Review pacific Crossing and inaugural Tahiti cruise

[Strenz]

Here it is folks. I do not know why CC takes so long for some of you have requested this and are leaving soon. Hope it helps, please let me know if you have questions. Great cruise, but we love Windstar Cruises, have done 14 and we are generally very easy people. Happy Windstaring, Susanne

 

 

Our cruise was the Trans-Pacific Cruise along with the inaugural cruise of Tahiti after 12 years being absent. The crossing was extraordinary. We left Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica and 4196 nautical miles later and 18 days we arrived in Papeete, Tahiti. Leaving the continent for a crossing is always exciting. There were 70 of us, mostly people who have completed other crossings with Windstar Cruises. On our first day out we saw a bird on a turtle, a freightor on the horizon and a whale, then for two weeks we saw only the ocean and amazing sunsets. Vast, warm, beautiful tail winds and calm waters. We crossed the equator with King Neptune and his Queen, a fun celebration shared by crew and passengers. The first land we saw was after 14 days and that was the Islands of Disappointment. Because we made such good time the last two days the Wind Spirit was under sail only. The peace, the gentle bow gracefully riding the waves and the warm breezes made for a spectacular sail. On the 18th day we woke up to Tahiti on the horizon and after each passing hour Tahiti became larger and clearer all without a motor. It was thrilling. We arrived at the dock in Papeete with traditional dancers and musicians welcoming us. The day the Tahiti cruise was to begin the President of Tahiti came on board and there was a very nice welcoming ceremony. Captain Pedro Pinto and his crew did an amazing job.The service was outstanding as it always is .Chef Darin was inventive and the food was delicious considering that he had no fresh provisions for 18 days. This great crossing was a terrific introduction to the cruise ahead.

The cruise was the first time Windstar had sailed the Polynesia waters in 12 years. Of the 70 people on the crossing 35 of us stayed on and for the inaugural cruise it was a full ship of 148. Boarding is always easy and welcoming on the Windstar. We sailed away with a beautiful sunset. We anchored in Cook's Bay Moorea, it was georgeous. We took a ship's tour with Michael Poole watching the spinner dolphins, we watched these dolphins dance on the water it was unbelievable. Highly recommend this tour we learned so much. The next day we anchored off Tahaa where Windstar rented a motu ( little Islands in the lagoon) where we had the beach barbecue. The lagoons are shallow, you walk in the water and swim with beautiful fish in the coral gardens. It was a glorious day. The sail to Raiatea was a highlight for we sailed around the lagoon and we saw the sunset on the horizon with the peaks of Bora Bora in the back ground. Visually exquisite. Here we docked and had our deck barbecue and a demonstration of lei making and tying the pareu. It was great, colorful, there was music it was a wonderful demo. For the next two days were anchored off Bora Bora. We took the ship's tour of swimming with the sting rays, black fin sharks and snorkeling in the lagoon. Wonderful and thrilling again. I was so happy about the safety procedures to make it a safe, exciting and stressless, experience. The sting rays were gentle, friendly and graceful. The sharks completely ignored us which was very funny and the fish were as colorful as a fauvism painting. The Windstar rented another motu here where we experienced a traditional Tahitian barbecue with a performance by fire dancers. Beautiful evening after a day of clouds and on and off showers. Our last island was Huahine, we took a tour of the Sacred Sites where the royalty of the ancient times lived. I had seen the ancient sites of Easter Island and Hawaii so now I completed the Polynesian Triangle. It was a tour for people who love history. Paul was an excellent teacher. This was a busy, generous cruise with lots to do, experience and see. Service impeccable as usual. Food wonderful. The sail aways with the music of 1492 enhanced the majestic scenery that surrounded us. Despite the fact that this was Windstar's first cruise back everything was flawless. Steve, the cruise director, gave out great information. This ended our 14th cruise with Windstsr and we are already reserved for 2015. Tahiti was thrilled Windstar returned and I am sure the passengers were thrilled as well. Great Job Windstar!

