Help me plan my days

[ducklite]

I am overwhelmed with planning this trip. I've got the time from when we arrive until we get on the ship covered. W e are flying Air France, so leaving Sunday morning, so we've got some time in Papeete at the end of the cruise as well.

 

We are on a seven day typical Society Island itinerary: Paeete, Raiatea, Motu Mahana, Bora Bora (two days), Moorea (two days), Papeete overnight.

 

We do not have an unlimited budget. We are not interested in spending a night off the ship at a resort.

 

We are healthy, active, and somewhat adventurous. (I draw the line at helicopters, para-sailing, parachuting, and getting into a dive cage surrounded by sharks.) Neither of us SCUBA dives or really has an interest in doing that, but we both snorkel.

 

We'd like to take a tour to see at least one of the islands beyond the port (open to ship excursion if it's not a cattle call type or private.) So far no one has joined the roll call thread I started.

 

We'd like to do a drift snorkel excursion someplace.

 

Otherwise we're very open.

 

If there is a restaurant with WiFi where we could get lunch one day, that would be great.

 

So if you were planning our itinerary, what would you have us do?

[Tikiintahiti]

Your questions of course have been discussed a 1000 times, with a bit of searching you will find a load of information. May I suggest looking at a few 7 night roll calls that have already come and gone.

 

In general when on Bora Bora think lagoon excursions.

 

On Moorea think land excursions like ATV or 4X4 tours

 

Best drift snorkel will be on Tahaa. Don't so it on the day your on Motu Mahana as you will want to enjoy the motu. When your on Raiatea do the drift snorkel on Tahaa The ship has one that isn't bad though I prefer Bruno's (off ship) but typically not available when ship is in port.

[ducklite]

Your questions of course have been discussed a 1000 times, with a bit of searching you will find a load of information. May I suggest looking at a few 7 night roll calls that have already come and gone.

 

In general when on Bora Bora think lagoon excursions.

 

On Moorea think land excursions like ATV or 4X4 tours

 

Best drift snorkel will be on Tahaa. Don't so it on the day your on Motu Mahana as you will want to enjoy the motu. When your on Raiatea do the drift snorkel on Tahaa The ship has one that isn't bad though I prefer Bruno's (off ship) but typically not available when ship is in port.

 

I have searched. I've read every post on this board going back two years plus some, and it has only led to frustration and further confusion, as I've become overloaded with info.

 

The pointers that you give will be helpful. Thank you.

[Escriteur]

I have searched. I've read every post on this board going back two years plus some, and it has only led to frustration and further confusion, as I've become overloaded with info.

 

The pointers that you give will be helpful. Thank you.

 

Our trip last summer was our first cruise aboard the Paul Gauguin (second visit to French Polynesia), so we mostly booked ship tours. I don't have any insights on private tours, but I can give you my feedback on the excursions we took...

 

Raiatea - I've heard the drift snorkel is the thing to do in this port. (I wish we had tried that, but my husband isn't much of a swimmer and wasn't up for it.) We did a Raiatea Highlights bus tour; some nice views along the drive, but poorly organized (they weren't very good at rounding up people at each stop and the tour ran long - they returned us to the ship 15 minutes after we were supposed to be on board), plus our tour guide wasn't very good - she didn't take us around the marae, but rather just told us to read the placards. (Not sure when your cruise is, but starting in 2014 the PG will be stopping at Huahine rather than Raiatea.)

 

Taha'a - Many people opt to spend the entire day on Motu Mahana. We'd probably do that our our next cruise, but we wanted to see a bit of Taha'a since this was our first time visiting that port. We decided to do the morning Exploration of Taha'a tour, with a 4x4 ride up into the mountains (stunning views, plus fresh fruit and coconut and a mini performance by our drivers/guide - but a rather bumpy, harrowing ride). We also stopped for a pearl farm demo, and a visit to a working family vanilla plantation. We were quite happy with this tour; it's a great overview of Taha'a. We then spent the entire afternoon at the motu, which was plenty of time to relax, have some food and drinks, and do a bit of snorkeling and shopping at the vendor stands.

 

Bora Bora - We did the Bora Bora by Le Truck tour on Day 1. The circle-island tour is a great way to get an overview of BB's highlights (we even stopped at Bloody Mary's for a cocktail), though it's not an "adventurous" tour by any stretch, and probably falls into the "cattle-call" type. More adventurous types would probably prefer the Off-Road Adventure. That afternoon, I headed over to the PG's private beach on a Bora Bora motu. It doesn't have the amenities of Motu Mahana (no lounge chairs or restrooms, and just a small bar shack with water, alcoholic punch, and light snacks), but the beach is gorgeous, with soft white sand. (You won't encounter all the spiny sea urchins and slug-like sea cucumbers that you do on Motu Mahana.) There's some nice snorkeling off this motu. For Day 2, we did the Stingray Ballet & Snorkel Safari. That was probably my favorite excursion. We first stopped in a shallower area (maybe waist to chest deep?) to swim with stingrays, and we also saw a lot of black-tip reef sharks. (They're smaller and non-aggressive; we didn't feel at all threatened by them.) Then we moved on to a coral garden (slightly deeper water) and snorkeled there for a while. There were swarms of butterfly fish when I was getting back on the boat; our guides must have been feeding them to attract them. The cruise back to the port also provided some great views.

