salmn

9 hours ago, Petoonya said:

We did the 17 day Twice the Tahiti last December (it was fabulous!). We got Tahiti Wifi 10GB for what you will be using for and it was perfect. Hope you understand that in Fakarava and Raiatea there is no service at all.

Thanks Petoonya. We will get the 10GB. 

Did you mean Rangiroa or is there no service in Raiatea.

I think we are all set with planning now, just counting the days😉

We will be doing the Wind Spirit Twice the Tahiti, so will be in FP for 20 days.  Will need to check emails, send texts, and phone calls only in emergency.  Trying to decide whether to use Verizon Travel Pass at $10/day, only charged on days used, or whether to get Tahiti WiFi router. The wifi is 78 Euros for unlimited basic, 158 for unlimited starter, and 120 for 10 GB. There is a 5% discount available.

Has anyone out there used the Verizon Travel Pass in FP?  Understandably, only can use in port. Those that have purchased the Tahiti WiFi, would the 10GB be enough for 20 days, checking emails daily and web use for staying current on news, etc., no streaming, or would we need one of the unlimited packages?

Thanks in advance for your help.

17 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

Is that $194 pp? Eeek. I knew it would be expensive but geesh (especially when there's 3 of us). Is there an age limit for children?

 

So you are talking 2 hours in one direction (then of course another 2 hours in reverse). Geesh. That is a long time. It still sounds absolutely amazing though!

 

Good to know about July and August. Since we will be in Cozumel in another week, I'm going to at least keep my eyes peeled for them as we pull in/out of port. Maybe we'll spot them in the water. 😁

We did this while land based on vacation in Cozumel.  It was well worth the time and money.  Call it a bucket list item.

The time frame is long- 45 min. ferry, 1 hr. van to north Cancun, orientation, 1 hr.to 1 1/2 hr boat ride depending on where the whale sharks are located that day, 2 hrs with the whale sharks and then transportation in reverse. 

It is snorkeling and you need to be pretty good swimmers. It is not like floating around looking at fish.  You need to jump in off the boat and kick hard to try to keep up with the whale sharks.  There are regulations against diving with the whale sharks and strict regulations about how many people in the water at a time and how close you can get.

We went during early June and saw plenty of Whale Sharks.

I believe there is an age limit of 12 years old?

Having done this and totally loved it, if I were to recommend to anyone, it would be to do it when land based in Cancun, Isla Mujeres, or Isla Holbox and not from a cruise ship in Cozumel. It would be about half the price and not so much travel time.

If going from a cruise in Cozumel, definitely need to do the ship's excursion and not independently as it is a long day and high possibility of not making it back to the ship on time. For us, it was a 12 hour excursion from Cozumel.

You could get a few pesos from you bank, but if you do not use them all and want to change them back, it ends up costing more than a vendor that gives you an unfavorable exchange rate.

If you are going to be there for one day, just take plenty of small ($1 and $5) currency. There are so many cruise tourists that most places now quote their prices in US dollars.  If you are staying for a week, then getting some pesos might be worth it.

Not sure where you heard or read about people getting seasick. The Ultramar ferries are new boats.  The ride is very smooth. 

We have taken them from Cozumel to PDC and back many times and never a hint of seasickness. I guess if you are prone to seasickness , take some Meclizine. The seating is nice, some with tables.  Snack bar that even serves Starbucks.

Went there in June (we were land based).  Well worth the experience.  The water is very clean, in fact, you need to rinse off before you get your wet suit, helmet, and life jacket.  The water shoes are a must, but they charge to use theirs, so take your own if you have them.  There are several deep places, but not for long and your head never goes under water, so I believe that you could wear your regular glasses.  Anyone with any kind of mobility issues or cannot walk a long ways on uneven surfaces should not attempt this tour. That would be more of an issue than the swimming.  We had one non-swimmer and the guide helped him.

The pictures are expensive.  They give them to you on a memory stick.  If you are on a tour group from a cruise, I would try to go together and buy one package of all the pictures, then share!

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=657052

If you read the reviews for Wind Spirit here on CC, you will see that the dinner show in Bora Bora is on the second night.

Several of the reviews give day by day accounts of the 7 night cruise in Tahiti.

Post cruise, we dropped our bags and then went to Iguazu for 2 nights, returned for one night at the Howard Johnson Hotel Boutique Recoleta.  Small hotel in an area with business and government buildings.  Close to the Recoleta mall. 4 blocks from the Recoleta cemetery and several good restaurants. We walked to a restaurant in the evening and felt safe. The hotel is new.  The room was large and very nice. We paid about $125 per night, including breakfast. The hotel was nicer that some accomodations that we have paid twice that amount for.  Would stay there again and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to stay in Recoleta. (one caution, there was some sidewalk construction on our walk to the restaurant, so probably not doable for wheelchairs or walkers)

I read where people have rented a car on Raiatea, but cannot find anything online.  Can someone who has rented a car there share what company has rental cars on Raiatea.

9 minutes ago, milepig said:

 

Yes. You need to get from where WS anchors in Moorea, to the ferry terminal, but several couple got off on our Itin. The ferry ride is short, they run frequently during the day, and then the airport is about 20 minutes, max, from the terminal. Very doable. As always, make sure WS knows you're planning on doing this before the cruise - it avoids any nasty surprises.

 

That having been said - I actually investigated the option while onboard and the guest services person was very amiable and agreeable. In the end it was a no go as the flight I'd been looking into changing to was fully booked.

Thanks for the info Milepig--I just emailed our TA to get this arranged prior to the cruise!

