SailingHigher

I agree with Robert. The WS snorkel gear will work, but most guests would be happier bringing their own masks and snorkels. Better quality, better fit, and if needed, pop in some prescription lenses. Also, it is too deep to see anything worthwhile from the back of the ship. The gear is only useful from shore or on an excursion. For our Tahiti trip, we especially enjoyed the Tahaa coral garden, drift snorkel excursion during the day we were moored in Raiatea.

I agree with HMS. The financial wherewithal to commit to these ships was welcome news, almost as exciting as the ships themselves. (Although, as a former Crystal customer, I know too well that lines can become overextended very quickly and ship orders can be canceled.)

Both ships will have "ice-strengthened hulls," eh? Sounds like expeditions may be coming in 2026.

I feel for you, Petoonya. Stress, pain, worry, and medical expenses are not why we travel. You have me reminiscing about the medical surprises our family experienced during 25+ years of cruising. Things like norovirus cabin confinement, severe blisters from a hot deck chair, a dead power supply for a CPAP, forgotten meds, etc. Our medical surprises were not handled to our satisfaction on any cruise line. Hearing your saga convinces me I was just lucky in 2022 scrambling to complete a root canal days before our Barcelona to Rome trip. I took scuba trips for 20 years without the family and always bought personal medical/emergency evacuation insurance. Never needed it even once, but I'm glad I had it. Now that we're empty-nested sixtysomethings, I'm budgeting for ample travel insurance on all our foreign trips. What else can one do? Best wishes for a swift recovery and a safe return.

We took a bus tour to that cathedral in 2022 when cruising on a new Celebrity ship. It was a gorgeous sunny morning. You won't regret spending time up there rain or shine. I took some of our favorite photos there. After an hour or so, we were dropped at the little soap museum/factory at the harbor. It was great and we still love the soaps we brought back. We then walked, explored, and noshed all over the harbor watching fishermen, tourists, couples, children, and boats. It is easy to enjoy a terrific day or half day whether visiting Marseille by bus tour or taxi. PS - I had very low expectations for Marseille and thought we would see only a busy industrial port. It was a pleasant surprise to spend time in such a pretty, quiet harbor just a mile or two from the cruise dock. I resolved to relax, lower expectations, and be overjoyed as we explore more ports.

We stayed at the Intercontinental in Papeete. No complaints and very convenient. We also stayed at the St Regis one night on Bora Bora. Amazing.

We sailed in Tahiti in late May/early June 2023. We felt that 7 days was adequate for the cruise because we found the islands other than Tahiti and Bora Bora to have so many similarities. We were also glad we had an extra day on each end of the cruise to deal with jet lag, decompress, and pack for the return flight. (Air France flight schedules forced us to make hotel plans that way and we have no regrets.) You will find other detailed threads here discussing pros/cons of arranging airfare and hotels through Windstar. I prefer to make those arrangements myself because I find cancelations and changes to be easier to handle myself rather than through travel agents and Windstar customer service. I also care much more about my seat assignments than any agent ever will. If I were convinced that Windstar could be the pricing I find on my own, I might reevaluate my attitude, but so far, my arrangements have worked very well for us. Lastly, I'll share how much we enjoyed opting for the Papeete Tour/Hotel Transfer excursion on the last day. The tour operator was wonderful. We were very happy to kill time that way instead of tapping our toes and waiting for a room to become available. If you have extra cabin credits, this might be a good way to spend them. PS - We enjoyed having prepaid beverages and gratuities but on Wind Spirit, the wifi was inadequate and we felt we didn't get our money's worth for that part of the all-included package.

On our Celebrity Beyond trip during September 2022, we were unable to visit Florence and Lucca due to high winds. It was a shame even though our surprise stop in Rome was great fun. Some dear friends recently spent a week in Lucca and they won't stop talking about what a good time it was. Their photos support their claims. We also docked in the pretty port of Messina right next to a gorgeous clipper ship. We greatly enjoyed our half day excursion to Taormina. The weather was hot and the crowds were awful, so we fled to a second-story restaurant to escape. We were the only customers in the place. Two waiters fawned over us and served a fantastic meal. Our entertainment was watching the shoppers jostle for souvenirs while we sipped wine and laughed. If you want a taste of Taormina luxury, check out the latest season of "White Lotus" on MAX. Most scenes take place in a beautiful hotel not far from our lunch spot.