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Here it is folks. I do not know why CC takes so long for some of you have requested this and are leaving soon. Hope it helps, please let me know if you have questions. Great cruise, but we love Windstar Cruises, have done 14 and we are generally very easy people. Happy Windstaring, Susanne

 

 

Our cruise was the Trans-Pacific Cruise along with the inaugural cruise of Tahiti after 12 years being absent. The crossing was extraordinary. We left Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica and 4196 nautical miles later and 18 days we arrived in Papeete, Tahiti. Leaving the continent for a crossing is always exciting. There were 70 of us, mostly people who have completed other crossings with Windstar Cruises. On our first day out we saw a bird on a turtle, a freightor on the horizon and a whale, then for two weeks we saw only the ocean and amazing sunsets. Vast, warm, beautiful tail winds and calm waters. We crossed the equator with King Neptune and his Queen, a fun celebration shared by crew and passengers. The first land we saw was after 14 days and that was the Islands of Disappointment. Because we made such good time the last two days the Wind Spirit was under sail only. The peace, the gentle bow gracefully riding the waves and the warm breezes made for a spectacular sail. On the 18th day we woke up to Tahiti on the horizon and after each passing hour Tahiti became larger and clearer all without a motor. It was thrilling. We arrived at the dock in Papeete with traditional dancers and musicians welcoming us. The day the Tahiti cruise was to begin the President of Tahiti came on board and there was a very nice welcoming ceremony. Captain Pedro Pinto and his crew did an amazing job.The service was outstanding as it always is .Chef Darin was inventive and the food was delicious considering that he had no fresh provisions for 18 days. This great crossing was a terrific introduction to the cruise ahead.

The cruise was the first time Windstar had sailed the Polynesia waters in 12 years. Of the 70 people on the crossing 35 of us stayed on and for the inaugural cruise it was a full ship of 148. Boarding is always easy and welcoming on the Windstar. We sailed away with a beautiful sunset. We anchored in Cook's Bay Moorea, it was georgeous. We took a ship's tour with Michael Poole watching the spinner dolphins, we watched these dolphins dance on the water it was unbelievable. Highly recommend this tour we learned so much. The next day we anchored off Tahaa where Windstar rented a motu ( little Islands in the lagoon) where we had the beach barbecue. The lagoons are shallow, you walk in the water and swim with beautiful fish in the coral gardens. It was a glorious day. The sail to Raiatea was a highlight for we sailed around the lagoon and we saw the sunset on the horizon with the peaks of Bora Bora in the back ground. Visually exquisite. Here we docked and had our deck barbecue and a demonstration of lei making and tying the pareu. It was great, colorful, there was music it was a wonderful demo. For the next two days were anchored off Bora Bora. We took the ship's tour of swimming with the sting rays, black fin sharks and snorkeling in the lagoon. Wonderful and thrilling again. I was so happy about the safety procedures to make it a safe, exciting and stressless, experience. The sting rays were gentle, friendly and graceful. The sharks completely ignored us which was very funny and the fish were as colorful as a fauvism painting. The Windstar rented another motu here where we experienced a traditional Tahitian barbecue with a performance by fire dancers. Beautiful evening after a day of clouds and on and off showers. Our last island was Huahine, we took a tour of the Sacred Sites where the royalty of the ancient times lived. I had seen the ancient sites of Easter Island and Hawaii so now I completed the Polynesian Triangle. It was a tour for people who love history. Paul was an excellent teacher. This was a busy, generous cruise with lots to do, experience and see. Service impeccable as usual. Food wonderful. The sail aways with the music of 1492 enhanced the majestic scenery that surrounded us. Despite the fact that this was Windstar's first cruise back everything was flawless. Steve, the cruise director, gave out great information. This ended our 14th cruise with Windstsr and we are already reserved for 2015. Tahiti was thrilled Windstar returned and I am sure the passengers were thrilled as well. Great Job Windstar!

 

Susanne,

Thank you so much for this wonderful review of Windstar's return to Tahiti. Many of us have been waiting to hear from you lucky ones that experienced the excitement of this event. Please continue to share your experiences aboard as each bit of information makes our upcoming cruise just that more exciting.

