MrsSmith91739

There is a roll call for this trip. And we are wanting to do some excursions. I havent been on the roll call for a bit but will look there too.

I think hiking boots may be a bit heavy. I bought hiking shoes from Columbia. They are for all terrain and they look more like a tennis shoe than those funky looking hiking shoes Ive seen out there.

With only one trip to Alaska, I'm not an expert by any means, but here are links to two blog posts and LOTS of photos from our day in Skagway last summer. We rented a car from Avis and drove as far as Emerald Lake. Before returning the car, we also stopped at the Gold Rush cemetary outside of Skagway and did the short hike to Reid Falls. The posts should give you an idea of what to expect if you decide to rent a car for the day.

 

Skagway, Part 1

 

Skagway, Part 2

 

As far as meals, we took some snacks with us and then had ice cream for lunch at Carcross. (Hey...you can do that sort of thing when you are on vacation!!) ;)

 

My suggestion is to download Murray's Guide which is a mile-by-mile guide to the points of interest along the South Klondike Highway. The extensive paid version is only $5.00, but you can also download a shorter free version. We had both but really only used the shorter free guide. Here is a link to the website: Murray's Guide

 

We were very fortunate to have nice weather and the scenery along the highway was spectacular!!

 

 

Your pictures are awesome. What zoom did you take your pictures with please?

How did you enjoy the Hilton?

Any tips you think I might like to know?

What time did they kick you out of your room at the Hilton?

How much did you pay for a day room at the IC Tahiti and what time did you have to be out of the room?

Did you have to reserve ahead of time?

Was there a fee for changing your transfers and ferry time? Thanks

Hi Dunner;

The Hilton was like any Hilton on the higher end. It is great property. Small beach but nice. They let you use kayaks, paddle boards, those little boats you use your feet to get around in and snorkel gear for free, but thats where the free stops. The resort is ridiculously overpriced on everything else.

They charge 3600 xpf each (+/-$42 US) for an american buffet breakfast. The breakfast was crappy, the only thing that was good and what I considered edible were the omelettes that they made fresh. Everything else, potatoes, pancakes, etc were either under or over cooked. Nothing was well stocked, we had coffee which was sitting in a carafe on a table that you picked up on your way in. I asked for a fresh pot and got a cup of nescafe instant. I might tolerate that at a Holiday Inn but not at $1000 a night hotel. The next morning I asked for a fresh pot and they looked at me like they didnt understand what I was saying. Only the saving grace on that was that the breakfast was included in our package. (unfortunately the hotel staff is nothing compared to the PG staff, so it was quite irritating)

Dinner was 7900 xpf for a buffet. They charged us 750 xpf for a bottle of Perrier for dinner. Dinner was OK because they had alot of good sashimi and bbq.

They give you a card saying dont drink the tap water but they charge 500 xpf for a small bottle of water. Again at $1k a night they could have included the bottled water. For coffee in the room it was 2 little packets of Nescafe instant.

So that's what I didnt like about it. We had met other people who were staying at the Sofitel and went and hung out with them there. Their room was just as nice as ours was, but the beach was way better over there. Their hotel is closer to the shopping area too. Hilton is far from everything.

I will explain what our original travel plans were and how we changed them and tips on how to make your trip better.

We had a 3 day post crusie trip too. Our original plans included ferry ride over to Moorea with transfer to the hotel and on the day of leaving transfer from hotel to the ferry and then transfer from Papeete ferry to the airport.

Our ferry ride back to Papeete was for the 4:45 pm ferry and getting back to Papeetee at 5:15 pm. We then would have been at the airport from approx 5:45 until our departing flight at midnight. We had to check out of the hotel at 11 am. That would have left us almost 5 hours at the hotel and almost 6 hours at the airport of downtime.

Since the hotel wouldn't let us have late check out we had the concierge call the transfer company to see if they would be able to change the transfer times, once they said yes, we then called the IC and told them our situation and asked for a day room, they gave us the day room for 14,500 xpf. We stayed at the hotel until 9:45 pm before checking out. It was alot but better than just sitting for almost 11 hours with nothing to do. That included the day room use and the use of the property, it also included the transfer from the IC to the airport. We already had a transfer from the ferry to the airport so we just used that to get to the hotel. (The hotel and airport are 7 mins away from each other)

We took an earlier ferry over and they made arrangements with the transfer company to pick us up earlier. The transfer companies were very cool and had no problem changing it. Each transfer included at least 2-3 other couples, so not like they made any special trips for us. They did not charge us for any of the changes nor did the ferry company.

We did all of the changes that morning of our check out since they wouldnt let us stay later. They did offer us a transit room where we could shower if we went swimming there but we didnt want to have so much downtime still at the airport. We did use the pool and small beach area at the IC.

So if you have time before to make the changes do. Don't expect the Hilton to have your room available, as it was very busy there.

We didnt have a car reservation. On the ride to the Hilton the transfer guy gave us some info on their prices for a car. They were reasonable. The next day we had the concierge call Alberts and they came and got us to rent a car. It was nothing fancy but it was just what we needed to get the job of getting me to the stores I wanted to go to. They gave us a special for $8000 xpf for 24 hr rental same price as an 8 hr rental, she also gave us an automatic included. I did most of my shopping for souvenirs and things I wanted on Moorea. Everything seems more reasonable and better selection. I took alot of advice from the Tiki man and shopped where he said to.

When we went to drop the car off, they were at lunch so they came to the hotel and picked it up, they were very cool about it. Everything there is so much more laid back than in the US. Its like ok man whatever no problem.

You might want to take some bottled water and fruit when you leave the ship in your baggage so you have it when you arrive at the Hilton. We were pretty tired the first day we got there so we didnt go out that afternoon. Once we got the car the next morning we went to the grocery store called Champion, largest store for everything you need on the island. Water there for 1 bottle was 65 xpf unlike the 500 at the Hilton. We bought a six pack of water and six pack of the Tahitian beer (so good) for basically the price of 1 water and 1 beer at the Hilton. We picked up a couple of baguettes, some cheese and lunch meat for sandwiches we ate for lunch. They also had some hot premade meals there too. They looked good, but the salami and brie called my name.

We bought some extra bread to feed the fishes, we too got an OWB and it was fun to feed the fishes. If you plan to eat at the hotel breakfast, lunch and dinner plan on spending at least 20000 xpf per person on food per day, we didn't buy drinks there so I have no idea what that would be. It was more reasonable to rent a car and go get food from the grocery store and had pizza for lunch the other day we were there than pay their outrageous prices. (and I don't consider myself a cheapy person by any means)

I know this was long, sorry, but I hope it helped answer your questions. Feel free to ask whatever you want.

Maria

We just got back from the post trip in Moorea, we ended up changing our ferry and transport times to earlier as the Hilton would not let us do late check out. We then got a day room at the IC Tahiti. Worked out great for us.

I read your review many months ago when we first started planning and decided to reread it again today. We will be leaving next week so it was a great refresher on what to expect. Thanks again for all the work you put into this reivew. It is very informative and extremely helpful.

OK good to know. Thanks

I've done both, personally I like the lagoon tour over the combo. If I recall when we took the combo we were late getting to the BBQ and missed out on some of the goodies.

what would the goodies be?

Any suggestions on which bungalows to stay in at the InterContinental Le Moana?