 

Moorea - For Day 1, we arranged our own visit to Tiki Village (http://www.tikivillage.fr/en/village.html). It's open from 11am-3pm during the day, and they do a music/dance show around 1pm. The cost is about $25 per person. We had a guide take us around to the different fares/exhibits and demonstrate different aspects of the Polynesian lifestyle (coconut palm uses, cooking, tiki-carving, handicraft-making, pareo-dying, etc.), and then a guy paddled us out to the pearl-farming demo on an outrigger-style boat. Afterward, we attended the music/dancing/pareo-tying show; it was pretty much a private show, with just us and one other couple. Tiki Village is a little ways from the port, so you'd either need to drive there with a rental car, arrange for a pickup in the Tiki Village van, or pay for a taxi. On Day 2, my husband did the Golf in Paradise excursion (which he quite enjoyed, despite not being able to finish all of the holes because the people he was partnered with took their time). I just relaxed on the ship and did some shopping at the little vendor stalls set up at the port.

 

If you're considering any of the excursions we did, you can view pics from our cruise and excursions via my flickr collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/escriteur/collections/72157632100942746/

 

I hope you get enough input to help you make some decisions; but I have a feeling you're likely to end up feeling overwhelmed again - with so many different excursion/sightseeing options, I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions! The veterans on this board (who have tried different excursions) can probably provide better insights. Anyway, keep us posted on your trip - and happy travels to you!

[Tikiintahiti]

Though I don't consider myself the absolute authority by any means I have been to FP 18 times. I've taken most of the discussed tours so I have a unique advantage of being able to rate them from personal experience.

 

Everyone has their own opinion, however, when it is an opinion based on only doing one excursion on an island then one can't be as objective when comparing to the other tours.

 

This board has a handful of posters who have experienced FP several times so give more weight to someone who can be objective but also read up on others own experiences as there are things glean from.

 

Aside from all the other post in which you have become overwhelmed let me give a bit more objective viewpoint.

 

Raiatea - do the drift snorkel. Contact Bruno first to see if he is going out, if not take the ships drift snorkel tour. I've done both ;)

http://www.tahaa.net/

 

Tahaa - Enjoy Motu Mahana

 

Bora Bora - Top 3 lagoon tours:

Patrick - most expensive, ship uses him, best if Patrick is your skipper

http://www.maohinui.net/

Christophre - nicest boast, fast, sleek and they are very personal, lots of hand holding if you need it. No BBQ lunch.

http://www.reefdiscovery.pf/us/index.html

Rannui Tours - Family ran, very personal, covered boat, nicest BBQ location.

http://boraborasafarilagoon.com/BoraBora_Lagoon_Eng.html

 

 

Moorea - I would do a ATV or 4X4 tour. Here are to good vendors which I've used several times:

Inner Island Safari Tours - intersaf@mail.pf

Albert Tours - http://www.albert-transport.net/p3_gb.asp

[Familygoboston]

I agree it's overwhelming! I found people referring to the same tours by different names- I had to post and ask people specifically- which they meant! For instance " Patrick's tour" is refered to as "lagoon tour" "sharks and rays" and I've seen it as the " safari" also.

I spent a good few weeks really picking through the literature asking questions here and reading the brochure till I figured it out. "Marks tour " is also the "archeology tour", the "trail of the ancients" and on and on, it's like this for practically everything. To add to you confusion stuff is referred to in French sometimes, sometimes in English sometimes in Polynesian. Get a good guide book which will explain that a little islet is also called a motu. The more you read the more "aha" moments you will have.

 

If you don't care to do that, then you are just looking for someone to tell you where to go... So okay!

 

I'm going to concur with Tiki- on Tahaa go to the private motu beach, on BB don't miss a chance to see the wildlife in the lagoon ( sharks and rays). The ships tours are not overly crowded like you might have in mind of a princess or Royal Caribbean ship - it's not a big ship, there are 2 days, while you won't be utterly alone- it's not a cattle call.

Moorea- if you want your trip to be a good balance of water vs on island activities choose a land tour (4x4, bikes, scooters whatever floats your boat)

Raitea- we did enjoy our kayaking tour, I'd defer to those who go to FP a lot and do what they suggest.

