On our way to Moorea

[Mercruiser]

We are headed to Tahiti and Moorea for a resort stay. We had a Tahiti cruise booked on the Pacific Princess, way back in November 2020. Princess cancelled that cruise when they sold the ship to Azamara. I've been looking at FP cruises ever since. But I have not been happy with the "Cruise with Confidence" arrangements that provide a FCC, in the event that you have to cancel. If I fail a covid test, I don't want to have $4000 to $8000 tied up in a FCC.

 

We have opted for a resort stay instead, with 2 nights at the Tahiti Intercontinental and 5 nights at the Moorea Hilton. Even though I'm not on a cruise, I figure my CC friends may some interest in this trip anyways, since both these resorts are popular for pre-/post-cruise stays.

 

We just passed our way-too-expensive RT-PCR tests at the local health provider. The tests have to be completed within 24 hours of our 1st flight, which leaves from Spokane tomorrow morning.

 

Just yesterday, Air Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Tourisme published the updated rules that remove the requirement for a PCR test. Now you can go to FP with either an antigen or a PCR test. Antigen tests cost way less than a fast PCR test. Unfortunately, by the time I found out about this, all of the antigen test appointments around Spokane were already booked. So I had to go with the already booked, expensive PCR test. "In for a penny, in for a pound"

 

Now it's time to finish packing.

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Mercruiser

[cruisetilidrop]

14 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

We are headed to Tahiti and Moorea for a resort stay. We had a Tahiti cruise booked on the Pacific Princess, way back in November 2020. Princess cancelled that cruise when they sold the ship to Azamara. I've been looking at FP cruises ever since. But I have not been happy with the "Cruise with Confidence" arrangements that provide a FCC, in the event that you have to cancel. If I fail a covid test, I don't want to have $4000 to $8000 tied up in a FCC.

 

We have opted for a resort stay instead, with 2 nights at the Tahiti Intercontinental and 5 nights at the Moorea Hilton. Even though I'm not on a cruise, I figure my CC friends may some interest in this trip anyways, since both these resorts are popular for pre-/post-cruise stays.

 

We just passed our way-too-expensive RT-PCR tests at the local health provider. The tests have to be completed within 24 hours of our 1st flight, which leaves from Spokane tomorrow morning.

 

Just yesterday, Air Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Tourisme published the updated rules that remove the requirement for a PCR test. Now you can go to FP with either an antigen or a PCR test. Antigen tests cost way less than a fast PCR test. Unfortunately, by the time I found out about this, all of the antigen test appointments around Spokane were already booked. So I had to go with the already booked, expensive PCR test. "In for a penny, in for a pound"

 

Now it's time to finish packing.

 

I’d be interested in hearing about your land tours and if you take day trips to any of the other islands.

 

[canadianbear]

Absolutely interested in following you on your holiday!  We have a cruise planned in the Fall to go to the SP so love hearing about personal experiences.  If the flights weren’t so long I’d go there and spend a month! 

[Mercruiser]

17 hours ago, cruisetilidrop said:

I’d be interested in hearing about your land tours and if you take day trips to any of the other islands.

 

We will be spending time on Tahiti and Moorea. We are not visiting other islands, mostly because I don't want to move around a lot on this particular trip. (I did a lot of heavy duty sightseeing when I lived in Europe for two years. Now I'm trying to slow down and smell the bougainvilleas.)

[Mercruiser]

17 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Absolutely interested in following you on your holiday!  We have a cruise planned in the Fall to go to the SP so love hearing about personal experiences.  If the flights weren’t so long I’d go there and spend a month! 

You live in BC, don't like long flights, and are visiting SP this fall. I'll venture a guess that you are booked on a Vancouver to Australia/NZ repositioing cruise? I'd like to do that some time.

 

BTW, I'm really looking forward to visiting BC again. Living in Spokane, we are used to camping in southeasten BC. Im also missing seeing all the Canadian license plates in Spokane.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Mercruiser

[canadianbear]

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

You live in BC, don't like long flights, and are visiting SP this fall. I'll venture a guess that you are booked on a Vancouver to Australia/NZ repositioing cruise? I'd like to do that some time.

 

BTW, I'm really looking forward to visiting BC again. Living in Spokane, we are used to camping in southeasten BC. Im also missing seeing all the Canadian license plates in Spokane.

We are booked on the 50 day cruise leaving Vancouver but it returns to San Diego so basically Hawaii & SP Islands.  We have booked a private snorkel in Moorea and a couple other locations.  Will still following along with you and drool over photos if you post some.  

