Live from Tahitian Princess

[calikak]

Tina, I checked my e-mail and we booked the deviation back in early November. Not sure if we could have booked it earlier or not, I just know that's when we chose our flights. Hope that helps! I know just how you feel being antsy, we booked our Tahitian cruise almost a year in advance and I was so excited about the trip, I wanted to think about every detail of it as far in advance as possible! :)

[Hulagirl]

Hi from Huahine!

 

We made it to Papeete on Friday night with no problems. Upgraded ourselves in LAX to the last 3 remaining business class seats ATN had left on the flight. It was expensive, but did make the flight so much nicer.

 

Stayed at the Intercontinental and loved our Jr. Suite overwater bungalow. The hotel was wonderful, but the front desk really needs some direction. They had very little idea what the Ambassador club was and when I gave them the voucher for our one night, the woman hadn't a clue. Luckily someone else came over and told her, then she was nicer to us. But at first a bit snippy. Will say to anyone staying there though, be sure you leave a lot of time on the day your checkout. It took us 40 minutes to get it all straightened out and the young couple behind us even longer, and still they have a problem with all of it. The Ambassador Club and the voucher is just not something they either deal with much, don't want to, or just don't know how to.

 

The ship is wonderful. It is definitely small, but the layout is so nice. The staff is so friendly and very helpful. We have a mini suite which seems fine for the 3 of us. Closet isn't very big, but we made it.

 

Tina: The air opened up for our cruise last year right at September 1, for this cruise. We were able to book it that day with Princess and my TA had our seat assignments done that very same day. So it was right about 10 months out from the cruise.

 

Today was Huahine and we had Marcs Motu Picnic booked. It rained on us the full time which did make it cold. It would have been so much better had it not rained, but it was still good. Just not the same. Had to sit on the beach in the rain to eat and not in the water,which I found disappointing. Oh well, will have to come back and try it again.

 

We are having a great time.

 

Susan

[Texed]

Susan,

Thanks for the report. We are booked on TP June 5, 2007 from Papeete to Hawaii, so your updates are very helpful.:)

[TexasMom2]

Thanks for reporting in, Susan! Glad you made it safe and sound and fairly rested. Thanks for the info on Princess air - I will put a reminder on my calendar to check on the air at 10 months out.

 

Check in when you can, but spend every possible daylight minute enjoying the cruise! Hopefully there won't be any more rain to "dampen" your excursions.

[Nalu]

Most of the airline booking/reservation systems will only book flights that are less than 332 days out.

 

So as of today (July 5, 2006) and if I counted correctly. One can only book flights out to 6/1/07.

 

Joe

[calikak]

Susan, glad you're having a good time--hopefully the weather will cooperate a bit more! Of course after weeks of bright sun here, it finally rained yesterday--wouldn't be a 4th of July in Seattle without rain, would it? :D Anyway, thanks so much for checking in--have a great time and let us know how things are going when you can! :)

[DANofNORTH]

Susan;

I am surprised that you are taking the time to give us updates on your cruise with all the sites to see, things to do, but thank you very much!

I take a quick look every day to see how things are going & what bits of information can be picked up. When I look at the number of hits on this thread, I'm obviously not the only one!

Great Job!! :) :) :)

[Hulagirl]

Hi Everyone!

As for the flights, it all depends as to whether you are booking on your own or with the cruiseline. Princess seems to run about 10 months out now with their booking with deviation. Used to be much closer to the actual flight day, so this is much better. Definitely have your TA find out at that time.

Today is Roratonga. It was one rough ride here from Huahine. I think a lot of people were quite sick. Hopefully going back will be a bit smoother since we should be going with the current rather than against. This is a beautiful place. We went to Muri beach today with a Princess tour. Had we known you could we could have paid $8 per person to the beach on our own. The excursion was excellent though and glad we did it. You can walk out so far without the water even being up to your shoulders. It is crystal clear and beautiful.

Tomorrow is another day at sea heading back. Have been invited to the most traveled luncheon by the Captain, so we are looking forward to that. Had our first formal night last night and went to the welcome aboard party. Since they have it in the Tahitian Lounge, it feels like a repeaters party. The Captain is so nice and was fun to listen to.

