Tahiti early arrival 10/9

We are arriving on an early flight, 5:35 AM and wonder if you have suggests of thing to do until we can board the ship at noon-2 PM? Tour, rent a car....

If you are sailing on the PG they will include a day room for you.

If not I would suggest you book a day room. I know that Le Meridien offers them and they are the only hotel in Tahiti that has a beach.

I'm booked on Princess in Jan and also booked the ship's transfer to the port. Just found out the transfer includes a circle island tour before boarding.

I'm booked on Princess in Jan and also booked the ship's transfer to the port. Just found out the transfer includes a circle island tour before boarding.

Hi BassettMom,

what is the name of that transfer? Is in under excursions? I am booked for the November 28 2014 cruise and I don't see an option anywhere to book a tour/transfer to ship.

Our flight arrives early that Friday and am clueless as to what to do until they start boarding

In my mind the only thing to do is to book a hotel. Some of them have nice pools and beaches others give you a chance to lie down and maybe shop in town.

Hi BassettMom,

 

what is the name of that transfer? Is in under excursions? I am booked for the November 28 2014 cruise and I don't see an option anywhere to book a tour/transfer to ship.

 

Our flight arrives early that Friday and am clueless as to what to do until they start boarding

Book the ship's transfer with your TA. Once it's booked, it will show up on the itinerary for embarkation day, and debarkation if you booked that one too. Then the details that are listed say it includes a circle island tour until embarkation. Not sure if this is standard or not, but was pleasantly surprised since I expected to just be taken to the port.

In my mind the only thing to do is to book a hotel. Some of them have nice pools and beaches others give you a chance to lie down and maybe shop in town.

I know a lot of folks recommend that, but from what I've seen it is about $100 for a day pass and with three of us, I can't see spending that much for some time by the pool. But I'm sure for some it's worth it. If there is cheaper rate that you know about, please share.

Honestly, I would splurge the $100 for the day room. We were SO exhausted that we slept for three hours in our room. It was nice as we were able to get a work out in, shower, and be ready for our cruise. We booked at the Tahiti Nui hotel, which is very close to the market as well. We walked around there, bought some food and souveniers. Go for the room! That flight is brutal, and I'm a great plane sleeper.

BUMP...

Any recent cruisers had this issue?

Flight arrives very early in PPT and am clueless as to what to do before we can start boarding the Pacific Princess....

I don't want to purchase a transfer through Princess and then have to wait hours at the airport. Called Princess and rep cannot tell if the transfer includes a Island Tour. The transfer information online doesn't mention anything about a tour either. Don't wish to rent a day room either..

BUMP...

 

Any recent cruisers had this issue?

 

Flight arrives very early in PPT and am clueless as to what to do before we can start boarding the Pacific Princess....

 

I don't want to purchase a transfer through Princess and then have to wait hours at the airport. Called Princess and rep cannot tell if the transfer includes a Island Tour. The transfer information online doesn't mention anything about a tour either. Don't wish to rent a day room either..

I didn't know about the tour until after I had booked the transfers, but once I booked, here is what shows up on my itinerary:

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Tahiti (papeete)

- Hide Details

Reserved For:

TRANSFER: AIRPORT TO PIER

Motorcoach transfer from Faa'a Papeete International Airport (PPT) to the ship. Transfer may be direct from the airport to the pier or depending on arrival time, via a city tour en route to the pier. The transfer is valid on the first day of the cruise only. Travel time from the airport to the pier is approximately 25 minutes. Passengers making own air arrangements should plan for a flight arrival time no later than 11:59pm. If you arrive into Papeete prior to the day of embarkation, please locate a Marama Tours representative at the airport after baggage claim to confirm your transfer time to the pier.

Upon arrival at Faa'a Papeete Int'l Airport (PPT), you will be directed by airport personnel to Immigration. Following Immigration formalities, proceed to the luggage collection area. After collecting your luggage, proceed through Customs formalities, and exit the Customs area. Princess Representatives will meet you outside the Customs area and provide you with a transfer time to the pier. Transfers to the pier will not begin until 10:00am. If your flight arrives prior to 6:40am on the morning of embarkation, a tour is included en route to the pier. The tour will depart the airport at 8:00am and arrive to the pier at 12:00 noon. If you will be in Papeete prior to sailing and are planning to return to the airport on embarkation day for your transfer to the pier, you must contact Marama Tours to confirm your transfer and the meeting location & time. Contact in Papeete: Marama Tours, Telephone: 87-79-66-01 or 87-72-38-30

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Not sure if a tour is standard for all the cruises. You could purchase the transfer for your cruise and see if a tour is mentioned and if not, cancel the transfer.

