JIMinNC

11 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Really had to think about the weather in Alaska.  As has been said, it is unpredictable.  However, due to the reasons I mentioned previously, we have only sailed to Alaska in May and September (and are going again this coming September).

 

Although historic data does not mean much, there are only 3-4 degrees difference between the temperatures in May or June (checked Juneau and Ketchikan).  We have been in 85 degree temperatures in Juneau (in May) - had good weather in September (except for Sitka where it was raining so hard that there was a landslide and people on excursions had to take a boat to get around the closed road.

 

So, in spite of how many times we have been there, we have no clue what the weather is going to be like.  I do feel strongly that June/July and early August sailings are not representative of a typical Regent cruise so we choose to avoid sailing at that time.  

Wish that I had a better answer but the weather is so unusual that it could be 100 degrees in June next year.  On the other hand, it could be 50 degrees.

Thanks. Not as much concerned with temperatures as rain/clouds. I'm a pretty serious photographer so sun usually makes for better landscape pictures than clouds. I'll gladly deal with families and kids if the odds of sunny weather are a bit better, and everything I've read says June has slightly less rain, on average, than the other months.

In any event, as I said just above, we decided to pass on Alaska for now since most of the desirable cabins are already booked for June 2020 and will try again in a future year when we aren't already late on the booking calendar.

Thanks for all the thoughts. We'll not sweat the side of the ship.

Having said that, and after digging further, it appears that for the sailing that works best for us, the only Concierge Suite D or E cabins now available are on deck 10 under the pool deck or restaurants. I think it's best to avoid those cabins under the public spaces, so it appears we are a bit late to book for 2020. We're now thinking to do other things in 2020 and defer the Alaska cruise until a future year when we can be more timely in our booking. 

4 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

We have been to Alaska five times (three of those were on Regent).  I agree about there not being a preferred side.  If there is something that is important to see, we hang out in the Observation Lounge and get much better views that from a balcony on either side of the ship.  

 

Not sure when you are planning on going.  You mention "summer" which likely means June/July/August.  While it may not matter, June, July and the first half of August the ship has many families (and children) - there could dozens of children onboard.  I recommend going in May or the last two sailings in August (but we prefer sailing with mostly adults).   

We were thinking about a couple of mid-late June sailings - one northbound, the other south. Depending on whether we did the northbound with the Denali land tour on the back end or the southbound with Denali on the front end, either trip could overlap with my wife's birthday. I've also read the June weather is sort of the sweet spot - a little warmer than May, but less rainy than July and August. We can't do August because we're planning a land trip to Tuscany for September and would prefer better spacing between the trips. Looking at the schedule, looks like Regent has no May Alaska cruises in 2020, so June or July it will have to be. The June overlap with the birthday is appealing, plus the aforementioned rumors of slightly better weather. Any input of the June weather since you've been five times? 

We've just decided we might want to do a 7-night Alaska cruise in summer 2020 and think Regent might be best for us. We've never been to Alaska before nor cruised with Regent. We just returned from a Paul Gauguin French Polynesia cruise and did a Mediterranean on Azamara last year, so I think we'll love Regent. Want to stick with the more all-inclusive smaller ships - we've been spoiled by these last two trips.

I've read the opinions that say book a starboard cabin for a northbound Alaska cruise and a port cabin for a southbound, but I've also read some reviews that say it doesn't matter. Problem is, most of the starboard cabins seem to already be booked on the northbound 2020 cruises and the port sides are mostly booked on the southbound. We had hoped to wait to make a final decision and book after my wife recuperates from a surgical procedure in about 10 days, but the cabin availability has us wondering if we need to move faster.

So, for those of you that have cruised Regent to Alaska, does the side of the ship really matter that much?  

Enjoyed your perspective since we were on the same cruise. I think I recall seeing you and your family at the IC and on the ship. Since we're in our early 60s, we wound up hanging with a slightly older crowd, so our paths didn't cross during our main activities, I guess.

It was interesting to read the way you structured your activities without doing the ship's excursions. We did the opposite, as I related in my review, and booked ship's tours on every island except Motu Mahana, where we just spent the day there. I thought all of the tour operators PG used did a great job, especially the Maohi Nui snorkel and Polynesian feast on Bora Bora. I guess we're a little less likely to venture out on our own in a new place, so for us, the organization and quality of the ship tours fit the bill perfectly. The PG "bubble" didn't bother us at all, in fact, we rather enjoyed being in such a nice bubble! I wish they had other ships like the Paul Gauguin in other locations.

I'm surprised you had a wait as long as you did to clear customs, especially since you were in the front of the plane in Business Class. We were in Premium Economy on Air Tahiti Nui, so were sort of near the front of our plane but not as far forward as you were on yours. We only waited maybe about five or ten minutes to get through passport control, waited another ten or so for our bags to be delivered, and then we were just allowed to leave the terminal - no second customs clearance. I was surprised at that.

I enjoyed your photos. I'm working on going through 3000 photos, so I plan to add a few images to my review when I finish all of my edits. Now, I gotta get back to work on those photos!

