Just back from the 11 Night Cook & Society Island PG Cruise - bring on the questions!

[lithlith]

Hi lithlith,

 

I seen awhile back on the camera forum that you were asking about waterproof cameras. Did you buy one and how did you liked it? I'm teetering between a Panasonic TS4 and Nikon AW100 for our cruise in 2 weeks. Thanks.

 

Jeff

 

We went with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3. We also bought a float strap (a must have!). We were happy with the camera and have great pictures to remember the trip!

 

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-TS3-Waterproof-Stabilized-2-7-Inch/dp/B004KKZ0J2

[Emdee]

Familygoboston,

the 4 points Sheraton is usually quite reasonable and you get a free shuttle from the airport. Even if you 6 hours to rest and shower that should make you feel better.

I love also going to In and Out Burger when we have a car.

 

I have always flatly refused the double red eye.

[Tara&Jeff]

Thanks for the thoughts on your camera, lithlith. I went ahead and ordered the Panny DMC TS4 from Amazon. Its basically the newest version of yours from what I can tell, not much difference.

[Escriteur]

Wayne (Macbest) - Were you recently quoted $80 for the post-cruise IC day room? I contacted our PG rep yesterday, and because of the late date (since we sail next week), she said it would be full price ($165pp) to upgrade to the IC. Given that we'll only be there a few hours, $330 seemed far too much...so the Radisson/Sofitel it is!

 

Familygoboston - We're in the same boat as you, in terms of having two red-eye flights on the return. Delta is the only one that offers a direct LAX to TPA flight, and we hate layovers...so we've got a Sunday evening flight. We considered a hotel day room, but I found out the Delta SkyClub has showers, snacks, drinks, and Wi-Fi - basically everything we'd need (apart from a bed). They have a day-pass rate of $50pp, but they also offer a 30-day membership for $90 - and the member is allowed to bring up to two guests. So my husband will be signing up for the membership, which means we'll both have access to the LAX lounge and can also use the the TPA SkyClub before our outbound flight. Depending on what airline you're flying, you might want to see if you have similar lounge options.

[macbest]

Wayne (Macbest) - Were you recently quoted $80 for the post-cruise IC day room? I contacted our PG rep yesterday, and because of the late date (since we sail next week), she said it would be full price ($165pp) to upgrade to the IC. Given that we'll only be there a few hours, $330 seemed far too much...so the Radisson/Sofitel it is!

 

 

We were quoted yesterday for sailing on July 28, $40pp. I asked to move forward on this, we will see if it still is the same. Will let you know.

[macbest]

We were quoted yesterday for sailing on July 28, $40pp. I asked to move forward on this, we will see if it still is the same. Will let you know.

 

PG came back and said that since we are in the 60 day window of the cruise, we could not change the post cruise day room to the IC without paying $165pp. So others, if you want to change your day room post cruise from the Radison (or possibly the Sofitel now?) to the IC, it is $40pp if you are greater than 60 days from cruise date or $165 if less than that.

 

Too much for 6 hours or so for us, so we will be at the Radisson once again!

[Escriteur]

PG came back and said that since we are in the 60 day window of the cruise, we could not change the post cruise day room to the IC without paying $165pp. ... Too much for 6 hours or so for us, so we will be at the Radisson once again!

 

Thanks for the update, Wayne - I'm sorry that you weren't able to get the lower rate, but it's good to know we weren't the only ones being quoted the inflated rate for the late upgrade request. $330 for a few hours at the hotel simply isn't worth it to us, so we're sticking with the Radisson/Sofitel, as well.

[Familygoboston]

Wayne (Macbest) -

Familygoboston - We're in the same boat as you, in terms of having two red-eye flights on the return. Delta is the only one that offers a direct LAX to TPA flight, and we hate layovers...so we've got a Sunday evening flight. We considered a hotel day room, but I found out the Delta SkyClub has showers, snacks, drinks, and Wi-Fi - basically everything we'd need (apart from a bed). They have a day-pass rate of $50pp, but they also offer a 30-day membership for $90 - and the member is allowed to bring up to two guests. So my husband will be signing up for the membership, which means we'll both have access to the LAX lounge and can also use the the TPA SkyClub before our outbound flight. Depending on what airline you're flying, you might want to see if you have similar lounge options.

 

Thanks for that advice! My husband has all kinds of priority status on AA, I'm sure they have something similar, I will check into that! Our return red eye is at 11 ish, so we won't even really have a whole day by the time the PG flight gets in. Otherwise we would have taken an earlier flight.

 

- I agree, but I detest wasting precious vacation days cooling my heels in some hotel where I don't want to be! We are already putting in an extra day in Santa Monica pre cruise. Our travel is only limited by those days my DH can sneak away, so if I can suffer through the red eyes, I can go more places now, before we retire!

