I'm back with answers to your questions!

[Spikesgirl]

Hi Charlie,

 

Hope you have time to relax too after that great trip!

 

Did you dive or snorkel in Tiputa pass? How was it?

 

Was your island night in Raiatea? What time did the local children dance? I tried to ask TP but they can't give any info unfortunately.We booked a night dive there (7-9pm) that's why, but don't want to miss the kid's performance.

 

Thanks.

Ludy

 

Hi, Ludy!

 

We did a drift snorkel in the Tiputa pass. Water currents were pretty fast and strong, I'm not sure if you could dive when we snorkeled, but possibly when the tides were at rest you could. The mantas were incredible. Also saw dolphins, sharks and sea turtles during the snorkel. For us, tide was incoming from 1 to about 3 p.m.

 

The kids' show is supposed (note this word) to start at 5 p.m. Our's didn't start until 5:45 and it runs about half an hour. It was cute, especially the three-year-old. At 9 that night, there is another show with the slightly older (teens and up) performers. There is no regular Princess show that evening. Head leis and regular leis were on sale for $5 each on the ship just outside the show room. It was a very fragrant evening as 80% of the passengers got one or the other or both!

 

Cheers!

 

Hope this helps a little.

[gvre]

Thanks Charlie,

I'll go take a look at the roll call now.

Debbie

[eastwest]

Thanks Charlie, we'll cancel the night dive then and enjoy the island night in Raiatea. The night dive we can do another time,maybe in Bora Bora or Moorea post cruise. We have booked 2 tank dives in Rangi,one hopefully in Tiputa pass if the current is not too strong. Can't wait to see the huge mantas!

 

Have a nice,relaxing weekend!

[maminaz]

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere, but I am assuming there are restroom facilities of some sort for the motu picnics/snorkels?

[Spikesgirl]

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere, but I am assuming there are restroom facilities of some sort for the motu picnics/snorkels?

 

Yes there is, but they can be a little..umm...rustic at times. They are, however, clean and provide for the basic necessity. There is running water and TP, but not always soap or paper towels. But, heck, you are on a little island in the middle of the ocean! There are also 'wash off' showers for after snorkeling.

[BigGuy25]

Just a short post to let everyone know that there indeed can be an exception and Bloody Mary's is occasionally open on a Sunday. We were there on a Sunday in July of 2007. There had been a national holiday during the preceding week and to make up for the revenue lost on the weekday holiday they opened on a Sunday (at least that's what they told us). We were really happy!!! Most folks on the ship never stopped in because they all assumed it would be closed. They were all VERY disappointed when we told them that we had a great lunch and even picked up a t-shirt.

[gemini_0923]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for all the info. I thought of a couple more things. Not sure if you'll have answers. If not I'll just post the topics on the board.

Do you know if they provide robes if you put that as a preference?

How long does it take to get tendered in- if it says ship arrives at 8:00 - how long before being on shore? Any idea if you can take fruit into Tahiti ( for pre cruise?).

Thanks,

Vicki

[maminaz]

Charlie, "rustic" is way better than non-existent. Thanks for the reassurance. ;)

 

BTW, you are such a wonderful sport subjecting yourself to group interrogation! And it is very much appreciated.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hi Charlie,

Any idea if you can take fruit into Tahiti ( for pre cruise?).

Thanks,

Vicki

 

The fruit in FP is incredible. Of course, if you want apples, maybe not...

 

I doubt very much if you would be allowed to bring fruit into the country. This is taken from http://www.papeete.com/general/index.html#fume:

 

All passengers importing plants, flowers, or fruits or vegetables must be in possession of an international certificate. To import plants and flowers, special permission is necessary from the Service of Rural Economy, P.O. Box 100, Papeete, Tahiti, Tel. (689) 42. 97, 80 (Fare Ute) or 82, 49. 99 ( Faaa airport).

 

But really, they have wonderful pineapples and bananas, and lots of other fruit.

[gemini_0923]

Thanks Wendy,

After hearing about prices at the IC where I'm staying pre cruise, I thought maybe I'd bring some fruit. But they do probably have good fruit in Tahiti, so I should probably just eat what's local there.

[Spikesgirl]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for all the info. I thought of a couple more things. Not sure if you'll have answers. If not I'll just post the topics on the board.

Do you know if they provide robes if you put that as a preference?

 

How long does it take to get tendered in- if it says ship arrives at 8:00 - how long before being on shore? Any idea if you can take fruit into Tahiti ( for pre cruise?).

 

Thanks,

Vicki

 

 

Yes there are robes available, but they are really too heavy in that heat. it would have been nice to have lighter ones, but guess you need to stay consistant fleetwide.

It varies on the port - we were just five minutes from the ship on Huahine, but the tender was over 25 minutes in Raiatea - the one port that we could actually dock in, but the winds were so high, the Captain was afraid of getting out again, so we tendered...sigh. Usually figure it will take about half an hour to get to land and schedual it that way.