I guess I'm in the camp that says if you can only do pre- or post-, but not both, do pre-cruise. I think it's important to get on the ground, rest up from the flight, and be ready for the cruise. On our recent cruise we booked a two-night stay at IC Tahiti through Paul Gauguin specifically to have a solid full day to rest before embarkation. We arrived PPT Thursday night at about 9:30 and were at the hotel in our room before 11pm. We then had all day Friday to relax at the resort and even make a quick trip into town before dinner. After checking out at 11am on Saturday, we also had time to chill by the pool before the transport left for the ship at about 2:45pm.

We also did a post-cruise stay we booked ourselves over at the Hilton Moorea because we wanted to do the overwater bungalow experience. But even as nice as the Hilton was and as great as that bungalow was, as Wendy alludes to above, we missed the activities, social aspect, and service on the ship. We were sitting on our private deck, overlooking the beautiful Moorea lagoon, but we were wondering when our butler was going to show up with our afternoon snack and replenish our ice! Having said that, I also think it would be a bummer going straight from the ship, to a day-room, to the airport. That would be a big let-down. So, my vote would be to find a way to do both pre- and post-; but if you can only do one, I think the practical aspect of recovering from jet lag before embarkation would cause me to vote for doing something before the cruise rather than after.

Yes, the Paul Gauguin is scheduled for a dry dock in 2020, but not 100% sure what is going to be done. 

We just got back from a 7-night itinerary and loved it. Our Deck 8 cabin was perfect and I can't really imagine how it could have been improved except maybe by replacing the tub/shower with a walk-in shower, but then some people want tubs, so you can't please everyone. 

Is the Gauguin the most modern ship afloat? No. But the appeal isn't the ship itself, it's the itinerary, the crew, and the beauty of French Polynesia. The advantage of PG is they sail there year-round, so you can go whenever you want versus having to conform to when the larger cruise lines choose to sail to that region - which often is when the weather there is not as good. The PG had everything we needed and more. We loved it!

We recently returned from the June 8-15 Tahiti and Society Islands sailing on the Paul Gauguin, and I want to thank everyone on this board for all the helpful advice on a variety of topics over the last few months. Everything went off without a hitch and it was one of the most wonderful – if not the most wonderful – vacations we’ve ever been on. After cruising for the first time in over 11 years last fall on Azamara, I thought the bar had been set pretty high, but PG may have raised the bar even further!

Here are a few of my thoughts and observations, in hopes that others can learn from us. Sorry for the length, but it was a great trip:

Travel to Tahiti

We opted to book the cruise directly with PG rather than using a travel agent, and also decided fairly early on that we wanted the 2-3-2 seating in Premium Economy on the 787. Since PG did not offer travel packages at that time for Premium Economy, we booked our air fare in PE directly with Air Tahiti Nui. 

We opted to use American Airlines AAdvantage miles to get from Charlotte to LAX, since we surprisingly found that the nonstop flights from CLT to LAX were actually available for the lower 25,000-mile MileageSAAver award level, which yielded a very attractive redemption value for our points. Since we would be traveling on two separate tickets (CLT-LAX and LAX-PPT), I opted to book an overnight at the LAX Marriott using an annual free-night certificate we had from Marriott BonVoy. I didn’t want to risk an inbound AA flight delay causing us to miss our LAX-PPT flight. We also had Marriott Suite upgrades available, and two days before our June 5 departure we received notification that our upgrade to a suite had been granted. As a result, our flight to/from LAX and the overnight in a two-room suite with VIP lounge access for complimentary breakfast would all be basically free (except for a few taxes on the free tickets and dinner at the hotel).

On June 6, our ATN flight was not until 4:40pm, but as BonVoy Titanium, we were eligible for a late checkout. We were able to stay in our room until we needed to head to the International Terminal for check-in at about 1pm. Everything went smoothly, and we were onboard before 4pm.

I think the ATN Premium Economy product is a nice compromise between regular Economy and Business Class. The seats have footrests and offer greater recline, as well as being slightly larger with more leg-room. All-in-all, for an 8-hour flight, I think it is worth the extra $600 or so we paid per ticket for roundtrip in PE. We also found out a couple of days before departure that ATN had switched our return flight from the 787 back to the older A340 which doesn’t offer PE, so we would be upgraded to Business Class for the return for free. More on that later.

Pre-Cruise Stay

While we booked our air ourselves, we did opt to buy a two-night pre-cruise land package at the Intercontinental Tahiti from Paul Gauguin, so we had bus transport from the airport to the IC, and then on June 8, on to the ship. The tour operator did a great job with both transfers.

Overall, the IC Tahiti was an OK place to stay for a couple of nights, but compared to the Marriotts, Westins, and Hiltons we normally stay at, the IC was a notch or two below that. Having said that, for a short pre-cruise stay to help adjust to the six-hour time difference, the IC fit the bill perfectly. On June 7, after breakfast, we mainly just hung out by the Lotus pool/pool bar but did take a quick taxi into Papeete to go to Le Marche for a short shopping trip.