We were on the Wind Spirit in June 2023. I believe the last tender on the first night 1 was 9 p.m. But on the second night, it was 5 p.m., because the ship was switching over to get crew and guests to the motu for a beach BBQ and traditional dance event. We spent the first night onshore at a resort. It was almost impossible to find out via phone or Internet when the last tender would head to the ship on the second night. It would be wise to double-check the schedule with the crew before you go ashore in Bora Bora.

kctraveling - Assuming the Huahine port is the last stop of your cruise, another option is to just not sweat finding an excursion that day. We were signed up for a 5+ hour private island picnic, cooking demonstration, etc., and elected to cancel and use the credit for a couple of massages. We were also slightly worried about another full day on the beach in the bright sun. It was the right decision for us. We very much enjoyed the anchorage in a beautiful harbor and were truly ready for zero worries after 7 days of active port calls. Have a great trip!

I would add that the area near the pool is one level above the pool and bar. It is easy to use the pool deck and bar and outdoor cafe areas without noticing any smoking.

I bet things go just fine once you are on the ship. One tip I would add is to make sure you understand when the last tender will depart back to the ship. We had undue stress because I forgot to pin that down before we left for the resort. I had no luck calling all phone numbers at Windstar for customer service, emergencies, etc., before we checked out. Somehow the concierge got through and within an hour, the ship called us in our room to say that the last tender would leave Viatape at 4:30 p.m. even though the ship was sailing at 9 p.m. I was glad we were in a taxi by 3 p.m. and didn’t try to enjoy the resort for another hour.

I wouldn't say I asked for permission, but I did notify the ship by stopping by the Wind Spirit lobby desk and mentioning our plans to the person on duty. I also informed our cabin steward so that he would not worry and would know our cabin would not need to be addressed while we were gone. Both were very relaxed. They thanked me for the information and emphasized that the ship wants to know about any shore stays in case something unexpected should happen regarding the ship, tenders, weather, etc.

We just finished a 7-day trip on Wind Spirit. (I uploaded some tips on the Windstar section of these boards.) We stayed at the Intercontinental on both sides of the cruise. Our early flight arrival (5:30 a.m.!) left us with significant boredom until the room was ready at 1:00 p.m. But the hotel had a changing room, so we didn't suffer too much once the pool bar opened. A taxi to and from the Tahiti Intercontinental was easy and affordable. The front desk suggested reserving a taxi to go to the airport and that was good advice for checking out at 5:30 a.m. We had dinner at the hotel's fancy restaurant in a beautiful setting. On our last day in Tahiti, we selected a shore excursion. The Tahiti East Coast tour dropped us and our luggage at the Intercontinental. We felt it was worth the $139 per person. We enjoyed the large, air conditioned bus for just 10 passengers. We stopped at the James Norman Hall home/museum (author of Mutiny on the Bounty), a black sand beach, and a terrific lookout for taking photos of Papeete and Moorea. But, poolside at the hotel would have been good, too. The ship can arrange a taxi or other transfer for you. Happy Honeymoon!

We did this two weeks ago on a Windstar cruise. We jumped ship for one night at the St. Regis Bora Bora. Mrs. Sailing was in tears over how beautiful the bungalow was. The normal rate was insane, but accumulated Marriott points made it just expensive. The service was off the charts. I'm sure the Four Seasons is also just as good. We viewed this as a "bucket list" experience. The trick was that these resorts are not reachable via water taxi directly from the cruise ship. The concierge was great, however. A taxi met us at the tender dock in Viatape for the 30 minute ride to the hotel's dock. I knew how much cash to have on hand thanks to advance warning from the hotel. We waited for maybe 10 minutes in a nice room with sofas at the dock. The hotel's boat picked us up and took our overnight bags straight to the bungalow while our butler/attendant gave us a terrific tour of the property via golf cart. The water taxi across the lagoon was charged to the room bill. We got a late checkout and repeated the transfers to return to the ship. We made the last tender with just 30 minutes to spare. I would do it again. It was cheaper than the ship's pre-arranged overnight at the Intercontinental Bora Bora, but still uber expensive.