Finally, a long awaited cruise of French Polynesia. Four of us, my wife and I, and brother-in-law and wife traveled to Papeete for our dream vacation. We live in Western Arizona, so drove to Los Angeles and spent the night there before boarding Air Tahiti Nui the next day. The flight was long, but the excitement of anticipation of the destination made it tolerable. The flight was less than 2/3 full so we were all able to find other seating and stretch out a bit. Arrival at the airport and customs were a breeze and a 3,000 XPF cab ride later we arrived at our destination hotel Le Mandarin. Le Mandarin is nothing to write home about, but comfortable and, for Tahitian standards, economical.

The next day, we spent the morning with Patrick of Patrick Adventures for a tour of the interior of the island. Again, nothing spectacular as we are water people, but interesting and informative. That afternoon we boarded the ship with the easiest and most hassle free embarkation of our 14 cruises. We had a balcony cabin, 7084 which was very comfortable and served our purposes well. Our cabin steward, James, I think, was less than spectacular, but more on that later. Our TA had booked adjacent cabins for our two couples and Princess, in their infinite wisdom, gave us consecutive numbers, across the ship from each other. When our TA completely dropped the ball and refused to do anything about it, we have crossed them off our list. An e-mail to me will reveal their name.

First stop was Moorea where we did a Princess booked "Circle Island Tour" with Albert Tours. This is when the "light went on" regarding the difference between DIY and ship purchased excursions. Albert tours charges 3,000 XPF ($33.50 USD) booked directly while Princess charges $48.00 USD. Lesson learned. The tour, itself, was great and William, our driver, and Albert's son, was funny and informative. Read more