My only real issue with the IC was the dinner cost at their Lotus restaurant. Our cost for dinner for two and a bottle of wine was about $265 (US), versus a comparable dinner post-cruise at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort (a much nicer property) that was only about $170. I also thought the Hilton’s breakfast buffet (included) was superior to the included IC breakfast buffet.

The Ship and Our Cabin

After cruising for a week in a Deck 8 Category B Veranda cabin, I can’t imagine ever booking anything else should we sail on the PG again. There was some debate a few months ago on this board about whether the deck 8 cabins really had king beds or not, and I can confirm that we had a full king in our cabin 805. I was really impressed with how efficiently the cabin was designed. With the nice seating area and the balcony, we never felt cramped or claustrophobic. After experiencing a 600+ square foot suite on Azamara last fall, I was concerned the PG cabin would feel small by comparison, but it was great. We also enjoyed a drink or a snack on our balcony almost every day. I also liked the easy access on Deck 8 to the pool deck and Le Grill for breakfast. We did hear several complaints from other cruisers about noise (mainly Deck 7 guests complaining about chairs being moved on the pool deck), but our cabin was exceedingly quiet.

The crew is fantastic, and several of the waiters/bar staff called us by name by the second full day on the ship. Our butler on Deck 8 did a nice job as well, but I would say the butler service was maybe just a notch below what we experienced last fall on Azamara. We had to call and ask for a couple things that the Azamara butler refreshed without being asked. But when asked, our butler was very prompt and efficient. No real complaints at all. Our butler would have brought us breakfast every morning (as our Azamara butler did during the fall Azamara cruise), but the PG Category B cabins don’t have the dining table & chairs we had on Azamara, so it was just easier to walk a few steps over to Le Grill at our leisure.

We thought the food was all excellent overall. We at four meals in the main dining room, L’Etoile, and felt it was superior to the main dining room on the Azamara Quest. We were seated with other cruisers the first two nights, and it was great to meet other folks. We also ate dinner at La Veranda twice (love the quieter atmosphere there) and we dined under the stars of the Southern Cross at Le Grill on Bora Bora. We loved both specialty restaurants but did feel the two specialty restaurants on the Azamara Quest – Aquafina and Prime C – maybe offered a bit more of the “fine dining” experience than the PG counterparts – but to some extent, I’m splitting hairs here. The restaurants were all great.

We much preferred the “all inclusive” spirits and wine on Paul Gauguin to the “somewhat all-inclusive” spirits and wine on Azamara. Azamara includes all drinks and wine as well, but if you want something other the few liquor brands and wines on their “included” list, you have to pay an upcharge or purchase an upgraded beverage package for the whole cruise. It’s sort of clunky and requires the waiters to scan your guest cards to get an upgraded wine or spirit. Paul Gauguin’s approach is SO much better.

We went to the show in the Grand Salon every night and thought the entertainment was excellent. We also enjoyed Alex in the Piano Bar and the Santa Rosa Band’s wide-ranging play-list of tunes.

The Islands and Shore Excursions

All I can say is “WOW!” We have loved Hawaii and have been going there often for almost 30 years, but for sheer natural beauty, French Polynesia is the most beautiful place we have ever visited. The green mountains set against the water in every shade of blue imaginable, is all so spectacular. We booked all of our shore excursions through Paul Gauguin and had everything set up prior to leaving home. We did make one change on the ship.

On Huahine, we did a combo land/snorkel excursion, the Huahine Exploration by Boat and Jeep. We saw the blue-eyed eels, visited a former cannibalism sacrificial site, a pearl farm, and several other interesting and scenic stops. We then went by boat to a nice snorkel site. Overall, Huahine was probably the least impressive of the islands we visited, but that is only because the other three were so incredible. After returning to the ship, we enjoyed the Children of Huahine show and the Moonfish carving demo.

On Taha’a, we spent the entire day at Motu Mahana. I think we were probably on the second or third tender over in the AM and stayed until mid-afternoon. The weather was off and on sunny/cloudy, but it was a great day with a great lunch. Our day at Motu Mahana made us feel like we were on Gilligan’s Island, just with a full bar and a buffet! Motu Mahana was a much more enjoyable way to spend a day of relaxation than the typical “Sea Day” you get on most other cruises.

Our favorite island was Bora Bora, primarily because of the lagoon. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and it was more beautiful than I ever imagined it would be. The water is so incredibly blue. We did the Maohi Nui five-hour Lagoon Excursion & Polynesian Feast on Day 1. I snorkeled with sharks in a deep-water spot, stingrays and sharks at stop two in shallow water, and hundreds (thousands?) of reef fish at stop three. My wife is not a snorkeler and gets nervous in water deeper than about three feet, so she only tried stop two in water about a meter or so deep. But when she saw a shark, she was done, and I had to help her back to the boat! The feast on the tour operator’s motu was delicious with lobster, pork, chicken, and fish cooked on grills and in an earth oven. Day two on Bora Bora we did the Island Tour by “Le Truck.” While nothing could ever compare to the lagoon tour on day 1, this was a nice orientation to the island and a nice break from the water-based activities for my wife. When we returned to the Vaitape village after the tour, she was able to buy a nice pearl bracelet and single-pearl necklace at once of the shops a few blocks from the pier. After returning to the ship around mid-day, we put on our swim suits and spent a few hours at the Paul Gauguin Bora Bora Motu. With no bar or food, this time we felt like we were actually on Gilligan’s Island. The view of Bora Bora from the motu was incredible.

