Tahiti

Just returned yesterday from the Wind Spirit. Wonderful cruise. Will post review at a later date. If you have any questions, ask away. I will try to get the answer you want.

Would love to read your review and any pics you have to share. Hoping to do Tahiti for the first time in 2018 once the dates are out.

Just returned yesterday from the Wind Spirit. Wonderful cruise. Will post review at a later date. If you have any questions, ask away. I will try to get the answer you want.

Will look forward to your review. Will be on the August 24, 2017 cruise so excited to see your insights and opinions. Thank you for taking the time.

What hotel did you stay at before the cruise?

Moorea Tipaniers (45 mins. ferry). We're on the July sailing.

Just returned yesterday from the Wind Spirit. Wonderful cruise. Will post review at a later date. If you have any questions, ask away. I will try to get the answer you want.

Hope you had a great time. We are sailing on February 3. We have book tours on most stops, except for Raiatea. Heard there were tours at the dock. True?

Waiting for your review, we have done Tahiti on the PG and are looking for something new and different

Hi We Sail on Feb. 17th first time on Windstar what should we know about? What shore excursions did you do? Did you feel sea sick on the smaller ship?

Eagerly awaiting your review! Would love to know what excursions you did, as well as how the days were scheduled on the private motus on Taha'a and Bora Bora!

Just returned yesterday from the Wind Spirit. Wonderful cruise. Will post review at a later date. If you have any questions, ask away. I will try to get the answer you want.

I'm hoping to see your review soon. We are so excited about trying Wind Spirit and seeing Tahiti!

Still waiting. I hope to see it soon.

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The cruise was amazing. The ship was great. A couple things to note: We booked a "package" that included flight from LA (it arrives in Papeete late on Thursday night. We checked into Le Meridian. The package included breakfast. Check-in was smooth. The property is beautiful. Breakfast was included in the morning. We hung out on the beach and in the pool until it was time to leave. The transfer to the ship was included and left around 1:15. Checking in was super casual. Upon arrival at the port, you point out your luggage and board the ship. There is no x-ray to go through -- ever. The captain and some of the ship's officers greet you as you board the ship. You proceed to the lounge to check in. There is a crew member taking reservations for Candles -- the "specialty" restaurant. Be sure to eat there at least once - there is no charge. Food is delicious. They "convert" the pool deck into the restaurant.

Back to check in -- our cabin (139) was ready. We left our carry-ons and had a quick lunch. The safety drill is at 5:30. We informed our cabin steward that we had a private tour and would be off the ship at that time. We spoke to the captain who ok'd our group missing the drill.

We packed 2 bottles of wine in our checked luggage. No one ever questioned us. We had alcohol packed in various containers also in our checked luggage. We mixed drinks in our cabin and opened our wine in our cabin as well to avoid any corkage charges. We either asked our cabin steward to drop off wine glasses or got them from one of the bars. We bought a bottle of coconut liquor back on ship to take home with us -- no problem.

There is a fridge in your cabin as well as a mini bar. The fridge is stocked with sodas and beers. Sodas are free. Note: they do not use nor sell water (in plastic bottles) on the ship. Each cabin is stocked with two glass bottles. Water is replenished daily in these bottles (it was good). You should bring a refillable water bottle if you want to take water off the ship with you.

Breakfast and lunch is served in the restaurant on the 4th deck. We never had to wait for a table. There is a buffet set up for both meals, and you can also order from a limited a la carte menu (eggs benedict, chocolate chip pancakes, stuffed French toast were all amazing). Dinner is in the main dining room on the 3rd floor. We were a group of 8 and never waited for a table any time we went.

Things not to miss:

The dinner on the private motu -- this on the second night in Bora Bora. Delicious island BBQ with all sorts of entrees and great entertainment. The private island day on Taaha. You take the tender over to what we dubbed "Gilligan's Island" for a relaxing day. There are plenty of chairs on the beach. They have paddle boards and kayaks for your use. The BBQ lunch is delicious! Make sure to bring water shoes! The beaches are wonderful, but on every beach we went, you needed them to walk into the water.

Entertainment is limited -- there was a couple who sang -- they were very good. Do NOT miss the crew talent show. They were great. The water sports platform is great. They have it open most days (not open the private island day or the day you are docked in Raiatea).

The ladies at the reception desk (one was Natasha) were amazing. After the first, Natasha knew everyone by their name. Cannot figure out how she does it!

Our cabin was on Deck 1 all the way forward on the starboard side (139). My sister and her husband were right across the hall in 140. Two other couples with us had 122 and 128. No complaints on any of the cabins. We liked being all the way forward, as there was never any "hallway" noise.

We had a ship board credit on our account through our travel agent. We could not use these credits towards our staff gratuity. You can use the credits for any shop purchases and beverages. The bottles of wine were very reasonable. The "drink of the day" was usually around $8.50.

Hope this info helps. I'll post our tour info next.

Pat

Thank you Pat! Loved reading your review and cant wait to hear more!