10 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Newleno, like Rally says as soon as docked and cleared by customs you'll be allowed to disembark. I was just on Wind Spirit in December and we didn't dock in Papeete until 7am. Check with your TA to be sure but 12:01am disembarkment on our cruise would have been impossible. Hate to think that the time would affect your ability to take the cruise. If you can get the same flight for the following day I know a terrific little Airbnb that you can use for your post cruise day that is very reasonable. Pickup and drop off at airport only 1000XPF each way extra.

Edited 10 hours ago by Petoonya

Will Windstar allow passengers to disembark in Moorea?  Would like to catch the ferry across and take a late night flight. The airline that we can use for miles only goes on certain days.

Plenty of taxi's at the cruise terminal--all hours.  Taxi's to take you back to the terminal can be a little harder to find.  Best to ask your restaurant or wherever you are at to call you a taxi. We were at the Madero tango show, which was not a good experience, so we left early.  The doorman flagged us down a taxi, but  it took a while. Make sure you agree on a price when you get in.  They will tell you how much in pesos or dollars. Be aware of the other people outside the terminal who are getting taxi's for you.  We definitely got taken a couple of times, but it was by them, not the taxi drivers. Better to deal directly with the driver. It will be about $10 to most parts of BA other than EZE. Cruise terminal to Recoleta was $10 and La Boca to cruise terminal was $10 as well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me this great information--just what I was looking for!

On 12/23/2018 at 10:53 AM, Petoonya said:

Cruisenshop....I did an extensive review about a week ago but it has yet to be posted. It was FABULOUS! We can't wait to do it again. I think most of your questions should be answered in the review- did a long review on excursions- but if you have any specific questions be happy to answer. I'll post here as soon as it's published. Just one thing you might wish to consider, there were very few people under 30, but think that may have something to do with the time of year we went. Crew said that there's a younger crowd June-Sept. It's a very active, athletic cruise. We snorkeled everyday with the exception of two sea days, and all I could think of was how much my kids would enjoy. If your daughter loves the water and is OK with a cruise ship that is spectacular but does not have the activities a big ship has, she will LOVE it. The Aquarium on Rangiroa is wonderful, easy snorkeling, and you'll like it on deck by the pool or forward on the bow where there's always a lovely breeze. I would definitely go for the 10 day- 7 days is just much too short, and Fakarava and Rangiroa are must sees. There were two evenings when we had rough seas but those who had difficulty seemed to do fine with the patch.

 

It would be a very memorable graduation gift!

Petoonya, 

We are booked for Twice the Tahiti next November. Starting to work on excursions. Which ports are an easy DYI to go to a local beach for snorkeling or using the sports platform. We don’t want to miss the must do snorkeling, but also do not want to pay for 18 days worth of excursions. Thanks for your help.

Petoonya, we are booked for Twice the Tahiti next November and starting to work on excursions. Being on the boat for 18 days, we do not really want to pay for an excursion every day. Can you tell us which ports we could probably do on our own, either use the sports platform to snorkel or just go to a local beach with good snorkeling? Which ports are a must for booking an excursion. I have sort of gleaned excursion information from your previous posts, but need help with where we can DYI. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Petoonya.  Nice review with good information on excursions. Will have to start booking some after the holidays.

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 8:01 PM, Petoonya said:

We just got home last night and I did my review tonight. I'll start a new thread when it's posted. It's terribly LONG! I'm still on a Wind Spirit high I guess. It's been so long since I did a review that I didn't know there were two parts to it, and the ports were separate from the main review. So mines all jumbled together 😞 

Looking forward to your review.  Any idea when it will be posted.  Thanks--glad it was a good trip for you.

Yes, you would need a visa to enter China. There are only three countries in the world who do not and Canada is not one of them.

The website that I looked at said that as of Dec. 3, 2018, you need to visit one of the Chinese Visa Application Service Centers in Canada in person so that they can take fingerprints, so not sure if you can use an agent to do your application for you.  Sounds like you need to do some more investigating online.

37 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

On the last 7 days of 17 days Twice the Tahiti. Did this 25 years ago on Wind Song and it was the cruise of our lives then, and it gets our votes for the same again. Service, food, atmosphere of the ship and of course the incredibly gorgeous Fr Polynesian adventures combine to make us the most relaxed and dazzled we’ve ever been. I’ll be back in a week or so to write a review but just had to report something now. Weather has been stunning for the last 10 days and we got our first day of overcast and rain today. But nothing’s a problem on this cruise.

Looking forward to your review, especially what you did at each port.  We booked Twice the Tahiti for next November and would like to know the good and the not so good things about each port. We are looking forward to the snorkeling and water activities, so would like to know where the best places were if you did that. Which places would be good to rent a car and see more of the island and which places would be best to stick with WS excursions. Most of the reviews talk about the food and the staterooms, so got that, but would like details on the ports. It is going to be a long wait--good thing we have some other trips planned in the meantime!

OK, thanks for the info.  Would hate to get to the airport thinking that there is storage there.  We are contacting our hotel to see if they will store it.  This will be a good backup plan.  

Thank you!

Need to know if it is do-able to walk from where the Windstar Spirit is docked in Papeete to the ferry ticket office, pulling a medium sized suitcase.  Are there stairs or uneven walkways?

Our hotel shuttle wants to pick us up at the ticket office.  We need to know if it is walkable, do we need a taxi, or should we just take a taxi to the hotel, which is not far.

We have booked an Iguazu Falls tour after our cruise that ends in Buenos Aires. They have suggested to pack a small suitcase for the two night tour.  We are not sure what to do with our cruise luggage.  Is there luggage storage at the airport or do we need to try to take everything with us or do we try to take luggage to the hotel we are staying at when we return from Iguazu?

On Wind Spirit, is there open seating or assigned seating for dinner?