Wilcoam

Only been on 4 WS cruises but we've been offered 'upgrades' 3 times - Each time though we passed, as the 'upgrade' wasn't free and we didn't see the monetary value

First we tend to book the lowest cat cabin because my wife and I are quite social and barely spend any time in the room, especially say in Tahiti or warmer weather

Oddly enough though we've only been on Holland America twice, and this May 2023, got offered a seriously nice suite upgrade for very little cost - We jumped on that one as we were traveling with another couple and our massive suite was a terrific place too gather b4 dinner, and or on at sea glacier days, pus the much larger balcony

Now we've yet to be on a WS cruise any longer than 10 nights but I will say the Pride/Breeze size yacht cabins are significantly spacious/comfy as compared to the ole smaller surf/wind, etc, so much so we don't pine for upgrades to french balconies or suites, but sure that would be different once you're talking about 12 night plus, if offered and free, of course we'd jump at it

jc

Toronto        

My wife and have been lucky to travel to Tahiti 3 times and twice with WS (once with PG) - Usually we book a night for a tasting menu at Villa Mahana in Bora Bora or a similar eatery skipping the cruise dinner  

However in Oct 2021 aboard the Breeze we simply forgot about the BBQ motu in Bora and had pre booked Mahana on the 2nd night weeks in advance! That is until we boarded, got reminded about the Bora motu BBQ and my wife insisted we cancel Mahana 

Why?

Well in our opinion that Bora evening BBQ is one of those can't miss Tahitian Cruise events, not only is the 4 Seasons island location stunning, the buffet dinner fresh and scrumptious, but we still get a major kick from the touristy evening fire show, even though we've seen it 3-4 times, lol

It's flat out special

So is the full day beach day at WS private island, on our first WS cruise we mistakenly booked a morning half day excursion, which sort of sucked because then you get way less time on the motu

Thus we correct the mistake on the Breeze, once on board, we re-arranged our excursion, so we could get off as early as possible and spend the entire day on the motu, socialize, swim, supt, float, drink, feels if the world has literally stopped for us, in paradise, forever smiling in casual bliss, and then be amongst the very last zodiac to leave to we can savour every moment off the ship

Also don't forget to take advantage of the sports deck! - There's something very very very sexy about jumping in the middle of an ocean from your cruise ship - Every would be cruiser should have that life experience, be it with WS or one of the smaller yacht cruise ships

We hope to sail with WS Pride next this Dec in Panama and then back to Tahiti for 4th time in Oct 2024, here we come poisson cru and Tahitian vanilla creme brulle    

jc

Toronto          

As a Canadian, I actually love the Arrivecan app

Once you spend the 10-15 min doing the original upload, it's then a 45-60 second process moving forward, and I found going back n forth in and out of Canada, that they are processing you faster than ever b4, a ton less paperwork, and no need to find that elusive pen 🙂 

I am secretly hoping its stays in place long after COVID, I find it quite efficient, a rare effective Government program, lol  

That's because my wife and I travel to Buffalo on a regular basis for Bills games and concerts, and we travel a ton, however empathy for those only coming to Canada once, if it seems burdensome and a bit overwhelming, I'd love to see some  international countries dump the crazy advance passport visa's requirements and have an app like this instead 

jc 

100% concur JDGG

In our case we are loyal WS clients, my wife and I adore the product, and choose it over both Silverseas and Seaborne, and we are booked with WS in Europe in Mid Oct 22, Rome to Venice, can;t wait 

We were initially drawn in this summer by the $1,000 OBC marketing email only to find out, after reading the small print, it's not applicable if you also get the flash sale price, worse, neither is your 5% loyalty discount, yes we used a reputable cruise TA 

Fine we booked anyway, it's nickles and dimes, we're celebrating a big birthday, we want it to be on a WS ship, but all weekend we got e-mails about this special 40% savings today and thru the week, a suite became open on our sailing, really reduced, so we thought we'd upgrade, for about $1,000 USD each

Nope, WS doesn;t want us to upgrade

They will not offer us the discounted suite to existing booked reservations, only new one's, so it's uber frustrating, you wish you waited until today to book the trip instead of doing so months ago, and you almost want WS to take you off their e-mail list because all these so called specials are not special period, none of been applicable to us

