Avoiding Crowds in Papeete and Moorea

Next July we will be on the Golden Princess trans-Pacific cruise which makes stops in Papeete and Moorea. I have read in a few threads that the larger cruise ships swamp the islands with people, making for a somewhat unpleasant experience and makes it impossible to enjoy what the islands have to offer.

One possible idea I had for avoiding the crowds, was to use the day in Papeete to travel to Moorea and enjoy the day there. My thinking is that with the ship there the next day, Moorea will be less crowded on the Papeete day.

Is this a valid touring strategy?

And on the Moorea day you can go to Tahiti!

It really boils down to what you want to do. If you are interested in snorkeling on Moorea consider renting a car and going to the lagoonararium. I don't think the ship has that as an excursion and there are not a lot of cars for rent. If you arrange for that in advance it should not be crowded.

You can also contact the IC or Hilton and arrange for a day pass but I'm not sure how well they control capacity.