[Benita]

We booked a flight back to LA the night before the cruise ends - the ship arrives in Tahiti at 7:30pm and we have an 11:30 flight. Sitting around a day room in paradise has its advantages, but I rather have the extra night to sleep off the jet lag before going back to work.

[dexddd]

We booked a flight back to LA the night before the cruise ends - the ship arrives in Tahiti at 7:30pm and we have an 11:30 flight. Sitting around a day room in paradise has its advantages, but I rather have the extra night to sleep off the jet lag before going back to work.

 

Did you have to pay a deviation fee to PG? If so, how much was it?

[Benita]

I am taking the $1450 credit and booking my own air. I used American Airlines points - we fly first class from Ft. Lauderdale to LAX and then Business class on AirTahiti Nuit. Coming back, we fly Business class on AirTahiti Nui to LAX and have a 4 hour layover and then first class to Miami. It was 125,000 points each for my husband and I. If we did coach, it would be 75000 points each. The nice thing about using points is that they don't charge extra points for the Florida to LA segment - if we had PG do the air, it would have been $600 more per ticket, flying coach to do the air add on from Florida, so we saved about $2000 a person by using points. As we had so many, it made sense to do the business class tickets - Air Tahiti does have 6 first class seats, but they don't release them for frequent flyer points

We would have had to do an air deviation, as we are flying in a week early - staying at Le Meridien in Tahiti, with Starwood points for two nights and then four in Moorea at the Moorea Pearl Hotel - we were able to get an overwater bungalow there for a very reasonable price. The last I checked, an air deviation was $125 a person, but that might have changed. We will get the credit, but are responsible for all our own transfers. Had we decided to debark the day the cruise ends, we would have paid PG for the day room and transfer, but after spending the extra week in the area, plus the two weeks on the ship, I don't mind leaving the night before. As the flight is at 11:30pm, we can have dinner on the ship and then transfer to the airport.

Booking your own air with Air Tahiti Nui is no more expensive than having PG do it for you and this way, you get your choice of flights- both domestic and overseas. You do have to pay extra for transfers, but if you are not going on the PG picked flights, you would have to pay for the transfers, plus the deviation fee, so you probably wind up ahead paying for your own. The main disadvantage is that you need to pay for tickets when you book the airfare when you do it on your own - if PG does it for you, you don't pay until the final payment date.

[Tikiintahiti]

"Booking your own air with Air Tahiti Nui is no more expensive than having PG do it for you"

 

Depends on the travel date. This year we are on the Holiday cruise in December. Coach was $1800 R/T on Air Tahiti web site.

 

$1800 - air

$30 - transfers

$30 - breakfast

$100 - day room IC

$80 - day room Radison

_______

$2040 per person

 

The $1450 PG charges for the same thing is cheap in our situation. As stated, each case is a bit different, some save more. some less ........

[Benita]

On my May 18th travel date, the airfare from Air Tahiti Nui is the same as the credit from PG. The add on flights to and from Florida are cheaper if I book it on my own. It is certainly cheaper to have PG do the air if you are arriving and departing on their planned flights as it includes the day rooms and transfers, as Tikintahiti pointed out. If you are going to deviate from those flights, there is a deviation fee and transfers to be considered. In my case, since neither of my flights would necessitate day rooms, it made more sense to book it on my own, even if I were buying the tickets and not using points. As Tiki pointed out, each situation is different. In the scenerio Tiki wrote about, it would make sense to have PG make the arrangements.

[dexddd]

Thanks for the flight info. I was looking at doing on our own or using AA miles but am currently booked via PG. If I understand correctly, you booked your whole trip on AA from Florida and back via AA? Did you have to call them directly to book as it doesn't look like you can do on their site. Also, I thought when I looked that they would only book the partner award from LAX to Tahiti and back but you had to book US portion separate so that is why I'm asking. Is yours all on one ticket so to speak?

[dexddd]

Separate question for lithlith - I saw laundry prices on PG FAQ area, but do they offer any bulk specials like I've seen on some other lines?

[Benita]

Thanks for the flight info. I was looking at doing on our own or using AA miles but am currently booked via PG. If I understand correctly, you booked your whole trip on AA from Florida and back via AA? Did you have to call them directly to book as it doesn't look like you can do on their site. Also, I thought when I looked that they would only book the partner award from LAX to Tahiti and back but you had to book US portion separate so that is why I'm asking. Is yours all on one ticket so to speak?