We also purchased the transfer to the airport at the end of the cruise since that will allow us to stay on the ship all day, instead of hanging around the airport, before taking the transfer to the airport in the evening (since our flight doesn't leave until 11pm).

I didn't know about the tour until after I had booked the transfers, but once I booked, here is what shows up on my itinerary:

----------

Tahiti (papeete)

- Hide Details

Reserved For:

 

TRANSFER: AIRPORT TO PIER

 

Motorcoach transfer from Faa'a Papeete International Airport (PPT) to the ship. Transfer may be direct from the airport to the pier or depending on arrival time, via a city tour en route to the pier. The transfer is valid on the first day of the cruise only. Travel time from the airport to the pier is approximately 25 minutes. Passengers making own air arrangements should plan for a flight arrival time no later than 11:59pm. If you arrive into Papeete prior to the day of embarkation, please locate a Marama Tours representative at the airport after baggage claim to confirm your transfer time to the pier.

 

Upon arrival at Faa'a Papeete Int'l Airport (PPT), you will be directed by airport personnel to Immigration. Following Immigration formalities, proceed to the luggage collection area. After collecting your luggage, proceed through Customs formalities, and exit the Customs area. Princess Representatives will meet you outside the Customs area and provide you with a transfer time to the pier. Transfers to the pier will not begin until 10:00am. If your flight arrives prior to 6:40am on the morning of embarkation, a tour is included en route to the pier. The tour will depart the airport at 8:00am and arrive to the pier at 12:00 noon. If you will be in Papeete prior to sailing and are planning to return to the airport on embarkation day for your transfer to the pier, you must contact Marama Tours to confirm your transfer and the meeting location & time. Contact in Papeete: Marama Tours, Telephone: 87-79-66-01 or 87-72-38-30

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Not sure if a tour is standard for all the cruises. You could purchase the transfer for your cruise and see if a tour is mentioned and if not, cancel the transfer.

 

We also purchased the transfer to the airport at the end of the cruise since that will allow us to stay on the ship all day, instead of hanging around the airport, before taking the transfer to the airport in the evening (since our flight doesn't leave until 11pm).

Thank You so much for this information BassettMom. It is exactly what I wanted to know. I will also definitely book a transfer post-cruise to enjoy the day on the ship as well.

Have a great time on your upcoming cruise. :)

Honestly, I would splurge the $100 for the day room. We were SO exhausted that we slept for three hours in our room. It was nice as we were able to get a work out in, shower, and be ready for our cruise. We booked at the Tahiti Nui hotel, which is very close to the market as well. We walked around there, bought some food and souveniers. Go for the room! That flight is brutal, and I'm a great plane sleeper.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Unfortunately, I don't sleep well on a plane. This is probably a dumb question but how does one book a day room? I tried online to check in and out on the same day but it won't allow it.

Email or call the hotel directly

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Thank you!

Didn't even notice this on our itinerary until reading about it on this forum. We bought the transfer and got the same message below. Holding out on the airfare until it goes down. But figure we'll probably be arriving early morning. This is a nice touch that Princess is offering.

On our prior Pacific Princess cruise there was no free tour on debarkation day for transfer holders (flight home was around 11:30 PM). We did pay for the ship's circle island tour (about 7 hours) which was really nice and was the exact same tour we took 30 years ago on a non-cruise trip. We plan on doing that one again.

TRANSFER: AIRPORT TO PIER

Motorcoach transfer from Faa'a Papeete International Airport (PPT) to the ship. Transfer may be direct from the airport to the pier or depending on arrival time, via a city tour en route to the pier. The transfer is valid on the first day of the cruise only. Travel time from the airport to the pier is approximately 25 minutes. Passengers making own air arrangements should plan for a flight arrival time no later than 11:59pm. If you arrive into Papeete prior to the day of embarkation, please locate a Marama Tours representative at the airport after baggage claim to confirm your transfer time to the pier.

