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FlightMedic555

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  1. On Huahine Marc's Tour (Huahine Nautique) is very good.  You can do the half land/half lagoon tour to see some of the land based sites.  A very good tour but not a ton of snorkeling.  The lunch at the motu is very good.

     

    We love Reef Discovery on Bora Bora (did that 7 times already).  I believe that this is now an excursion offered by the PG but we have in the past reserved it privately.  If you reserve it privately (if they will allow that) they can drop you off at Bloody Mary's or at the beach if you don't want to head back.  Their tour is usually over by about 1:00 pm.

     

    On Rangiroa do the ships aquarium snorkel.  We tried to book independently on Rangiroa and it did not work out.  There really are very few other options there and the snorkel is great.

     

    On Fakarava we have always gone with Ato.  It is a great trip with some great snorkeling.

     

    The only down side to the drift snorkel on Taha'a is that you miss some time at the PG motu.  If you really like snorkeling I would do the drift snorkel.  You are then dropped off at the motu by about 12-1 pm in time for the lunch.

     

    On Moorea we have usually rented a car and explored on our own.  I have seen the e-bikes going up to Belvedere and if that is something that interests you I would go for it.  It is a really steep bike ride and never having been on an e-bike I don't know how much effort you need to put in.

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  2. From your question I’m guessing you booked the cruise directly with PG.  if you did I would check some travel agents as you should be able to find a TA who will provide $500-$1000 per cabin in either OBC or a post cruise rebate.  If booked directly you can transfer your booking to a TA.  
     

    you should compare the air that is offered against what you can book directly. The PG may offer a day room  or some  transport that may be helpful.  I always book separately. 

  3. I know the IC will let you stay at the hotel after you check out and use the pool, etc.  They have a small changing room with a shower you can use before you go to the airport.  No charge for this presuming you are staying there.

     

    On the Paul Gauguin we never took our passport off the ship.  If we did a ships excursion we usually did not take any $$ either.  If we booked independently or did not have an excursion we would take some cash with us.

     

    As of this past July the Hilton on Moorea told me that they no longer offer a day pass.  While you can go to their restaurants technically you cant access the pool/beach as they are private.  Moorea Water Games as the Sofitel has a snorkel scooter excursion which is great (you have to get there on your own).

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  4. If you don't need local currency for excursions AND you have not paid in full for the post cruise hotel, I would take out $50,000 XPF which would be about $450 US USD (add in more if you need to pay for excursions).  You can use whatever you have left over to pay down your bill at the hotel.  As TBK mentioned try not to use USD to pay for items prices in XPF as the vendor will want $10 USD per 1000 XPF when you can now get 1000 SPF for about $8.50 (more or less).

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  5. On Bora Bora it is easy to get to Matira Beach.  Beautiful beach, plenty of small places for food and drink right on the beach.  Very limited, if at all, opportunity to rent chairs on the beach.  Sandy beach so no decent snorkeling.  On Bora Bora it really is all about the lagoon and it would be a shame not to do a snorkel excursion.  We have used Pure Snorkeling by Reef Discovery a number of times.  If you go with them they can drop you off at Matira Beach after the 3-4 hour excursion or at Bloody Mary's, if you want to have lunch there.

     

    Taxis are at the pier to take you to Matira Beach and commonly only charge $5 per person.  If this $5 version is not available the going rate is $20 per vehicle.  Matira Beach is adjacent to the Intercontinental Hotel.  You can ask the concierge there to call a taxi for you when you are ready to head back.

     

    On Moorea taxis are readily available at the pier as well.

  6. Virtually everything is in English.  The overhead announcements are made in both English and French.  At the shows the introductions were done in both English and French.  I did not observe any preferential treatment for the French speakers.  It is a great cruise.

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  7. You can’t make dinner reservations in advance. The two restaurants that require reservations each have a set menu which changes only once per trip.  If you like the menu options than make the reservation on board. The restaurant on deck 8 is best when the ship overnights on Bora Bora or Moorea as there is then no wind.

     

    Drinks are available all day, anything you want except for top shelf liquor.  Your cabin also has a free minibar with beer and soda.

  8. On Moorea you can either do a land based or a water based tour.  We don't jet ski but this is an option as well.  Many love the shark/ray snorkeling tours.  If you are looking to do something independently Moorea Water Games has a spectacular snorkel tour using a scooter.  It is super cool and the snorkeling is magnificent.  If you are doing a land based tour you can rent a car on your own, take a 4x4 tour or even an e-bike tour.  Most of the land based tours stop at the Belevedere Outlook, the agricultural school for jams and ice cream and the juice factory.

     

    https://www.mooreawatergames.com/en/

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