RZ3

Black tips are non-aggressive, but any wild animal can behave unexpectedly. They are intimidating at first, and even more so when you see the first one open its mouth while pointed in your direction. You get used to it, though. Just be aware of them and you will be fine. I had one following me while scuba diving that stayed about 3 feet behind me until I turned and stared him down. He moved on after that. He was probably waiting for me to toss off something to eat. Our divemasters had bits of bread they were tossing off to attract the smaller fish so they probably thought we might have something, too.

Have to disagree about them being the primary source of attacks off of Florida. Those are mostly bull sharks, which are one of the primary sources of most near shore shark attacks.

Here's a nice little shot from the shark feeding on Huahine with Mark's tour.

Shark Feeding Huahine

We stayed at the IC Moorea and had lunch once at Les Tipaniers It was very nice. Didn't find any other nearby local spots, but didn't look closely.

You can find relatively cheaper food if you don't eat at the resorts. You can always get snacks and light meals from grocery stores. There are plenty of options available if you are adventurous enough to look around. You could befriend someone at the resort who would very likely point you in the direction of the better local places in order to feed more money into the local economy.

Don't let concern over ages prevent you from taking that trip. It sounds wonderful. My wife and I are mid forties and there were plenty of other folks in our age range, younger, and older. Most of the older crowd were very active people and we never felt out of place or out of touch.

At best, you will enjoy the great mix of people aboard, at worst you will enjoy 13 nights sailing through paradise and enjoy the time with your wife.

That's a fairly common question here. People have done it and say it's not a problem. You just need to let Princess know ahead of time that you won't be re-boarding.

Just do a search and you'll see lots of threads about it.

Nice and recent video. It brought back fond memories of the dives I took with them.

I brought two pairs of khaki pants to wear in the evenings. I had one pair of boat shoes for both day and evening and didn't wear socks all week. Camp shirts to go with them.

During the day it was flip flops, reef shoes, swimsuits, swim tops, shorts, and t-shirts or polos.

I agree, since the ferry to Moorea is an easy walk from the ship, why not just go straight there--your hotel in Moorea may not be ready for check-in but they will hold your luggage and you can relax on the beach, or whatever.

This is an excellent idea.

I wouldn't rent a scooter. It's not just the traffic. roads in some places are just patches of ground up coral they use to repair damage. Rounding a corner into a pothole or one of those repairs can easily lead to a crash and shorten your vacation considerably.

I've been to F. Polynesia before (a land trip, a Renaissance cruise and 2 with Princess). Such a beautiful place, and it's time to go back. This time, we'd like to cruise with PG. Is the 50% discount plus airfare the best offers you've seen through the cruise line? I see that excursions and Internet are not included, so finding an agency that offers onboard credit would sure be helpful. Is there any way to help guide me in the right direction without breaking the rules of this forum? We'd like to cruise in May, 2015 - a 10-14 night cruise.

Thank you.

Caroline

WA state

Links on the PG site will connect you with a travel agency. You can call, email, or have them search for one. Most give ~$200 to $300 OBC. There's a sale right now with PG called the Fall in Love with Paradise sale offering hundreds off of select sailings. It's a good time to book if you can.

Enjoy it! Only you can know what you will like. My wife and I reserved an OWB at the IC Moorea prior to our cruise and we couldn't have been more thrilled. Sitting out there with my wife was one of the most relaxing things I've ever done in my life.

Here's a picture taken from our OWB of the MS Paul Gaguin leaving Oponohu Bay the day before we headed back to Tahiti to board for our cruise.

DSC_0069 by rgz3, on Flickr

You won't see many, if any, kids. Cabins only hold three. On our cruise, there was on family of three with a young boy that had exquisite manners. He played with some of the local children that came aboard and was the model of a great kid. As for he itinerary, there is plenty to do if you don't dive or snorkel. I'd encourage you to go.

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I've heard great things about the Sofitel and Hilton on Moorea, too. We stayed at the IC Moorea pre-cruise and it was absolutely heaven. My wife and I took a kayak out on our own into the lagoon where we got our first visit with black tip reef sharks. It was unnerving at first, but you see them literally every day after that and get used to them quickly. We did not want to leave, but there was so much more to do and see on the other islands!

Don't declare it as agriculture or seeds. The customs agents will scratch their heads and ask you why you need vanilla beans.

Fly into FP a few days early and head over to Moorea if you can. It's like stepping into a stress free world and gives you time to adjust to the time zone.

I used my own mask and snorkel, but everything else was borrowed and was just fine. Only thing I didn't care for were the fins. They were fine, functionally, I just would have preferred to use my own because I don't care for the full foot fins. Unfortunately mine are very heavy and I didn't want to pack them.

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We booked on our own for our pre and post cruise stays. It was considerably cheaper. It all depends on your own comfort zone, though, so it's not a bad decision either way. I'm perfectly fine navigating my way around a strange place, while my wife would have let someone else handle the arrangements if it were up to her alone.

We stayed at the IC Tahiti on our return leg and had to wait until 2 before we were able to get into our room. That's with Ambassador status. They're just that busy.

Your idea to fly in a day early is spot on. Many people need a day to adjust to the time. The PG package is cost effective, but not if you're able to save so much using miles.

Taxis are plentiful so no issues getting to the ship.

Day room after disembarking is definitely do-able and a nice way to spend the day before leaving.

