Trip report 7/30/16 Cook & Society Islands 11 day Cruise

[luckybecky]

Our guide, Guy, was outstanding. What a fantastic tour we had! We drove all over, stopping at a black sand beach before heading inland to see pineapple fields, a beautiful valley with all kinds of fruits growing there, a scenic overlook, and stopping at a place where they let you sample (and of course, buy!) the locally made jams of pineapple, papaya, banana, etc. I had something I've never tried before: gardenia ice cream! It was sumptious!

 

We were a group of eight. Paul and I were with Ashley and Rick from the ship, with whom we have done several tours. And we were joined by four people who spoke French. At each of our stops, our guide gave information in both English and French.

 

The driving up to now was pretty easy on good, though sometimes narrow, dirt roads and occasionally through shallow streams. But that was all just a warm up!

 

The last part of the tour was the drive up to Magic Mountain. It was thrilling! And a little scary in places where the road was quite narrow with a dropoff on both sides. And rough and steep in places. So take your courage with you! But it was fun and the prize was worth it. We reached the top where you have to get off your ATV and finish the short climb up to the very top. When you emerge at the top you are rewarded with a breathtaking view. Oh, it was just marvelous.

 

Another wonderful day in paradise. I'm pinching myself. How did I get here?

 

The guide took several pictures of us during the tour, and then emailed us a link to them for free. He would pull over up ahead of us, then pause on the side of the road to snap photos as we powered across a stream or through a pineapple field.

 

This was the only tour provider our whole trip who did this for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

This is the view from the top of Magic Mountain. You have a 360 degree panoramic view from here.

 

 

 

 

 

Like almost every other excursion we had been on, this one returned later than sheduled. When we got on the tender to return to the ship, we were joined by about 20 islanders all dressed for the show that night and carrying huge bags and baskets of flowers. We had to shower very quickly (and trust me, you will need to shower after the ATV ride -- we were covered in dust!) in order to do the evening activities.

 

I wanted to watch the local women make leis and headbands. They showed us how to make our own leis, and they made me a beautiful headband. The headbands take awhile so you have to be patient if you want one. Because I wanted one, we didn't make it to La Palette or the Piano Bar where Polynesian music was being played.

 

 

 

 

We made these leis ourselves!

 

 

 

 

This is the beautiful headpiece they made for me:

 

[cruisefun27]

We had Rona as our room attendant a couple of years ago. Just love her. Hope to have her again next year.

 

 

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[Twosailors1t]

Wow, Becky, this is great! I got hungry looking at your food photos and taking notes for our trip next year!

Thanks!

Susan

[luckybecky]

Had to make a quick overnight trip out of town, but I'm home now so I'll try to finish our story.

 

Emdee, I'm afraid I wasn't nearly as good about learning the staff's names as they were about ours! I can't recall the maître d's name right now.

 

Rona was great, Cruisefun. All of the staff were exceptional, really.

 

Thanks twosailors!

 

 

 

On with our tale:

 

This was Polynesian night in the restaurants. All have the same menu, so there is no advantage to getting a reservation in La Veranda or Le Grill.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure this is the beef tenderloin with parsley crust:

 

 

Pumpkin gnocchi

 

 

 

Someone couldn't wait to try the dessert even long enough for a picture!

 

[luckybecky]

Then we went to the show which was very energetic and fun. Paul was pulled up on stage and did a silly dance. This was a local troupe. A waiter told us to be sure to come back for the Polynesian show the next night, when a professional troupe would perform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video of a very intense performer!

 

 

 

 

.

Edited August 28, 2016 by luckybecky

[luckybecky]

The next day, we had one of the excursions I had looked forward to the most and had made sure to book far in advance. I'm sorry to say it was a letdown.

 

This excursion was done through PG with the famous Dr. Poole, about whom we had read so many good things. He is very knowledgeable and very enthusiastic about his subject. He kept up a running banter, gave us an excellent education about the whales, and told us about his work studying them.

 

Unfortunately, however, we did not have the luck that the people on the previous day's excursion had, when the whales were in the calm lagoon and came right up to their boat. We had to go in search of them, and made the roller-coaster ride through the reef out into the open sea. That was an experience!