Shirley

[Love.II.Cruise]

Wonderful review! We did Paul Gauguin in Tahiti and next time we would love to do Windstar.

[Odd_Meter]

Thanks, Susanne!

 

Wonderful review. Leaving Saturday for this trip and very excited. Were there many mosquitoes on the islands?

 

Dave

[wong_joy]

Susanne, thanks for your great review. I don't know windstar rented two motu in french polynesia, that's great for relax in a private island.May I know the tour you booked is thru windstar or other agent? Thanks , Joyce

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Strenz]

Hi, luckily for me because I am a mosquito magnet, no mosquitos and it was humid and I hiked inland. We did the tours from the ship 1. Sacred Sites 2. Michael Poole's dolphin sighting 3. Swimming with sting rays, black fin sharks and snorkeling all were exceptional. Have a great cruise. Susanne

( we did the tours from the ship because we did the crossing and were completely without phones/internet for 19 days, also beware Tahiti does not have free Internet cafés you have to buy SIM cards, they are costly and sometimes the wait to get on the internet will eat up your money. Before we left we bought international telephone time and texting)

[Odd_Meter]

Great to hear that the mosquitoes were scarce. We had some hikes on our list for Moorea, Raiatea and Tahiti, but only tentatively until we had a feel for the mosquito situation. I remember that the internet on the ship was almost useless on our istanbul to Athens trip last summer.

[MiMiT]

Thanks for posting your review - we are booked in August and have done Princess to Tahiti a few years back but never Windstar. So, here are my questions, if we do not book excursions everyday will we be able to go into "town" and spend time? Do we want to be careful not to fill up all our time with excursions so as to have some free time? How much time was the marina deck available to snorkel, sail, and kayak from? Is that crowded schedule wise, or can you pretty much access the equipment whenever you want? We did lots of tours on our last trip, and want lots of snorkeling this time again.

Also, do you "dress" for breakfast/lunch on board or do you wear swimsuits/coverups?

Thanks for all your help...

[ducklite]

Great to hear that the mosquitoes were scarce. We had some hikes on our list for Moorea, Raiatea and Tahiti, but only tentatively until we had a feel for the mosquito situation. I remember that the internet on the ship was almost useless on our istanbul to Athens trip last summer.

 

If you are doing the Trail of the Ancients in Moorea you will need bug spray with 25% DEET. The regular 8% will not be enough--as those who brought that and then borrowed our 25% spray learned. I would imagine Trail of the Three Coconuts would be the same.

[ducklite]

Thanks for posting your review - we are booked in August and have done Princess to Tahiti a few years back but never Windstar. So, here are my questions, if we do not book excursions everyday will we be able to go into "town" and spend time? Do we want to be careful not to fill up all our time with excursions so as to have some free time? How much time was the marina deck available to snorkel, sail, and kayak from? Is that crowded schedule wise, or can you pretty much access the equipment whenever you want? We did lots of tours on our last trip, and want lots of snorkeling this time again.

Also, do you "dress" for breakfast/lunch on board or do you wear swimsuits/coverups?

Thanks for all your help...

 

Swimsuits with coverups will be fine for breakfast.

 

Other than Papaete, the ports don't have much of a "town."

 

We just got off the Paul Gauguine which visits the same ports.

[6rugrats]

Susanne, thanks for your great review. I don't know windstar rented two motu in french polynesia, that's great for relax in a private island.May I know the tour you booked is thru windstar or other agent? Thanks , Joyce

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

You are going to have to book most tours through the ship, as the tour operators have contracts with the cruise lines, and won't book with you privately.

[ducklite]

You are going to have to book most tours through the ship, as the tour operators have contracts with the cruise lines, and won't book with you privately.

 

 

To add, the two I booked independently were a mess. One operator have us the wrong meeting time and told us he never confirmed with us--I have the emails to prove otherwise. They did come back for us 90 minutes later, but we missed one part of the tour that I really wanted to do.

 

The other didn't confirm despite my repeated emails, and when he did he changed us to a different tour we had no interest in at the last minute. We cancelled.

