Dreams of Tahiti - before and/or after

[320sailor]

Please forgive me if this subject has been beaten to death; I didn't find much after an admittedly quick search.

 

We are planning a first-time French Polynesia trip (based around Tahiti) in Sep 2022.  While we have just started planning, if we were to do a land side trip only we would choose two, three or more nice island resorts to visit over two to three weeks.

 

Alternately, we could do the Dreams of Tahiti cruise either before or after land side visits to a couple or three islands.

 

We are versed in Windstar travel, so no questions there and the Dreams itinerary would at least give us a glimpse of several islands. 

 

Our question is: Would you return to resorts on some of those islands (e.g., Bora Bora, Moorea) or call the cruise visit experience good enough and seek out other islands?

 

We enjoy local people, food and customs as well as sightseeing, biking, lounging on the beach and snorkeling.  We will probably not get back to FP, too many other places to see!  Thanks!

 

 

[minidonuts85]

We’re sailing Aug 2022 (rebooked from Aug 2021) and planned to do the Hilton Moorea OTWB for a few nights afterwards. The flight schedule made it more do-able for a post-cruise stay. Going all of that way and not sure when we will get to return, we figured we may as well do it up and extend the time on land. 

[rdowney]

We are doing Wind Spirit and the Aranui back-to-back, which gives us 18 nights on ship. I have done the PG (when Windstar wasn't there) and wanted to see a different part of FP.

[Wilcoam]

We've sailed both the PG and Windstar 7 day's and complemented the cruise with a 4 days stay, once pre, and once post, in Bora Bora, at the 4 Seasons 

 

And while both 7 day sailings do Bora Bora justice with the overnighter, and 2 full day's, there's something extra sexy about taking the short flight into Bora Bora, from PPT, getting picked up the resort in a high speed boat, and staying in a defacto overnight bungalow, and then using that same boat to have dinners on land at Villa Mahana and Bloody Mary's, or other eateries, and daytime snorkelling and Jet Ski excursions, I mean who doesn't want more days looking at that spectacular view?

 

And the 4 Seasons is a spectacular resort property 

 

I'll defer to others here about land stays in PPT, Taha, and or Morrea, PPT to me doesn;'t have the eateries or beauty of Bora Bora, we've just used it more as a one night pre cruise stay, and or day room lounge pre flight, so if you are intending to leave the resort, Bora Bora has a ton more interest, and Morrea also has a bit more to do but is also limited in off the resorts activities as compared to Bora

 

The pro of extended land pre cruise, you are so relaxed by the time you step on the ship, and there's less stress about delayed flights, but it's a humdinger 2 days of travel to get to Bora, the pro of the land post cruise, no elongated day at a PPT resort waiting for your flight, the perfect itinerary IMO is one island pre cruise and another post 

 

jc

Toronto   

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

[imallears]

I chose to book my extended week as a post trip. I have 1 night in PPT before the 7 day Wind Spirit cruise. Then I have 2 night in Moorea in a beachfront bungalow, 3 nights in Bora Bora in an overwater bungalow and 1 more night in PPT to allow for testing time before returning.  I decided that most of my touring would be done while cruising. This allows for mostly relaxed, onsite activities at the resorts. 

 

Part of my thinking is there is less chance of a positive test early on and I definitely don't want to miss the cruise.  If I'm unfortunate and test positive before my return home and have to quarantine then, at least I will have gotten the trip done, since this will be our only trip there.

[DenGNNJ]

The cruise was GREAT... the four days we spent in Moorea at the InterContinental in an overwater bungalow after, made the trip AMAZING.  Unfortunately though, the IC in Moorea is permanently closed but there are other options for overwater bungalows if that's something you're looking for. 

 

Moorea is a very easy get to:  Disembark Windstar, walk 5 minutes to the ferry port, and then it's about 45 minutes to get to Moorea.  No flights necessary and it's really inexpensive.

Edited September 10, 2021 by DenGNNJ

[320sailor]

Thanks to all, especially Wilcoam who gave me the idea of staying landside both before AND after our Dreams of Tahiti cruise in Sep 2022.

 

My current plan is to arrive PPT at 5:05am and then ferry to Hotel Sofitel Moorea for three nights.  We then do the Windstar cruise and after returning to Papaeete, fly to Bora Bora for four nights at the St Regis.

 

However, my wife is not too keen on returning to Bora Bora for that long after the cruise since we will have already spent two days there on Windstar.  The St Regis Bora Bora is offering a 4th day free after three, so there will not be a lot of extra expenses staying that last day.  While we both love relaxing, snorkeling, beaches, and exploring, how can I convince my wife that we will not be looking for things to do when returning to Bora Bora?

 

Or perhaps we should choose to explore a different island altogether after the cruise.  Any insights greatly appreciated. 

 

(I do realize how fortunate we are to have these kinds of questions!)

[Petoonya]

Your schedule might be timed right to allow you to take the shuttle boat that runs between Bora Bora and Taha'a- 3 times/week. Taha'a- my favorite next to BB and very close. World class snorkeling and beautiful pristine beaches. Have a look at Le Taha'a on Youtube and see what you think.You can also fly to Raiatea, and the people from Le Taha'a bring you to the island via ferry boat. People say Taha'a is what BB was before BB went commercial.

The shuttle is Maupiti Express https://tahititourisme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/maupiti_express.pdf

If it interests you be sure to email prior the shuttle prior to be sure they are still in operation post COVID.