New2cruse2

After a couple of visits from the security staff, the safe deposit is now working. So we could leave the room and roaming around and ship. The ship does look modern. Lots of shelf space in the room. Lots of seating along all the main corridors. Decor is nice. We stopped by MDR and they said they could customize one or two the dishes to be vegetarian (Shrimp Fettuccine without the shrimp). spice H2O looks nice. We want to definitely try it if it doesn’t get crowded. About masking- we are doing out of necessity as well as we both have to be back home on the 13th and can’t afford to fall sick and quarantine.

Yes, we are realizing that ourselves and it may take some getting used to. But it’s not all bad, just different.

We are onboard our first observations- very little masking onboard can’t get a decent cup of coffee anywhere unless you want to pay $5 a cup at Starbucks. I’m talking about plain black brewed coffee. The one we got to our room from the Local cafe was really horrible and we couldn’t drink it. room is small but adequate. embarkation took an hour . we got our luggage after 6 hours. already in long line twice at guest services- once because WiFi that was included was not working and second time, after we locked our valuables including wallets in the in room safe deposit and we couldn’t unlock it. I keep hearing ’software issues’ from the crew a few times already. not much vegetarian choice at the lunch buffet today. Whatever was available wasn’t really tasty. I hope it’s because of being the first day with limited menu. atrium looks smaller compared to the pictures. we saw some crew members in Hazmat suites. we are heading out to windows MDR for dinner tonight. but crew are friendly . We are hoping things will improve from tomorrow.

Oh ok, you cut short your Moorea stay - I guess that makes sense. From your comments about Moorea yesterday, you probably didn’t miss much from the abbreviated stay there.

So did they drop off those passengers yesterday in Moorea and transported them (and their luggage) to Papeete by ferry?

Yay! Great to stay safe as well as enjoy the cruise. Have a safe flight back. Thanks again for your helpful information and updates that would help us have a better cruise experience.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide an important update. We are currently staying at the Sofitel in Moorea till tomorrow morning and will be back to Papeete to board the ship. No one here is wearing a mask including the resort staff. We didn’t want to jeopardize our cruise, so we were the only ones wearing a mask here. However, we couldn’t mask up while in the pool and at the beach.

Here are their working hours-

Thanks Rob for your review. We booked a couple of nights at Onda. I did notice that they have limited vegetarian choices, but I can always get my pizza 😀.

For anyone interested in getting information about covid antigen test in Papeete before the 5/31 cruise - We took our covid antigen test this morning at pharmacy Lafayette du marche next to Papeete market for $15 each. They gave us back the negative result printouts in 15 minutes. They need to see your passport and they take credit cards. The process was relatively simple and the pharmacy staff were friendly and easy to work with.

We are taking United out of HNL on the 12th as well. I did not see any requirement on the United’s ‘Travel Ready Center’. flying into Tahiti, we uploaded our vaccine records and they have accepted them. I posted a link from the Tahiti tourism website a few days ago on the May 31 forum that announced waiving the testing requirement for fully vaccinated visitors from continental US.

Looks like they are still finding their bearings. I guess with just one MDR and difficulty with making reservations at specialty restaurants, Windows could get a little crowded.

Can’t thank you enough for such detailed post. I’m a bit concerned about quarantine In Honolulu after the cruise in case one of us test positive, as we have to be back home by the 13th. You truly echoed my thoughts about being informed and prepared and I totally agree with your decision to take a calculated risk as it is totally worth it.

Thanks a lot for your update. Since there were no covid & quarantine reports from any of the Spirit passengers on any forums so far, I was assuming that the voyages have been covid free.