 

Given those experiences, I would not book a private tour in FP. Best tours we took by far were on Moorea with Dr. Eddowes and Dr. Poole.

[Strenz]

I concur we did not reserve independently because we were out of internet/telephone range for so long if anyone would have tried to contact us it would have been impossible. S.so, long before we left I contacted many independent tours and no one answered me and I even wrote in French. We are not tour people at all but the dolphins with Dr. Michael Poole was tremendous, the tour of the ancient sites with Paul was right up my alley for I am very interested in ancient peoples and the swimming with the sting rays and sharks was outstanding as well. Given where we were, I do not think the prices were out of line. I hate shopping so the little towns were that little towns, interesting to walk around but not time consuming. I did one tour that I did not like and I would have rather swam off the stern. The swimming off the motus was great. The swimming platform is open most days depending on weather. When you dock it is not open Papeete and Raiatea. In Bora Bora the weather was poor one day so it did not open and in Tahaa it was motu day and all swimming toys were on the island. No dressing up for lunch and breakfast swim suits cover ups, shorts etc.Dinner just nice pants and a blouse. It was very hot and humid, lots of cloud cover because it was so hot, the clouds were your friends, great breezes beautiful sunsets. It was great, we loved every minute. Susanne

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[ducklite]

We saw you leaving as we were coming into Papaetee. I think "hot" is a relative word. We live in Florida and felt it was almost a bit cool on over half our trip. I needed my UV rash guard jackets to keep me warm as much as to keep the sun off. It was the same temps in FP as it was at hope, spring, but not summer. Of course for people from cooler climates it probably felt quite warm or even hot. As I said, it's all relative.

[RAYSAN11]

Strentz, I went to Tahiti back in 2001 on Renaissance. At the pier in Papeete there was a market place. There was a stall there that sold flower arrangements. Would you know if it was still there as I have a friend going on the cruise later this year and he is interested as it is his Anniversary

[ducklite]

Strentz, I went to Tahiti back in 2001 on Renaissance. At the pier in Papeete there was a market place. There was a stall there that sold flower arrangements. Would you know if it was still there as I have a friend going on the cruise later this year and he is interested as it is his Anniversary

 

There were several stalls selling fresh flowers both in arrangements as well as hei's and lei's.

[Strenz]

Hi, the market just a short jaunt from where Wind Spirit docks is loaded with beautiful flowers, leis etc. Beautiful market with everything and reasonable considering the prices in Tahiti. Great place to wander and purchase. Tell you friend to have a great time. Susanne

[wong_joy]

Thanks for the information . I will consider join the tour with windstar .

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Swinden]

Question on the Trans-Pac. Was there internet connectivity for the entire crossing?

 

Yes, I know that we are supposed to be "unplugged" for the voyage, I still need to be "connected" for about an hour each day.

[Strenz]

We have done both the Atlantic and Pacific crossings. We do not buy internet access but lots of people do, while very slow the internet on the Atlantic was more reliable than the Pacific. On the Pacific we lost all satellite connections therefore the internet for almost 3 days. We did not even get the little daily newspaper. Polynesia, in general had poor and expensive internet connections. We bought international texting capabilities and so many minutes of email in case of an emergency before we left. It was a great trip. Susanne

[miklinga]

On Raiatea there is a coffee shop / bar at the corner by the pier that has free internet with a purchase. The speed was OK and there were lots of passengers and some crew there. It is coded and the code changed once while we were there having drinks. In Bora Bora there was a bar/restaurant in a small strip shopping center to the left coming from the dock with internet at $5. We could not get a connection there but others did, so it may have been our netbook. Being retired we did not need internet, but my husband was getting the DTs not being able to search for the next travel destination. Safe travels!

[Strenz]

So happy you enjoyed Tahiti as much as we did. Understand totally planning for the next trip before the one you are on is over. Five days before the Trans-Pacific we reserved the Wind Surf for 2015 the Tall Ship Cruise Oslo to Dover. All our trips with Windstar Cruises have been great, so much so we have never even tried other ships. Happy and Safe Sailing and Traveling. Susanne