 

The sea was rolling, and we were out there for a good hour or so. I'm so lucky I've never had sea-sickness, but some people on the boat were turning a bit green around the gills. We were really rocking and rolling. After awhile, we did come upon two whales. Dr. Poole was so excited! And we were too, but I never got more than the briefest glimpse of the back of a whale. They weren't coming up out of the water very high at all -- just showing their upper backs very briefly-- and the waves were so high that I could not see over them to even catch much of this brief glimpse.

 

Dr. Poole would shout something like "see the footprint on the right at 2:00!" or, "blow!" And we all would look but I think most of us really saw very little of the whale<script id="gpt-impl-0.7911342281954466" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_94.js"></script>s. Eventually we left that area and went back into the lagoon where the water was mercifully calmer.

 

We began searching for dolphins but saw nary a one the whole morning. We saw a couple of sea turtles, but they were just brief shadows in the water as we motored by.

 

Since the dolphins weren't about, we moved on to an area where there is an opportunity to swim with rays. But this, too, was a bust. There were several boats already there with many swimmers, and it was too crowded for us to join in. I'm so glad we had the chance to swim with rays in Bora Bora with just our little group of six, instead of the cattle call we saw happening here (which is one of the primary reasons I try to choose private, small excursions). There were many people in the water.

 

During all of this Dr. Poole answered all our questions about the whales' habits and he was very interesting. But overall we were a little disappointed not to have had a better look at really any marine life. That's just the way it goes. It's mother nature, not Disneyland, and there are no guarantees.

 

By the way, there was a discussion on CC that said some people had apparently had an opportunity to actually get in the water and swim when they spotted whales. How awesome it would be to swim with whales! So we were ready in case the opportunity arose, but Dr. Poole did not invite anyone to go into the water while we were in the vicinity of the whales. Even if he had, I would not have dared because we were out in the open sea and the waves were alarmingly high for swimming.

 

When the whales were in the much calmer lagoon the previous day, I did not see anyone from the nearby whale watching boats entering the water. So maybe that chance to swim with the whales is a rare experience.

 

After we came back from the whale watching, we had lunch and then spent the afternoon packing. Paul returned our snorkel equipement to the marina. I can't believe our time here is coming to an end!

 

[luckybecky]

At 5pm we went up to the pool deck for the farewell party. It was just OK. They were passing out canapes and drinks. It was very windy. Many of the crew were introduced to great applause. They really did do an exceptional job. The captain spoke but they really needed to turn up his microphone. I could make out very little of what he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We watched our last sunset on board from the deck outside La Palette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one last menu from L'Etoile

 

 

[luckybecky]

That night was the professional Polynesian dance troupe. They put on quite a show! We enjoyed both troupes, the local one from last night and the ones tonight.

 

 

 

 

We wanted to have one last spin in the casino, but unfortunately it closed at 6:30 pm and would not reopen for the remainder of our time on board. Something to do with Tahitian regulations as we entered the port of Papeete. Don't forget to cash in all your tickets with all your winnings from the slots! $$$ ;)

 

I filled out the room service menu for breakfast so we could enjoy one last meal on our balcony. But when I got to the end of the menu, I discovered one little difference from the usual menu. The service time stopped much earlier than usual. Well, drat! We didn't want to get up quite so early, so we would have to go to the dining room for breakfast the next morning.

 

You also need to set out your luggage by 11:30pm the evening before disembarking. You can keep a carry-on or whatever you wish with you and then check it in the salon the next morning.

 

Here is the disembarkation info we received:

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

This day was such a drag. Of course because we had to leave the ship, but also it was just a long and tiring day. We got up and had breakfast. They ask that you be out of your room by 9:30am. We were already fully packed so that wasn't a problem. We had breakfast and then checked our hand luggage in the Grand Salon.

 

Then, there was absolutely nothing happening on the ship. I mean nothing. We were scheduled to leave at 12:10 so we had a lot of time to kill. We left the ship and made the very short walk to the market. We aren't big shoppers but it was interesting to see and helped us kill an hour or so. We bought a few souvenirs.

