Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by knm1204

I am finally leaving for Tahiti on Wednesday!!! I can't wait.

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Have a GREAT time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by knm1204

Any last minute advice from past Tahiti brides? Did anyone bring a collapsible cooler? If you did where did you buy it? Thanks.

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Yes we did bring one and you just made me realize I should have mentioned that in my review. Definitely glad we had it. In Moorea we went to a food store and picked up bottled water and other drinks to have on hand. It was great to just fill up the cooler with ice and keep our drinks in there. We actually didn't use it anywhere else but only b/c we never made it out to the stores to buy drinks. Def. good to have though and takes up no extra room in the suitcase!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

has anyone booked their own flights? i hear if it's a moorea/bora bora trip, it'll be 4 flights.
tahiti to moorea
moorea to tahiti
tahiti to bora bora
bora bora to tahiti

is that right?

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by Bride_2_B_in_08

has anyone booked their own flights? i hear if it's a moorea/bora bora trip, it'll be 4 flights.
tahiti to moorea
moorea to tahiti
tahiti to bora bora
bora bora to tahiti

is that right?

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For interisland flights this is what you can do:

Tahiti to Moorea (flight or ferry... we chose the ferry ride)
Moorea to Bora Bora (flight)
Bora Bora back to Tahiti (flight)

We had 4 flights total, NY-Tahiti, Moorea-BoraBora, BoraBora-Tahiti, Tahiti-NY

HTH!

ETA: we didn't book our own... we went with a TA b/c we wanted to make sure all the flights and transfers were taken care of.

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

ahhh..didn't realize you could go straight from moorea to bora bora.. did you like the ferry ride or would you have chosen a flight instead in retrospect?

help on hotels!! which do you recommend ?

moorea:
sheraton
sofitel
moorea pearl (i'm told the pearl is cheaper than sheraton..)

bora bora:
bora bora nui
ic thalasso

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

Hi Bride to Be 2008...

I definitely recommend using a travel agent for this trip. There's so many little pieces to it and they take care of every last detail for you...even rides from your hotel to the airports to catch the inter island flights.

You can definitely go from Moorea to Bora Bora...going back to Tahiti would be so much longer and a waste of time...not sure who told you to do it that way but if it was a travel agent - FIND A NEW ONE b/c they obv. don't know what they're talking about if that's what they suggested.

The ferry to Moorea from Tahiti was great and such a quick ride. It's cheaper than a flight and with a flight you have to get to the airpor early to check in and stuff. With the ferry you can literally show up 10 minutes before b/c you already have a ticket (that a travel agent will set up for you).

A lot of people do take a flight though from Tahiti to Moorea - it's just a quick 10 minute ride but the ferry was honestly only 30 - 40 minutes and it's a nice ride.

You will need to do a flight from Moorea to Bora Bora and then a flight from Bora Bora straight back to Tahiti to go home.

How many days are you looking to do total?
I would suggest only 1 night on Tahiti...then a few on Moorea and the rest on Bora Bora. If it were me I'd spend the most time on Bora Bora.

I stayed at Moorea Pearl and it was the cheapest and is VERY nice...although the water there to swim in was not that pretty clear blue like in Bora Bora but I've been told by others that you get that very clear blue water over at Sheraton and IC Moorea Hotels. But we loved the Pearl.

For Bora Bora we LOVED the Thalasso...can't say enough good things about it. Nui is supposed to be very nice too though and if you are very into snorkeling right at your hotel - you'll get better snorkeling at Nui. Thalasso doesn't have much but you can go snorkel at their sister resort Le Moana on the main island - Thalasso provides a free boat ride over there all day.
HTH!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by Bride_2_B_in_08

ahhh..didn't realize you could go straight from moorea to bora bora.. did you like the ferry ride or would you have chosen a flight instead in retrospect?

help on hotels!! which do you recommend ?

moorea:
sheraton
sofitel
moorea pearl (i'm told the pearl is cheaper than sheraton..)