On Moorea, we anchored in Opunohu Bay and took the tender to Papetoai. For day one we had chosen an afternoon Island Drive and Belvedere, so we slept in a bit and relaxed on the ship before time to meet for the tour. Unfortunately, this was the only day of our cruise with spotty weather, and it showered off and on during the mid-late morning and was very cloudy a foggy up at Belvedere. The weather improved later in the day and we got a good overview of the island with multiple stops. For Moorea day two, since my wife isn’t a snorkeler, we had originally booked the Dolphin Watching Expedition, but after the great snorkeling on Huahine and Bora Bora, and since we had done many dolphin/whale watches in Hawaii, we decided to switch to the Lagoon Discovery with Snorkeling. That way, I could snorkel again, and she still could enjoy the boat ride. The two stops were shallow water with stingrays and sharks and a second coral garden spot. The rays here were particularly friendly, and several approached me unprompted almost like a dog wanting me to pet them. It was an incredible wildlife interaction. My wife added a set of relatively inexpensive pearl earrings to her collection from one of the small vendors near the dock.

Post-Cruise
 

We had booked three nights post-cruise in a Panoramic Overwater Bungalow room at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort, so after departing the ship at 10am on the last day, we just walked with our luggage a block or so from the ship over to the ferry terminal and took the 11:40am Terevau ferry back over to Moorea. We picked up a taxi at the Moorea ferry terminal and were at the Hilton by about 12:45pm or so. After check-in, we hung out at the pool for about 30 minutes or so until our room was ready, and by 1:30 we were in our bungalow, sitting on our deck looking at the beautiful lagoon. 

The Hilton overwater bungalows are very nice, with a huge bathroom with walk-in shower/rain head/wand, a large main room with king bed, couch, and a glass floor area in front of the couch where we could see fish (and a shark) swimming below us. A mini-fridge has complimentary water, soft drinks, and beer that is refreshed daily. Outside is a large deck with a table/two chairs and two loungers. There are steps down to a lower platform where you can enter the water for swimming/snorkeling. The water around the bungalows is about four feet or so deep, maybe a little more in spots. The snorkeling at the Hilton is pretty good, although I will now compare every snorkeling spot against Bora Bora, and nothing really compares! Hilton provides complimentary snorkel, mask, and fins.

On our first night we attended the Hilton’s buffet and Polynesian show. It was a very good show with decent food, and excellent fire dancers. We ate all meals on site and found the food to be good and reasonably priced for a nice hotel in French Polynesia. Breakfast was included since we are Gold/Diamond status in Hilton HHonors. 

At the Hilton, we primarily enjoyed the overwater bungalow experience. I snorkeled and we spent many hours sitting on our deck enjoying the great sunny weather and the amazing view. The only time we left the resort was on our second day, when we hired a taxi to take us back up to Belvedere lookout so we could see the view on a sunny day rather than the cloudy day we had on the cruise.

The Trip Home

On check-out day, June 18, our HHonors status also got us a 2pm check-out. We dropped our luggage at the front desk at 2pm, had lunch, and our taxi to the ferry terminal arrived at 3:30. We took the 4:40pm Terevau ferry back over to Papeete, and then after a short wait, shared a cab with another couple back to Papeete airport. We arrived at the airport about 10 minutes before Air Tahiti Nui opened their check-in counter at 6pm. 

Since we got the lucky Business Class upgrade for the return flight, it came with a pass to the Air Tahiti Nui VIP lounge. We hung out there and chatted with another couple who had also been on the PG, until our flight boarded at 8:40pm. The time passed quickly.

The free upgrade to Business Class was great on the overnight flight leaving at 9:30pm. The seats in the A340 Business Class felt very similar to sit in as did the Premium Economy seats on the 787, but the A340 Business Class seats had much more extensive recline - 160 degrees - which means they are not quite lay-flat, but close. The meals and service were obviously better in Business Class than Premium Economy, and the amenity kit was nicer. If money was no object, Business Class is the way to go, but I've always been reluctant to pay that much for an airline ticket that still gets your there at the same time as everyone else! The free upgrade was a pleasant, unexpected bonus, and the better seat for the 7.5-hour flight from Papeete to LAX actually made that flight seem shorter than our five-hour flight home to Charlotte from LAX in American Airlines coach. We elected not to do an overnight in LAX on the way home but did schedule about a five-hour layover at LAX to allow some cushion for delays. As it turned out, everything operated on time, so we had a long wait at LAX. 