 

You might remember that I had wanted to see the market pre-cruise (mostly so I could see what prices were like, so I'd know a good deal if I saw it as we cruised the islands). And as I've said before, I enjoy going to local stores and markets so I was glad to have this chance to see the market before we left.

 

 

[luckybecky]

Back on board, the place was dead. Hardly anyone around and nothing going on. They opened La Veranda for lunch at 11:00 and all the passengers who remained on board went to eat. Then we went to the Salon to wait some more. Finally, it was time to disembark and say goodbye to the ship.

 

We put our luggage on a van for transfer to our hotel where we had a day room, and then we were directed to a bus. It was announced that we would be going on a 2 hour tour. What??? I thought we were going to the Pearl resort and our day room.

 

Remember when I told you that several days ago, there was a form in our room that asked about disembarkation? It wanted to know flight info, amount of luggage, etc. Well, apparently it also asked if we wanted to participate in this 2 hour tour. I don't recall it, but someone else told me we must have signed up for this.

 

I don't recommend you do this. It just made a long day that much longer. We would SOOO much have preferred to go straight to our resort/day room. But off we went on the tour bus. As you know by now, I am not a fan of big tour busses with 40 or 50 tourists traispsing around.

 

We were driven to the home of James Norman Hall, coauthor of The Mutiny on the Bounty. We had a tour of the home (inside only, not the grounds or his grave). It was OK, and might interest you if you are a fan of this author.

 

Then, back on the bus we were driven to an oceanside park which I believe is called Cook's Landing. There is a monument to Cook there that was erected in 1867. We had about 20 minutes to look around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We kept running into our friend Ferddie, the blackjack player we had met on the ship. He and his wife were on another bus doing the same tour. He too was miserable and agreed that it would have been so much better to just go to our resort and ditch this tour. (By the way, if Ferddie is reading this, or anyone knows how to contact him, let me know. I have some fun photos to share with him.)

 

Our last stop was a scenic overlook for another 15 minutes or so. It was just ok.

 

Trust me. Don't bother with all this! Find out how to get to your post-cruise resort as early as possible! I didn't do any research or planning for this last day (didn't think I needed to), and I regretted it.

Edited August 28, 2016 by luckybecky

[luckybecky]

Finally, we were taken to the Pearl to check into our dayrooms. Checkin was pretty quick and efficient. We were informed that porter service was not included in the deal for the dayroom made through PG. So we had to carry our own bags which was not a big deal to us, but it was a struggle for an elderly couple we saw. We had to go down one elevator, then walk to the farthest building on the property, then up another elevator. It was hard for them.

 

We FINALLY got into our room at 3pm. We had to have our luggage back at the lobby by 6. So we had a quick dip in the pool and I also took a swim in the ocean. I loved the black sand beach and it was almost completely deserted. Then we showered and tried to take a short nap but without much success. We had to check out of our room by 7:00pm, so we had only 4 hours to use the day room and other facilities.

 

Here is the info we received upon check-in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our brief swim time, but otherwise the whole day was just a drag. Mostly just killing time. The tour was not enjoyable. By contrast, our friends Guy and Maria said they had arrived at their day room around 10 am. They had enjoyed a leisurely day at the resort lounging by the pool and napping -- two naps, in fact! :)

 

So I strongly recommend that you avoid our mistake. Don't bother with the bus tour. Try to be transferred to your dayroom as early as possible so you can enjoy a day at the resort. You'll arrive at the airport for your long overnight flight better rested, rather than already dragging after a long day, and facing a long night of travel.

 

Our room was lovely. Quite large, with a king size bed and a huge jacuzzi tub (which we didn't have time to use!!) The room and the balcony were substantially larger than our pre-cruise room at the Intercontinental.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the view from our room:

 

[luckybecky]

As a side note: the beach access at the Pearl is positively treacherous. There is a long fence along the length of the beach, with just one small gate from the resort down to the black sand beach and the ocean. There is the gate and a few steps down. The steps have been poorly maintained, and have a definite downward slope. They are not level at all. And they are covered in sand. When I first passed through the gate and stepped onto the unexpectedly sloping, sand-covered steps, I very nearly found my feet going out from under me! So be careful. I don't know why they don't improve this. Seems that to provide better beach access should not be such a big problem for a beachfront resort.