Well heading back to the pool for a little more sun. Just wanted to stop off and say hello. This is definitely a Honeymoon Cruise! I can't tell you how many newly married couples there are on this ship. So definitely a time to come here on this ship if you want a lot of younger people. It looks like everyone is having a wonderful time.

Susan

[TexasMom2]

Susan, hopefully the rough waters are behind you. Great tip on Muri - stowing that one away for the future.

There was another thread earlier today asking about teens on the ship, are there other teens besides your DD?

Enjoy your day at sea tomorrow!

[Texed]

[B][COLOR=darkred]Susan,[/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000][/COLOR][/B]
[B][COLOR=#8b0000]I know it is time consumming, but your posts are really appreciated.:) [/COLOR][/B]

[calikak]

Susan, glad to hear you're having a good time! We found the captain to be a really nice guy and very accessible--he likes talking to passengers and will chat with you while he's out and about on the ship. Hopefully the rough seas will be easier on the way back! How are you enjoying the food and entertainment so far?

[Hulagirl]

The Captain is wonderful. We just had lunch at the Captain;s lunch and I was seated next to him. Found him so much fun to talk to. Very funny and interesting man. He will be heading out for vacation around the middle to end of August, so those lucky enough to sail with him before will enjoy his humor. Apparently the man who will be filling him for him is a good friend of his and sounds like he is just as wonderful.

Tina: There are around 25 teens on this sailing and will also be next sailing too. Many, many honeymooners on this cruise also. So it makes for a much younger crowd, along with those of all ages. It is a great mix.

Much smoother seas sailing back to Raitea today. Going to Roratonga was very rough and it sounds like it is like that quite often. My daughter and I have been taking the Bonine and it has worked very well. Usually I'm the first one to feel queasy.

The food is excellent on this ship. Now I find the food to be pretty good on all the ships, but this one ranks at the top. So far we have found nothing that we can say isn't very good.

Ate at Sabatini's last night and it was very, very good. Can't find anything negative to even come up with for the ship, crew or itinerary. Well it could have been sunny in Huahine instead of raining, but that had nothing to do with anything other than weather.

Beth: We are having a great time. All your tips were so helpful for us. Found the international terminal in LAX just like you said and it was easy. So far, an great cruise. Are you packing? I will e-mail you soon. Thanks again for all your hellp.

Susan

[calikak]

Susan, I'm so glad you're having a great time! Glad you're enjoying the food--if you haven't already, be sure to try the little bananas in the buffet, they're really wonderful. Yes, we've been packing--we move on the 22nd! Have a great day in port tomorrow--it's Bora Bora, right? The market right by the tender pier in Bora Bora has the best prices in town, don't bother going into the shops unless you're looking for high-end items like pearls.

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beth:

Today was/is Raiatea. We had a pretty decent day today which was good. We did the 4X4 excursion this morning and timed it perfectly. Only had a little rain out in the mountain area, then it was done until late this afternoon. What a beautiful place.

Just saw the show on board of the children dancing. That was so good. They are adorable. Will catch the adults later this evening.

Tomorrow is Bora Bora. Thanks for the tip there about shopping. So far, the Marche in Papeete seems to be the best for many things on pricing. It is very expensive here, of what was open. They are not open much on Saturday and nothing on Sunday. So no shopping here today at all for us.

The seas have calmed down so much now that we are back from Roratonga. Just getting there was rough, but now it is so much better.

This cruise is coming to an end and we are looking forward to the next CC group boarding on Wednesday.

Have a great rest of your weekend.

Susan

[TexasMom2]

Wow, hard to believe it's almost over already! At least you get to stay on the ship and enjoy the sea days before Christmas Island and Hawaii.

What are the options for dinner if you don't make it to the dining room? Have you guys made it to dinner every night even after busy port days? Is your cabin big enough for 3 people? TIA and have a great day.

