Hawaii or Tahiti? What would you do?

[ParrotTops]

To those of you doing the Hawaii-Tahiti, may I ask what cabin you selected? Do you think the best views will be port or starboard? Thanks so much!

[dazee8]

We decided to go all out for this cruise and booked a mini-suite. From what I hear it really doesn't make that much of a difference if your cabin is port or starboard for this cruise since you are surrounded by water a lot. If you find out different info I would love to hear about it. Either way, we are happy to have our cabin (carefully chosen by looking what is above, below, and both sides of us) and are really looking forward to cruising the South Pacific.

 

Happy sailing,

:)

[cruzin2paradise]

Everyone is giving such good and helpful tips. I more than appreciate it! These are definitely the threads I like!

 

I'm defiinitely going to research carefully. Our plan is to do this for the 25th Anniversary (we're celebrating 19 next week), so we have a "few" years to plan and research.

 

But, I will certainly look at the whole picture and I intend to do the FCC on the Crown next summer -- can you purchase future cruise credits for more than one cruise? Do you purchase one per person or is it per booking?

[dazee8]

Glad to hear you are going to be doing the research. You will be VERY ready when you booking time comes around for you.

 

As for FCCs... you can buy as many as you want when you are on a cruise. Keep in mind though, they are not transferable. FCCs are listed in your name and you can see how many you have when you log into Princess.com and check your "My Princess" area under referrals and credits.

 

When we cruise, the Future Cruise Consultant is one of the first people I see. We usually get 2 FCCs for each of us when we cruise. Good to have a couple in the "bank" with Princess to use just in case a wonderful schedule comes up that we want to book. I've also used extra ones to bring down the price of a booking. Overall they are very useful and you get shipboard credit too. Can't beat that.

 

Happy cruising,

:)

[Seal]

You can have as many future cruise credits as you want--just have to pay for them

 

Remember they're good for four years--you can keep trading them around--we have a bunch--this way you can easily put a deposit on a trip you think you might want to take--without waiting around--get the stateroom you want--but, if you want to easy to drop tne cruise--with no loss of money

 

Remember, you can use the credits over and over

 

Nancy:)

[NY City Girl]

We are doing the Tahitian Princess in April, and the direct flights on Air Tahiti Nui from JFK would have been about $1,400 each, pretty much the same price we are paying each for the cabin! However, since I used to travel a lot, we were able to use our American Airlines miles, 'only' 75,000 each. It took some creative miles transferring from some other accounts (i.e. Amex Membership rewards to Starwood to American!), but it was a huge savings. There are few other airlines that fly there as well from LAX in case your miles are another airline.

[calikak]

Why not do both? We did, on Tahitian Princess in May/June. We had 4 ports in Tahiti, and 4 in Hawaii, plus a brief stop at Christmas Island that helped break up the 4 sea days in between. I would happily do this cruise again. Yes, it's a long flight to Tahiti, and also a long flight to Hawaii, but it was totally worth it.

[terrierjohn]

To those of you doing the Hawaii-Tahiti, may I ask what cabin you selected? Do you think the best views will be port or starboard? Thanks so much!

Someone has already answered this and if you want sunsets on your balcony whilst you enjoy your aperitifs, then it's port for northbound and starboard for southbound.

[terrierjohn]

I checked the Princess site and did a "booking" for next September (just for grins) on the Tahitian Princess. It's for the Hawaii-Tahiti Cruise so air is from KC to Hawaii and then Tahiti back home. The whole cruise, 12 days, with air, transfers, etc. and for two of us was $7400 -- not too bad, but we'll see.

That equates to £4000 at current xchange rate, which compares very favourably with our £5250 total from Manchester UK for a BB balcony, I doubt it would be anywhere near £1250 for transatlantic flights.

Hope that makes you feel good.:mad:

[terrierjohn]

I checked the Princess site and did a "booking" for next September (just for grins) on the Tahitian Princess. It's for the Hawaii-Tahiti Cruise so air is from KC to Hawaii and then Tahiti back home. The whole cruise, 12 days, with air, transfers, etc. and for two of us was $7400 -- not too bad, but we'll see.

That equates to £4000 at current xchange rate, which compares very favourably with our £5250 total from Manchester UK for a BB balcony, I doubt it would be anywhere near £1250 for transatlantic flights.

Hope that makes you feel good.:mad:

[cruzin2paradise]

That equates to £4000 at current xchange rate, which compares very favourably with our £5250 total from Manchester UK for a BB balcony, I doubt it would be anywhere near £1250 for transatlantic flights.

Hope that makes you feel good.:mad:

 

I have to admit, I haven't a clue about money exchange rates and such. :o

 

I was good to pass basic math in school, so trying to figure this out makes my brain start to bubble! :p

 

But, I appreciate your input! Sorry for the ignorance.

[calikak]

Someone has already answered this and if you want sunsets on your balcony whilst you enjoy your aperitifs, then it's port for northbound and starboard for southbound.

 

Or you could choose an aft balcony cabin--book early because they sell out quick. We had one on Deck 6 and liked it. There was some vibration, but not enough to be an annoyance to us, and the balcony itself (not the cabin, just the balcony) was much larger than the ones on the sides of the ship and very private. But, I know others have complained about the vibration so it probably depends on how sensitive you are. I would happily sail in that cabin again, though.

[Tom O.]

Besides the difference in ports, you need to consider the onboard experience. The 15 day Hawaii cruise is an extra 5 days of cruising. If the destinations are more important, then choose Tahiti. But if you mainly love to be on a cruise, the Hawaii trip is a lot of cruising for the buck.

One other consideration, the Tahiti trips are done on very small ships. Many people love these small ships, but if you are not one of them it is something to consider. The ships to Hawaii are going to be large.

[SeaYa52]

I would rebook the Tahitian in a heartbeat. We did the 12 night Hawaii to Tahiti in July. It was by far our best experience ever on a ship. I can not wait to sail the Tahitian again.

 

We had visited Hawaii four times previously - and enjoyed revisiting each island on the cruise(plus, we spent two days pre cruise in Oahu). The five days at sea were relaxing - we did stop at Christmas Island - which was a nice brief stop. The four days in Tahiti were fantastic.

 

I would cruise any of the Tahitian itineraries - and can not wait to return. I think a cruise vacation is the way to visit Tahiti. However, I do prefer land vacations in Hawaii.

 

We did not do a post cruise stay in Tahiti - maybe next time - although the CC friends we made who did stay over did not have a good experience with the hotels on Tahiti or Moorea.

 

We did book our air through Princess - much cheaper option unless you have FF points to book on your own. ATN was very nice on the return.

 

Be glad to answer any questions you have.

Sandy