"Upon arrival at Faa'a Papeete Int'l Airport (PPT), you will be directed by airport personnel to Immigration. Following Immigration formalities, proceed to the luggage collection area. After collecting your luggage, proceed through Customs formalities, and exit the Customs area. Princess Representatives will meet you outside the Customs area and provide you with a transfer time to the pier. Transfers to the pier will not begin until 10:00am. If your flight arrives prior to 6:40am on the morning of embarkation, a tour is included en route to the pier. The tour will depart the airport at 8:00am and arrive to the pier at 12:00 noon. If you will be in Papeete prior to sailing and are planning to return to the airport on embarkation day for your transfer to the pier, you must contact Marama Tours to confirm your transfer and the meeting location & time. Contact in Papeete: Marama Tours, Telephone: 87-79-66-01 or 87-72-38-30"

Here's the scoop in case anyone else needs answers that are more current. So wish I had checked about what to with luggage and an early arrival 5 days before our trip and that I had seen these posts earlier so I could have booked the transfer thru Princess before the cutoff time, which is 2 weeks before cruising, but TA nor Princess tells you about the deadline. Apparently, a Princess transfer still does include a tour as stated in the previous posts. We just called a Princess agent and she did eventually find the info in the fine print somewhere to confirm. There was nothing obvious, stated about a tour on embarkation day transfers, so she sounded very doubtful. Princess agent just told us to approach a Princess rep after clearing customs and grabbing luggage to see if they have any spaces available. It will just be charged to our onboard account, if we get on the tour and transfer.

Here's the scoop in case anyone else needs answers that are more current. So wish I had checked about what to with luggage and an early arrival 5 days before our trip and that I had seen these posts earlier so I could have booked the transfer thru Princess before the cutoff time, which is 2 weeks before cruising, but TA nor Princess tells you about the deadline. Apparently, a Princess transfer still does include a tour as stated in the previous posts. We just called a Princess agent and she did eventually find the info in the fine print somewhere to confirm. There was nothing obvious, stated about a tour on embarkation day transfers, so she sounded very doubtful. Princess agent just told us to approach a Princess rep after clearing customs and grabbing luggage to see if they have any spaces available. It will just be charged to our onboard account, if we get on the tour and transfer.

Hope they are able to accommodate you. I thought it was well worth it. If you're interested, here's a link to my blog, just click on the Tahiti cruise and scroll down to day 1. (It's still a work in progress, so not all my photos are attached yet, nor are all my cruises uploaded since the blog is fairly new).

Phoenix-voyager1.blogspot.com

Enjoy your cruise.

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Hope they are able to accommodate you. I thought it was well worth it. If you're interested, here's a link to my blog, just click on the Tahiti cruise and scroll down to day 1. (It's still a work in progress, so not all my photos are attached yet, nor are all my cruises uploaded since the blog is fairly new).

Phoenix-voyager1.blogspot.com

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

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Within your itinerary it listed Marama Tours who was handling the transfer and tour. Googled and found them, also listed on Trip Advisor, and contacted them directly to see if they had room for us. Michael, the Project Director, emailed us back right away and said it was not a problem and that he would let the girls know about us joining the tour. What a big relief to know ahead of time we will be taken care of upon arrival. We originally weren't going to do an island tour, but when I saw the price and that the tour was included with the transfer, it's definitely the way to go for an early arrival and to maximize your time waiting for embarkation. I'm definitely going to mention this to my TA, who was suggesting we take a taxi to the pier as it was cheaper than the Princess Transfer. Which direction did you go starting the tour and is it better to sit on the right or left side of the bus/van? Thanks about your blog. Will check it out. I'm already reading 2 other blogs other CC members on my roll call suggested.

I would probably sit on the opposite side of the driver so you're against the curb versus the street (and oncoming traffic). There is also a free tour on Rangiroa to a pearl factory that was outstanding.

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Also, if your flight departs late, book the Princess return. That will allow you to stay on the ship all day. Your have to vacate your cabin, but being able to enjoy the public areas, go to the buffet, etc., sure beats hanging around the airport.

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