Overall Impressions

This was a great trip, and we would both love to do another Paul Gauguin cruise in the years ahead before we get too old to really enjoy the activities. I just can’t stop talking about Bora Bora and that lagoon, so maybe an alternative would be staying at one of the Bora Bora resorts. But now that we’ve done the overwater bungalow thing and checked that off the bucket list (it was amazing), I’m thinking the variety and activities we could enjoy on another PG cruise might be the way to go. Maybe a longer cruise that includes the Tuamotus or the Marquesas.

I would also love to perhaps combine a week in Hawaii with a future trip to French Polynesia. I heard from a family from Hawaii that was on the PG with us that Hawaiian Airlines is now flying twice weekly (rather than just once) from Honolulu to Papeete, so that may make coordinating the two destinations easier.

In comparing Hawaii and French Polynesia, I think Hawaii wins for the variety of activities, for our many favorite Hawaiian restaurants, golf, and the great resorts we love. But French Polynesia wins for sheer natural beauty, the lagoons, and the snorkeling/water activities. I thought Hawaii was the most beautiful place on earth until I set foot on Bora Bora and Moorea, but French Polynesia tops it easily. 

Thanks again for the advice and answers. I’ll try to stay engaged in the board so I can help others as they try to sort their way through their next cruise. I also took over 3000 photos and haven't even begun to sort through, edit, and delete the rejects. But when I do, I may post a few of the best. I've attached one simple iPhone photo here, just because everyone needs something beautiful to look at.

I now truly understand what you all mean when you talk about the “Polynesian Flu.”

Since no one else has offered any more current info...when we were on the Quest last September, I think we had CNN and MSNBC, I believe. I don't recall if we had FOXNews because I don't watch them, so it didn't register with me if they were available or not. I don't think CNBC was offered, because I do watch that channel at home, and I don't recall it being available on the ship.

You should love Deck 8. We just returned home from the June 8-15 cruise in cabin 805. Very quiet and we wouldn't ever think of cruising without a balcony. We spent many mornings before breakfast and evenings before or after dinner out there with a drink. Very quiet and peaceful. We also loved Deck 8 for it's easy access to the pool deck and Le Grill for breakfast. The Deck 8 cabins also have King beds instead of Queens, so that and the balcony were the main factors in our choice of Deck 8 from the start. After our great experience, if and when we sail on the Paul Gauguin again, it will absolutely be on Deck 8. The cabins are very well laid-out and they did a lot with the available space. We had a 600+ sq ft suite on Azamara last fall, so we were expecting to feel cramped in the PG cabin, but we were pleasantly surprised at how spacious the cabin actually felt.

2 hours ago, DGK said:

Good for you Jim getting upgraded to Business class for the return. Curious did you book your flights through PG ? If not what did you do after departing the ship ?

When we booked our cruise last fall, PG did not offer an option to book Premium Economy through them; not sure if they offer it now or not. We decided we definitely did not want the 3-3-3 configuration in regular economy on the 787, so we booked our air direct with Air Tahiti Nui to get Premium Economy.

We did book a two night pre-cruise land package through PG, so even though we booked our own air, we provided that info to PG and they provided the bus transfers from the airport to the Intercontinental Papeete and from the IC to the ship on embarkation day.

We did not purchase a post-cruise package from PG. Instead, we booked three nights in an overwater bungalow at the Hilton Lagoon Resort on Moorea direct with Hilton. After departing the ship at 10am on the last day, we just walked with our luggage a block or so from the ship over to the ferry terminal and took the 11:40am Terevau ferry back over to Moorea. We picked up a taxi at the Moorea ferry terminal and were at the Hilton by about 12:45pm or so. After check in, we hung out at the pool for about 30 minutes or so until our room was ready, and by 1:30 we were in our bungalow, sitting on our deck looking at the beautiful lagoon. On check-out day, since I'm Hilton Gold and my wife is Hilton Diamond, they gave us a 2pm check-out. We dropped our luggage at the front desk at 2pm, had lunch, and our taxi to the ferry terminal arrived at 3:30. We took the 4:40pm Terevau ferry back over to Papeete, and then after a short wait, shared a cab with another couple back to Papeete airport. We arrived at the airport about 10 minutes before Air Tahiti Nui opened their check-in counter at 6pm. Since we got the lucky Business Class upgrade, that also came with a pass to the Air Tahiti Nui VIP lounge. We hung out there and chatted with another couple who had also been on the PG, until our flight boarded at 8:40pm. It all worked perfectly.

As far as the Paul Gauguin internet is concerned, on our PG cruise last week, I was not as underwhelmed by it as the OP. In fact, while slow by today's hotel standards, it seemed more responsive than the similar on board product on an Azamara cruise last fall. I don't stream video and don't do VOIP, but we iMessaged, emailed, and uploaded a few photos, and they uploaded in less than a minute or so - some much quicker. Really not too bad. Last fall, I had a couple photos on the Azamara cruise that didn't upload until we got to a hotel WiFi in Rome post-cruise. I had considered buying the PG unlimited package, but opted to just use our Verizon $10/day International plan (which only charges you on days you actually use it - and we only used it like 5 days) plus a $65 or so 250 minute PG internet package. We wound up with plenty of minutes on the PG package and actually had a few minutes left at the end of the cruise. Saved money versus the unlimited plan and had all we needed for modest tech usage.

