Honeymoon

Hi guys

We are going on our honeymoon in January.

Thinking of doing a Tahitian Princess cruise. Has anyone ever done one of those?

We've never been on a cruise and a bit averse to going on a big boat. Does anyone know of a cruise company with small boats that are not going to put me in debt forever? maximum we can spend per cabin is about 5000 US for an 8 day trip.

Or can you recommend a 14 day itin for us to do by ourselves? We wanna visit a few islands and stay in nice resorts (the occasional waterbungalow included). How much should we budget? Thanks in advance!

I'd read up on CruiseCritic about the TP. Also the Tahiti Explorer forum for both cruise and general info. The Tahiti Tourisme Web site I believe has a couple of links for companies that do sailing trips in FP. Checking travel agent sites (you can get links from Tahiti Tourisme) will give you ideas of itinaries and costs.

Hi Virupaksa

We just finished planning a 14 day trip to Tahiti as well, for Sept 07.
We're doing 2 nts Maupiti, 3 nts Bora, 3 nts Huahine, 3 nts Moorea, and 1 nt Tahiti. We're staying mainly in family pensions all the way through, except for the last night in Tahiti, which in Intercontinental deep overwater bungalow. In Huahine, we're staying in Fare Maeva on the northwestern coast, Chez Nono in Bora's Matira area, Pension Motu Iti in Moorea (next to Sheraton), and Pension Maurau in Maupiti. It's expensive, but no where as costly if we were to stay in resorts all the 14 days.

We flew to Papeete early morning, on the airport we ordered Tahiti Air airpass for 4 islands visit, 400 US /person Tryed 3 days on Rayatea Island, Sunset bungalows with trip to nearby island on small boat (70 US/p), then flew to Bora Bora but just for 2 days, because to busy and expensive, then visited Maupiti ask for room by Simone, amazing and quite cheap, than Huahine Island, pension PENSION MAUARII, say helo to Vetea, emazing food and choise in accomodation, and last stop on Moorea if you will have time, Hibiskus motel is not bad. I was camping in nearby Nelson Camping and they have cheap smal cottages 50US per night. Omit visit to Papeete, to busy, waste of time.

Actually, PPT is worth a days visit just to go around the Island.

I recently did the Tahitian Princess cruise. I too was a little averse about a cruise (my first) but it's one of the cheapest ways to visit various islands in FP. Keep in mind that the TP is no where near as big as other cruise ships (maximum 700 passengers versus 3 or 4k) but still- it's a cruise ship, and instead of hanging out with locals, you'll be spending most of your time with people from Australia and Texas. Not that there's anything wrong with that ; ).

The Paul Gauguin cruise is smaller than the Princess but a bit more pricey (although you might be able to find a cabin in your price range). Keep in mind also that as of spring 2008, Princess will no longer be cruising in FP (not sure when you plan on going).

When I return to FP, I won't cruise, simply because I want to spend more time on the actual islands than on the ship. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time on the cruise, but had an even better time on our land vacation in Moorea. I highly recommend Moorea and Bora Bora. Tahiti is nice, but personally I wouldn't stay there more than a day or two. If you want to stay in high end resorts, you'll have to budget at least 300/night for a room (much much more if you want an overwater bungalow), plus food (can be very pricey but if you don't mind eating baguettes and fruit doesn't have to be), plus flights, rental cars, tours, etc. Overall, it'll cost you more than a cruise but I guess it depends on what kind of honeymoon you want.

On most of the islands there are accomodations a lot cheaper than the big hotels. For a honeymoon though its a bit more difficult to recommend that you do the small pensiones. Still, the fact is that #6 is right on the button when it comes to the fact that on a cruise ship you can't avoid being entirely outside the locals, nearly all the time. And in FP the people are the gems. I say that in spite of the fact that it is also the prettiest place I've ever seen!

Ed

Hi

Im also due to go on honeymoon to FP in Sep07. We have booked 5 nts in Bora Bora Pearl beach resort ( Its totally breaking the bank account) and need to book a night in Papeete and flights from PPT- BOB rtn.

Any ideas of the best way to do this and keep the cost down??

Hi

Im also due to go on honeymoon to FP in Sep07. We have booked 5 nts in Bora Bora Pearl beach resort ( Its totally breaking the bank account) and need to book a night in Papeete and flights from PPT- BOB rtn.

Any ideas of the best way to do this and keep the cost down??

We've written a lot on this problem. Have you read through what we've posted here? It'd probably asnwer your Qs. But if not repost and we'll try to help.

Ed

Almost everyone has to spend at night in Papeete at one end of their trip or the other---or both.
On the budget side, try the Hotel Mandarin, nothing fancy, but centrally located. If you have a day to spend, maybe rent a car and head around the island, the Gauguin Museum is a good halfway stop for lunch and a tour. Dinner at the "roulettes" on the harbor is a good choice, or try Cite D'Or Chinese restaurant---or any other Chinese restaurant in Papeete---for a good budget choice.