is available to pass the time.

Thanks

It really depends whether you do a pre cruise or not. If you are flying in the same day the flights usually land at 11 pm and you are on the ship around 12.30 or so. That being said it is possible to also get an overnight flight or one that lands at 6 Pm. It will depend on the ATN schedule on that day.

If you are doing a pre cruise then you can check into the ship at 3 pm.

If you book your air with PG then your last day is as follows:

Leave room9.30 . You can leave hand baggage at the Grand Salon where it is tagged.

Brunch is around 11or 11.30. If you opt for the complimentary tour of Tahiti you will likely leave around 12.30. Post tour you will go to your hotel where you will get a room but no dinner. You can upgrade your room to the IC if you like for an additional charge but do this before final payment. At 7.30 or thereabouts buses will arrive to take you to the airport.

Most PG cruisers either arive several days before the cruise or take the red eye from LAX to PPT which arrices at 6 am Tahiti time. Most have booked their travel through PG so they have a day room at the Tahiti IC. You should arrive at the IC around 7:30 am. You will be provided a free breakfast and a day room which normally is ready when you arrive. You must exit the day rooms around 1 pm. The buses will arrive around 2:30 pm for the short trip to the PG.

Personally I prefer to go a day early on the red eye. This puts us in Tahiti at 6 am on the day prior to boarding. THere is a small charge for the upgrade but then you get a good nights sleep, run around the Marche and feel rested before getting on board.

Tiki the Wednesday cruises don't have the overnight flights.

Emdee ..........

You might want to check the ATN - PG schedule.

Every 10 night departure in 2013 that leaves on a Wednesday does in fact have an available Tuesday night Red eye flight out of LAX ;)

Good to hear, Tiki. That option wasn't available in the past.I guess that the ATN schedule is capricious.

The standard Wednesday flights are (on 6/26 anyway):

Air Tahiti Nui # 17 Depart LAX 4:00pm Arrive Papeete 9:30pm

Air Tahiti Nui # 7 Depart LAX 4:30pm Arrive Papeete 10:00pm

The Tuesday flights are:

Air Tahiti Nui # 7 Depart LAX 4:30pm Arrive Papeete 10:00pm

Air Tahiti Nui #101 Depart LAX 10:30pm Arrive Papeete 5:00am (Wed.)

I think that you can get the Tuesday flights from PG as part of the one-day pre-cruise (for $225pp). Not sure if you can just book these (through PG) if you want to arrive early.

Motu

Are you going in on Monday the 24th?

Tattoo Boy are you coming on the repeaters cruise next year?

We are planning to go to Tetiaroa the day before ( Tuesday) - have chartered the cat and I will hold a space for you if you are coming!!

PG booked us on the Wednesday night flight arriving at 11pm for our 11 day sailiing. We paid $100 to change it to fly the Tuesday night red eye and arrive at 5:30am on Wednesday. We booked a day room at the Tahitu Nui hotel up the street from the ship, and slept, showered, went to the market, and then arrived at the ship at 3pm to embark.

Motu

Are you going in on Monday the 24th?

Yes, we ARE stalking you! :D

Hi Emdee

Sorry to say that we properly wont make it on the repeaters cruise.

Thank you for the offer,if things change I will let you know

Embarkation: We have a pre-cruise hotel stay, how early do we have to check out of IC Tahiti?? How early can we board the PG??

Debarkation: We have a post-cruise hotel stay in Moorea. What time do we have to leave the ship to take the ferry to Moorea?? Do we stay on the ship & have brunch & then do our transfer or do we have to leave earlier than that??

Thanks, GG

Check out is no later than 1:00 pm

If your not booked on a post cruise through PG you are to be off the ship around 10 am ....... however, you can ask the desk when your on the ship to see if they will allow a bit later, usually not a big deal but ask first .....

We have pre & post cruise stays booked thru PG, so what time can we board the ship & what time do we leave the ship?? Thanks, GG

3:00 pm this the earliest to board

Figure 12:00 - 12:30 pm for departure

We just got back from our 11 day cruise. We stayed at the IC and arrived at the airport at 5:30 a.m. the day before cruising. The IC had a room ready for us when we arrived around 6:30 a.m. That was nice. We had to check out by 11 a.m. the day of the cruise, but we went to the pool and enjoyed it. At 2pm, we requested a transit room (free).It is a big bathroom with shower and vanity so you can clean up before going to the ship. It worked out great. After debarkation, we went back to IC (skip the island tour-most people on our ship that went were very disappointed). We had to wait until around 1:45 to get our room, but it was very nice. We changed and went to the pool and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon there. We used our room to clean up and get ready for dinner. We checked out of our room around 9pm. Everyone at the IC was great. I heard complaints about the food at the Radisson.

Emdee - we are on PG 7 day starting June 8. We are arriving 4 days early and staying in overwater motus at IC Faaa. Your post mentions chartering a cat to visit Tetiora. I was wondering if you've done this before, is it a day trip and if I have a party of 8 adults is that sufficient to charter a trip? Thanks

It is a day trip. You leave early morning and are back around dinner time. They will feed you breakfast, lunch and snacks.

A party of 8 is just right

Kellerkruisers,

Minimum for the cat I chartered is 10.

Tiki may have another operator in mind. There are two operators as far as I know.

You have to transfer 800$ in advance to their account to book with the rest payable when you get there. If it is cancelled they will return the money to you the night before.

Contact them as they have regular excursions where you don't have to book the cat some days. I chartered it as we wanted to have it the day before the cruise started and we had a good group.

The trip starts at 6.30 am and you return at 5pm.

If you do go do post about it as it could help. Thanks.

The tour leaves around 6 am and returns around 7 pm. You get breakfast, lunch & drinks all for around $150 per person.

It isn't a cat but a 40+ foot sailboat in nice condition.

Hi Tiki,

I guess your tour to Tetiaroa must be a different one. I know there are two tours available but I prefered to book the one that has a visit to the bird island as well.

The boat I have chartered is from

http://www.vehiatetiaroa.com

It is a catamaran - it says so in the site as well the pics show it to be a cat. I have been in a similar cat in St Maarten some years ago.

And the timings I posted were from Vincent's email.

The price per person is $160.

Dinner is not served just breakfast and lunch.

Emdee - thank you so much for the link. Have contacted them and booked the trip. Sorry to hijack the thread and get off topic!

You are welcome kellerkruisers!

Do post when you come back as you will be the first to take this trip.

Trip advisor has a posting which said that the Vehia was a lot faster than the vessel they booked ( Escapade?) so hope you booked the Vehia.

The outfit I previously mention no long uses their sailboat for trips to Tetiaroa. They now use a cat that is 48 feet in length called the Salina. You can charter or they have many days where you can just book a few spots and go with others.

The current price for the all day trip inclusive of breakfast & lunch plus drinks is $153 USD

Web site: www.escapade-croisieres.com

Mail: escapade@mail.pf