A few Tahiti booking questions

[jumelle]

Hello fellow Windstar lovers,

We are finally ready to book a Tahiti cruise in July 2023. We have been comparing the hotel package vs cruise alone. We would like to know if the hotel room provided by Windstar is available upon arrival at 5am. Or do you have to wait around for check in time? I was told that on departure day the room is made available at 3 pm. The free upgrade to all inclusive comes to $2100 more per person. The drink package isn’t super enticing to us as we don’t have that many drinks each day. 
The  flight from LAX to Tahiti leaves at 10 pm which does give us east coast dwellers time to connect but with flight cancellations becoming a common thing it does make us a bit nervous.

We can fly from DC, where we live, on United through SFO and arrive in Tahiti  at a reasonable hour.

Anyway I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has done the package or just the cruise with your own arrangements.

Thank you!

[Dbld777]

We flew Cleveland to SFO the day before our SFO to PPT flight on United(back in March). We just stayed at the SFO Hilton which is right on the airport grounds. The airport tram has a stop at the Hilton so super easy to claim your luggage and then take the tram to the hotel. We just chilled at the Hilton although depending on your arrival time at SFO you could certainly sightsee a bit. We just didn't want any more exposure to Covid before we got on the flight to Tahiti. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel you can catch the tram and get to the airport well ahead of time for an early check in.  Consider upgrading to the Premium Plus seats if you are flying United. Well worth it from our perspective. We arrived Tahiti about 6:30 PM and then stayed at the newly renovated Tahiti Hilton for 2 nights. Very nice hotel, great pool and great view of Moorea. We then stayed at the Sofitel Moorea in an OWB for 3 nights before getting back on the ferry to head back to Tahiti and board the Star Breeze. The sunrises on Moorea from the OWB were incredible! Would be glad to give you more info on the excursions and other details of our trip if you are interested. It was an outstanding trip for us! You'll love it there.

 

Sunrise from the deck of our OWB at Sofitel Moorea"

[jumelle]

Thank you for your response. When we actually book the cruise I would love to hear more.

Thanks

[avalong]

We arrived in Tahiti very early in the morning, and my recollection is that the hotel room was ready when were arrived there.