We miss travel and cruising.  Sure hoping our Alaska season happens this year.   Also hope  you’ll be able to freely come and camp up here again.  We are almost neighbours!  
 

Have a wonderful relaxing time.  

 

 

[Mercruiser]

52 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

We are booked on the 50 day cruise leaving Vancouver but it returns to San Diego so basically Hawaii & SP Islands.  We have booked a private snorkel in Moorea and a couple other locations.  Will still following along with you and drool over photos if you post some.  

We miss travel and cruising.  Sure hoping our Alaska season happens this year.   Also hope  you’ll be able to freely come and camp up here again.  We are almost neighbours!  
 

Have a wonderful relaxing time.  

 

 

Sounds wonderful.

 

They just finished deicing the plane in Spokane. It was 22F when I woke. Looking forward to warm weather 🌡️

[canadianbear]

18 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

Sounds wonderful.

 

They just finished deicing the plane in Spokane. It was 22F when I woke. Looking forward to warm weather 🌡️

Safe travels.  It’s a cold one this morning for sure!

[Petoonya]

We'll be waiting and watching Mercruiser. Ia orana!

[Mercruiser]

Just arrived at LAX. There are two Air Tahiti Nui aircraft here already and one more on the way. TN7 is on its way from Paris. Our flight is a continuation of the Paris flight. 

 

It supposed to be very warm in LA today. 

 

Petoonya, I'll have a look at Tahiti Lagoon Paradise. thanks

[canadianbear]

24 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

Just arrived at LAX. There are two Air Tahiti Nui aircraft here already and one more on the way. TN7 is on its way from Paris. Our flight is a continuation of the Paris flight. 

 

It supposed to be very warm in LA today. 

 

Petoonya, I'll have a look at Tahiti Lagoon Paradise. thanks

Everyone going to Tahiti!  Have a great rest of your flight.  

[Mercruiser]

We are checked in for our Air Tahitu Nui flight, and waiting in the Star Alliance Lounge at the international terminal. This lounge has a very nice outdoor seating area. It's 84F at LAX, so we are enjoying the warm weather after our 22F morning in Spokane.

 

The last time I flew through LAX on an international flight was the last time we went to Tahiti in 2015. Back then, you could not go from Terminal 6 (Alaska Airlines) to Terminal B (international) without going outside and re-entering through security.

 

This time, we were able to follow the tunnel system from Terminal 6 to Terminal B. It is signed very well, just follow the arrows to Terminal B - Tom Bradley International Terminal. After a long, but well needed walk, you finally get to the international terminal and you don't have to go through security.

 

We are flying business class, not because I like to spend money, but because I like to accumulate frequent flyer miles, mostly through credit card signup offers. My trip to Bora Bora in 2015 was paid for entirely with frequent flyer miles and hotel frequent guest points. We stayed at an over water bungalow that the Thalasso on points. This is normally a $1400 per night place.

 

This time, we are also using frequent flier point and hotel points. We will be paying cash for rental car, meals, activities, and a paid upgrade from a standard room to an overwater bungalow at the Hilton.

 

We arrived at the Star Alliance lounge about 5 hours before our flight. They wouldn't let us in because we didn't have our Tahiti boarding passes. Alaska Airlines could not issue them when we checked in at Spokane. And you cannot normally get boarding passes airside, until the gate opens for your flight. We went down to the main level to see if we could get our boarding passes at the gate of  the earlier Air Tahiti Nui flight that was leaving at 11:30am. It took some persuasion, since they were checking in an earlier flight. But in the end, they gave us the lounge passes and gave us our Tahiti boarding passes.

 

They asked for:

1) Passports

2) ETIS document (the one with the bar code)

3) Vaccination cards

4) Negative Covid test results. Our printed Covid test had the date on it, but not the time of day. They never asked us what time of day we took our test.

 

They gave us:

1) Lounge passes

2) Boarding passes

3) Arrival documents to be filled out by us.

 

We are now enjoying our lunch at the outdoor patio of the Star Alliance Lounge.

 

A correction on my first post: We are staying 2 nights at the Intercontinental Tahiti and 7 nights at the Moorea Hilton. 

[Petoonya]

Mercruiser....really appreciate your detailed notes on the trip so far. Feel like I'm sitting with you two at Tom Bradley.

 

I wish there were a webinar on how to accumulate points. I find this far more confusing than travel insurance 😉

 

Guessing that you'll be renting a car on Moorea. If you've not been there yet, don't miss Snack Mahana for lunch- one of the best meals we've had on the island.