I think it's short sighted on their part, I mean giving us that 5% loyalty, or a lousy $200 OBC, or being able to upgrade to a suite, giving them more funds, it would all go a long way to making loyal WS clients even more happy WS clients, instead of posting negative criticism of their business practices here, just saying...

jc

Toronto  

My wife and I made advance Villa Mahana reservations on our last Tahitian WS cruise (we''ve dined there many times) until we realized once on board it was up against the Polynesian evening

So we um cancelled the dinner reservations     

No regrets, after-all the Polynesian event is a huge hi-light on any Tahitian cruise Itinerary, and not to be missed, we've sailed WS twice and PG once and we've always enjoyed the fire show, even though it was our 3rd go around, also there's something very sexy about having a decadent outdoor pubic BBQ on a private motto, feet in sand, not a care in the world, food was yummy too 

jc      

After decades of numerous cruises on the mainstream, big boats, Celebrity, Princess, & NCL, mostly in top tier suites, my wife and I started ponying the big bucks for the much smaller, more independent lines, Paul G, Silverseas, Seabourn, & Windstar, sort of skipping the Regent, Azamara, & Oceana lines

Now we can't go back

And nothing against Silverseas and or the Paul G, they are terrific quality high tier vacation choices, (though we dislike Seaborne) we just love love love the Windstar product most

It's the cruise STAFF and the FOLKSY ATTENTIVE PERSONALIZED SERVICE that makes the difference for us, plus the way more casual on board attire, and the back of ship waterspouts platform, thus we describe WS as being luxurious without the 'tude, elitism, and pretension, you might find on the likes of Seaborne and or Silverseas, and all at a better sailing price than say the Sea Dream, etc 

Our first cruise post COVID was in Tahiti on the refurbished Breeze, which was our fave cruise ever to date, and we just loved the new ship layout and the french balconies, but we still adore the Surf and its small inside porthole cabins and are taking it a 7 day Rome to Venice this October, giving up on big suites on big ships for the more preferred small ship experience where we literally are never in our cabin anyway except to shower and sleep pretty well living out on deck, drink in hand, socializing...

Good luck in your vacation search

JC

Toronto   

Having just come off the WS Breeze, it's hand down our fave small cruise ship we've ever been on, can;'t say enough about the staff, incredible service, way above average food, cabins, french 'balconies', and the sports deck, it sparkles

Love love the WS product, 100% lux, but still oh so casual, though it's missing the local Tahitian feel of the PG, it makes up for it in so many other ways

I think WS in the future may have a tough time selling the Surf and other older ships when all the great reviews start coming in on the refurbished sparkling Breeze, no offense to PG homers, it's also a great product, but in my mind the modern Breeze is the way to go now in French Polynesia, cruise wise

jc  

Just off the WS Breeze, we spent our first day in Bora making our own independent plans

We easily found a taxi in port, Duaro from Bora (lol) for $20 USD (or 2000 FPC), took the 10 min ride to Matira Beach, using a towel from the ship, we walked the sandy beach, swam in the ocean, interacted with locals and doggies 

Then we walked 10 min for a private guided paddle boarding, we booked independently, right by the IC Moana, I can't remember the co, but it's self owned and the guide, Evan, is terrific, it was also 'inexpensive' at 8,000 FFC each 

Then we walked 10 min back to the beach and had a scrumptious local Tahitian Tuna sampler at the Beach Club which we would highly recommend, not to mention the post meal Creme Brûlée and or Eclair was to die for, so yes the food on WS Breeze was way way above average, and free/included, but unlike PG it's in short supply of authentic local Tahitian food, so this was one of the best lunches, and an authentic one to boot, on our vacation, I mean the poisson cru, sashimi, etc was incredible, not to mention the patio view...     

