Flight: Air France from LA to Papeete was fine. We left LA just after midnight, so we tried to sleep the best we could. We were served a meal just after take off and again just before landing. We had individual monitors on the back of each seat going to Papeete, but returning to LA, the screens were overhead.
Pre-cruise stay in Papeete: We stayed at the InterContinental Beachcomber (ICB). It was a great place to stay. We had a 3rd floor panoramic room with a view of the lotus pool and Moorea. The food at the hotel was very expensive - or so we heard. We went to the large shopping market (15 minute walk, right out of the ICB) and bought croissants, bread, cheese, water, juice and a few other snacks to get us by. For dinner that first night, we had made reservations at Le Belvedere through ICB. Transportation from ICB was included in the cost of the meal and was via a Le Truck . It was a wonderful choice. For two people, we paid $123 US. That included transportation, salad, beef fondue (a large portion), good French fries, a large carafe of wine, and ice cream for dessert. We had great company (also joined by our CC friends) and a great view of the city below! It was well worth it! On 2/20, we took the ferry to Moorea, where we rented a car for the day. With it being Sunday, the juice factory was closed. We walked around the Moorea Beachcomber (we thought the Tahiti resort was a bit nicer) and drove up to the Belvedere lookout - what a beautiful view! In Painapo, we went to The Other Place and had their Tahitian feast. It was off the side of the road, and they put on a great Sunday brunch show! We also snorkeled right there off the beach. The Roulettes were a perfect choice for dinner that night, and very affordable. We met our CC friends in the Tiki Bar at ICB later that night - a great group of people!!!
Embarkation (2/21): Checking into the Tahitian Princess was a breeze. We were able to grab a bite to eat at the grill before heading to the market to buy our fresh flowers for our room - $15 US for a nice arrangement! They also have handmade jewelry and trinkets to buy upstairs in the market and a lot of the places took Visa. We often made our own cocktails in our room and brought those up on deck to relax by the pool or watch the sun go down. We had a great room steward name Rodolfo (Rod) - he was always in the hallway waiting to greet us with a smile! Moorea (2/22): Room service had the best hot chocolate in the morning - which we often ordered on days we needed to tender early. We would order pastries or bagels and muffins. You could also write in bacon or eggs, and they will bring that. In Moorea, we did the two tank dive. It was arranged by the ship with Bathy's Club Moorea. We were not overly impressed with the dive outfit. In between dives, we had to swap out our own gear - no snacks or water offered to us. At the end of the dives, we had to clean out and return their gear. This is probably a petty complaint, but there was no customer service at all. The dive itself was great! Black tip sharks greeted the boat as we anchored. We saw rose coral, a huge lemon shark, and 3 turtles. There was a beautiful rainbow as we left Moorea! There are a few small tents set up right off the tender. You can find simple jewelry trinkets to buy. They take US dollars.