Experiences of trips on the 14 day Marquesas etc

[Ormylad]

Hi,

Firstly I would like to thank you all for your postings regarding PG cruising the information from you all is very helpful regarding the ship and life on board etc.

This will be our first cruise, to celebrate our Golden Wedding. We are fairly well travelled and included the Cook Islands on our return from New Zealand. We loved our trip there and decided to try the French Polynesian Islands while we were relatively fit.

After looking at all the options with other cruise lines we have booked via our TA in the U.K. the PG 14 day cruise to the Marquesas etc. in Jan 2019.

The small ship is ideal for us, although some of our experienced cruising friends warn that small ships are bad in rough seas but we feel that it is a risk worth taking.

My questions relate to the trips available on this cruise their suitability for 75 year olds.

We can only snorkel from a beach, climbing in and out of boats to swim is not an option any longer.

Do you have any experiences of the trips available?

We wish to see the interior of the islands but note the warnings relating the uneven roads etc. Do any of you have any experiences of the rides?

With the exception of Papeete are tenders used on all the islands?

Have any of you experienced the ATVs ?

Another question is how do you book the laundry package? it doesn’t seem easily available on line

Kind regards

Al

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[Wendy The Wanderer]

We did the Marquesas 10 years ago, and loved it. Probably our favourite PG itinerary.

 

Your experience may vary, but we had no problems with weather on the ship. We have experienced quite rough weather between the Cooks and Papeete, and the ship handled it well.

 

The Marquesas themselves really don't have much in the way of snorkelling, since they have no lagoons (they are young, high islands, so no reefs surround them. But the islands themselves are magnificent, really beautiful. Not sure how excursions have changed in 10 years, but they were fairly limited then, mostly jeeps (comfy ones) with groups of 4-6. The roads were primitive, although mainly paved, and not too bumpy.

 

You may be able to just swim from shore, I'm not sure, I didn't try, and I wouldn't do it without good local knowledge of currents and sharks. There are other snorkeling stops on the itinerary, including Bora Bora where you can snorkel from shore at the private beach, as well as on Motu Mahana, their private motu (islands), and there's a beach on Moorea. There may be excursions as well that include snorkeling from shore--I know we did one in Rangiroa like that, so you'll have to study the offerings, and I believe there may be one like that on Huahine (didn't take it).

[Cruisedreamer1]

The laundry package is booked through your travel agent and billed once you are on board. Guest Services will require you to sign a form acknowledging that this service is extra. We used it on our past PG cruise and it was wonderful! Everything came back clean and pressed and either folded or on hangers as one wished. You are required to complete a form each time you use the service. Count carefully or the bag will be returned unwashed for a recount! An added plus was that once we came home I only had a few items to wash! Totally spoiled.

[DavidTheWonderer]

The Marquesas itinerary is probably my favourite PG cruise. But all other itineraries are a close second.

 

 

 

Snorkeling is not something that the Marquesas are known for, but other ports on the cruise will provide ample opportunity for this.

 

 

You will almost certainly tender in at all ports except in Papeete itself. The crew is expert at getting passengers on and off the tenders. I've seen multiple examples of people with walkers handled with no difficulty. I've even seen them deal with a passenger with multiple sclerosis seamlessly.

 

 

Regarding rough seas, the lower decks mid-ship are best. But one of the roughest passages I've experienced was on a relatively huge ship with 1200 passengers in the Atlantic ocean, so size doesn't really matter in this case.

 

 

 

As you will no doubt learn unless you already know, the Maori in the Cook's originally came from the Marquesas.

[MrRandal]

The laundry package is booked through your travel agent and billed once you are on board. Guest Services will require you to sign a form acknowledging that this service is extra. We used it on our past PG cruise and it was wonderful! Everything came back clean and pressed and either folded or on hangers as one wished. You are required to complete a form each time you use the service. Count carefully or the bag will be returned unwashed for a recount! An added plus was that once we came home I only had a few items to wash! Totally spoiled.

 

The laundry package is the best bargain of the entire trip. Yes do count carefully, I miscounted twice and our laundry was returned for correction, but was done when promised. Top notch cleaning and ironing. BTW a "pair" of socks is only 1 item!

[FlightMedic555]

Some of the snorkel excursions use pretty large boats that seat about 50, maybe more. Those tend to have a large stairway into the water and it is not a vertical ladder. While the majority of the excursions use smaller boats which do require a ladder there are some shore options.

 

On Moorea we love the Hilton Hotel and you can arrange with them for a day pass which includes lunch, towels, snorkel gear, kayak, etc. It is about $80 per person but you would need to arrange for transport (taxi) from the tender location. The PG has their own excursion which is a hotel/beach day at the Intercontinental but the snorkeling is better at the Hilton.

 

On Bora Bora you could also do a PG hotel/beach day excursion at the IC. You could also just take a $5 taxi to Matira Beach and spend the day there. On Huahine we just did their hotel/beach day and it was good. Decent snorkeling was right from the beach.

[MrRandal]

On Bora Bora you could also do a PG hotel/beach day excursion at the IC. .

 

While the IC Thalassa in Bora Bora is an incredibly beautiful property, snorkeling is not very exciting. Most of the sea floor is white sand.