Windstar hotels for pre/post stay in Tahiti, Moorea?

(Cross posted from Windstar board)
Windstar made us do it -- a Windstar cruise in Polynesia was on our "One Day" list, until they announced this would be their last year in FP. We're hoping to do a November cruise, and are making plans and getting prices. (We took the lovely Windsong from Istanbul - Athens in October 2001, and we were hooked!)

We're all set for the actual cruise, but I'd love to hear (from anyone who has done this) about the pre- and post-hotels offered by Windstar. What was your experience? were the package rates a good deal, or were you better off making independent arrangements? I know that FP is a very expensive destination, so we want to be smart consumers here!

It's a long way to travel, so we expect to stay in Tahiti at least one night before the cruise, and possibly two nights after, maybe in Moorea. We might break up the long flight from CT with an overnight in LA, too.

Does Windstar always use Air Tahiti Nui?

Your comments/suggestions/experiences much appreciated.

ttt, because sequence on this board is sooo mixed up! <sigh> [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]Maybe one day they'll get serious about fixing it.

But in the meantime, I'd still love to get some input for my question... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]