Tahitian Princess Review September 10, 2003

Part 1

This was our third cruise, 2nd with Princess. We had previously been booked on the R3 for Sept. 13, 2001, which of course, did not happen. We did cruise that year on the Ocean Princess as a replacement trip. This trip was also our 8th Anniversary. We are in our late 40’s/early 50’s, have no kids at home, and are not retired, yet. We live just north of Denver.

French Polynesia is truly an incredibly beautiful part of the world. The islands themselves are breathtaking and the color of the water is indescribable.

Our trip began on Sept 7th. We were to leave Denver at 8:40 on a United flight to LA. We had boarded the plane, ready to go, when the mechanics began looking at the emergency exits. “Oh no, please don’t let us be late.” After the pilot came on several times to let us know that they were working on the problem, we were informed that we would be changing planes. However, the plane we were changing to had not arrived from Chicago yet. Well, an hour and 40 minutes later, we were finally off. We arrived in LA late, but still had an hour and 20 minutes to get to ATN. We had really wanted to go to LA the night before, but since we had done all our air through Princess, they would not allow us to do that, since there was a flight that gave us the 3 hour connection time. We felt a little like couples on “The Amazing Race.”

We asked the flight attendants the quickest way to the International Terminal. They had no clue. We asked the gate agents. They had no clue. We found our way out of the terminal, found the shuttle, made it to the ATN counter about 12:00 for the 1:00 flight. The agent there said we made it in time, but our luggage probably wouldn’t since they had a 2hr cut off time. So, we made it across the terminal, through security, and to the gate just as they were starting to board. We did meet Allison (ALM) and Kathy at the gate, with a couple minutes to chat.

The flight was extremely pleasant. The plane was less than ½ full. Bad for them, good for us. We were able to move to a row with no one reclining their seats back. The service was excellent. The food was ok. It was still airline food. They frequently came through with water and other beverages. We had two meals plus some sherbet in between.

We arrived on time, and lo and behold, our luggage also made it! We booked three days pre-cruise and one day post-cruise through Pleasant Tahitian Holidays, including our transfers to everywhere. It took only minutes to breeze through immigration and out of the terminal. We were greeted with flower leis and all of our transfer documents, the off to the Intercontinental Beachcomber-Tahiti for the night.

We booked a standard garden view room for this and our last night. It was right behind the bar area on the ground floor, but we could see the pool and the ocean. The room was very nicely decorated. We had sandwiches and a beverage, and then slept very well that night. “We are finally here!”

The next morning, I went out on to the lanai to take a picture of the view and had dead camera batteries! The gift shop at the hotel did not have the right size. We did not have time to go to the shopping area near the hotel, due to the fact that we had to leave for the ferry. I decided to try to find some in Moorea.

Let me say here that food at the resorts is very expensive! If you plan to do extra nights, plan on food expenses. We did not go out of the resort here since we arrived late and were leaving in the morning for Moorea. The breakfast buffet was $26pp.

Our Marama Tours transfer to the ferry was on time, and next thing we knew we were on the ferry on the way to Moorea. We then had a transfer to the Intercontinental Beachcomber Moorea. Here we booked an over-water bungalow for 2 nights. Our Anniversary was the 9th, so we splurged a little. We were in #516, the furthest one out on the west end. It was not totally over the water though. Only a few at this resort are all the way out on the water. When we arrived, the hostess sat down with us and explained the layout of the resort and restaurant information, etc. The porter took us in his little cart out to our bungalow.

These are very roomy with a living room area with a sofa and chairs and a desk. The bedroom is separate with a very open bathroom. It had an open huge shower and a jetted tub. The lanai was on the west side of the bungalow, so we had great sunset views and were in the shade in the mornings. We took advantage or our water access and went for a snorkel around the area in front of the bungalows. The visibility was incredible. Hopefully, a good sign of what was to come throughout the trip.

I was able to find batteries at the resort boutique- price $23 for two 3v 123 batteries!

That evening we attended the Polynesian Dinner show at the resort. This was $65pp. The show was good, the buffet interesting. I guess that was a good a time as any to try new foods!

Tuesday morning we had booked parasailing, but found out there was a problem with the boat so we weren’t able to do it. Then we decided to go for another snorkel, this time around the reef out away from our bungalow. This was absolutely great. We saw hundreds and hundreds of fish. Many of which I had never seen before.

After the snorkel, we decided to check out the pool and have some lunch. This pool is very small compared to the one at the Tahiti Beachcomber. That evening, being our Anniversary and all we had a romantic pizza and beer dinner! This meal was only around $30. Hinano, the local beer is the only bargain around. It is about $4.20 here, $3.70 at the Tahiti Beachcomber.

Later, we took a taxi over to the Sheraton to meet M94FUN and ALM for a drink. M94FUN (Carol and Jim) and ALM (Allison and Kathy) were there waiting for us. We got acquainted and were anxious for the cruise to start. Carol and Jim had rented a car and had found inexpensive good places to eat, (I’m sure she’ll include them in her review). Taxis in FP are also on the high side, if you’re used to the Caribbean prices.

Our last morning on Moorea, we splurged and ordered the outrigger breakfast, which is brought to you on the water, via outrigger canoe. This was an experience we had to do this once! Then, we were packed up and on our way to the ferry and back to Papeete to board the Tahitian Princess. There was no transfer to the ship, but the ferry dock is right next to where the ship was docked. It was a short walk to the ship, but a little bumpy with luggage, as the sidewalks are pretty rough. Check in was quick and we were on the ship around 1pm to start our voyage that we had waited 2 years for!