Review: Pacific Princess Oct 11-19 Tahiti (long)

Well, we got back Sunday night after one of the worst flights I have
ever had (and that takes a lot). I don't like to start a review with
negatives, but if anybody from Princess is reading this, FIRE OMNI AIR
and get a real airline for your charters. The slight price increase
will be soooooo worth the effort. I will get back to Omni later in
this review.

The Good:
The ship is awesome. It is a mini-Mega ship. You can look up the stats
online, but they do not do it justice. The room was the biggest room
we have ever had. Or else it just had the best storage. When we got
done putting everything away, my wife & I looked at each other and
asked what did we forget? We still had empty drawers and empty
shelves. That never, ever happens.

The food was great. We heard a lot of grumbling, but no one could
really point out what they didn't like when they were pressed for
specifics. The one night I didn't like any of the entrees, I had a
steak off of the "always available" menu. I usually had the caesar
salad (again off the "always available" menu) rather than one of their
more gourmet salads, just because I liked the caesar salad. It was
never a problem mixing and matching courses off the menu. My personal
favorite was the Beef Wellington, I think that is the best I have ever
had.

The diving was amazing. The coral was not outstanding, by Caribbean
standards it was pretty boring. It was the fish. Not a large variety,
just outstanding numbers of them. The Napoleon fish were awesome. They
are huge. Pictures do not do them justice. The first dive, on Raiatea,
included some "up close and personal" time with a Napoleon fish that
had to have been 6 feet long and over 300 pounds. When he came up and
nudged you to feed him, you knew you were being nudged.

On Bora Bora we did two dives. The first was on the ocean side of the
reef. Again, the coral was not very exciting. The sharks definitely
were. Our DM said to just move slowly as the sharks are "timid and
shy". I think somebody gave him the wrong definition of timid. These
sharks were not aggressive, but they were definitely curious and not
at all shy. A very cool dive. I have some great video from this. We
also saw some of the usual reef fish and a small pride(?) of lion
fish, if you can call three a pride. The second dive was on the lagoon
side of the reef. It was very interesting because just as we entered
the water, two snorkeling boats tied up nearby. It was amazing to see
all of the fish bail out as soon as the snorkelers hit the water. If
you have ever gone on a snorkeling trip and not seen any fish, I can
tell you why: you guys are noisy. Once we moved away from the
snorkelers into a little deeper water we saw all kinds of things,
including some huge anemones with their clown fish (Nemo fish to those
with little kids), a green moray eel another Napoleon fish (only about
4 feet this time) and a bunch of those South Seas giant clams (only
babies about 1 foot wide).

On Moorea, we did the motu picnic. That was fabulous. A motu is a sand
island on or near the barrier reef. This one had tree for shade and a
channel between it and the next motu for snorkeling. The stingrays
were at least as friendly as the ones in the Caymans and would
literally crawl up in your lap if you sat down in the water. I highly
recommend this excursion, but get it quick because it sold out early.

On Huahine we did the sacred sites walk and talk and this was also one
of our favorites. Paul, the young man that did the talk gave a very
impressive amount of background information on the history of the
islands and its people. It was raining when we did it, but that just
seemed to add to the mood. The walking was not that extensive. We had
a number of retired persons (most not recently retired) and none of
them had any trouble. If you need a cane or a walker, find a different
tour, but if you can walk around the block you can finish this tour.

The Bad:
Sunday in Papeete. Why they bother with Papeete on Sunday, I don't
know. The shops are almost all closed. The second floor of the market
is closed. There is nothing to do. We took a tour which was mostly "we
need to get back on the bus, so we stay on schedule". There were some
interesting spots and the bus was air conditioned (the last of that
until we got back to Papeete to go to the airport).

Saturday in Papeete. The shops close at noon. We didn't bother with a
tour this time. We just walked around town for a couple of hours, came
back to the ship, had lunch and waited for the shuttle to the airport.
The bright spot in all of this is that Omni now doesn't require you to
go to the airport in the morning to check your bags. You go in the
afternoon and stay until the flight loads, the same as ATN and ANZ.