I also had a different perspective on the tender docking locations - I though both the Moorea and Bora Bora docks were fine and there were a nice selection of vendors and shops in the area. My wife bought some nice pearls at a nice store in Vaitape on Bora Bora, a couple blocks from where the tender docked. Unlike many ports in Mexico and the Caribbean, we didn't feel like we we constantly being hustled. On Moorea, our June 8 cruise anchored in Opunohu Bay, so we tendered to Papetoai village which had a nice waterfront area with many vendor tables. My wife bought some relatively inexpensive pearl earrings and I got a carved Tiki statue. Were they fancy ports with fancy shops and restaurants? No. But that's not what we went to Bora Bora and Moorea for. When we want fancy shops and fancy restaurants in a tropical place, we'll go to Hawaii (and do, every year or two).

I can't speak to Air Tahiti Nui economy, but can offer some feedback on Premium Economy (and Business Class). We just returned last night from our trip. We started our trip on June 6 in Premium Economy on the 787 Dreamliner. We chose Premium Economy due to the better seating configuration for a couple - it's 2-3-2 in PE vs. 3-3-3 in regular Economy - allowing me to have a window and my wife an aisle, and no one else beside us. Each seat gets a complimentary bottle of water, and an amenity kit (socks, sleep mask, ear plus, toothbrush/toothpaste, towelette, etc). The seats have more recline than regular coach seats, more legroom, and foot/leg rests. Much better than economy seats on domestic airlines, but it's still an airline seat, so after eight hours, it still feels a little hard. But overall, we were pleased with the Premium Economy product and feel it is a reasonable compromise between being packed into regular economy versus paying the higher cost of Business Class.

For our return flight on June 18, we were also booked in Premium Economy on the 787, but about a week before we left home we received a notice from Air Tahiti Nui that they had switched our return flight to one of their remaining A340-300 aircraft, which do not have Premium Economy. As a result, they upgraded us to Business Class for free - which was great on the overnight flight leaving at 9:30pm. The seats in the A340 Business Class felt very similar to sit in as did the Premium Economy seats on the 787, but the A340 Business Class seats had much more extensive recline - 160 degrees - which means they are not quite lay-flat, but close. The meals and service were obviously better in Business Class than Premium Economy, and the amenity kit was nicer. If money was no object, Business Class is they way to go, but I've always been reluctant to pay that much for an airline ticket that still gets your there at the same time as everyone else! The free upgrade was a pleasant, unexpected bonus, and the better seat for the 7.5 hour flight from Papeete to LAX actually made that flight seem shorter than our five hour flight home to Charlotte from LAX in American Airlines coach.

When (not if) we return to French Polynesia, we would certainly book Premium Economy again if we are on Air Tahiti Nui. I might even consider booking PE on the way to Papeete and then book Business Class on the way home for the overnight flight. I personally don't think Business Class is worth the price on a daytime/early evening flight when I don't want to sleep. But for an overnight flight, the better, flatter seats make for a more pleasant trip. 

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Don’t know how long you have available, but I can recommend the Suez Canal Cruise Athens to Dubai - in 2020 it’s 24 Oct - 10 Nov. It gives you the opportunity to go to Jerusalem, Luxor and Petra! It’s a route we’ve done 3 times and will probably book again for 2020.

 

 

 

 

We're sort of singularly focused on something in the Greek Isles. That's a bucket list item for my wife, and the only ones that seem appealing as far as dates and ports are in fall 2021, and that is so far off. I'd probably rather just get a refund until the time gets closer.

We're doing my bucket list cruise starting this week - a Tahiti cruise on the Paul Gauguin - so my wife gets to pick the next one. 

We received an email from Azamara today confirming the changes to the Oct 10, 2020 Journey cruise. They gave us several alternatives with compensation in the form of on-board credit ($500 stateroom/$1000 suite) for rebooking on a group of selected cruises, credit of $250 stateroom/$500 suite for rebooking on a cruise other than those selected, $100 stateroom/$250 suite for an Open Passage Voyage, or full refund.

Not sure yet what we will do, but just looking at 2020, not sure there is an alternate itinerary that jumps out at us right now in the months we want to travel, so it most likely will be fall 2021 before we can rebook, and that's a long way out, so cancel/refund may be the best option. 

2 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Your post made me look at the cost to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy …. We paid $2167 for two economy seats on ATN on the new planes. If we upgraded the additional price would be $2300 more  ….. so  ….. economy it is.