 

Have a terrific flight and hope that you have your sunscreen while dining out on the patio of the Star Alliance lounge.

 

I hope that you won't be Tahiti-d out after this cruise. Never enough Tahiti. We're doing an 18 day PPT-HNL-LA in April 2023 on Oceania. Have done it before and it's the perfect combo of activity, relaxation and open ocean. Oceania Regatta. And the price isn't painful either.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Petoonya

[Mercruiser]

We are on board our flight, ready for takeoff. It is so nice to be on an international flight for the first time since Feb 2020.

 

I'm loving hearing everyone speaking French. Most of the passengers are speaking French too.

 

We will definitely go to Snack Mahana, maybe twice.

 

The Oceania cruise looks wonderful and popular. It looks like balconies and suites are sold out.

[Mercruiser]

We are on board our flight, ready for takeoff. It is so nice to be on an international flight for the first time since Feb 2020.

 

I'm loving hearing everyone speaking French. Most of the passengers are speaking French too.

 

We will definitely go to Snack Mahana, maybe twice.

 

The Oceania cruise looks wonderful and popular. It looks like balconies and suites are sold out.

[Mercruiser]

We arrived in Tahiti. Our plane landed at 10:23 pm, and we were in our hotel room at the Intercontinental by 11:10 pm. That was very fast. I'll add some more details tomorrow. It's time to sleep 😴.

[Mercruiser]

Morning Coffee View

 

I'm sitting on my balcony having my morning coffee. Moorea is the cloud topped island in the distance. We will take the ferry there tomorrow. The pool in the foreground is one of two at the resort. This one has a sand bottom. We plan on spending much of our day on a lounge chair at this pool. 

Most of the islands here are surrounded by a coral barrier reef, this one included. The waves break in the distance, beyond the sailboat in the picture. The water is calm inside the lagoon. 

There are all kinds of bird chirping. Their calls are much different that what we have at home. This is a very nice, relaxing setting. I'm glad we are here.

 

Our plans for today are to relax at the resort, followed by more relaxation at the resort. We are have a booking at the Sunday Brunch at 8:30 am. They will have live entertainment - similar in concept to a Hawaiian luau. It is described here: https://tahiti.intercontinental.com/tahitian-brunch

 

When we checked in last night, they said the brunch was fully booked. I made a booking ahead of time.
Travel Tip: Book your dining ahead of time at the Intercontinental. The Sunday Brunch and dinner at Le Lotus (fancy restaurant) are fully booked for today. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Mercruiser

[canadianbear]

Looks beautiful, thanks for the photo.  Have a wonderful relaxing time!

[Mercruiser]

Here is a recap of our airport arrival last night.

 

Our flight pulled into the parking stand at 10:23 pm. They deplane using stairways. We were in the first row in business class, making us 1st off the plane. There were no other arrivals at the same time, so it was just our passengers going through customs.

 

There were lots of queue ropes set up. Clearly they are prepared for lines when multiple airplanes arrive at the same time. We had no lines at all since we were 1st off the plane.

 

The first person collects the visitor survey form.

 

Next person checks your ETIS form (the one with the barcode),  Covid test results, and passport. They give you a zip lock bag with your name on it and some barcodes for identification.

 

Next person collects the zip lock bag swabs your nose. It was one swab in one nostril. It only took 20 seconds. They send you on your way. (If you fail the test, they contact you later using the information you provided applying for the ETIS.)

 

Next is passport control. They collect the Immigration Form that you fill out on the airplane. They stamp your passport and send you on your way. Easy-peasy so far.

 

Next we head to the baggage carousel. Our bags arrive within 5-minutes, which is impressive since we are first off the airplane.

 

We then head to the ATM (cash-point) to withdraw local currency. In the fog of a late night arrival, I withdraw 2000 XPF thinking that's about $200. Actually is more like $20, which is exactly what I needed for late night taxi ride and 4 pieces of luggage.  The taxi driver was very friendly and told us about her childhood in the Marquesas Islands. 

 

We check in at the Intercontinental Tahiti, are upgraded from Garden View to Premium Panoramic Ocean view. We are in our room by 11:10 pm. 

 

No one asked to see our vaccination record (did that at LAX), our "attestation form", or the contact tracing form (handed out on the airplane.)

 

To summarize, we were in the airport gate at 10:23 pm and in our hotel room by 11:10 pm. That's very good for any international airport arrival experience, and this one included a nose swab. Of course, it really helped that we were first off the plane.

