Tendering time in French Polynesia?

On the Princess Emerald in April (3000 pax) I was curious how long the tendering process takes for those that line up in the morning who are not on the cruiseline's tours - specifically for the stops of Moorea and Bora Bora.

I did a cruise in South America on a smaller boat (1200 pax) and once all the cruiseline tours got first priority it took over 2 hours to get to the mainland, which means stops needed to be cut from our tour there.

Also, in Moorea, do you know if we tender in Cook's bay or Opunohu Bay?

On the Princess Emerald in April (3000 pax) I was curious how long the tendering process takes for those that line up in the morning who are not on the cruiseline's tours - specifically for the stops of Moorea and Bora Bora.

 

I did a cruise in South America on a smaller boat (1200 pax) and once all the cruiseline tours got first priority it took over 2 hours to get to the mainland, which means stops needed to be cut from our tour there.

 

Also, in Moorea, do you know if we tender in Cook's bay or Opunohu Bay?

They will have you meet in a dining room to get tender tickets. If your ready to go before the ship excursions the wait isn't long. Most people who are doing an independent or DIY day ashore . Try to get on the first tenders . When we did the cruise in Oct 2017 , the first 6 tenders carried mostly independent passengers.

We've been on the Paul Gauguin 5 times in Moorea and they choose Cook's bay or Opunohu Bay based upon both weather and if other ships are also in port. I would think Princess would do the same thing. The tour operators on land keep track of this and will pick you up at the correct place.

Yes, FLIGHTMEDIC has it about right, so 'It depends' is probably the best answer. It seems it's the typical tendering stampede no matter what Cruise Line. Cook's Bay is a teensy-weensy Concrete dock, doubt a 3,000/pax vessel would use it. Nonetheless, the local Mini-vans figure it out of course and zip over to wherever your ship's Tenders head for. Could you be off the ship in 45/minutes?? Maybe. 2/hrs?? Maybe. Delegate somebody to gather your 4 Tender Tix while rest of you have a nice Lido Breakfast and then go with the flow. Good Luck.