When we booked last fall, the difference was not nearly as big. As I recall, Economy was a little over $3000 for two vs about $4300 for Premium Economy for two, so about $650 or $700 per ticket. I felt then it was a marginal call based on price, but elected to do it as a compromise between Economy and Business Class and the get the two-seat row. Now that we appear to have gotten a bonus and lucked out with the Business Class upgrade for the return trip, we are happy we made the decision to do PE. 

I suspect it's not simply a technical glitch since, as I noted in the original post, our booking for the October 10 departure is now showing up in our account as a 9-night Venice to Barcelona cruise instead of the 11-night Venice to Athens cruise we originally booked.

19 minutes ago, SWFLAOK said:

I would rather be in economy class on the old  A340. The 2 seats with a window on each side has always worked well for us on our past 2 flights out and back. The new configuration with 3 seats doesn't work at all for a couple. It made us choose between upgrading to premium economy and buying out the third seat next to us. I had not heard that they still had the old configuration in service. I would love to be upgraded to business class. But I never saw any  lay flat seats on the old planes, and we never felt a need for them from PPT to LAX.

The 2-3-2 configuration in Premium Economy on the new 787-9 aircraft is exactly why we chose to buy Premium Economy rather than regular Economy. We don't like the 3-seat rows either. I like a window and my wife likes an aisle, so with a 2-seat row in PE for the flight from LAX-PPT we both are happy.

That was also supposed to be the arrangement for the flight from PPT-LAX, but we were informed yesterday that our equipment on the return flight had been switched back to the A340, so they gave us the Business Class seats. The website says the seats in BC recline to 160 degrees, which isn'y true lay-flat, but it's sure a lot better than regular seat. That will be great for an 8-hour overnight flight. Might get a few hours sleep.

They have two flights departing to LAX that night - ours at 9:30 and another later one. I think when we booked our earlier flight was the 787 and the later flight was the A340, but now they seem to be reversed. Not sure the reason for the switch.

I just went online to check to see if the new promotion offered a savings on our Oct 10, 2020 11-night Journey Greece Intensive cruise from Venice to Athens, and could not find our cruise listed at all. Digging further, I found there are no Journey cruises showing up on the online reservation system after the Oct 3 cruise that ends in Venice on Oct 10, 2020 just prior to ours. I then went into our reservation and saw that it was now showing us booked on an Oct 10, 2020 9-night Mediterranean Treasures voyage from Venice to Barcelona on Journey. 

So, it looks like Azamara has cancelled our Oct 2020 Greece cruise and is re-doing the fall 2020 schedule for Journey, but just hasn't updated the online reservation system yet. Many of the ports on the 9-night cruise that appears to be replacing the Greece Intensive cruise are the same ones we visited last fall, so we definitely do not want to do the new itinerary. Very disappointing.

We just got some good news from Air Tahiti Nui...For our trip leaving next week and returning on June 18, we had booked one of the 787 flights both ways in Premium Economy. Apparently there has been a change, and ATN has switched our overnight return flight on June 18 back to one of the old A340s, but since they don't have Premium Economy on the A340, the upgraded us to Business Class for the return flight. Would have been nice to have the newer planes both ways, but that actually works out great with the almost lay-flat Business Class seats for that overnight flight.

49 minutes ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Suggestion …. put the sling in your checked bag stuff with clothes, this frees up more weight for your carry on. This way you have the sling while zipping around the island with your camera stuff. I often bring a backpack but fill it with clothes and then place it in mny checked back.

That's a good idea, I would just have to be very careful in how I packed the camera gear with clothes/soft goods in the carry-on, since it doesn't have the sturdy padded compartments to keep the gear from banging around, but it might save a pound or two of weight (the weight of the bag).

6 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

Good question  …. now keep it quiet, I'll tell you what I do. I use my camera bag as my carry-on. As I'm a wedding photographer I have a very nice Tamrac and fully loaded it's about 28.5 lbs. I bring a cotton 'mail bag' which weighs about 3 ounces. I put a camera body and 2 lenses in the mail bag which weighs 6.5lbs. This keeps my carry-on at 22lbs. Once through the check-in desk I put everything back in the carry-on 😉

I think what I'm going to have to do is use a small LowePro shoulder bag I haven't used in years for most of the camera stuff. I figured out tonight it will just fit inside my regular carry-on size luggage bag with enough room left over for my shaving kit/toiletries and one change of clothes. I think I can keep that all under 22 lbs. That way I can still get some non-camera stuff in a carry on, and still have a real camera bag available that will be able to be carried separately once we get to the hotel/ship. I will then have to use a small laptop bag for my MacBook Pro/cables as my "personal item" and just make sure that is under 3Kg. Anything else will have to go into the checked bag.

On 5/19/2019 at 6:38 PM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

As I said before  … you will shoot the majority of your pictures with the 17-40 and the 24-105, In thinking further I wouldn't take the 17-40 as the only use is when you want to shoot wider than 24mm which will be rare and if you do you will get a distorted picture meaning the foreground will appear larger than the background which I rarely like to do. Manufactures have perfected the 24-105 as a standard zoom lens for this very reason. I'd bring the 5DII and the 24-105. The only use for the longer lenses is if you want to compress the background like making Mt Otemanu larger than it is like this picture taken 15 miles away from Bora Bora.