bora bora:
bora bora nui
ic thalasso

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I completely agree you should use a travel agent to plan your trip to Tahiti! There are so many details with flights and transfers! Especially in Bora Bora because you land on a little islet and then have to take a boat to get to any resort. We started out trying to do what you are doing and I thought I was going to go crazy! We ended up using a tahiti specialist who is certified with the tahiti tourism board. She didn't charge us a fee either. It has been so wonderful working with someone who can take care of everything and who has been there! After all was said and done (I think I am driving her crazy with all my questions) we feel very confident with our choices. This is our trip of a lifetime so we want it to be done right!
best, evon

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

I'd appreciate if someone can FM what a HM on Tahiti can cost... TIA!!!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by FuTuRe MrS MaZz

I'd appreciate if someone can FM what a HM on Tahiti can cost... TIA!!!

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you've got FM
best, evon

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

I made my final payment today for my HM! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

Is anyone doing the dolphin encounter in Moorea? FH and I did it in the Bahamas but it was such a great experience we are thinking about doing it again. Has anyone heard anything about it?

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

Hey, all! I just came back three days ago from my honeymoon in Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea. I haven't had a chance to write a full review yet, but wanted to alert you that the Sofitel in Moorea (where we stayed) and the Sofitel in Tahiti (we didn't stay there) each have a high percentage of their workers on strike.

French Polynesian police used (force, sic) against striking hotel workers. Scroll down.

Warning: although the article blurb itself is short and to the point, the source Web site probably isn't very objective. Although I found other Web articles about this, I used the link above because it was brief and was dated (6/2), while some others weren't.

Unlike most couples, we visited Moorea last, after Tahiti and Bora Bora, so we missed the bulk of the protests. There were signs and banners in French and English outside of the entrance declaring the workers' allegations--low pay, racial discrimination in hiring--and protesters quietly manning the banners during the day. We were not harrassed or engaged by the protesters.

The owner of one of the stores we visited corroborated the article. Protesters were actually blocking hotel guests' from entering the property. They would have to park far away and walk to the hotel. That's when the police came in. This store owner has no affiliation that I know of with the hotel.

As far as hotel operations, we did not think it materially impacted service for us. We noticed that the same skeleton crew of staffers were running the hotel. The non-managerial staff did not seemed to be as well-versed in English as the hotels in Tahiti and Bora Bora, although that may be the case even without the strike. (We made do with my crappy tenth-grade French.) One of the two restaurants was closed the entire time, possibly because there weren't enough people to run it.

Other ways the thin staff was apparent was that a woman who had as much arm strength as I do (read: not much) had to help us with our luggage, instead of a bellman, and she also ran the front desk. Another guy ran the dinner shift one night and the breakfast shift the following day. Many employees wore street clothes, not uniforms.

That said, our rooms were freshened every day as scheduled. When we had a problem with the AC unit in our bungalow, a repair man was there within five minutes. When we ate at the hotel restaurant, the service (aside from the language issue) was good. However, we didn't do much else at the hotel, like book excursions.

I hope this was helpful. Does anyone else have experiences they'd like to share?

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

WE just booked too!!!!

1 Night Intercontinental Tahiti - Garden Room

4 Nights Sheraton Moorea - Superior Garden Bungalow

4 Nights- Bora Bora Nui Resort - Overwater Villa

My amazing....wonderful...and romantic FH also reserved a table at La Villa Mahana in Bora Bora for dinner. It only has 6 tables!

I can't friggin wait!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by Bride_2_B_in_08

ahhh..didn't realize you could go straight from moorea to bora bora.. did you like the ferry ride or would you have chosen a flight instead in retrospect?

help on hotels!! which do you recommend ?

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Since I hate flying, one less flight is always a plus for me!! We enjoyed the ferry, it was only 30 mins or so.

I can only recommend the Pearl Resorts on moorea and bora bora since those are the ones we stayed at. HIGHLY recommend these resorts!! But from the reviews i've seen you really can't go wrong with either the Thalasso or the Nui on bora bora. Both look amazing. Let us know when you book.

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

I thought this was funny and just thought I'd share. FH and I picked up our honeymoon tickets and we received a book of vouchers for all hotels and transfers. Well, at The Pearl on Moorea it says you need a copy of your marriage license &/or certificate in order to receive the free honeymoon amenities, which by the way is a bottle of champagne. We were both like, WHAT!?! after all the $ we are paying to stay here you gotta be kidding to require proof of marriage for a friggin bottle of champagne Needless to say I copied the marriage license and put it with my tickets.

