makai 7

I recall that everyone said Ia Orana (like politely saying hello, good morning, etc) first before asking or saying anything.  It is the standard greeting and said by everyone as you walk by them on the street, enter a shop, arrive at the hotel….

Maruru is thank you.

Windstar provided a nice phrase list once on board.

Yes… the tender pier is Maroe.  There is nothing there.

our first visit there were a few taxis.  Our second stop was a larger number of people on board and I didn’t see any available.  If you want to do something you will need to plan in advance.

Yes, they have tours available however there is no way to get there except on the tenders.  I can’t recall that there was much to do on your own as there is a very small population there.

have a wonderful trip!

Keep checking the Regent site for additional slots in tours..  you can also ask your TA to contact RSSC if there are specific tours that you want to reserve or get waitlisted.  There is also Mike Moore on the Regent board- he has been really helpful with issues in the past.

we saw few or no tours offered at the tender piers in July.  Don’t rely on this as an option.

Check your itinerary… the Bora Bora experience is held on the second day in Bora Bora.  This is a dinner Beach bbq and has Polynesian entertainment (hula and fire dancing, and drumming).

the private Motu Mahea (Tahaa) day has a lunch bbq on the beach.

and yes, with the collector ( we just came back from the July 10 -27 collector) you will get to experience this twice!  They also do a deck bbq once per cruise.

Candles is not available for dinner reservations when they have the evening bbqs.  You get one reservation for each leg of the cruise.  We liked having Candles dinner the first night in Bora Bora or in Raiatea, since it is much calmer when the ship is at anchor or at the dock vs underway.  Don’t miss your chance to eat at Candles; the food is excellent.

please say Hi to Charley and John from Beth and Kevin… they and the rest of the crew really made the cruise special.

Our experience with using USD is an exchange rate of $1 =100 XPF.  Not great, but convenient.

as a humorous aside, we had old XPF from 15 years ago- and learned that it was no longer valid currency.

FYI 

cabin 208:  constant background engine noise- rather loud.  Intermittent noise from a bilge pump or compressor, not quite sure which.  It was worse when docked in Papeete and Raietea overnight.

I do not know how this compares to the other cabins.

the ship is in dire need of a complete overhaul and refurbishment.  Two of the five sails are damaged and cannot be used.  The outside decks are saturated with water and leak “up” when you step on them.

https://ladyinblue-moorea.business.site
 

we used Viatour to book a Bora Bora 4wd tour.  It was okay, not great.  I think the viatour site was used by quite a few people on our cruise to book tours.

I am guessing that you are no longer stopping in Bora Bora.  They have banned large ships.

If you are interested in a private tour of Moorea, we just did one last week with Spirou the Blue Lady.  She was fun, informative and you can tailor the tour to your interests.

FYI people we spoke with said that on Wind Spirit it was not worth the money for the package with Wi-Fi, and you need to drink ALOT for the drinks package to make it worth it.

I was told the Wi-Fi was very poor.

you can buy a cheaper drinks only package once on board.

Just off 17 days on the Wind Spirit.

yes, there is a smoking area port side near the pool and also on the forward area.  The crew also smokes forward on deck 3 below, near the storage for the work boats.

Thanks, we ordered some buoyancy vests from Walmart.  It is for snorkeling if the water is a bit rough for me.  Also really high visibility…

Try this - it is what I booked

https://tahiti.intercontinental.com/offer/lotus-pool-day-pass

Does wind spirit offer buoyancy compensation vests- inflatable vest to help you stay on top of the water?

Thanks for the tips!  Cleanliness of the cabin(lack) is a little disconcerting, but I have seen this in many “better” hotels and other cruise lines.

 Was the cabin furniture comfortable?  In decent condition?

And, how is the shower?  Their website selectively omits and photos of the bathroom.

I wanted to provide a follow up for those who are interested.  Haters can skip….

We had a very pleasant conversation with Jennifer Teegan (on the phone) a few weeks after she offered to speak with us.  It was very interesting for the following reasons:

- she mentioned that other passengers had approached her during the cruise and raised some of the same issues 

- she brought up several issues she experienced first hand that she contacted home office to address (one was related to shabby damaged menu covers in Prime 7, and she learned that they were not able to get new ones due to some communication difficulties)

- she also experienced some of our same observations and had informed home office.

Staffing for food related services (galley, servers, etc.) is now all outsourced to a third party, none of the staff are employed directly by RSSC.

Jennifer said that she was going to share our concerns/negative experiences with senior management at a meeting.

We felt listened to, and were satisfied with the conversation.  

It did not change our current thoughts about cruising with Regent in the future.  Perhaps if the overall experiences posted on this board improve, we may reconsider in the future, for the right itinerary.

The t- mobile website says it covers French Polynesia, you can’t search forTahiti.

I also verified with the local agent we work with.  We plan to purchase the upgraded international data plan for the time we are there.

My advice is to contact your travel agent and ask them to contact RSSC with your specific request- to be put on an upsell list, or to ask if the would consider selling the upgrade at a reduced price.  You could make an offer if you have a dollar amount that you are willing to spend per person.

we have taken advantage of upsell offers on a few occasions, but don’t often receive them.

We booked this for the day we disembark and fly home…

https://tahiti.intercontinental.com/offer/lotus-pool-day-pass

 Not sure if this is what you are looking for.

7 hours ago, HongKongAlan said:

Just booked our first cruise with RSSC since 2018. Our 2018 and 2024 cruises both track down through Alaska and I've been surprised and disappointed by the reduction in the range of included i.e. shore excusions. Didn't take me long to work out that it looks like a lot of what was classified as "included" in 2018 is still available but seemingly now charged for. Given the small number of included options I'm surprises that some ports included tours are already totally booked out a year in advance is a bit annoying. Not getting my next voyage off too a good start with Regent. Have others noticed the same and I do hope this doesn't indicate an overall reduction in quality by Regent since we last sailed. 

 

We noticed this change Pre-Covid on our 2020 Bali to Sydney cruise.  Meals often were not included in the offered “free” excursions even when a tour was 4-5 hours or longer, say from 10am to 2pm, and no time allotted to get something to eat.  The quality of the tours were also starting to degrade as well.  We attributed it to cost saving measures back then.

Fernandina Beach had to be replaced with Jacksonville because the residents of FB made a big (ridiculous) stink about not wanting cruise ships to dock in town.  We don’t understand their complaints since it is a tourist town and they already have buses that go there, and all the “tourists “ are the people who buy lots of expensive items in the shops.

but the port replacement in this case was not driven by Regent.  Its too bad, we were looking forward to seeing her in town.

https://fernandinaobserver.com/general/final-port-plan-gives-community-what-it-wanted/

On some plans you can select a higher level of medical and evacuation coverage- at a higher cost, of course!

travelguard has two levels and we purchase the more expensive one exactly for this reason- they have an option for an upgraded medical bundle with the preferred plan.

We enjoyed the Oceania Suite as a splurge on a Caribbean cruise where we had very little intention to go ashore.  It was a wonderful experience.

we were able to order from the specialty restaurants for dinner in our cabin, and the dining table was more comfortable to eat at than the sofa level table.

the space was fabulous and two jacuzzi style tubs, one inside and one outside were a real treat!

For us, it was worth the splurge- it is all about your personal priorities.

What port are you lacking a tour in?  People might be able to provide alternate options- not included, but still ideas for things todo.