Then back to the beach, where there was a shop you could easily rent kayaks, water scooters, jet ski's, or paddle boards, but we just hung out, on our ship towels, our mindset was it was a day of leisure, we diverted the money we would spend go a ship excursion to a local lunch, and private paddle board, and more lounged, while time stopped so to speak 

There were a handful of fellow independent cruisers from WS there too but I would think most WS pax were likely on ship excursions which did not include stops at Matira though a drive by Trolley with about 20-30 WS folks did stop for about 10 minutes 🙂 

We called Dauro from Bora by cell to pick us up, same fare, back to the port

Great day, and on day 2 we went back to the cruise excursions and did a fab afternoon jet ski around Bora with Moana Adventures, (we could have booked direct but got lazy) and that was a major excursion hilight of our cruise, but we loved the Matira beach day/paddke board on our own just as much, the mix of both worked, and we felt like gypsy beach bums away from other cruisers 

We also made an evening reservation to dine at St James, but found out it was the same night as the ship's Motu fire BBQ, we couldn't miss that, so unfort had to cancel the dinner reservation, we also highly reccomend the tasting menu at Villa Mahana, this is where a land stay in BB works much better with trying to dine locally than say a 2 day stop off a cruise, but we were glad to have done the local lunch 

jc 

My advise

Snorkle

1. Bruno's Excursion Blue, it's terrific, but the alternative of doing the WS excursion is just as good, give you more passes of the Coral Garden and skips the shopping stuff (though its fun to do once)  

2. Patrick in Bora Bora, specifically the 3/4 excursion, it's magical 

3. H20 3.5 non lunch is also solid (also Bora Bora)  

Non-Snorkle

1. Its fun to have lunch, off the boat, at Bloody Mary's, or Matira Beach on your own (Bora Bora), after-all you can't visit Tahiti and not consume local poisson cru, and it tastes better in Bora Bora than anywhere else 🙂

2. Villa Mahana (Bora Bora) is something else, especially if you love tasting menu's, they will pick you up and drop you off, just e-mail em, I think it's fun to have one dinner off the boat

3. We love renting those dune buggies in Morrea, (on your own at dockside) and riding a circle around the Isand, it's really fun with other couples, Belvedere Lookout is a must 

4. If you are gonna jet ski, we think circling Bora Bora is the way to go, I mean who doesn't want to look at those peaks, from a jet ski, from every paradise angle, IMO moreso than in Taha or anywhere else

5. If you are on a budget, instead of H20, Patrick, jet skiing, in Bora Bora, or taking a WS or PG excursion, you can just take a taxi to Matira Beach, have lunch, lounge on sand, dip your toes in that shallow water, it mega relaxing, the world stops, and it's FREE

6. Its bloody expensive but I've grown to enjoy those 2-4 days in an overwater bungalow in any island pre our post cruise, Bora Bora being the ultimate island, the report gives you an opportunity to paddelboard, sit on a pool or beach all day, and you can do all the same excursions the ships offer from your resort, hey the water taxing is a ton of fun itself

Hope this helps

JC - Landing in PPT today and heading for a WS Breeze Cruise    

My wife and I think Patrick's 3/4 day tour is the best excursion we've ever taken off a cruise ship, period, we love it so much, we've taken it three time in the last decade

First, he has terrific guides, especially when he or his daughter are the guides, we prefer Polynesian guides over French guides, it's just a cultural preference on our part, and Patrick and his family have terrific terrific stories if you take the time to get to know them 

However, Patrick's co is notorious very slow to get back to you, unlike say H20, Bruno, and or others, alot of folks who work for Patrick do so mobiley from LA or Las Vegas, so you have to be um patient, but it's a magical tour co, and by the way all the other tours Patrick offer, including the 4x4, are also homreruns

Our next FP cruise is in 3 days on the Breeze, first time on that ship after previous sailing's on the PG and the Star/Surf

jc 

A humurous story, my wife and I are on route to Tahiti today, we had to enter the US first, (SFO), sleepover in a airport hotel (Hyatt) then board the SFO United flight today (next day) for PPT

We used the United app to load up our docs, the ETIS, vax certs, and antigen test, the fires leg was fine, bbut at no point did human being look at anything going into the US, and the app would not let us check in for the PPT leg, saying a human had to verify the ETIS, which of course has to be filled out 6 days in advance

Well my wife seriously messed this up, she filled it out online, with um old passports, lol, so when we checked in for our PPT leg today, the ETIS didn't match our passports!