The IC Tahiti isn't far and is a wonderful place to spend a few hours, but it's not right next to Papeete. You may want to consider renting a car for a half day on your last day. You can drive yourself to the airport to turn in your car there.

PG can help with the air deviation and hotel, but it will cost you more than doing it yourself or through your agent.

The reason I still come here is that I did enjoy my time on the PG and I expect to return to FP at some point. I don't know that it will be on PG or not, but it might be if the price is right. I just think they have some things to work on from a customer service standpoint.

It seems unreasonable to me that they advertise themselves as a luxury brand when they are not. All of those little things like not filling drinks at dinner (every night, not just once), leaving trays in the hall, not meeting customers with a smile, severely restricted hours... and it goes on... mean they are not a 4 or 5 star destination. It's all fixable, though. I just hope they read these reviews and work toward correcting them. They can very easily be the 5 star destination they advertise.

Many travelers will go on the PG and be OK with some of the shortcomings. That's OK. They are having a good time and that's what matters. Others have been going and expecting luxury... but it's not. My experience was just "meh" when it came to the ship. There were a couple of stand out crew, but for the most part I got better service on Royal Caribbean. "Go back to Royal Caribbean", you say? I'd rather not. I prefer a small ship adventure. PG, the ship, was fine. The crew needs training. Maybe I was just overly optimistic and the basics of customer service don't apply to a luxury cruise ship in FP.

I've said before that PG is a good value when compared to other options for FP if you take one of the less expensive cabins. I'm not advocating that people not go. FP is absolutely wonderful and I wish I were going back sooner. PG is a good option. Just don't expect to get better service than anywhere else and it will be a wonderful trip.

Well, since I'm the source, I'm going to go ahead and trust it. :)

Everyone has different levels of satisfaction. For some, the destination or traveling companions make up for any shortcomings in the quality of the ship. For others, who may be repeaters and recognized by the oldest members of the crew, there will be a different and likely more positive experience.

Those of us who are new to the PG are viewing it with a different lens. There is no predisposition one way or the other before the trip other than the excitement of the destination. Unfortunately, more and more people are seeing that the PG is not a luxury ship. There are some serious crew training opportunities. There is no way any 4 or 5 star restaurant would ever let a glass of water get to empty much less sit empty for extended periods of time, yet if you look through the reviews and you see that's a common issue. It's such a simple thing and is restaurant management 101, yet overlooked by the PG wait staff. The exception is the maitre d' who was the only one who would notice it during my cruise.

I truly hope that PG reads the reviews and starts training staff to be a bit friendlier and more responsive to the new guests. They are in a magical destination and the people on the islands are wonderful. However, the majority of the ship is not staffed by locals and they need to be trained.

Now let's sit back and watch the flame wars again. People voice opinions. Accept them for what they are and form your own opinions without discounting that someone else has had a different experience. Any of you who want to pick apart my one example, go ahead. It's one, very easy example of something incredibly easy to fix, yet it goes unresolved throughout multiple cruises and multiple reviews. There are many others, but few so easy to resolve.

I'm writing this while sitting in a 5 star resort in San Diego. This place has luxury figured out. (Grand Del Mar) Literally every staff member says hello regardless of what they are doing. The food is beyond superb and the rooms are immaculately appointed. The bar and wait staff are ridiculously polite and prompt.

That is not the PG experience. Sure, there are a lot of nice staff and a few stand outs. However, a lot of them are just going through the motions until their contract is over.

I'd have no problem with that if they weren't marketing themselves as a luxury cruise. It's not. It's an all-inclusive mainstream cruise withe the Gauguines added in for some entertainment.

However, it is competitively priced when compared to the other French Polynesia options available. If you stick to one of the lower priced cabins, you will be getting a good value for your trip. It just won't be 5 star... or even 4 star.

Personally, when I go back I will most likely split time between Bora Bora and Moorea.

I know that I wasn't overly thrilled with my PG experience, but I didn't get the impression that they were falling apart. I got the impression that they were becoming more mainstream if anything. It was a good cruise... just not great. The ship was in decent shape other than the significant vibration from the engines. I believe that was one of the things they were supposed to fix in drydock.

Looking forward to reading the reviews from the repeaters.

Edit: What happened to Tikiintahiti? I'm sure he'll want to give his opinion here.

Do the cruise to find out what you like. I know I wasn't overwhelmed by the PG, but it was still a good trip and my wife and I really enjoyed learning the islands and the culture.

If you catch the flu, when you go back, you'll be better informed. We did the PG and found that we would like to split our time between Moorea and Bora Bora when we go back. We really enjoyed the time on both islands.

My experience with the Ambassador program has been generally positive and I've chosen IHG properties since the trip due to the extra perks it's given me.

I knew what my upgrade was at the IC Moorea before I arrived. Beach to OWB.

My upgrade at the IC Tahiti was from a garden view to an ocean view. (My issues with that property was that the AC didn't work)

Stayed at the Palazzo in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and was upgraded to a great strip view room from the base off-strip view I'd reserved.

I've stayed in three or four Crowne Plaza'a since then and gotten room upgrades, though it's not guaranteed there. I'll be staying in the Willard in DC in a couple of weeks. We'll see what t gets me then.

Always got fresh fruit and water, free wifi, late checkout, what felt like extra attention in general. Combined with the IHG card and I already have enough points and perks for nearly a week of free stays in less than 6 months.

For me, the cost was worth it and I haven't even used the free weekend room, yet