 

You can bring fruit on board, but some of it was way too expesnive for my blood. Plenty of pineapples and bananas on board the ship, but there weren't any mangos or papayas. You can pick them up at Le Marche, but be prepared to pay for them. We saw lettuce at $4 a head - eek! Not that you'd be buying lettuce, of course, but everything there fresh fruits and veggies was expensive. you can buy from the road side vendors more cheaply. The ship does warn about eating fresh fruits (and drinking local water) on land, although we never had any problems with either.

 

 

 

Charlie, "rustic" is way better than non-existent. Thanks for the reassurance. ;)

 

BTW, you are such a wonderful sport subjecting yourself to group interrogation! And it is very much appreciated.

 

Hey, that's why they pay me the big bucks...no, wait, I'm doing this for free?!?! Not to worry, if I can help someone out, I'm all about it. Must be the teacher blood in me. No worries, I jsut wish I'd known about this board before we left the first time.

 

Thanks Wendy,

After hearing about prices at the IC where I'm staying pre cruise, I thought maybe I'd bring some fruit. But they do probably have good fruit in Tahiti, so I should probably just eat what's local there.

 

Um, you can't fly in with fresh fruit - it will be taken from you at the airport. And you can't take fresh fruit on land from the ship, but you can do the opposite. Sorry!

[gvre]

Thanks Charlie, we'll cancel the night dive then and enjoy the island night in Raiatea. The night dive we can do another time,maybe in Bora Bora or Moorea post cruise. We have booked 2 tank dives in Rangi,one hopefully in Tiputa pass if the current is not too strong. Can't wait to see the huge mantas!

 

Have a nice,relaxing weekend!

 

Ludy we have dove both passes in Rangi with Top Dive. We dove Tiputa pass in the afternoon and it had a wicked current as water was entering the lagoon. The next day we did the other pass. There was less current. the dives were the usual French Polynesia dives lots of sharks and reef fish.

We will be diving again all the islands next week with Top Dive again.

Richard

[eastwest]

Hi Richard,

 

Are you cruising right now? How is Top Dive service? How about their equipment? How many divers were there per guide in the drift dive? How deep were you? Did you see any hammerhead? Are you doing any night dive? We have booked Papeete,Rangi and Bora Bora dives with Topdive and Moorea with Bathys. That would be nice to hear from your diving experiences.

Dive safely and have fun!

[gvre]

Hi Richard,

 

Are you cruising right now? How is Top Dive service? How about their equipment? How many divers were there per guide in the drift dive? How deep were you? Did you see any hammerhead? Are you doing any night dive? We have booked Papeete,Rangi and Bora Bora dives with Topdive and Moorea with Bathys. That would be nice to hear from your diving experiences.

Dive safely and have fun!

Ludy,

We leave next Thursday. This will be our 7th cruise on the TP.We have done over 60 dives most with Top Dive, on all of those islands. They are the best dive OP. Very Professional. Don't dive with the ship if you can avoid it. In Rangi around 65-90'. Thats about normal for FP. We have done some 100+ but that was in Nuka Hiva. Night dives tend to be a bust, especially a ship dive. Don't waste your money.

Here's a link to some of our Tahiti photos:

 

http://tahiticruise2006.shutterfly.com/

 

Richard

[eastwest]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing, Richard. I booked a night dive in Bora Bora with TP just bec. Topdive can't guarantee if they will have 5 people. Hmm,maybe we'll end up cancelling it. What's your favorite island for diving? Or are they pretty much the same? My husband and I are both AOWD, can we choose the dive sites or just let the guide decide? What dive sites can you recommend in Moorea? We'll be there 5 days post cruise and will do a lot of diving. Thanks.

[gvre]

Ludy,

Yeah I know Top Dive has that night dive on Bora Bora. I can't say a lot about other than we dove the night site during the day and it was OK. I do know that the ship use to offer night dives in Bora Bora and Raiatea through different OP and every report I have heard back was horrible. The biggest problem was not much to see and in experienced divers.

The best night dive we ever did ,and it's world famous, is the Giant Manta's off Kona Hawaii, after that it's hard to compare.

We enjoy all the diving on the islands especially going with a good OP like Top Dive. They will pick the dive sites based on water and weather conditions so you won't have much say. The lemon shark dive in Moorea is great. The DM Nicholas, Stephane, and Thomas are good guys and are real fun:D

The diving on the Island of Tahiti gets a bad rap. We love diving there. Frank is the DM and make sure you do the plane wreck at the end of the airport. He took our pictures in the cockpit and we used the photo for our Christmas card. We will be diving with him next Friday.

Wow I am getting excited just typeing this:eek:

Richard.

[Seal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamomo

"One more thing - - did you talk with anyone who did the Princess motu picnic on Moorea? I saw what you said about the Huahine one getting raves.

Still trying to decide whether to do it on Huahine or on Moorea. The one on Moorea lasts longer, and has live music on the beach."

 

 

'Spoke with folks how had done both (we didn't) and the raves definites went to Huahine's picnic. They didn't have live music though.

We discovered that by 1:45/2 p.m. we were ready to head back to the ship for a shower and rest before dinner.'

 

Sorry to be a PITA about this and will try to not ask any more about this subject . But am wondering if you did one of them on your just-ended cruise. I thought you had mentioned that you were planning to do one of them. If so, were you satisfied with your choice?