Le Truck. Transportation on all of the islands (except Tahiti) is by
this demonic ally inspired contraption called "Le Truck". It is a
flatbed truck with wooden benches and a wooden roof over it. After the
second ride we christened it "Le Bone Shaker". When the cruise
director says to take a towel, do it. Even if you don't go to the
beach, sit on it, it will save your a**.

The Ugly:
The ugly truth is that the Society Islands, despite being a tourist
destination for more than 100 years, has virtually no tourist
infrastructure. Each island has a couple of hotels. Few if any tour
buses. Little to buy as souvenirs. The main products to buy are the
pareos (the colorful wraps the natives wear), postcards and pearls.
Air conditioning is virtually non-existant. And not to sound like an
ugly American, but if you don't speak a little French, it is difficult
to find your way around and almost impossible to communicate other thn
by pantamime. Paul (the speaker from the tour mentioned above) summed
it up by saying that the number one industry by value is tourism, but
the number one occupation is living off the handouts from the French.

The Bottom Line:
I am very glad that we went. I will need to think very hard about
whether I would go back. We loved the ship. If you will get to the
Society Islands only once in your lifetime, go there and take the
Pacific Princess. But if you do decide to go, make sure you make your
flight arrangements through Air Tahiti Nui not Omni Air. If there is
sufficient interest, I will be happy to go into detail about the
problems with Omni, but this is a review of the cruise.

Sorry for the length, but there was a lot to cover and so far I have
only scratched the surface of what was one of the most interesting
weeks of my life so far.

Thanks for reading this far,

ken

Thanks Ken. I just printed this to read at my leisure. We're booked for
next year.

Arlene

Kenneth Graham wrote:

Well, we got back Sunday night after one of the worst flights I have
ever had (and that takes a lot). I don't like to start a review with
negatives, but if anybody from Princess is reading this, FIRE OMNI AIR
and get a real airline for your charters. The slight price increase
will be soooooo worth the effort. I will get back to Omni later in
this review.

The Good:
The ship is awesome. It is a mini-Mega ship. You can look up the stats
online, but they do not do it justice. The room was the biggest room
we have ever had. Or else it just had the best storage. When we got
done putting everything away, my wife & I looked at each other and
asked what did we forget? We still had empty drawers and empty
shelves. That never, ever happens.

The food was great. We heard a lot of grumbling, but no one could
really point out what they didn't like when they were pressed for
specifics. The one night I didn't like any of the entrees, I had a
steak off of the "always available" menu. I usually had the caesar
salad (again off the "always available" menu) rather than one of their
more gourmet salads, just because I liked the caesar salad. It was
never a problem mixing and matching courses off the menu. My personal
favorite was the Beef Wellington, I think that is the best I have ever
had.

The diving was amazing. The coral was not outstanding, by Caribbean
standards it was pretty boring. It was the fish. Not a large variety,
just outstanding numbers of them. The Napoleon fish were awesome. They
are huge. Pictures do not do them justice. The first dive, on Raiatea,
included some "up close and personal" time with a Napoleon fish that
had to have been 6 feet long and over 300 pounds. When he came up and
nudged you to feed him, you knew you were being nudged.

On Bora Bora we did two dives. The first was on the ocean side of the
reef. Again, the coral was not very exciting. The sharks definitely
were. Our DM said to just move slowly as the sharks are "timid and
shy". I think somebody gave him the wrong definition of timid. These
sharks were not aggressive, but they were definitely curious and not
at all shy. A very cool dive. I have some great video from this. We
also saw some of the usual reef fish and a small pride(?) of lion
fish, if you can call three a pride. The second dive was on the lagoon
side of the reef. It was very interesting because just as we entered
the water, two snorkeling boats tied up nearby. It was amazing to see
all of the fish bail out as soon as the snorkelers hit the water. If
you have ever gone on a snorkeling trip and not seen any fish, I can
tell you why: you guys are noisy. Once we moved away from the
snorkelers into a little deeper water we saw all kinds of things,
including some huge anemones with their clown fish (Nemo fish to those
with little kids), a green moray eel another Napoleon fish (only about
4 feet this time) and a bunch of those South Seas giant clams (only
babies about 1 foot wide).