[calikak]

Susan, so glad you're having a good time! If Wednesday is new passengers, then tomorrow is Moorea, right? Be sure to visit the pineapple juice factory, only be careful, it's not just juice, it's got alcohol in it! We brought home a bottle of the liqueur d'Ananas and gave a taste to everyone at home, so now it's almost gone! :)

[bsw845]

Thanks for the real time up dates!

A couple questions:

1. We're planning on going on the Pacific Princess 12 night cruise Tahiti to Honolulu in May 2007. I don't seem to see anyone mentioning the Pacific Princess but most mentioning that they are going on the Tahitian Princess on this same intinerary. Is the Pacific Princess the redheaded step child of the Tahitian - Hawaii cruise line? I read somewhere the TP had been refurbished in recent years where the PP hadn't been refurbished. Anyone else sailing on the PP? Or have any of you sailed on it and have some reviews?

2. How do people do scuba dive excursions while on cruises? This is our first cruise as the question suggest...ha.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[calikak]

bsw845: Actually, the Pacific is really nice and nearly identical to the Tahitian, so don't worry! :) It just hasn't been doing this route this year, so that's why you're not reading reviews about it. Can't help with the scuba thing, I'm not a diver--but check out the Pacific Islands forum, there's probably some info over there. Here's a link: [url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104[/url]

[bsw845]

Beth, thank you for the reply, that is comforting to know that they are similar and that the TP is getting great reviews.

Cheers! All there is left to do is book it.

Another question: Is there any incentive for booking through a Travel Agent versus Online? Can they get better prices than online sites?

Thanks!

[calikak]

bsw845, it depends on what you're looking for. Usually you can find a really good price online, but they can't give you an advice about what cabin to pick or anything like that, and if the cruise line lowers the price, they generally don't help you try to get the lower price. So it really comes down to whether the service you get from an agent is worth the few extra dollars. If you decide to go with an online site, shop around because there are lots of different websites out there, especially for cruising, and prices can vary a lot. Our British Isles cruise last year, we searched around and found a travel agency with a website (so, not really an online-only agency) that had group space on the sailing we wanted to go on, so it was about $500 less than any other agent we could find including the el-cheapo websites. And they had great service as well--got us a free upgrade from a balcony to a minisuite.

[bsw845]

Thanks again Beth, I will search the web for the best price. So far though, I haven't been able to find one with a price any different that what is advertised on Princess.com.

How fast do these cruises typically fill up? How far in advance do people usually book? I was told by a HawaiianAir agent that we should look to book asap as these cruises fill up fast, but wasn't sure if that was just a sales pitch or the truth.

Thanks for helping out the cruising rookies!

Bryan

[cruze610]

We will be on the TP in july 07. we live in NJ and are trying to decide if we should fly NON STOP or fly to LAX and then to Tahiti. how long is a layover in LAX? I've heard that there are only a few flights a day from LA to TAHITI. I guess a brief stop in LAX would be a nice chance to stretch before the long flight to TAHITI, but I dont want to get stuck waiting in the airport for hours on end. Thanks for all of the info. Enjoy your Cruise

[calikak]

Bryan, on our cruise all of the balcony cabins were sold out by I think January, and all of the minisuites, and suites were sold out by early February (we were on the May 29 sailing). Inside and outside cabins were sold out by March. In fact, they ended up overselling the ship and offering very sweet deals if people would change to a later sailing. Next year, there will be more sailings of this itinerary, so maybe it won't sell out as quickly? I wouldn't panic now, but I wouldn't wait past Thanksgiving to book it or you may have difficulty getting the cabin category you want.

cruze610, our layover at LAX was about 3 hours. We got in at 1-ish and flew out at 4-ish. Our TA told us that 3 hours is the shortest layover that ATN recommends because LAX is a big terminal and it can take a long time to get from your airline's gate to the ATN gate, and to check in and get through security and all that.

[SeptCruiser06]

I don't know how to page an individual person but I just wanted to say that we are cruising the Tahitian Princess in September of this year. And we are from Mountlake Terrace, Washington! Just down the road!

[calikak]

Susan, we miss you--hope you're having a great time and that's why you're not posting! :)