28 day Hawaii, Tahiti, Somoa?

[phabric]

I am looking at this cruise.  We have not been to any of the ports or so many sea days.

The itinerary is- 

LA

4 sea days

3 Hawaii ports

4 sea days

3 Samoa ports

3 sea days

4 French Polynesia ports

8 sea days

LA

 

Has anybody taken this cruise?

Did you find it too many sea days?

Sailings are November or March, which would be better?

 

Any Information on this cruise would be appreciated.

 

[Belle]

I've done it twice. Not to many sea days for me. November is better in my

opinion. Weather is good. You'll love the ports. Book it, you will enjoy.

 

What can do to make the sea days better is to get a good roll call going and

plan to meet sea days and plays games. Cards, dice ect. Makes it fun plus

you meet people. Someone makes a sign up sheet. Say meet everyday at 2 pm.

Can have a group slot pull. Have a gift game. Plan tours together.

 Also the ship has things going on during sea days.

[PacnGoNow]

5 hours ago, phabric said:

I am looking at this cruise.  We have not been to any of the ports or so many sea days.

The itinerary is- 

LA

4 sea days

3 Hawaii ports

4 sea days

3 Samoa ports

3 sea days

4 French Polynesia ports

8 sea days

LA

 

Has anybody taken this cruise?

Did you find it too many sea days?

Sailings are November or March, which would be better?

 

Any Information on this cruise would be appreciated.

 

Go over to the roll call for the cruise.  You’ll get a lot of information and see what is planned.

[chamima]

We've done this cruise twice. Once in November and once in February. (And I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!)

Weather was similar on both.

We LOVED the sea days but only you can judge if it'll work for you.

 

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by chamima

[leck57]

Haven't some of the ports in French Polynesia limited the size of cruise ships that can dock?

I'm interested in this cruise as well but I recall reading something about cruise ship passenger limits.

Edited June 4, 2022 by leck57

[chamima]

7 minutes ago, leck57 said:

Haven't some of the ports in French Polynesia limited the size of cruise ships that can dock?

I'm interested in this cruise as well but I recall reading something about cruise ship passenger limits.

 

Yes - they've eliminated Bora Bora - which we loved. 😪

It looks like three days in Papeete instead. 😪

It looks like Moorea is still on - it seemed smaller than Bora Bora so not sure why that choice was made. We didn't dock in either port . Both were tender ports.

Edited June 4, 2022 by chamima

[LACruiser88]

We have done this itinerary 4 times and loved each one!  But, you gotta love those sea days!  🛳🛳🛳

[phabric]

Is better to pick a cabin port side or starboard or does not matter?

[skynight]

Have done this cruise with Bora Bora instead of three days in Tahiti. Unfortunately Bora Bora now allows only small ships to anchor there. We loved the cruise because we enjoy sea days. There are 19 of them, 8 straight at the end. Unless the Crown Princess gets their propulsion issues resolved the itinerary may be modified. For that reason I would select March to give Princess additional time to correct the issues. There are only two stops in Samoa, American Samoa and  Samoa. Both of these ports are interesting, but limited tours and activities. Note that if you take the March trip you will go to sleep on Friday March 31 and wake up the next morning on Friday March 31. Two ports in French Polynesia, not 4. You will have 3 days, 2 overnights in Papeete. There are tours and other activities there. Not much on Moorea. Just one small store near the pier and one small general store up the street. Believe there is a hotel that gives day passes. There are also some tours. If you book recommend you become active in the roll call.

Port/Starboard, no difference. You are heading basically north & south. 

Edited June 4, 2022 by skynight

[phabric]

Thanks for helpful information.  Can’t wait until Princess releases more dates.  We enjoy planning the cruises in advance.

[EDVM96]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

Yes - they've eliminated Bora Bora - which we loved. 😪

It looks like three days in Papeete instead. 😪

It looks like Moorea is still on - it seemed smaller than Bora Bora so not sure why that choice was made.

 

In late September, French Polynesia's government announced that cruise ships with a capacity greater than 3,500 passengers will be banned from making port calls in the country as of January 1, 2022. Ships with capacity of more than 2,500 passengers will be limited to calls at Tahiti and two other ports with sufficient infrastructure to accommodate them. Bora Bora, the country’s top tourist draw, will further limit daily cruise passengers to 1,200—effectively barring most large cruise ships from docking.

[mnocket]

We did this cruise right before cruising was shut down by Covid.  Samoa was bypassed - not because of Covid, but because of a Measles outbreak.  We absolutely loved this cruise and had planned to do it again until Bora Bora was dropped from the itinerary.  Our cruise had 2 days in Bora Bora and 1 in Papeete.   3 days in Papeete is no offset for missing 2 days in Bora Bora.  Patrick's tour in Bora Bora was the highlight of the entire trip.  If I'd never done this cruise before I'd still consider it, but with the itinerary change I'll pass on a second go-round.

 

Also if you don't enjoy  sea days this is probably not a good choice.  We love sea days, but I must admit 8 straight sea days on the return got to be a bit tedious even for us.

[phabric]

What currency to do use to purchase or tips?

[roxievegas]

We did this before Covid, so had some different stops

 

Would not do it again.  Too many sea days.  

[skynight]

4 hours ago, phabric said:

What currency to do use to purchase or tips?

US$

[chamima]

5 hours ago, phabric said:

What currency to do use to purchase or tips?