On Moorea, we did the motu picnic. That was fabulous. A motu is a sand
island on or near the barrier reef. This one had tree for shade and a
channel between it and the next motu for snorkeling. The stingrays
were at least as friendly as the ones in the Caymans and would
literally crawl up in your lap if you sat down in the water. I highly
recommend this excursion, but get it quick because it sold out early.

On Huahine we did the sacred sites walk and talk and this was also one
of our favorites. Paul, the young man that did the talk gave a very
impressive amount of background information on the history of the
islands and its people. It was raining when we did it, but that just
seemed to add to the mood. The walking was not that extensive. We had
a number of retired persons (most not recently retired) and none of
them had any trouble. If you need a cane or a walker, find a different
tour, but if you can walk around the block you can finish this tour.

The Bad:
Sunday in Papeete. Why they bother with Papeete on Sunday, I don't
know. The shops are almost all closed. The second floor of the market
is closed. There is nothing to do. We took a tour which was mostly "we
need to get back on the bus, so we stay on schedule". There were some
interesting spots and the bus was air conditioned (the last of that
until we got back to Papeete to go to the airport).

Saturday in Papeete. The shops close at noon. We didn't bother with a
tour this time. We just walked around town for a couple of hours, came
back to the ship, had lunch and waited for the shuttle to the airport.
The bright spot in all of this is that Omni now doesn't require you to
go to the airport in the morning to check your bags. You go in the
afternoon and stay until the flight loads, the same as ATN and ANZ.

Le Truck. Transportation on all of the islands (except Tahiti) is by
this demonic ally inspired contraption called "Le Truck". It is a
flatbed truck with wooden benches and a wooden roof over it. After the
second ride we christened it "Le Bone Shaker". When the cruise
director says to take a towel, do it. Even if you don't go to the
beach, sit on it, it will save your a**.

The Ugly:
The ugly truth is that the Society Islands, despite being a tourist
destination for more than 100 years, has virtually no tourist
infrastructure. Each island has a couple of hotels. Few if any tour
buses. Little to buy as souvenirs. The main products to buy are the
pareos (the colorful wraps the natives wear), postcards and pearls.
Air conditioning is virtually non-existant. And not to sound like an
ugly American, but if you don't speak a little French, it is difficult
to find your way around and almost impossible to communicate other thn
by pantamime. Paul (the speaker from the tour mentioned above) summed
it up by saying that the number one industry by value is tourism, but
the number one occupation is living off the handouts from the French.

The Bottom Line:
I am very glad that we went. I will need to think very hard about
whether I would go back. We loved the ship. If you will get to the
Society Islands only once in your lifetime, go there and take the
Pacific Princess. But if you do decide to go, make sure you make your
flight arrangements through Air Tahiti Nui not Omni Air. If there is
sufficient interest, I will be happy to go into detail about the
problems with Omni, but this is a review of the cruise.

Sorry for the length, but there was a lot to cover and so far I have
only scratched the surface of what was one of the most interesting
weeks of my life so far.

Thanks for reading this far,

ken

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 06:49:55 GMT, Kenneth Graham
wrote:

The Ugly:
The ugly truth is that the Society Islands, despite being a tourist
destination for more than 100 years, has virtually no tourist
infrastructure. Each island has a couple of hotels. Few if any tour
buses. Little to buy as souvenirs. The main products to buy are the
pareos (the colorful wraps the natives wear), postcards and pearls.
Air conditioning is virtually non-existant. And not to sound like an
ugly American, but if you don't speak a little French, it is difficult
to find your way around and almost impossible to communicate other thn
by pantamime.