 

 

 

Another quick question...when you have in the past traveled on ATN with your DSLRs, how did you work around their carry-on limitations. I was planning to use my main carry-on bag to hold a change of clothes, toiletries, laptop, iPad, chargers, cables, etc. Leaving the "personal item" to be the camera bag. However looking at the ATN website, they limit the personal item to 3Kg or about 6-7 pounds. That's going to push it with the weight of the bag, a 5DMk III body,  a lens or two, a speed light, and a few miscellaneous items. With the main carry-on limited to 22 lbs, that also limits what could be shifted in there for travel.

What ideas/techniques have you used? Do they weight the carry-ons/personal item? How strict are those weights they show on the web?

20 hours ago, theNJR said:

 

I wouldn’t bring the second body or that amazing long L unless you shoot something specific (IE wildlife) that requires it. You are going to default to your 5D 90% of the time. Do you have a remote trigger for your 580 though? 

See you on board! 

2 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

As I said before  … you will shoot the majority of your pictures with the 17-40 and the 24-105, In thinking further I wouldn't take the 17-40 as the only use is when you want to shoot wider than 24mm which will be rare and if you do you will get a distorted picture meaning the foreground will appear larger than the background which I rarely like to do. Manufactures have perfected the 24-105 as a standard zoom lens for this very reason. I'd bring the 5DII and the 24-105. The only use for the longer lenses is if you want to compress the background like making Mt Otemanu larger than it is like this picture taken 15 miles away from Bora Bora.

 

I used a 70-200 for this picture. But as I said you would use it rarely so I wouldn't even take it. My next trip I will likely only bring:

 

Sony RX10IV

GoPro 7

Godox TT350s

Godox TT600s

Cir polarizer

3X ND filter

Tripod (in checked bag)

 

I won't bring my a7 iii and several lenses, just to expensive of equipment to drag along. The RX10IV is a heck of a little camera and unless I was shooting above 1600 ISO I won't miss my big boy camera and lenses. The RX10IV has a 24-600 equivalent lens and takes wonderful 4K s video, who needs more. I love OCF thus the flashes, the TT350 s on-camera and the TT600 off-camera for maybe sunset portraits. 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback above, and great point about the 17-40 not really offering that much more value over the 24-105. The space can be better used for something else.

I do sometimes like shots like yours above with zoom compression, so I may play around with packing a bit to see if I can fit the 70-300L. As 300mm zooms go, it's fairly compact at just under 6 inches long (I bought it to comply with the lens size restrictions the PGA Tour has for fans on practice/pro am days), so if I can include it without causing a space/weight issue, it might be worth taking, just in case; but it will be the last item in the bag/first left out.

Thinking about the off-camera triggers, but not sure how much I would really use them practically. In the age of iPhone cameras, I find it challenging to find people just to take our picture using my DSLR, as many people tend to be intimidated by the gear. Adding in the complexity of OCF might blow their minds even more (plus, my wife is sometimes self conscious that my DSLR causes people to stare in the age in phone cameras). I guess triggers would come in handy if I were taking a portrait using OCF for other cruisers we meet, but that might be about it. But they are small, so maybe take them if there's room.

On 8/19/2018 at 5:04 PM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

No problem on the thread ....

 

You will shoot 90% of your pictures with the 17-40 and the 24-105. Leave the other two lenses at home. Remember to bring a CP and a ND filter. I bring a 3 stop and a 10 stop. The dynamic range is huge in FP and you'll need to choose your exposure based on the way you like to shoot. If you like to shoot shallow you will want the 3 stop. If you want to capture that milky smooth water you will want a 10 stop but then you will need to pack a tripod in your checked bag, I do it all the time.

 

I would also suggest a Yongnuo transmitter so you can shoot off-camera flash with you 600 EX-RT.

 

Most of my photos where shoot with a 6D. Sold my 5D MIII this last week as I just purchased a Sony 7r III and some Sony G glass.

 

You will love using your 17-40 in FP 😉

I am a Canon shooter as well, and will be on the June 8 PG 7-night cruise. Trying to decide what gear to take to stay within ATN carry-on rules but still have what I need. For sure I am taking:

Canon 5D Mk II body

Canon 17-40/f4L lens

Canon 24-105/f4L lens

Canon 580EX II flash

CP filter

3 stop ND filter

Olympus TG5 for snorkeling

Undecided on:

Canon 7D Mk II body

Canon 70-300/f4-5.6L or 70-200/f2.8L lens

Tripod

So, my main question is, do I need the second camera body and the longer zoom? On most US flights, I can take my carry-on bag and my LowePro Mini-Trekker camera backpack which will hold all of the above; but based on the ATN website, it sounds like if I take my carry on bag, the Mini-Trekker won't qualify as the "personal item" like it does on US airlines. So, I will need to take a smaller camera bag with less gear. The tripod decision will most likely be driven by how much room I have in my checked bag.

Any recommendations?