Now we're seasoned travellers, we didn't panic, we found some seats, she took out her I-phone, I got my laptop out, we re-filed, from scratch, sure it took 20 minutes, and ended we paying twice, but we got the ETIS, showed it to the United agent, got the boarding cards, off we went 🙂

So much for 6 days in advance, lol 

The ironic part, at no point was our vax or antigen test verified on the PPT leg, period, by the same United agent, it's the 2nd ro 3rd time travelling recently where I checked in marking off that I had taken a test, or have been vaxed, without actually showing anything, lol

We specifically co-ordinated our Antigen test so it was 48 hrs b4 both the SFO and PPT leg, but we did notice free antigen testing and free 3rd dose vax in SFO, point being, major airports have your back, and in this crazy modern digital world we live in, mobile laptops and I-phone sure come in handy!!!!

5 hrs till we land in PPT, 6.5 hrs b4 our first poisson cru and french vanilla creme brule.... 

Oddly enough we;'ve always gone independent with Bruno and or someone else, however we detest the non-snorkling portion at this point in out FP travels, so we are sailing O28, choose the ATV just to do something different, and booked the WS drift in the morning on the Motu day, which means we get more bang, but this is where the ships excursion is the best, as it focus on the Coral Garden, and allows 3 or multiple passes, not just one, plus it's very relaxing in the shallow clear water post drift, it's a spectacular excursion, right up there with anything Patrick does in Bora Bora

jc  

Exactly, T-BK, as I stated b4, if your sailing in the future doesn't stop in Bora Bora, IMO you're not really seeing Tahiti, but I'm partial to the magic of Bora Bora, that spectacular view, Villa Mahana, Patrick's excursions, etc, I could even argue the local ship's one night overnighter there doesn't do it justice, we've always added 3-4 nights extra, and flew to BB, b4 or after the cruise 

And similar to those folks who claim that they've been to Antartica via sailing on a big commercial ship, but never got off the boat, that somehow a drive by, that was experiencing Antartica, um, no it's absolutely not! You need to be on an expedition ship

IMO French Polynesia is best experienced on a small cruise that departs and returns to PPT, and or a mix of land hops via small plane and or cruise, but that's just my opinion

jc    

In the past, the two times we docked in Morrea, we rented those crazy looking dune buggy race cars for our own tour around the island and to go to Belvedere lookout, and Morrea did have other tours you could book last minute on the pier, but it;'s hit and miss in French Polynesia, and in this enviro, who knows? 

jc 

Not to sound elitist, but if your cruise doesn't hit Bora Bora, then in my mind you didn't actually visit Tahiti, lol, you did more of a drive by, similar to how those large ships drive by Antartica, let's just say certain parts of the world, like the Galapagos, Antartica, Arctic, Portugal, are best served by visiting in smaller vessels, in rivers cruises, or sub 700 pax cruise ships, I'd include all of French Polynesia on that list

Yes, it's more expensive, if one is comparing the price on per day basis, and yes RC and Princess have the ability to get you to Tahiti on a lower budget, and especially if it's a family trip, if Princess starts going to Tahiti again, check them out, they were using their smallest ship, at one point it was a viable alternative to WS and PG, and their cruises left from Australia

jc 

You ask a terrific question, one maybe our TA's oughta ask WS, lol

However I just don't see WS not issuing a 100% credit, for a future sailing, after-all it would be bad business not to do so, I mean if they don't, you are surely never cruising with WS again, and the whole cruise biz, especially small ship lines, is based on repeat customers 🙂 

jc   

Thx so much for the reviews and pics, we loved loved our WS cruise years back in Tahiti, food, service, and the vibe outdoors was excellant, and we find most mainstream cruiseline 'entertainment' boring anyway, we prefer meeting folks and conversations with drinks post dinner anyway

We are booked on the 'new' stretched WS Breeze in Oct but it's looking 50-50 at this point, lol, but we have no clue if we are confirmed in a new suite or an old suite, I guess common sense say's if your cabin is more in the middle of the deck it's a new suite? lol