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by dawnbridetobe

I thought this was funny and just thought I'd share. FH and I picked up our honeymoon tickets and we received a book of vouchers for all hotels and transfers. Well, at The Pearl on Moorea it says you need a copy of your marriage license &/or certificate in order to receive the free honeymoon amenities, which by the way is a bottle of champagne. We were both like, WHAT!?! after all the $ we are paying to stay here you gotta be kidding to require proof of marriage for a friggin bottle of champagne Needless to say I copied the marriage license and put it with my tickets.

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Don't worry - they're not gonna ask for it.

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

i dont think they are going to ask for it either. they didnt ask us.

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

My TA says they can ask for your marriage certificate but hardly ever do. She said the reason is because discounts for honeymoon rates that include champagne are only for real honeymooners. makes sense to me :) I will copy ours for the suitcase too.

best, evon

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

Quick question about Villa Mahana and when to go...

Bora Bora is our last stop in our Honeymoon and we'll be there for 4 nights. The 2nd night we're going to Bloody Mary's. Do you think we should make reservations for Villa Mahana for our 3rd night or 4th (final) night?

*We're checking out late on the 5th day in Bora Bora and our flight back to Tahiti is in the late afternoon (about 6pm), if that makes any difference*

Thanks!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by MrsQ-in2007

Quick question about Villa Mahana and when to go...

Bora Bora is our last stop in our Honeymoon and we'll be there for 4 nights. The 2nd night we're going to Bloody Mary's. Do you think we should make reservations for Villa Mahana for our 3rd night or 4th (final) night?

*We're checking out late on the 5th day in Bora Bora and our flight back to Tahiti is in the late afternoon (about 6pm), if that makes any difference*

Thanks!

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What hotel are you staying at in Bora Bora?
We were at the Thalasso so being we had to take a boat and then catch a car ride to Villa Mahana we didn't want to do that on our final night. We just wanted to stay at our hotel for dinner since it was our last night...pack and just hang on the deck of our bungalow one final time!
But it also could be really nice to have Villa Mahana be your final dinner of the honeymoon...so it's really up to you. We just wanted to spend our last night at our hotel. I would say either is really fine...you'll love it! Such a great atmosphere and amazing food!

Re: French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) Honeymoons!!!!!!

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Posted by KandE917

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Posted by MrsQ-in2007

Quick question about Villa Mahana and when to go...

Bora Bora is our last stop in our Honeymoon and we'll be there for 4 nights. The 2nd night we're going to Bloody Mary's. Do you think we should make reservations for Villa Mahana for our 3rd night or 4th (final) night?

*We're checking out late on the 5th day in Bora Bora and our flight back to Tahiti is in the late afternoon (about 6pm), if that makes any difference*

Thanks!

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What hotel are you staying at in Bora Bora?
We were at the Thalasso so being we had to take a boat and then catch a car ride to Villa Mahana we didn't want to do that on our final night. We just wanted to stay at our hotel for dinner since it was our last night...pack and just hang on the deck of our bungalow one final time!
But it also could be really nice to have Villa Mahana be your final dinner of the honeymoon...so it's really up to you. We just wanted to spend our last night at our hotel. I would say either is really fine...you'll love it! Such a great atmosphere and amazing food!

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THANK YOU! We're staying at the Thalasso's sister resort - Le Moana, which I *think* is on the mainland? I forget. I thought about both the points that you made... lol, still can't decide.

I figured it would be awesome as a last dinner, but I also think we might want to just enjoy the evening in our OWV, last night and all. If we do it the 3rd night, we'd be going out for dinner two nights in a row (btw, we have the breakfast and dinner plan!!! So originally I didn't want the added expense of dinner at Villa Mahana, but I mean, we will probably NEVER go back to Tahiti unless we get REALLY lucky, so why not have dinner there, right?).

Hmm, any other opinions? I'd like to email them today or tomorrow for the reservations (obviously if they're booked one of the nights, we'll ask for the other).