Ever since enjoying "South Pacific" and "Mutiny on the Bounty", a trip to the south Pacific has been one of my strongest driving desires. Going on a cruise seemed to be the best approach since French Polynesia is as wildly expensive as almost everyone warns. That said, a ten day cruise on Princess line's Ocean Princess seemed to be the near perfect solution for us during January, 2012.

To me and many of the cruise mates, the OP may be the perfect size ship. At about 650 guests, it provided everything a larger ship does without the feeling that you are just a number in a large crowd. (Parenthetically, it should be noted that the large ships of Royal Caribbean seem to handle the large numbers very, very well and ship size would not stop me from sailing on a mega ship if I liked the itinerary).

Flying from the east coast to Papeete, Tahiti where the ship was docked was a bit of a challenge just because of the long hours in the air but Air Tahiti Nui does its best to make that leg enjoyable. The layout of the plane with two four two seating means that every traveling couple has an aisle seat that allows some plane movement during the 8.5 hour trip. Some people came a day or two early and that probably was the best approach as jet lag on a 14.5 hour trip can be threatening. This brings up the first problem for east coasters to tackle. A south pacific cruise will involve money and time that a Caribbean, Mexican or even European cruise will not. It is over 6500 miles from NJ to Tahiti and the air fare is consequently expensive. Staying a day or two in advance in Tahiti or Moorea (probably a better choice) adds a substantial expense so save up your money and be prepared to spend it to make the trip the most enjoyable. We choose to do all our flying in one day. The good side is that we went from the cold of winter to Tahiti in 20 hours. The worst part for us was LAX. There is a ton of construction and the whole layout just doesn't seem convenient. You can't check your luggage right though to Tahiti (or home on the way back) and we had to retrieve our luggage, leave the domestic terminal and walk about 10-12 minutes to the international terminal, re-check bags and go through security again. A decent restaurant was difficult to find in the terminal. The airline employees seem to understand the challenges and everyone we met from Continental and Air Tahiti was very kind and professional. Just for the record, I am beginning to appreciate Terminal C in Newark Liberty more and more! Read more