Getting to and from...

[ducklite]

We booked a cruise on the PG for May, 2014. Now the fun of getting there and back begins.

 

Our cruise runs Saturday through Saturday.

 

We would rather avoid extra nights in Tahiti, but instead would prefer to spend a few nights in Honolulu pre or post cruise.

 

I can get to HNL in business/first for free from the east coast on miles, or can use upgrade certificates and buy coach seats, which is another reason that using HNL as our gateway is very attractive.

 

I'm sure there are some previous guests with this experience, I'd like to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

[Leejnd4]

I don't know if others have done this, but just out of curiosity I did a little checking to see how you'd get to Papeete from Honolulu. Hawaiian Airlines does have a flight, but it's about $700 each way, and it takes 6 hours. Contrast this with flying from LAX to Papeete - that's an 8-hour flight and is about the same price. So you're not really saving yourself anything either in money or time by flying to Hawaii first. But it does appear to be doable.

[Molokai-Chuck]

Just a note on the Hawaiian Flight to Papeete ....it only flys on Saturdays.....and not sure if the time from Hawaii to Papeete works for the cruise departure time.....

 

Chuck

[ducklite]

So maybe fly from LAX on Friday and then to HNL for a few days on the return? I'm not opposed to that, either.

[Emdee]

I didnt realize that the 2014 itineraries were already out.

[ducklite]

I didnt realize that the 2014 itineraries were already out.

 

It's a full ship charter.

[Silver Sweethearts]

We arranged our own air, and flew HNL-PPT and return on Hawaiian for our Paul Gauguin cruise last year. You will not have any jet lag since Hawaii and Tahiti are in the same time zone, so getting to the ship around midnight was no problem. We paid PG to pick us up at the airport in Tahiti and take us to the ship, and were assured (get it in writing though also) that the ship would wait for arriving Hawaiian Airlines passengers. We didn't have to go on a bus as there weren't many of us. We fit in a regular van, which made things go more quickly. We also paid for the post-cruise day room in Papeete, and didn't have to catch the PG transportation back to the airport until 8 p.m. that evening. The guests using ATN had to leave the hotel earlier and wait at the airport longer. As noted, this was last year and all of this may not be so any more, but worth a shot.

[markser]

It is always risky to plan on arriving for a cruise only a few hours before departure. The plane could be delayed or you might make it but your luggage wouldn't. Because there aren't many flights from Hawaii to Polynesia, if your luggage got held up, it would take a long time to retrieve it. PG won't hold up the cruise for your luggage, and imagine how hard it would be for your luggage to get to the smaller islands that the cruise visits. Taha'a doesn't even have an airport.

 

Do Hawaii after the cruise, if you have the time. Better yet, go back and spend several days on an island in Polynesia not covered by your cruise.