Hi Paul,

To many, including myself, most of the above is what makes the Society
Islands so wonderful. To each his own. FWIW, I have never had any
trouble communicating with the locals as most spoke enough English to
understand me.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:22:14 -0700, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 06:49:55 GMT, Kenneth Graham
wrote:

The Ugly:
The ugly truth is that the Society Islands, despite being a tourist
destination for more than 100 years, has virtually no tourist
infrastructure. Each island has a couple of hotels. Few if any tour
buses. Little to buy as souvenirs. The main products to buy are the
pareos (the colorful wraps the natives wear), postcards and pearls.
Air conditioning is virtually non-existant. And not to sound like an
ugly American, but if you don't speak a little French, it is difficult
to find your way around and almost impossible to communicate other thn
by pantamime.

Hi Paul,

To many, including myself, most of the above is what makes the Society
Islands so wonderful. To each his own. FWIW, I have never had any
trouble communicating with the locals as most spoke enough English to
understand me.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

Hi Ray,

I think you missed the point (as well as my name). The cruise
brochures (as well as movies, TV, etc.) make it sound like Tahiti is a
perfect paradise. I am just trying to paint the picture with a little
honesty. Some of the people on our cruise were extremely disappointed
with the shopping opportunities. Many were experienced European and
Caribbean cruisers and were quite disappointed. Not everyone was there
just for the scenic beauty. If you are expecting a South Seas
Caribbean vacation (ala the brochures) you will be disappointed.
Everything was very expensive there.

To arrive in Papeete late Saturday after everything was closed and to
have all day Sunday to kill in a ghost town is rediculous. Princess
should know better. Make Sunday a day at sea cruising around Tahiti.
If they feel the need to rack up the big bucks on shore tours, then
let people off Sunday morning and stop back (or tender them back)
Sunday night. We ended up getting our shopping done mid-week when
Papeete was bustling only becasue the captain decided that he was not
getting enough potable water in Raiatea to support the remainder of
the cruise, so we made an unscheduled stop back in Papeete.

To speak to the language issue, if you stayed near the "tourist"
areas, yes, you could find people that spoke enough English to get by.
Take a Le Truck to Fare on Huahine and it was pantamime time. I went
to the Banc de Polynesia in Fare to exchange some money. After
standing in line for almost an hour, I attempted to explain what I was
trying to do, finally resorting to pointing to the US $, pointing to
the sign listing the selling price and then to some Francs that I had.
She finally got the idea and she handed me a form, all in French,
demanded my Passport and waved me to the back of the line, presumably
until I had the form filled out. Instead, I walked out the door,
walked down the street, bumped into an ATM and 30 seconds later had my
Francs (at a better rate) with no language barrier or attitude.

Would I do it again? That depends. Bora Bora and Moorea were
beautiful. If I could afford it, I would plunk my butt down in one of
the palapas (grass huts on stilts over the lagoon) and snorkel and
dive myself into oblivion. Papeete, you couldn't pay me to vacation in
Papeete. To be honest we did not see enough of the rest of the island
of Tahiti to say if we would go back. The airport, the road to the
wharf and the downtown area around the wharf are not enough to bring
me back. The overpriced island tour we took did not leave a very good
impression either. If I knew I was only going to get to Tahiti once, I
would definitely take a cruise. It is a great way to see the islands
without worrying about where you were going to sleep or what you were
going to eat.

Tahiti is well worth doing once. I'll just have to think hard before I
would do it again. There's just so much of the rest of the world to
explore.

ken

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 04:34:14 GMT, Kenneth Graham
wrote:

I think you missed the point (as well as my name). The cruise
brochures (as well as movies, TV, etc.) make it sound like Tahiti is a
perfect paradise. I am just trying to paint the picture with a little
honesty. Some of the people on our cruise were extremely disappointed
with the shopping opportunities. Many were experienced European and
Caribbean cruisers and were quite disappointed. Not everyone was there
just for the scenic beauty. If you are expecting a South Seas
Caribbean vacation (ala the brochures) you will be disappointed.
Everything was very expensive there.