[Petoonya]

@Mercruiser

Sounds like it could not have gone more smoothly! Can't believe how fast. We were at least 2 hours two years ago. But I stopped for a Tahiti Wifi.

An upgrade on arrival- not too shabby. s22Are there chickens below you? We did this first time about 25 years ago and were tickled by the *****-a-doodle-doo in the mornings 🙂

Are you going to hang out at IC tomorrow or scoot over to Moorea?

The Oceania cruise is wonderful. We were blessed with an aft cabin last time. Chances are excellent of landing the cabin of your choice if you deposit a waitlisted category. And yes it's a popular itinerary. Love it if you joined us.

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

How fun ..... enjoy your trip and at least 2 visits to Snack Mahana.

 

Interestingly I just announced on my livestream weekly show a group cruise with the same exact itinerary on the Regent Navigator ... our group price for a veranda room is very similar to what the Oceania price is but we are getting all inclusive for the price  .... even the shore excursions are tossed in plus a bunch of OBC. Navigator is only 450 passengers and is an all suite ship.

 

So now I've booked 4 different cruise lines in FP waters ... I'm educating myself so when people ask I have first hand experience.

 

Next trip is only weeks away ... on the PG with my group of 31. Maybe we'll run into each other if our ships cross paths 😉 Interestingly our ships will visit Rangiroa on the same day ... 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[do it again]

We are planning a trip in 2023 to FP & looking for a place to stay for a few days, you mentioned you booked ahead for the brunch & dinner may l ask what they charge & what is included in the price. 
Any info would be greatly appreciated 

 

thanks

[Mercruiser]

8 hours ago, Petoonya said:

@Mercruiser

Sounds like it could not have gone more smoothly! Can't believe how fast. We were at least 2 hours two years ago. But I stopped for a Tahiti Wifi.

An upgrade on arrival- not too shabby. s22Are there chickens below you? We did this first time about 25 years ago and were tickled by the *****-a-doodle-doo in the mornings 🙂

Are you going to hang out at IC tomorrow or scoot over to Moorea?

The Oceania cruise is wonderful. We were blessed with an aft cabin last time. Chances are excellent of landing the cabin of your choice if you deposit a waitlisted category. And yes it's a popular itinerary. Love it if you joined us.

 

I have not heard any chickens. Maybe Les Roulettes put them to good use!

 

We are heading over to Moorea tomorrow (Monday). We'll be on the 11:45 Aremiti ferry. I really enjoy that boat ride, outside on the open deck. We pick up an Avis rental across the street from the Moorea ferry terminal.

 

We have a booking for Valentine's dinner at Toatea Bar & Creperie at the Hilton. I think that probably qualifies as one of the best Valentine's dinner locations anywhere!

 

I actually had the aft cabin booked once on the Pacific Princess from Tahti to Hawaii. I ended up cancelling when a "too-good-to-be-true" price came available on a Panama Canal trip. Come to think of it, I never had any luck going on Pacific Princess. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I wonder if that means I should avoid booking the Azamara Onward. Thanks for the Oceania invite.

[Mercruiser]

5 hours ago, do it again said:

We are planning a trip in 2023 to FP & looking for a place to stay for a few days, you mentioned you booked ahead for the brunch & dinner may l ask what they charge & what is included in the price. 
Any info would be greatly appreciated 

 

thanks

They charge an arm and a leg.

S

ee the prices here

https://en.calameo.com/read/004500545d07ae7576dfb

 

I'm getting the room for free on hotel frequent guest points. So I try to think of the highway-robbery meal prices as a substitute for the room charges. If you think these prices are high, they are way higher in Bora Bora.

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

8 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

I have not heard any chickens. Maybe Les Roulettes put them to good use!

 

We are heading over to Moorea tomorrow (Monday). We'll be on the 11:45 Aremiti ferry. I really enjoy that boat ride, outside on the open deck. We pick up an Avis rental across the street from the Moorea ferry terminal.

 

We have a booking for Valentine's dinner at Toatea Bar & Creperie at the Hilton. I think that probably qualifies as one of the best Valentine's dinner locations anywhere!

 

I actually had the aft cabin booked once on the Pacific Princess from Tahti to Hawaii. I ended up cancelling when a "too-good-to-be-true" price came available on a Panama Canal trip. Come to think of it, I never had any luck going on Pacific Princess. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I wonder if that means I should avoid booking the Azamara Onward. Thanks for the Oceania invite.

 

Love the Toatea Bar at the Hilton  .... great place to hang out and enjoy the night .... don't forget about the breakfast/lunch place across the street. Cute, reasonable and yummy.