Tahitian Princess Review Part 4

Friday, September 19-Moorea

Thanks to previous reports, I believe it was jbond, etc. we booked the boat tour with Capt Heifara. We had 10 of us Cruise Critics aboard. This was just spectacular.

It was from 8:30 to 2:00, but he kept us out until 3:30, offering to let us snorkel longer.

We saw the spinner dolphins and a mom and baby humpback whale. He had apparently been watching these whales for awhile and swam with them. He was hoping we could get in the water, but a tour boat and dive boat raced up around them and he was afraid the baby would be too stressed. We did watch them for quite a while though. It was really fascinating. We then went to another spot and swam with the sharks, in amazingly clear water. Then to another snorkel spot where there are Tiki statues in the water. Then we went to the stingray area.

After all this, we went to the little French restaurant on the beach at the little motu for lunch. It was great to sit and chat with him and hear his stories about all the animals he works with. Just as we were thinking it was time to go back, he asked if we wanted to snorkel one more place. He didn’t have to ask a second time. The last spot though, had a lot of boats, but it was still nice to get in the water one more time.

This tour can be booked with Dom. His email is [email]dom@magicmoorea.com.[/email] It was $70 US. It was slightly less previously, but the Euro is up against the dollar I guess. It was well worth this and more. Lunch was not included though, so take money with you. He also had a videographer with him taking video of the trip, and will sell this to you later if you want.

This was really the perfect last day!

The last dinner was sad, having to say our good-byes. We were docked back in Papeete by about 7:30. We were having drinks in the Night Club and pulled up next to the Star Clipper. It left shortly after that, and the next morning the Paul Gauguin was there.

Saturday, September 20-Papeete-Disembarkation

We had an 8:30 transfer to the Intercontinental Beachcomber. Why so early, I have no idea. But if we do this again, I’ll make sure that it is not that early. Marama Tours never showed. We took a taxi finally at 9:30. There was a Marama rep at the hotel, so she called them and they had us down for 9:00 at the Paul Gauguin. They were very nice though and reimbursed us for the taxi cost. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool. At 2:00 we were able to check in to our room.

We had just booked a garden view room, but were behind the Lotus pool, with a lovely view of the ocean and Moorea!
We had asked them about staying late the next day, since we weren’t leaving until after 8pm. Finally on Sunday about 10:00, they told us that for $100 we could stay in the room until 8pm. I was so glad. It made the day really nice. We were able to spend the day in the water, then shower, and have a nice dinner before checking out.

I also found some beautiful pareos at the hotel. We had thought about going back to the Marche, but just didn’t have the energy.

We had an 8:15 transfer to the airport which was on time. The check in for our flight had not begun yet, since we were on the 11:55 flight. The lines were long, but I imagine were longer the previous night. It took about 1 ½ hours to go through the lines and get checked in. The 11:15 flight looked packed.

Ours was fairly full, but some empty seats were around. This was my first overnight flight; and maybe the last unless we upgrade to business class. It was hard to sleep and not be able to move much, with someone’s seat back in your face. This was ATN. It was an ok flight. The food was not as good as going down. It seemed to be quite a bumpy flight.

Customs in LA was quick. Our United flight back to Denver was uneventful.

We made it home about 6:30 pm, just in time to see the Broncos beat the Raiders!


Final Comments:

My thanks for all the previous reports about the Tahitian Princess and French Polynesia. They were immensely helpful in the planning and knowing a few things once we got there. I hope this review is not too boring, but I was anxious for any and all reports prior to our trip. I know everyone’s experiences and interests are different, but hopefully there will be something helpful to someone, or just help to relive the trip.

We did exchange some money, just for ease of transactions. It was kind of fun anyway, to have some other money. The ship actually had the best exchange rate. The dollar is down somewhat. We did not have any trouble using dollars though.

We did develop a lot of film on the ship. We took 3 rolls of regular and 1 waterproof disposable back through the Papeete airport, and had no trouble with developing. We did limit x-ray exposure on the ship as much as possible.

Re: the Pizzeria in the evening, I believe they have added salad! We didn’t go there, but walked through after 6pm and saw the salad.

We loved the ship. It was easy to get around quickly. We really did meet a lot more people on this cruise due to the fact that we ran in to them more than on a larger ship.

Lastly, thanks to all our new Cruise Critic friends for making this a special trip. Especially, Jim who kept us all laughing! We enjoyed all of our activities together and getting to know all of you. I hope we can stay in touch and possibly see you all on future cruises. Hope everyone had safe journeys back home.

Ia orana

Kathy and Steve