We are on the July 20 sailing. Was there an opportunity to go ashore with the chef to any local markets? We've seen this option in Europe itineraries and are hoping for this at one of the Tahitian islands.

Also on the July 20th Sailing :-)

Hurray for Canadians. We're near Ottawa.

Cheers!

I don't recall anything about going ashore with the chef to local markets.

Also on the July 20th Sailing :-)

 

Hurray for Canadians. We're near Ottawa.

 

Cheers!

We are in Ottawa! Small world. Can I ask if you have your flights yet? We are booking with our TA so we can extend the trip on both ends. The prices are ridiculous right now!

Hahah. Small world yes.

Yes, we're booked. YOW-LAX (staying over 1 night), then LAX-PPT. Same on return. Got our YOW-LAX with points (AC). Check Air France. They might be lower but do not travel there everyday (check schedule). Air Tahiti have 2 flights/day. We've chosen the first one just in case (delays, cancellation) they book us on the 2nd flight. Got to have Plan A, B and sometime C. Tahiti's not next door.

Made quite a bit of research about LAX-PPT (AirTahiti NUI Facebook page, forum, etc) There is the occasional "deal" LAX-Aukland but for Tahiti not that much (and too many conditions). We booked thru our travel agent (same price) than booking thru the web. Safer. A bit lower price in the Sept-Jan. time frame. Canadian dollar exchange rate hurts.

We are high season and during the France Bastille Day (14th). I guess good weather has its price. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary so we made an exception :-)

We are arriving about a week beforehand to attend the Annual Heiva I Tahiti 136th edition Traditional Dance Festival which runs from July 6th until July 22nd (weekends only).

Your first time on Windstar? Question I might be able to answer?

Cheers :)

Would love to hear more about pre-cruise hotel on this cruise. If you book airfare with the cruiseline you get a pre-cruise hotel night right? On the last day you get to use a hotel room as well? I know after leaving the ship you would have to wait until late at night for your flight out.

On deck 1 were the views OK? I have heard some are under the waterline. What about sails were they up most of the cruise?

Would love to hear more about pre-cruise hotel on this cruise. If you book airfare with the cruiseline you get a pre-cruise hotel night right? On the last day you get to use a hotel room as well? I know after leaving the ship you would have to wait until late at night for your flight out.

 

On deck 1 were the views OK? I have heard some are under the waterline. What about sails were they up most of the cruise?

Price out your cruise w/o airfare and the hotel and see what works better for you. Flights to PPT are very limited, so prices usually are high.

It it's rough, the water can cover the portholes. I've been on seven Windstar cruises (two in Tahit) and the sails have never been up most of the cruise on any sailing.

Pre and post cruise hotel was Le Meridian. Pre includes breakfast. Property is beautiful.

We were in cabin 139. All tge way forward on starboard side. When ship is entering or leaving port they close the water tight doors on deck 1. You need to use an alternative set of "crew" stairs during this time. You are close to the water; however, we had great weather (few showers on a few days). The seas were never so rough as to cover up or come close to covering our port hole. Some pictures attached. Sorry they are side ways. The first is the view from our port hole. The second is my husband outside our port hole in Raiatea. Sails are up and down. They play music while putting them up. Great time to be on deck for this. The put the sails up in the afternoon on the day you are on the private island -- makes for great pictures.

Advice for island excursions. I will be spending time in Bora Bora and Moorea, so don't need an excursion so much as an idea of how to spend my days there. Details on their Windstar's motu picnic day, etc?

The day on the private island was peaceful and relaxing. Plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas set up. Bring your water shoes and snorkel gear (the ship loans out the snorkel gear on the first day. we did not pick any up, as we had our own with us.). They have the kayaks and paddle boards over from the ship. There is a volleyball net set up, corn hole game. The BBQ lunch is amazing. It was just a calm, relaxing day. Some people did ships tours in the morning and then came over in the afternoon. There wasn't a way to meet a private tour, as the tenders took you from the ship directly to the island.

While on Moorea, we took Francky Frank's tour. He was fabulous. On Raiatea, there are some tour vendors in the building when you get off the ship. We wandered around and did some shopping and then went back on ship and hung by the pool. People said the kayak tour was nice.

We are incorporating a few weeks in Brisbane before Tahiti, so it's going to be nasty airfare!

It is our first windstar cruise. We are usually "toes in the sand", resort vacationers. We are still researching our excursions for a few of the islands. Is there anything you wished you had known about when you did your first windstar cruise? I'm happy to hear all of your advice and suggestions!

Kathy

We booked Patrick's motu tour on Bora Bora which was amazing. He takes you to several snorkeling sites where you swim with the black fin sharks and stingrays. He ends with a traditional Polynesian meal cooked on his family's private island.

On Moorea we booked Albert's 4WD tour that took us to Belverdere. It was a blast. We booked both of these online before our cruise. They were less expensive than similar cruise trips and less people.