 

The beach was beautiful, and with very few people.

 

 

 

 

 

And the sunset was lovely

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had dinner at the resort. Food was OK, but service was abysmal. Maybe we were just spoiled after the PG, but it took ages to get anything. Others around us were also complaining about the exceedingly slow service. We had two meals at the IC pre-cruise and didn't have this problem at all. It took at least half an hour just to pay our bill.

 

It was also expensive. We laughed that PG has forgotten us. On the way to our cruise, we were spoiled at the Intercontinental with extremely efficient porter service and meals included. Now that we have been thrown off the PG, we have to carry our own bags, pay for our meals, and even buy our own wine! What happened?!

 

Overall, we definitely preferred the IC. The room at the Pearl was much nicer, bigger, and with a bigger balcony. And I liked the beautiful black sand beach.

But as far as the rest of the resort goes, including the pool, the restaurant, the service, the bar and lobby areas -- all of these were better at the IC. If you think you will spend a lot of time in your room using the Jacuzzi and enjoying the balony, then choose the Pearl. But if you are more interested in the resort amenities and pool, then choose the IC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the restaurant

 

[luckybecky]

We arrived at the airport already dragging after a long day. Our flight took off at 11:45 pm. The couple in front of us immediately reclined their seats. The seat in front of Paul was defective and reclined too far, so that it was practically in Paul's lap. It was impossible for him to use his tray, or even to watch the TV screen in the back of his seat. As it turned out, our friend Guy from the ship had the exact same problem! We were on the one plane in the fleet that has notyet been renovated, and it showed.

 

We brought the problem to the attention of the flight attendant who took one look and agreed that there was definitately a problem, but she seemed unable to do anything about it. She did not ask the passenger to bring her seat forward. Halfway through the flight, the attendant offered to move Paul to the only empty seat on the plane. He tried it, but found himself seated next to a very big, broad-shouldered man who occupied roughly 1.5 seats, so it was equally uncomfortable.

 

To top it all off, we were right by a lavatory so all night the bright light would go on as people loudly opened and closed the door.

 

It was truly a miserable flight. We tried to sleep but were so uncomfortable it was impossible.

 

And the food! Oh my. The relatively good food we had on the way to Tahiti was not repeated. We had a monstrosity that the flight attendant said was a "salad." There was a potato salad of sorts, with a mixture of potatoes, green peas and I don't know what else. There was slab of some substance that I guess was head cheese -- a completely disgusting looking concoction whose name alone makes it inedible. Also some cheese. Some sort of dense cake-like dessert. Shortly before we left on our trip, there was a discussion about the food, and it was certainly borne out in our experience. Going there, it's fine. But coming home -- definitely take some snacks with you!!

 

 

 

Breakfast was slightly more edible. A greasy ham and cheese croissant served with, what else, another croissant.

 

[luckybecky]

I recall that not long before our trip, someone asked here on the PG board if 45 minutes was enough time to make their connection on the return trip. We agree with others who answered that question that the answer is most emphatically NO!

 

It took us almost an hour from the moment our wheels touched the ground until we actually got into the terminal in LAX. We landed without incident but then sat on the tarmac for 20-30 minutes. Finally there was an announcement that we would deplane at a remote location and take a shuttle to the terminal. Of course, it takes quite a bit of time to unload the plane. Then it took some time to load the buses and drive to whatever terminal they sent us to.

 

Finally, about an hour after touching down, we arrived in the in the cavernous room that serves as immigration control. There were hundreds of people. It took about 45-60 minutes more to go through the customs process. All told, we landed at 10:40am Califonia time. We emerged from customs at 12:25. Then, you still have to find your suitcases at baggage claim, re-check them, and transfer to another terminal. That took another 30 minutes. Arriving at the gate we had been directed to, we discovered that this was just a transfer point to a bus which would drive us to a remote terminal. So if you add all that up, it took us well above 2 hours from time of touchdown until we arrived at our next gate.

 

Give yourself plenty of time to make your connections! Who needs the stress of a close connection?! Just assume that it will take you at least 2 hours and maybe more to get through the process.