 

Live music from the ship motu lunch also--dancing in the water--unless it's changed there is a really cool woman who runs the one on Huahine--her boat---we have been with her twice--and usually everybody gets excited about Marc--we did that one once--prefer the ship's trip--if you take it--get into conversation with the woman--she tends to tell about herself and growing up on the island--she has been married to a gentleman who lives just down the way from us here in CA--she also has what she calls her island husband--I find her very humorous--what a life--the boat you'll be riding in is hers--think it was divoce moeny--she has left the island to live in CA--I saw her last in FP March 2008.

 

You'll love dancing in the water--just go for it--hope you try it !!!

 

You might enjoy getting a car in Moorea and checking out the beaches--having lunch--there was a strike at some hotel one of the times we tried to drive around the island--we got by--stayed in Moorea in the late '70's--showers were kinda outside--probably only a couple of places to stay at that time--just like everything else--it all changes unfortunately--was also in Bora Bora for the opening of Blooody Marys--the restaurant was about 5 tables that took up the space inside the working area of today's bar--ran into one of the owners on an airpane when we were there this year--they have all becomevery wealthy--I ran into a c ouple of guys who were there in the beginning--a bar that seated maybe 5 people--nothing was expensive then--if you'd like awonderful gourmet meal on the night you stay over in Bora Bora--check with Meherio--got to forget about money and have your best evening in Bora Bora

 

Have Fun--I'm jealous

 

Nancy

[Caroldoll]

there from 11 until 5. I wanted to do Bruno, but I don't think there is enough time.

[flamomo]

Thank you Nancy. I am so glad to hear more about the ship motu pinic excursion. We are booked for the one on Huahine. Sounds like it's a good choice. Can't wait.

We leave for Papeete and the IC in 11 days. It's getting really tough to wait!

[eastwest]

Thanks for the tips,Richard. Are you posting again post cruise? We'd love to hear and see your diving adventure. We won't sail till Nov.19 and can't wait !

 

Have a nice 7th cruise with TP!

[Spikesgirl]

there from 11 until 5. I wanted to do Bruno, but I don't think there is enough time.

 

Princess overnights in Raiatea, so there's lots of time for Bruno and other things. My suggestion would be to e mail him and see what he might suggest. If nothing else, the high point of the tour was absolutely the Coral Garden, so try to get there, but you do have to have some snorkeling experience to get through the maze of coral reef without getting scratched. Do be sure to wear reef boots to protect your feet and we wore gloves. I don't advocate grabbing coral or anything else, but they did save me from serious injury when a wave tried to push me into a brain coral.

[Seal]

Princess overnights in Raiatea, so there's lots of time for Bruno and other things. My suggestion would be to e mail him and see what he might suggest. If nothing else, the high point of the tour was absolutely the Coral Garden, so try to get there, but you do have to have some snorkeling experience to get through the maze of coral reef without getting scratched. Do be sure to wear reef boots to protect your feet and we wore gloves. I don't advocate grabbing coral or anything else, but they did save me from serious injury when a wave tried to push me into a brain coral.

 

I understand that Bruno has another person with a boat that might be able to take you to the Coral Gardens if nothing else--if you email Bruno in the evening from CA you will usually get a reply that night--we've had good luck with emailing Bruno for camera information etc.--always surprised at how quickly he responds.--

 

Nancy:D

[Spikesgirl]

We had that second person and he didn't speak any English and our French is pretty rough. Most of the others spoke even less than we did, so he wasn't much help getting through the garden. Since we'd done the drift before, we tried to get folks through as safely as possible, but there were still some scrapes and one young guy stepped on a black spiny urchin and ended up with quills in his foot - never saw him again after that, althoughw e bumped into eveyone else from our trip - hoped he got some treatment and was okay.

 

Bruno is great to work with and very helpful. Definitely give him a try!

[Seal]

We had that second person and he didn't speak any English and our French is pretty rough. Most of the others spoke even less than we did, so he wasn't much help getting through the garden. Since we'd done the drift before, we tried to get folks through as safely as possible, but there were still some scrapes and one young guy stepped on a black spiny urchin and ended up with quills in his foot - never saw him again after that, althoughw e bumped into eveyone else from our trip - hoped he got some treatment and was okay.

 

Bruno is great to work with and very helpful. Definitely give him a try!

 

Curious, Spikesgirl, were you aware that you were NOT going to be with Bruno before you met the replacement??

 

We've taken Bruno twice and don't think that we would want to do otherwise--although having been there it would be easier for us--we always enjoyed Bruno through the Coral Gardens--he's feeding the fish and taking pictures all through the Coral--maybe I was wrong in suggesting that maybe the 2nd person could help them--

 

Nancy:D

[Spikesgirl]

Nancy - yes, he was very upfront about us having another guide and it wasn't that important to us to be with Bruno himself. It would have been nice if our guide had spoken some English, but we were in a foreign country and didn't speak the local language, so that was really our problem, not necessarily his. As long as you have some snorkeling experience, getting through the coral isn't too bad. It's the first timers that are really challenged. With the depth of the water (or lack thereof) and current, it can take some folks unawares.