 

The best part of the whole thing is that they put it on the same ticket, so you don't have to give extra points for the Florida to LAX portion, and as long as they don't lose it, your luggage is ticketed all the way to Tahiti from Fort Lauderdale. You need to call AA directly to book - the only thing you could do on the AA web site is flying through Honolulu. They have access to the Air Tahiti Nui seats and can immediately check for availability. You can change, for no additional fees, dates and flights, but they will charge if you change airports once the ticketing is done. A plus is that they book each as a one way ticket, so we were able to fly out of Fort Lauderdale and into Miami without paying extra points, as the flight times are better for us. We called AA 330 days in advance and all they had was coach from AirTahiti Nuit, so we took it and a few days later, they opened up business class, so we were able to change our tickets without charge, except for the additional AA points. We had to wait until 330 days before the flights back, but we were able to get business class right away, so there is nothing to change. We did have to pay $25 for ticketing on the phone, as well as some taxes, so it wound up costing about $100 in total. They will let you break up the flights with a night in LA for no extra charge, but as both our overseas flights are red eyes, we will have a few hour layover and continue.

Allowing the whole trip on one ticket is a huge savings - it would have been 50,000 more points each, had we booked the Florida to LAX flights separately and PG charges $800 more per ticket economy for that segment (in their 2012 brochure) had we decided to have them do the booking. If you have the points, it is a pretty good way to use some- it would have been close to $4000 a ticket had we booked business class, which I think is a pretty good return on 125,000 points. Coach is not a bad return either - it is about $2200 a ticket through PG or $1800 a ticket if you did it on your own that sailing (AA flights roundtip to Florida are $450 each) and 75,000 points. You will have the extra costs of transfers and day rooms, which PG includes in the fare, so if you are planning on flying in and out on their flights, I would still have PG do it for you - at least the roundtrip LAX-PPT, to take advantage of those items being included.

[avalong]

Just to clarify the Radisson vs the Sofitel ... as of this week, they are still sending some people to the Radisson.

 

The original disembarkation info we got on Monday shows buses leaving every 10 minutes starting at noon:

- first 3 buses Tour to Radisson (including us)

- 1 bus Tour to IC

- 1 bus Tour to Sofitel

- 1 direct transfer to IC

- 1 direct to Sofitel

- 1 direct to Radisson

 

The updated info we got in the daily program on Tuesday night showed that only our bus (the first one to depart) had been switched to Sofitel. I believe this is accurate, as a total of 3 buses were leaving Sofitel for the airport on Wednesday -- one bus that was switched and the two originally planned. The remainder probably did go to the Radisson as planned.

 

I did not see any mosquitoes at the Sofitel. It's next to the IC and you can actually see some of the IC's OWBs from the Sofitel's beach. There's no environmental difference between the two properties that would lead to mosquitoes at one but not the other. The only thing I can think is that maybe the IC does some suppression that the Sofitel does not do, but again, I did not see any mosquitoes at either hotel. I did get bitten during the tour stop at the waterfall prior to arriving at the Sofitel though.

 

The Sofitel property and room were smaller than the IC and not as beautiful, but still very nice. Any place would be a letdown from the PG, and if I hadn't had recent comparisons to the IC and the PG, I know I'd have been happy to stay at the Sofitel for a few days. In any case, we were only there for a short time. We arrived at 3:30, had to checkout of the room at 7:00 and wait in the lobby until 8:30 for the buses to the airport.

 

The timing on the inbound trip: arrive at the IC at 6:00 AM, checkout by 1:00 PM, transfer to the ship between 3:00 and 3:30 PM.

 

I got 19 (count 'em) mosquito bites while sitting by the pool at the Sofitel. I got zero mosquito bites at the IC. I think you are correct that the IC just has a better abatement program.

[Emdee]

Last year we were up early morning with the time difference and saw plenty of fogging activity at the IC. Its important not to get bitten as Tahiti does have dengue.

[Tikiintahiti]

Most of the better/larger resorts spray almost every day for mozzies.

 

I've had very little problems over the years but then again I go prepared. The best product I've found is this stuff www.buggspray.com

 

I get the vanilla with deet. I always take a 1oz spray bottle to keep with me at all times plus a 4oz refill bottle. This stuff is made im Minnesota where the state bird is a giant mosquitoe :eek:, need I say more.

[Escriteur]

I've had very little problems over the years but then again I go prepared. The best product I've found is this stuff www.buggspray.com

 

I get the vanilla with deet. I always take a 1oz spray bottle to keep with me at all times plus a 4oz refill bottle. This stuff is made im Minnesota where the state bird is a giant mosquitoe :eek:, need I say more.

 

Thanks, Tiki! Based on your your recommendation, I ordered a two-pack of the 4 oz. "Clean Scent" Bugg Spray with 25% DEET for our trip. Do you think one 4 oz. bottle will be enough to last the two of us for our 7-day cruise and 2-night pre-cruise stay, or should I bring both bottles?