 

We had the opposite problem of too much time -- an 8 hour layover. What a drag! After the red-eye flight, the last thing we wanted was to sit in LAX for hours. We were so exhausted after our long day yesterday and the long, unpleasant flight. We finally got home at about midnight local time on Thursday -- almost 36 hours after we had awakened on debarkation day. My bed never felt so good!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sounds like the whole trip was a big downer. Not sure why you bothered reporting in such detail.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Wendy The Wanderer

[luv_cruisin33]

My son and I have started reading your review and LOVE it! We are cruising this same itinerary July 15, 2017 and starting to do research. I love your tips. Are you on FB that we could become friends and chat or can we exchange emails? Patty33oh@aol.com I will continue readying more tomorrow...bedtime now!

[shevais]

Thank you so much for this review. My wife and I just booked for 2018 for this 11 nigh trip. We sat down and read through each post. Great review!!

 

 

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[luckybecky]

Sounds like the whole trip was a big downer. Not sure why you bothered reporting in such detail.

 

Oh my goodness, Wendy, it was just the most amazing vacation I've ever had! If you are talking about our long, 36 hour day of travel to get home-- well that was a big downer. But it must always be a downer to have to leave the PG and return back to real life!! I'm sorry if I left the impression that the trip was anything less than wonderful!

[luckybecky]

Thanks luv cruising and shevais! I'm glad you are finding some helpful info here. I know it's long but I figure you can just skip ahead if you don't want to read every little detail. I hope it is useful.

 

I have just a couple more posts to share about packing and booking shore excursions and then I'll stop carrying on.

 

Becky

[luckybecky]

I usually pack pretty light, but this time we had trouble! I just wasn't sure what "Country Club Causal" meant for dinner. So I packed a lot to be sure I

covered all bases.

 

It turns out that meal times were very casual. You can't wear shorts and t shirts to dinner, but almost anything else is OK. The men seemed to all wear Hawaiian shirts and khaki pants. So easy. For ladies, almost anything other than shorts is OK. Capri or crop pants with a nice blouse, or a skirt or a simple dress, fine.

 

Our initial plan was to each take a carryon and one large shared suitcase. Wherever we travel, we always take a carryon with basic necessities and at least one change of clothes, just in case our checked luggage is lost.

 

Our trouble started when we weighed our luggage. Here are the allowances on Air Tahiti Nui: 22 pounds for your carryon, plus you can have a "personal item" such as a purse or laptop case weighing up to 6.6 pounds. Your checked luggage can be up to 50 pounds. Paul and I sharing one large suitcase were running up against that 50 lb limit, and the suitcase wasn't even full yet! So we recalibrated our plans and decided to each take a smaller suitcase.

 

Packing list for our 11 day cruise, plus two days pre-cruise and our long days and night of travel on the way home:

 

Evening wear: 3 sheath style dresses, 1 black dress pant, 3 dressy blouses. So that gave me 6 evening outfits. On an 11 day cruise, this meant each one

would be worn about twice.

 

Day wear: I overpacked. Pants: I took my 2 favorite crop pants, one black and one white. Also a white capri, white linen pants, and a white short and blue short. So that is 6 bottoms. I probably could have gotten by with half as many bottoms. As it turned out, I wore my swimsuit and coverup all day almost every day.When we returned to our room, we showered and then I put on my outfit for the evening. So I used very few of my casual daywear. I also ended up wearing the crop pants and blouses to dinner a few times, and wearing my evening outfits less often. The dining room was pretty casual, so I could have packed less evening wear.

 

Tops: again, I overpacked. In total, I took 9 tops including the ones already mentioned as evening wear. All of these were very lightweight synthetics which take up almost no space in a suitcase. Also, I limited my color palette, whether for day or evening. All of my bottoms were black or white, except for one short. My tops were all black or white, or for a bit of color I took several blue or magenta blouses. Everything could mix and match. I could have managed with less tops, but all of them were very lightweight so they weren't dealbreakers when it came to packing.

 

Active wear: I took 2 swimsuits. 2 casual knit dresses which could double as swimsuit coverups or as casual daywear on board. Swimwear and coverup was the only area in which I did NOT overpack. I wore these constantly. I also took 3 shorts and 3 tees, which I used only once, for our ATV tour.

