Paulchili Posted February 5, 2013 #26 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Have another question......seems endless doesn't it :) I will try and get Pacific french francs ahead of time and/or make use of ATM's if they are available; but does the ship carry the francs just in case. Again, thanks for all the answers to my many questions. I appreciate it. The ship does not carry the Francs but ATMs are readily available in Papeete (and Bora Bora) - best choice IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfrance3 Posted February 5, 2013 #27 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I just returned from 11 day cruise "Tahitian Breeze" - Papeete to Papeete. We flew a day early from Toronto with a pre-cruise package on Air Canada and Air Tahiti Nui. Flew back on Atlas and were booked on Delta. Altas Air is a nightmare. It was more than an hour late leaving Tahiti and got us back to L.A. 45 minutes late. The plane taxied to an outpost at L.A. International, bused us to the wrong place then loaded 400 people back on the bus to take us to immigration. Services on Atlas were very poor. As Canadians we had to go to the USA Visitor Immigration line and where held up by a long line of people coming from Korea. Many didn't speak English so the boarder officials had to waite for a translator, finger print and iris print each individual separately. It took us two hours to clear customs. Then we had to collect our luggage and find the Delta ticket booth in another terminal. By the time we got there we missed our plane to Atlanta. So off we go to Delta Special Services and were booked Stand-by on the next flight. By the time we got to the gate, Delta had given our tickets away even though we were first on the list. Then we found out that Delta could only route us on our original flight plan. This meant an overnight stay in Atlanta at our cost. We phoned Oceania who all of a sudden could find us two tickets on Air Canada direct to Toronto. Made it back to Toronto at midnight. My question is why couldn't Oceania put us on Air Canada in the first place because we met up with other cruisers who were booked Tahiti Nui Air then Air Canada. They didn't have to collect thier luggage. The Atlas - L.A. nightmare took up nearly 5 hours of running around the airport trying to make arrangements. My recommendation is to phone Oceania and demand to fly Tahiti Nui and Air Canada. We learned that other cruisers had done this and when they complained loudly about the extra change cost Oceania waived it. We heard that cruisers who flew Atlas Air on the way to Papeete had an even worse experience than ours in L.A. Four hundred people waiting to board and only one ticket agent processing tickets manually. Those people almost missed the cruise. A terrible way to start a vacation. My advise is to add on an extra day at both ends of the vacation to avoid Atlas. Try doing this yourself because the upcharge from Oceania is outrageous for pre-post cruise. Inter-Continential in Tahiti was very nice and is close to the airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck.qc Posted February 5, 2013 #28 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Would anyone know whether a Nexus card gets us thru Immigration faster??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfrance3 Posted February 6, 2013 #29 Share Posted February 6, 2013 My friend was travelling with a Nexus Card and it seems it is only useful for entry between Canada and USA. She used it leaving Toronto because we were flying to L.A. However, on the way back we were flying from French Polynesia to L.A. so it didn't help her. I just did a little internet research and it seems these 'Global Entry Cards' like Nexus are immigration agreements between countries so if you are coming from another country your Nexus is not accepted and you get in the line with the rest of the world. She used it when we arrived back in Toronto.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfrance3 Posted February 6, 2013 #30 Share Posted February 6, 2013 The ship does not carry the Francs but ATMs are readily available in Papeete (and Bora Bora) - best choice IMO. My advice is get your francs before you leave. The ship charges an additional fee of 5% to exchange from USA$ to Pacific Francs. So if you are travelling from Canada you will also be charged by your credit card company for changing Canadian into USA$. I bought at my local currency exchange, they charged less than the bank. We used on shore tours and many operators asked for Francs and didn't want USA$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted February 6, 2013 #31 Share Posted February 6, 2013 I just returned from 11 day cruise "Tahitian Breeze" - Papeete to Papeete. We flew a day early from Toronto with a pre-cruise package on Air Canada and Air Tahiti Nui. Flew back on Atlas and were booked on Delta. Altas Air is a nightmare. It was more than an hour late leaving Tahiti and got us back to L.A. 45 minutes late. The plane taxied to an outpost at L.A. International, bused us to the wrong place then loaded 400 people back on the bus to take us to immigration. Services on Atlas were very poor.<snip> My advise is to add on an extra day at both ends of the vacation to avoid Atlas. Try doing this yourself because the upcharge from Oceania is outrageous for pre-post cruise. Inter-Continential in Tahiti was very nice and is close to the airport. If you fly in early or stay late and book your own hotel, you need to pay the air deviation fee. If you pay the fee, choose the airlines and flights you want. There may be some to-ing and fro-ing with your agent and Oceania. We are very glad we paid for "air deviation" and were on first (9:30pm) Air Tahiti Nui flight and Air Canada (direct to Toronto). Atlas sounds pretty bad! We had a day hotel including transfers in Papeete. What I might do next time, since we requested air deviation to fly into Rio a day early anyway, is stay a night at LAX on the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted February 6, 2013 #32 Share Posted February 6, 2013 We have just come through LAX on our way to Papeete for the cruise that leaves this Thursday. Having a NEXUS card does not help you at all at LAX. We stood in line over one hour to get to security. US citizens are in a shorter line than everyone else but everyone has to go through the same bottle neck to use the only operating image machine. We flew Air Tahiti Nui since we arrived early and it took quite a while to clear immigration at Papeete. Lucky for us by the time we got through immigration our suitcases were just arrivingon the luggage belt. We were lucky in that we were not that far back in the immigration line in Papeete. it was very slow moving which is why they have musicians entertaining you while you wait.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiepie43 Posted February 6, 2013 Author #33 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Any info on meals or onboard entertainment on Atlas? Was there a first/business class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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