 

Also, I was wondering if you veteran cruisers can provide some info about the day rooms. It sounds like we'll just be bringing our day bag/carryon to the hotel with us. What happens with our larger suitcases/checked luggage? Do they keep those locked away on the buses, or do they transport them to the airport separately? I'm just wondering how and when we get our luggage back prior to check in. If I pack the sun screen/bug spray in our day bags, I want to make sure I'm able to re-pack them in our checked luggage before we fly.

 

Finally, since we were unable to get an upgrade to the IC for our day room (they wanted $165 pp since our inquiry was within a few weeks of our sail date, and we felt that it wasn't worth that price for the few hours we'd be there)...I'm curious to hear from those of you who have stayed at the Radisson (or Sofitel, in case we get switched). Any advice on how to make the most of your afternoon while you're there? Thanks!

[Tikiintahiti]

Radison is just fine though it is way out of town and not near anything. Rooms were nice and had good view of ocean. Food was over priced. There is a black sand beach below hotel ......... nice. The pool area is also very nice.

 

They will bring all your bags to the room at the IC when arriving. On departure they will take to hotel and let you decide if you want to drag them to yuor room or leave in a big pile with the rest of them.

 

4oz should be fine as you won't need it while at hotels or ship. On the tours and at the airport you will want to use it.

[lithlith]

Thanks, Tiki! Based on your your recommendation, I ordered a two-pack of the 4 oz. "Clean Scent" Bugg Spray with 25% DEET for our trip. Do you think one 4 oz. bottle will be enough to last the two of us for our 7-day cruise and 2-night pre-cruise stay, or should I bring both bottles?

 

Also, I was wondering if you veteran cruisers can provide some info about the day rooms. It sounds like we'll just be bringing our day bag/carryon to the hotel with us. What happens with our larger suitcases/checked luggage? Do they keep those locked away on the buses, or do they transport them to the airport separately? I'm just wondering how and when we get our luggage back prior to check in. If I pack the sun screen/bug spray in our day bags, I want to make sure I'm able to re-pack them in our checked luggage before we fly.

 

Finally, since we were unable to get an upgrade to the IC for our day room (they wanted $165 pp since our inquiry was within a few weeks of our sail date, and we felt that it wasn't worth that price for the few hours we'd be there)...I'm curious to hear from those of you who have stayed at the Radisson (or Sofitel, in case we get switched). Any advice on how to make the most of your afternoon while you're there? Thanks!

 

I also purchased and took along that same Buggspray on our recent PG cruise in June. It worked great and didn't smell as bad as your average bug spray. We used the Buggspray in Huahine on our 4x4 (although we never saw any bugs), on Bora Bora on our 4x4 excursion (again, we saw no bugs), on PG's private motu in Tahaa (saw lots of bugs there!), on Moorea on a 4x4 excursion (saw lots of bugs there! especially at the Marae stop on the tour), and in Tahiti on the after cruise tour while at the waterfall area (saw lots of bugs there!).

 

Dayrooms - Baggage:

The baggage was transported separately in vans both pre and post cruise. They did unload it all at the hotels and airports and then you can claim yours. Pre-cruise at the IC in Tahiti, we dragged our own bags to our room, but they would have delivered them (we just didn't wanted to go to bed when we got there and not be woken up when they brought the bags). Before leaving the IC in Tahiti, we had a set time to place our bags outside of our room and they picked them up and moved them to a storage room until it was time to take them to the ship. Post-cruise at the Sofitel, they did not take bags to your rooms, if you wanted your bags it was up to you to take them back and forth to your room (otherwise they were stored out in the open in the lobby).

 

Dayrooms - What can you do while at these hotels in dayrooms?

Wander the property, take some photos, eat breakfast (included pre-cruise), use the pools, gym, etc. No matter what hotels you're at, you will spend some time in the lobby just hanging out because your check out times are 1-2 hours before the bus will arrive to take you to the ship or airport.

[Emdee]

Bugs in Tahaa- wow!

Never in 6 trips have I seen any there. May have just been the weather this year.

Flies a plenty especially around the food area but not those other critters.

[avalong]

There were no mosquitos at Motu Mahana when we were there last week. I would know -- they love me. And I wasn't wearing any mosquito repellent.

[lithlith]

We weren't expecting mosquitos Paul Gauguin's Motu Mahana in Tahaa. But I was glad I have brought our bug spray to the motu! Two weeks ago my husband was bit 3 times there, after those initial bites, we put on the bug spray and were fine the rest of the time. We also noticed several other couples near us putting on the bug spray at the motu.