Hi Ken, (sorry about botching your name)

No one should go to the Society Islands for shopping. It is not the
Caribbean and I have not seen it portrayed in that way. Why would
someone want to spend the time, effort and expense to go to Tahiti if
it were the same as the Caribbean? You are correct that everything is
expensive which is why a cruise is the best way to enjoy the islands.
A 3-night pre-cruise stay in an overwater bungalow can certainly
enhance your vacation. ;+)


To arrive in Papeete late Saturday after everything was closed and to
have all day Sunday to kill in a ghost town is rediculous.
See above regarding a pre-cruise stay. I go on the Paul Gauguin which
sails on Saturday. The stores and large market are all open on
Saturday morning and offer all the shopping most would want. At the
end of the cruise, the PG docks in Papeete on Friday afternoon. The
locals set up a wonderful outdoor fair with food and shopping galore
right at the cruise pier. Another shopping opportunity. On Saturday
morning all of the stores and market are open again at the end of your
cruise.

To speak to the language issue, if you stayed near the "tourist"
areas, yes, you could find people that spoke enough English to get by.
Take a Le Truck to Fare on Huahine and it was pantamime time
If one wants to not experience a foreign land with a foreign language
then you should stay home and not travel, imo. I and my clients have
never complained about not being understood.

Tahiti is well worth doing once. I'll just have to think hard before I
would do it again. There's just so much of the rest of the world to
explore.

This is where we disagree completely. Don't the French have a word
for that? ;+) I go back as often as I can and so do my clients who
have sailed the Society Islands. May I suggest that you might enjoy
the Paul Gauguin with a 3-night pre-cruise in an overwater bungalow on
Bora Bora or Moorea next time.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

I think you missed the point (as well as my name). The cruise
brochures (as well as movies, TV, etc.) make it sound like Tahiti is a
perfect paradise. I am just trying to paint the picture with a little
honesty. Some of the people on our cruise were extremely disappointed
with the shopping opportunities.

People fly all the way to the South Pacific to shop? Who would have thought!

Warren

We went to Tahiti in July to cruise on the Tahitian Princess, this was
a trip of a lifetime. It was a long haul from Boston and we will do it
again. We travel a lot and have cruised many times. Anyone that goes
to Tahiti only to shop is sick! I did buy a few things for people at
home and Christmas presents. I had no problems with language, a smile
goes a long way. I loved the Hinano beer.

deana

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:42:38 GMT, (CupCaked)
wrote:

As for shopping, I got one of my all-time favorite pieces of jewelry
and my favorite souvenier of all: two pearls (one a silvery gray and
the other a deep purple-black) right from the small, family-run pearl
farm on Tahaa. I'll never forget *that* shopping trip ;-)

Do you remember what you paid and what sizes?

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:36:19 GMT, (CupCaked)
wrote:

I just pulled out my receipts:

The one I called silvery gray is listed as a "Baroque A" white, 07.85
diameter, price 2500 FCFP

The black-purple one is listed as "Pink", 08.85, and a "Pear A" for
7800FCFP.

Now, if I could only remember the dollars to FP monetary conversion. I
know they didn't cost much at all, maybe $35 for the lighter un-set
one and $125 with a gold pendant setting for the other, darker one.

I purchased them both from:
Poerani
Ferme Perliere
Tahaa, Polnese Francaise.

Boy, would I like to go back there. What a day that was. I even got
to play with the pearl farm owner's dog, a dachsund-lab mix. He was
quite a fellow :-)

Karens

Thanks.

Ohhhh Huuuuubbbbyyyy..............................