I just know the wife prefers the layout with the LR closer to the french balcony, rather than the other way around, we are presently on the 5th deck, suite 519      

With today's news of the cruise moratorium being lifted, it looks like all the Oct cruises will likely proceed, just not so certain about the Sept one's, with the Breeze still in Costa Rica 😉 

It's also positive news that the restrictions were only extended for a week instead of the usual two weeks 

However, the current restrictions do affect one's paradise experience, if the sailing cannot land in a port on the weekend, or you have to dine at a resort after 6:30p/7:00p (8:00p closing) - Not certain if resort bars will stay open past 8:00p (maybe someone can clarify) - No non crusiseline tours, no off site resort tours, you have to stay in your lagoon, no jet skiing 

When you add in all the testing protocols I get why some folks will just postpone and move into Nov-Dec and or 2022, but there's superb deals to be had if you stay put in Oct, (if you can cancel, after final payment, take the 100% credit, then re-book) or jump in for Nov 

jc  

We are still sticking with our Oct 17th WS sailing, things are stabilized in FP, or we hope, it 'may' have reached it's wave peak, and the vax rates continue to climb, 51% first shot now 

Though we suspect the Sept 20th will be extended to Oct 4th shortly 

However being realistic, we've already picked backup sailings for both WS and PG over NYE and or early Jan, if that's the case it's just a question of taking 100% cash, to have choices, or sticking with WS at 125%  credit, which is what we're leaning too, as we love the WS 10-11 day tin's, which is harder to find on PG

Plus we;'ve previously sailed the Wind, love the idea of cruising on the slightly larger and balcony laden Breeze, but the next 7-10 days in FP will give us all a bigger picture of the fall enviro, fingers crossed everyone here eventually gets to FP,  and or an a WS cruise

jc 

Local FP vaccination rates continue to increase, one shot vax now at 51%, and the high infection and ICU rates 'may' have hit it's peak, it seems to have stabilized, however this is in contrast to the French Parliament's debate about a November extension, which from what I can tell, has still not passed

So If your outlook is glass half full, while the cruising moratorium is likely to be extended to Oct 4th, there is increased hope things will open up again travel wise in the region, Oct forward 

However if your outlook is glass half empty, perhaps travelling to FP in Oct looks tricky, might be prudent to look at alternative dates, we are mid Oct, but already have backup plans over NYE and or in Jan 2022

Regardless fingers crossed that FP residents has seen the worst of this wave     

jc

There is some very positive news from French Polynesia, according to the NY Times the percentage of those locally vaccinated continues to rise, now up to 48% single vaccinated and 36% double vaccinated

IMO as those numbers climb Tahiti becomes long term a much safer part of the world to visit, and it bodes well for anyone who is cruising in this region Nov 2021 forward 

However short term, IMO the daily number of those infected is um staggering, while the enviro changes so much every 7 to 10 days, unfort, I think it will have to settle down quite a bit for the current cruise moratorium to end on Sept 20, I think we are a week to 10 days from it being extended to Oct 4th, with another round of cancellations for PG, WS, and others

Plus as TBK has brought up, there is a difference between being able to cruise in FP and being able to cruise with less health restrictions, being able to book private excursions, being able to leave your land resort in BB or MOR, you do have to ask yourself, as we are, do we keep our approaching Oct sailing, looking at the situation with a half full glass, or being prudent just push it back a bit to a later timeframe when perhaps things are more normalized in the region?           

Hang in there IM, the trip to Tahiti came about for us because all our proposed trips to the UK in Sept, and two music festivals in your country in Oct, one in San Fran, and one in Alabama, which all fell through for various reasons, mostly due to a combo COVID and flights/events cancelling

Somewhat exasperated my wife looked up the situation in French Polynesia, and so at the time we booked the Breeze for Oct 17th, things looked pretty good infection and ICU wise

However I think every 10-14 days, everything can change rapidly in this enviro, anywhere in the world, even in Canada, and you have to book travel this fall knowing it's a 50% probability, our 'tude being, if the Oct 17th sailing is a no go, there's always future dates we can sail with Windstar, we already have our eye on the 7 day Dec 30th as a backup plan, (it's really inexpensive to boot) so all will not be lost (though moving flights could be problematic, but it's a first world problem)  