 

So you've got 7 days- it's all lovely, there aren't too many clunkers (least I did t hear anyone saying they'd had a terrible tour that day at dinner) and none of the ships tours we did ever felt crowded. At most we had 6-12 people per guide depending on the trip. It's overwhelming, forget the analysis paralysis, pick a couple of snorkeling adventures and a couple of land adventures and you will have a great time!

[Benita]

We sailed last month. Our itinerary was a little different as is was a two week cruise. We did spend four days in Moorea before the cruise, and it was also our last port on the cruise.

Our favorite excursion for your itinerary was Christophe's tour - http://www.reefdiscovery.pf He has a gorgeous boat which holds 8 and the snorkeling is amazing. Fabio was our guide and he was really helpful, especially with the beginners. We did that in the morning and then went back to the ship for lunch. We then went back out and looked around for a tour. Sure enough, there was a young man with a van looking for business. He did not have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, but we were able to hike up and see the WWII sites and he took us all around the island with the obligatory stop at Bloody Mary's.

 

In Taha'a, we spent the day on the private motu and it was fabulous. The beach is pristine and the snorkeling is decent. The lunch is not bad, either.

 

In Moorea, we visited the Tiki village on our own one day, and rented a car and drove around another. We also went with Dr. Michael Poole and saw the dolphins, which we enjoyed. We went with the ship on the AIto 4 wheel drive safari and really enjoyed it. The views are magnificent and if you like photography, you will not be disappointed.

[twin123185]

Regarding spending a night off the ship - I would suggest getting the Priority Rewards Visa card and NEXT TIME you travel here, you will be able to get a free night at any Intercontinental. Well worth the $49/yr fee. If you do not have unlimited funds, these nights can get expensive. It seems that most who do this use the IC Thalasso on Bora Bora - rooms start at around $900 per night.

[ducklite]

Regarding spending a night off the ship - I would suggest getting the Priority Rewards Visa card and NEXT TIME you travel here, you will be able to get a free night at any Intercontinental. Well worth the $49/yr fee. If you do not have unlimited funds, these nights can get expensive. It seems that most who do this use the IC Thalasso on Bora Bora - rooms start at around $900 per night.

 

We don't want to spend a night off the ship as we will have group activities in the evening.

 

I actually have enough points due to business travel. I'm paying for our first two nights at the IC Tahiti with them, and have plenty more.

[twin123185]

Oops sorry I misread your post. Missed the words "not interested"!!!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[ducklite]

Lot's of good advice here, and I'm going to formulate a plan over the next few days.

 

Escriteur--we are going in 2014, my itinerary states Raiatea. Maybe it's later in the year they are making the change?

[Escriteur]

Lot's of good advice here, and I'm going to formulate a plan over the next few days.

 

Escriteur--we are going in 2014, my itinerary states Raiatea. Maybe it's later in the year they are making the change?

 

I'm not sure when they're making that change; I noticed that on http://www.pgcruises.com/destinations/itineraries/07-night/itineraries they have an asterisk next to "Raiatea," and the footnote says "2014 sailings stop in Huahine on Day 2." I've heard good things about Huahine, but this could mess up plans for anyone who was planning to do a drift snorkel while in port at Raiatea...

[twin123185]

Huahine is great - much better than Raiatea in my opinion

[Benita]

We loved Huahine. We went with Huahine Nautique on a 4 wheel drive, followed by a boat to the pearl farm, followed by snorkeling. Lunch on a motu and shark feeding on the way back. Best excursion of the cruise.

[burm]

Can anyone tell me if there are tour operators at the dock in Raiatea? We joined in on our cruise too late to join the CC group and do not want to pay O's price, which is ridiculous.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I have seen tour operators at the dock in Raiatea, in the past.

[burm]

I have seen tour operators at the dock in Raiatea, in the past.

 

Thanks. Good to hear.

 

Anyone know if there are guides available at the dock in Suva, Fiji? That is a major port, so I am hoping so.

[twin123185]

Contact Bruno for Raitaia - he is at dock. Google him. I saw him wait for last minute people too. There were others there as well. Suva - you dock there and I did not notice anything. The place is a dump in my opinion. We did a ship tour that was so-so.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[burm]

Contact Bruno for Raitaia - he is at dock. Google him. I saw him wait for last minute people too. There were others there as well. Suva - you dock there and I did not notice anything. The place is a dump in my opinion. We did a ship tour that was so-so.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

 

Yes, thanks, I have contacted Bruno and am waiting for a response. :)

 

I have read that one of the best snorkelling spots in the world is near Fiji. I hope I can see it!

[twin123185]

I meant to say that downtown Suva is a dump. The beach I saw in the outskirts was nice. Don't know where you can find snorkeling guide.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app