 

Shoes: 1 black dress sandal with a sensible heel. 1 silver dressy sandal. 1 casual sandal. 1 flip flops. 1 water shoes. Don't know why I thought I needed 2 pairs of dress sandals. I could have done just fine with either the black or silver, didn't need both. I wore my cheap rubber flip flops more than anything else.

 

My carryon: I am paranoid about losing luggage and being stranded, so from the above list, here is what went into my carryon: one swimsuit is critical! I really don't want to arrive in French Polynesia without a tried and tested suit. Next, one very lightweight sheath dress for dinner. One crop pant and blouse outfit for daywear. One extra set of underwear. One set of active wear T shirt and short, which could double as pajamas if needed. So with these (plus what I wore on the plane), I figure I can manage for at least a few days if my checked luggage is misplaced. I always take my 3-1-1 bag with essential cosmetics, skin care and hair care. Paul also has one bag, mostly with my products and a few which are shared such as shampoo and a small tube of toothpaste. With two of these TSA approved 3-1-1 bags I have enough of everything I need to last at least a few days.

[twin123185]

This has to have broken a record on longest review! I had the same awful meal a year ago on ATN. Seems head cheese is on every flight now. Pathetic.

 

 

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[luckybecky]

This has to have broken a record on longest review! I had the same awful meal a year ago on ATN. Seems head cheese is on every flight now. Pathetic.

 

 

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I know, Twin. Sorry I'm droning on so much. I promise, this is the very LAST thing I have to share! :o

 

I want to talk a little more about booking private tours versus using the ship's excursions. As you well know by now if you have read this far, I am a big believer in researching and booking tours on your own. There is just NO comparison in price versus booking tours through the ship. As noted previously, you can get much smaller group excursions with more personal service. Overall I have found that you can get much, much better deals with private tour operators and have been very successful using them.

 

However, I have two warnings. First, if your private operator has a problem (flat tire, for example), and you miss the boat, your cruise line has no incentive to wait for you. The ship may leave. I have not heard of this happening, but it is a possibility. If you are on a ship-sponsored excursion and there is a problem, the ship will take responsibility and take care of you.

 

Second, you MUST take the time to do some internet research and make sure you are getting a good company. On this cruise, we only used companies that we had seen explicitly recommended by cruisers on the PG board here, and who also were very highly rated on Trip Advisor. I also read every word on the provider's website, watching out for any fine print. I only booked with them if I was very confident that they would be reliable. If you aren't able to do this research, then you should just go with the ship tours.

 

Overall, I think our private tours were outstanding experiences and exceptional value. But...

 

No matter how carefully you plan, things can go wrong. For example, last year in Italy, I scrupulously researched an Amalifi Coast excursion. Everything seemed perfect, and we spent a lot of money to travel to the coast and stay in a hotel there specifically to do this boating excursion. At the last minute, the excursion was cancelled. Although the tour cost was refunded, our travel expenses were not. We were out a whole lot of money and had a very disappointing day. It happens. But we also met someone on PG whose ship sponsored excursion was cancelled at the last moment, after they had already taken the tender over to meet their tour guide. It was hard for them to find a substitute activity to do at that late time.

 

There is no way to avoid any possible disappointment. Just take it in stride.

As Teking told me about my jellyfish sting, "s**t happens." Make the best of it. You are in Tahiti for goodness sake! What more can you ask?

 

Here is the PG shore excursion booking form. All of this info is available online, along with detailed descriptions of each tour. But I thought this form

was helpful because you have all the info condensed in one place.

 

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh my goodness, Wendy, it was just the most amazing vacation I've ever had! If you are talking about our long, 36 hour day of travel to get home-- well that was a big downer. But it must always be a downer to have to leave the PG and return back to real life!! I'm sorry if I left the impression that the trip was anything less than wonderful!

 

Glad you loved it. Yes, the flights are the worst part of the trip, and the food on the way back to the States is always worse. I think it's because the planes get provisioned in L.A. on the way over, and the supplies they can get are a lot better than that coming back.

[twin123185]

Don't misunderstand me! I enjoyed the read. I am glad you have the time and patience to post all this!

 

 

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