Oceania Air - Pacific & Air Deviation Questions

[roothy123]

Hhm. I can't get off the ship early, so I'll have a whole day and evening in Papeete. Has anyone rented a car there, or taken a full day tour, or taken the ferry over to Moorea (although that's not high on my list, as I assume it's a lot like Papeete, plus I don't want to go too far away, even if I have all that time)? Are the beaches free to all, or do you have to be at a hotel to use a beach? If I don't see any of those tiki huts over the water elsewhere on my cruise, can I drive close to any of them just to see them?

[no fuss travel]

As you get off the ship, right at the port there will be people offering tours for less money than Oceania charges. With the tour they will drop you off at the airport at the end of the day. Driving around the island is worth the trip and no Moorea is not like Papeete.

[newbie60]

Quote: If I'm not mistaken this requires a deviation. I'm looking into this for our return back to PPT in March, from Auckland.

 

It would have required a deviation if using Oceania Air - we tend to do our own air since we don't live near a Gateway City. The air credit for this trip didn't fully pay for what we ended up doing, but I could use miles for much of the flight cost which I wouldn't be able to do if using O's air.

[ORV]

Quote: If I'm not mistaken this requires a deviation. I'm looking into this for our return back to PPT in March, from Auckland.

 

It would have required a deviation if using Oceania Air - we tend to do our own air since we don't live near a Gateway City. The air credit for this trip didn't fully pay for what we ended up doing, but I could use miles for much of the flight cost which I wouldn't be able to do if using O's air.

 

True, but in the past, which might not hold true for the future, when I have deviated using Oceania air I was able to fly from our Regional, non Gateway airport for $199 pp. I can't get to a gateway airport for that amount, so since we were deviating anyway it was a no brainer for us.

[grmmybtty]

When we did the Oceania Valparaiso to PPT cruise 2 years ago, we returned PPT-LAX on a morning Air Tahiti Nui flight chartered by Oceania. There were 3 different flights - one in the am and 2 in the late evening. A few people were able to change from the evening flight to the morning flight without charge. I think the flights may have been assigned based on connections since most of us on the morning flight either ended in LA or had west coast connections.

[tvmovielover]

We rented a car for the day. We took a taxi to the airport to pick up the car and then followed a guide that we printed from an online site that noted all the interesting things (waterfalls, spouts, public gardens, museum). None of the sites were magnificent but they were all better than sitting around a hotel. We even visited the smaller island. We got to the airport about 8 and had very good sandwiches there then still had time to shop before the late departure (on weekends, stores in downtown close early so shop before leaving if you want to shop there). At one stop we met some people from the cruise, they hired a taxi on the dock to take them around and the price was not bad (I do not remember what it was). We also saw some small tourist vehicles taking slightly larger groups to the gardens and museum. My friend that went to one of the hotels said it rained a lot and an old movie was shown for entertainment for more $$ than either our car or the taxi guide. Still it is a pretty island if not as spectacular as Bora Bora or Moorea.

 

In Jan 2014, there were morning flights taken by some people on debarkation. Also, O took everyone's luggage (if you were leaving at night and needed to put it some place) to the airport and you reclaimed it from them whenever you got there. On embarkation, there was a whole charter plane full of us that left LAX in the afternoon and arrived on the island about 8 at night. Customs was really fast (maybe they were processing departures?) and we were on the ship between 9 and 10 (got our own taxi). Coming in at night was a good option if still available. Dining room was kept open.

Edited July 10, 2015 by tvmovielover
spelling correction and addition

[roothy123]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm glad a couple of you mentioned charter flights, as I was trying to figure out if that was what Oceania was doing for our cruise. There's one person on my cruise that got her air arrangements (since she's going into Santiago a couple days early, no charge except for the deviation fee) and she's been given a set of return flight (no deviation) leaving Papeete around 10. There's no regularly-scheduled flight then, so I was curious what flight she would be on! I'm traveling to the same home airport, so it's very possible I'll get the same set of flights going home. I'm on the east coast, so not surprised we're going late rather than early. I guess if nothing else, I can get a halfway decent night's sleep from Papeete to LAX. I'm glad I don't have to stay awake for a midnight flight, though - ugh!

 

tvmovielover, you wouldn't happen to have a link to the online guide you used to visit the island, would you? I may rent a car and do that. Also, our cruise doesn't go to Moorea (it's the cruise that goes to Easter Island) so taking the ferry over there might be an option as well. It's only a half hour trip. However, once I'm there, where do we go, and with a brief visit, would it be all that different from Papeete? Also, can you drive to the waterfalls on Papeete in a regular car?

 

Did anyone eat at the food trucks at the waterfront in Papeete (la rouletts, I think they're called)?

 

I hope Oceania takes our bags to the airport - that would be wonderful.