On the other hand us Canadians (who have one of the worlds best vaccine rates)  just got green lighted to be able to go to the UK just this weekend without having to quarantine so our London/Camden Sept trip so it's now 100% back on, and thus we are staying positive about Tahiti's chances in Oct, still empathy for those who were cancelled on the Costa Rica to Tahiti sailing, and or were on cancelled PG cruises, I hope you'all can re-route and re-book later in the fall or next year, without a ton of hassle, but for us Sept/Oct/Nov WS Tahiti bound folks it's great news that there will in fact still be two Windstar ships in the region come then

jc

Toronto   

We've sailed both the PG and Windstar 7 day's and complemented the cruise with a 4 days stay, once pre, and once post, in Bora Bora, at the 4 Seasons 

And while both 7 day sailings do Bora Bora justice with the overnighter, and 2 full day's, there's something extra sexy about taking the short flight into Bora Bora, from PPT, getting picked up the resort in a high speed boat, and staying in a defacto overnight bungalow, and then using that same boat to have dinners on land at Villa Mahana and Bloody Mary's, or other eateries, and daytime snorkelling and Jet Ski excursions, I mean who doesn't want more days looking at that spectacular view?

And the 4 Seasons is a spectacular resort property 

I'll defer to others here about land stays in PPT, Taha, and or Morrea, PPT to me doesn;'t have the eateries or beauty of Bora Bora, we've just used it more as a one night pre cruise stay, and or day room lounge pre flight, so if you are intending to leave the resort, Bora Bora has a ton more interest, and Morrea also has a bit more to do but is also limited in off the resorts activities as compared to Bora

The pro of extended land pre cruise, you are so relaxed by the time you step on the ship, and there's less stress about delayed flights, but it's a humdinger 2 days of travel to get to Bora, the pro of the land post cruise, no elongated day at a PPT resort waiting for your flight, the perfect itinerary IMO is one island pre cruise and another post 

jc

Toronto   

We are booked on the Oct 17th Breeze 11 nighter, if it goes, it will be our 3rd visit to Tahiti 

Our thoughts, living in Canada, if we want to go to the USA, Europe, or the South Pacific, we gotta multi test, PCR or Antigen, whatever, its no biggie to us, we think it's gonna become one of those things you have to get used too if you want to travel internationally, from what I can read all the PPT resorts/hotels will be offering them for a fee, as well as every airport, including transiting airport(s), so it'll be less time in the lounge, more time standing in airport line(s) 🙂  

But yes, every time you take a COVID test, there's a risk build in that you might test positive, though if I ever have to quarantine again, and for 10 days, a resort in PPT seems like an awfully nice place to get stuck in, pricing aside, as long as someone continually delivers poisson cru and creme brûlée I'm good!

Same for wearing masks, its no biggie to us, we think its gonna be part of the international travel regiment for years to come, as is sometimes getting a non COVID vaccine, so especially indoors in the ship, airports, transport, etc, we'll eagerly be masked  

This is also our take on infection breakouts, look its gonna flair up everywhere, every so often, whether it's Austin, London, Toronto, PPT,  NYC, and it'll come in waves, I can see if you travelling to the Islands in Aug or early Sept, why you might want to postpone to say later in Sept or Oct, the enviro everywhere changes like every 10-14 days, and no question a negative wave has hit the Islands, but hopefully French Polynessia continues to increase their domestic vaccine rate, and the infected numbers subside in the coming weeks, fingers and toes crossed

Anyway, safe travels to everyone, may you get to paradise this fall, or if not, in 2022, we just adore Tahiti and dream about dangling our feet in that shallow lagoon ocean, dining at Villa Mahona, touring with Patrick, listening to his stories, having breakfast on the rear of a Windstar ship looking at the Bora Bora peaks, and that brisket BQQ photo at the new grill looks Texas tasty....

JC   

That's NOT a mainstream 'country' cruise, very little hit radio here, this is more alternative outlaw 'country; or rather Americana Roots music as heard on Sirius XM Ch #62

And its summer camp for live music fanatics...

jc