Twosailors1t

On 10/30/2023 at 8:21 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Check out Regal departing Southampton on August 7, 2024.  The itinerary show a stop on Glasgow that departs the port at 2:00 a.m.

 

Also, Regal Princess out of Southampton on August 13, 2025.  Same stop in Glasgow.

I went through both Regal Princess itineraries and i see the two nights in Glasgow but there is no excursion in the whole trip to the Tatoo. I guess you have to book it yourself?

We’ve sailed in BVI many times and highly recommend Cane Garden Bay. Great beach, restaurants. Easy to take a van over the mountain to get there just outside the ferry building. Be sure to walk to Callwood’s Rum Distillery for a rum tasting at an authentic distillery. It’s a tiny, friendly place with great authentic atmosphere. We tied up to a mooring there last May in our catamaran. Many turtles in the bay and Rhymer’s band often plays in the evening. One of my favorite all time places in the Caribbean and we cruised the Caribbean for 1 1/2 years in our own sailboat. 

On Jost everything is rebuilt and open. More of a partying, drinking vibe there with speed boats pulling up and dropping anchor to visit the Soggy Dollar from other islands. Below recent photos of White Bay and Foxy’s, which has a great band called Evolution if you like rock n roll.

We stayed a week near Lahaina right on the water. Every morning I watched a tugboat pull the submarine out to the location where it submerged and then came back up and was towed back into port. Very amusing to me as a sailor.

Thank you for posting this. We will be doing the same trip in August. Look forward to hearing more.

5 hours ago, Potstech said:

We just tell the steward that we only need room refresh once a day.  We also ask for a paper Platter every evening and a full ice bucket. Other than that we rarely see them. Which is how we like i.

What is a paper Platter?

Hope you enjoy it. We too went to the Botanical Gardens and the small museum. We had no NZ, but in both cases, the entrance fee was done in a donation box, and we just used USD, no problem. The gardens are small, but very nice. Ditto the museum, just one room, not a must-see.

 

BTW, if anyone is into the history and anthropology of the Polynesian culture in a big way, the museum on Tahiti, Museum of Tahiti and the Islands, is well worth it. It's usually included in the bus tour that is part of the pre-cruise PG package.

Wendy,

Thanks again for this review and all of the other helpful posts you've made before the cruise. We enjoyed going to Les Tipaniers for the day on Moorea just to check out for future possibilities. We were definitely disappointed by the weather and not landing in Aitutaki, but oh well.The snorkeling and ship were fabulous!

What time of year do you think would be better? One of the Gauguines told me April....

Susan and Joe

Wendy,

 

I heard back on the tuk-tuk tour and I was somewhat surprised by how much this tour costs. When I read your post above I missed that it was a per person quote versus a per vehicle. So, my question is, was it worth the $320 for a half day tour in your opinion? My options are to just rent a car for about $75 or rent two of their electric bikes for a little over $100, obviously the down side is no tour guide or experiencing the tuk-tuk. The other option is doing the PG excursion hike with Pa.

 

Thanks for any input,

 

Doug

Hi Doug,

We were on this cruise and rented a car from Island Car and Bike on Rarotonga. They picked us up at the dock and took us to the rental place, not far away. My husband is used to driving on the left side so that was not a problem. I had brought a preprinted map from google of snorkeling sites. We stopped at the Botanical Gardens ($5 each) and then The Rarotonga Hotel, where we took our snorkel gear and towels through the lobby to the beach. They were happy to tell us to come on through to a snorkel area called Are'ea Marine Sanctuary. We met some other folks from the ship there who had taken the bus there. Unfortunately a squall came through and we had to cut it short. I would have enjoyed having lunch at the resort...

Hope that helps,

Susan and Joe

We are going on a TA cruise in April, 2018. Can anyone comment on the weather for that trip from April 15th to the 21st???

Thanks,

eclue

My husband and I crossed the Atlantic in our own sailboat in April, 2006, with very light winds and seas. We sailed from Cape Verde Islands to Martinique and it took 23 days! So if you are worried about storms I don't think it's an issue.:cool:

TBK, great photo, thanks for sharing! Can't wait...

Have done it at least 10 times ........ as long as you can maneuver yourself in the water to stay straight in the current you will be fine. If you can't don't take the tour. The location/setting at the end of the drift snorkel is my BH's favorite location .... peaceful and so colorful :)

Ok, that does it! Thanks to both of you we're going to stick with it!

Susan and Joe

It's wonderful! I book it every trip through PG. Enjoy!

 

Downside. Each trip, I've seen people stand on the coral or freak out because the water is too skinny and they don't think they'll pass over corals. The excursion states that this is for experienced snorkelers, and they're right. Sometimes the freak-outers hold up the line behind them.

Thanks so much!

We love to snorkel and have a lot of experience but I am worried about the strenuous description of this activity. I would appreciate some opinions from people who have done it. Also I know this beach experience is supposed to be top notch so is it worth it to give up 3 hours to do the drift snorkel? Thanks!

Thanks so much, very helpful indeed! We did purchase the IC day room upon departure so I don't think they will kick us off that early.

Now my only concern is getting back to BoraBora from Raro in time for our excursion! Not much we can do about that!

Susan and Joe

July 14th: Tahiti (Ia Orana Tahiti)

 

Taxis are plentiful and can be flagged down right outside the airport. The ride to IC is around 2000 francs + 100 francs per bag ($20 and $1 per bag).

 

We checked in at around 7:30am and were given a key to one of their transit rooms. I don't remember actually making it down to the pool deck though before the room was ready. We dropped off our luggage in the room around 8am

 

 

Thank you for this,Brandon. I booked the hotel through IHG since I am a member. I am worried about getting a room that early in the morning. Since you went on Air France and took a taxi I assume you did not book the room through PG either. How did this work?

Thanks!

Susan

Gorgeous..looks like very calm seas! Thanks for all of your tips, by the way in CC. Very helpful.

Thank you, Maria, for your post! Between you and Becky (and others) I have taken copious notes. Even though we have 14 months until our trip, we have a great basis to start planning. I had not considered a rental car. Are you still glad you did that?

Susan

Wow, Becky, this is great! I got hungry looking at your food photos and taking notes for our trip next year!

Thanks!

Susan

We have never been to the South Pacific so this is a very exciting trip! I read a thread but now I can't find it. Dang, I wanted to start some excursion planning...Anyone else? also, my TA said all American, Air France and ATN flights feed into the same airplane, which leaves out of LA in the afternoon. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks.

Susan