 

For tips on the ship US$ but we found that , while almost everyone in Tahiti would take US$, things were significantly less expensive if we paid in Tahitian dollars. We found a money exchange in our city and took some. If you're not planning on any major purchases (black pearls or other jewelry) it might not be worth the trouble though.

[Daniel A]

21 hours ago, phabric said:

Is better to pick a cabin port side or starboard or does not matter?

DW & I were booked on this cruise on Star Princess but when Star got transferred to P&O early (plus Covid shutdown) the sailing was cancelled.  FWIW, we wanted to book it again after the restart but we weren't seeing this itinerary being offered by Princess.  We booked a similar itinerary on HAL for next year.  For about $5K less money, we are sailing in the same type of stateroom, the HAL cruise is a week longer with overnights in Honolulu, Raiatea, Moorea and Papeete, and drinks, wi-fi and crew appreciation are included.  But, to answer your question, we decided to book on the port side so we could enjoy sunset cocktails on our balcony on the eight sea days heading north to San Diego.

[jagoffee]

We have cruised on this itinerary once.  We enjoyed the cruise very much and the elimination of long flights make this cruise attractive.  It is obviously a very relaxing cruise with all the sea days.  Our cruise was in the fall.  We did not particularly enjoy the first couple days out of San Pedro because it was cool.  The elimination of the Bora Bora anchorage would make us reluctant to repeat this cruise.  
 

We loved it when Princess had the R class ships cruising in the French Polynesia.  We enjoyed this cruise numerous times.  Twice we did a B2B with the French Polynesia and a repositioning cruise to or from Honolulu.  Much better option IMO.

 

You might wish to consider a different cruise line if you can find a smaller ship that can anchor in Bora Bora and perhaps reposition itself before or after.  IMO the French Polynesia is a perfect location to enjoy/explore on a smaller cruise ship.  
 

Moorea is also very nice with two different tender  ports.  Moorea is also easy to reach by ferry from Tahiti.  
 

Good luck.

[Mary loves to travel]

On 6/5/2022 at 5:44 AM, Daniel A said:

DW & I were booked on this cruise on Star Princess but when Star got transferred to P&O early (plus Covid shutdown) the sailing was cancelled.  FWIW, we wanted to book it again after the restart but we weren't seeing this itinerary being offered by Princess.  We booked a similar itinerary on HAL for next year.  For about $5K less money, we are sailing in the same type of stateroom, the HAL cruise is a week longer with overnights in Honolulu, Raiatea, Moorea and Papeete, and drinks, wi-fi and crew appreciation are included.  But, to answer your question, we decided to book on the port side so we could enjoy sunset cocktails on our balcony on the eight sea days heading north to San Diego.

Have you sailed with HAL before?   We have not; Carnival, RCCL, and now mostly Princess.  
 

 

Mary

 

 

[Daniel A]

16 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Have you sailed with HAL before?   We have not; Carnival, RCCL, and now mostly Princess.  
 

Mary

This will be our first HAL cruise.  We've done NCL, Viking River and mostly Princess.  Star was the first ship we ever sailed on and it was a great disappointment not being able to take a farewell cruise on her.

[Mary loves to travel]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

This will be our first HAL cruise.  We've done NCL, Viking River and mostly Princess.  Star was the first ship we ever sailed on and it was a great disappointment not being able to take a farewell cruise on her.

Looking forward to how you compare your (future) experience on HAL with Princess.   It looks like an intriguing itinerary; not sure how we'd like HAL.

 

Mary

 

 

[Daniel A]

10 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Looking forward to how you compare your (future) experience on HAL with Princess.   It looks like an intriguing itinerary; not sure how we'd like HAL.

 

Mary

We aren't fans of go kart tracks, waterslides, and acrobatic shows.  We cruise primarily for the itineraries and want peace and tranquility rather than excitement on board.  I don't know how it will compare to Princess, but I think it should compare more favorably to Princess than many other lines.  This cruise will have 19 sea days which is more time than any days spent in total on any of our prior cruises.  I don't know how so many sea days will affect our overall impression of the cruise.  I better load up my Kindle beforehand!  😏 

[chamima]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:44 AM, Daniel A said:

DW & I were booked on this cruise on Star Princess but when Star got transferred to P&O early (plus Covid shutdown) the sailing was cancelled.  FWIW, we wanted to book it again after the restart but we weren't seeing this itinerary being offered by Princess.  We booked a similar itinerary on HAL for next year.  For about $5K less money, we are sailing in the same type of stateroom, the HAL cruise is a week longer with overnights in Honolulu, Raiatea, Moorea and Papeete, and drinks, wi-fi and crew appreciation are included.  But, to answer your question, we decided to book on the port side so we could enjoy sunset cocktails on our balcony on the eight sea days heading north to San Diego.

 

I just looked at your itinerary and would also love to hear what you think of Holland America. The itinerary is really, really good and has Fiji and the Marquesas included. It sounds like a fabulous cruise!

We've pretty much stuck to Princess and Celebrity (and a couple of Disney with the grandkids) but it might be time to start looking at something else.

Edited June 7, 2022 by chamima

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

I just looked at your itinerary and would also love to hear what you think of Holland America. The itinerary is really, really good and has Fiji and the Marquesas included. It sounds like a fabulous cruise!

We've pretty much stuck to Princess and Celebrity but it might be time to start looking at something else.

I've never seen such an active roll call as this cruise has.  It is now 50 pages long and we're still 256 days out!  

[Daniel A]

My apologies to all for the thread drift.  I just wanted to respond to the questions put to me.  The Princess cruise looks very appealing as well.