Here is my REVIEW OF THE TAHITIAN PRINCESS- My HONEYMOON REVIEW!!!!!!!! (PART 1 - TAHITI, PART 2 TO FOLLOW- BEVERLY HILLS,CA.)
I am so sorry it has taken me more then a day or two to write, between the time difference and then coming home after being away for 18 days there was a lot to do. I was also in California for 5 days prior to the cruise, I will give that review after the cruise review. To sum it all up first a word of advice- go on a cruise instead of just staying in an over water bungalow. All meals are included and there is a lot to do on a cruise- there is night life if u want it, or if u choose there are other things to do.
July 16th, 2004....... We got to LAx airport at 10 AM for our 1 PM flight- we had to wait on alot of lines for security- NY has it more down pat, with the security check points. We had to give in our luggage and then wait for it to come back and then go on another line to check into the plane, then we were off to security check points. LEAVE A LOT OF TIME FOR THE AIRPORT. I felt completely safe when boarding the plane. The flight was 8 hours long, it seemed like it was going to take forever to get there, and they spoke French on the plane then English. I felt like a foreigner must feel like when they do not understand the language. The fligjht was smooth, just a little turbulance. We got 2 meals- dinner and a snack. Later when we arrived we had to fill out customs forms on the plane and present them to the officials at the tahiti airport. We got that done got our luggage an d meet the people that were going to bring us to the boat. It was a 20 minute drive to the pier. We got on the boat about 45 minutes later. We went to our room, and then quickly upstairs to eat at the panarama buffet. The life boat drill was not till the next afternoon. We were tired and hungry. There was a show that nite but we were too tired to even go to it. We ended up saying we were going to take a 'nap' and it was 4 hours later when we woke up. WE then got our luggage at 1 AM , but we did not care we ended up sleeping in our clothes we were so tired. The next day was our shore excursion - Highlights of tahiti. WORD OF ADVICE- Make all reservations ASAP as soon as u get on the boat for speciality restaurants. We had 2 nights at The Steak house and did 2 nights at Sabatini's, the rest was in the main dining room. There was a cover charge in the restaurants but it was well worth it. They were very accomadating in the restaurants, one night when we were in the staekhouse they were having lobster tails in the main dining room , we asked if we could get lobster tails with our steaks and they got it for us. The highlights tour was fun the bus was air condioned but the air was hot sticky and humid. We saw the house of the author who wrote Mutiny on the Bounty, we saw a lot of stray dogs , I felt so bad. We saw a lot of local highlights - it was breath taking- the ocean , etc. The next day we set sail for Huahine- the land of the flies!!! Literally, do not eat in the buffet area that day- I wish someone had told us this, there are alot of flies on that island and they got on the upper deck by the buffet area, there were fly zappers but I was grossed out. We ended up eating in the main dining room the rest of the day becuase of this. In this island we went on a glass bottom boat ride- it was FABULOUS!!!!!! We saw a lot of coral, and tropical fish etc. It was a great tour. We were then out at sea, the water was very choppy, we used sea bands and bonine, and the patch and it did no t work, the only thing to work was ginger pills which they sell on board or u can get them at the drugstore. We did our laundry that day early. There is a laundry room on the 4th floor. Get there early. We went to Tahaa which is part of Raitea. This was my favorite island. We took a 30 min. boat ride to tahaa and saw a vanilla plantation were it smelled like vanilla, and it smelled so good!!!! We were shown how vanilla is planted and harvested etc. then bought some vanilla pods which were dried to bring home to my sister and aunt. I am going to try to make a cheesecake soon and use some of the vanilla bean in it. After this we went to a pearl farm - it was amazing! My husband got me a black pearl. It is alot less $$ to buy it loose then to get it set in something - it was hundreds to get it in something then to get it loose and bring it home to your jewler. Here they showed you how a black pearl is made etc. The ride back to the boat was breath taking and I took it all in, the water was 7 shades of blue! I told my husband that we better remember this moment when we are shoveling snow this winter. LOL We went on a sunset champagne sail in Bora Bora, it was nice but it was not as romantic as we thought it was going to be. The people who were in charge of the boat were interested in picking up some girls on the tour and we did not have light on when we got off the boat or when we were sailing. WE are mad about this becuase the other catamaran had more entertainment and there were lights on at all times. WE complained to the shore excursions manager we are still waiting to hear what the outcome is, we even contacted Princess to let them know what had happened. The sunset was beautiful we just wished the lights were on. In Moorea we went on a sting ray encounter this was so great!!! We got picked up by boat to go to the Motu ( Beach) and while we were in the boat there was a school of dolphins it was AMAZING, the sting rays were fun too. But my Dh told me it is not like sting raY city in the cayman Islands. here there were about 5 sting rays he told me in the Caymans there are about 30. 'Bob' the sting ray loved me , he kept coming over to me. I was a bit freaked when he looked like he was breast feeding off of me. My Dh got a pic of it. Get a water camera for this excursion, it is well worth it. We also had a picnic on the beach, it was yummy. We went to a cultural village tour in Roratonga- it was like Old Bethpage Village meets the South Pacific. It was so much fun . we also had a polynesian dance show there and they gave us local fruits . I swear I never had such yummy fruit in my life. I forgot to mention we went to Bloody Marys in Bora Bora and also a highlights tour of Bora Bora too. We saw Marlon Brando's house . The boat was great, Our room was a mini suite on the 8th floor. It was well worth the $$$. We were winners on the Newlywed game on the ship we got 6 out of 6 questions right. I am sure Janet the cruise dorector will tell u there was a couple from NY who got all 6 questions right- she said no one ever got all the questions right but us. LOL We had on matching t ee shorts so she called us salt and pepper shakers. LOL There was one night on the ship that there was island night. They had a champagne water fall, where they set up a tower of glasses and everyone one by one poured champagne in it till they were all filled. We bought the picture of me pouring it in as well as the pic of my DH pouring it in also. There was a polynesian show that night too, it was great. One word of advice the 2nd seating for dinner is 8:15 pm, I had wished we had taken the earlier dinner seating at the main dining room- we were so tired. There is lots to do on the ship. The internet was 50 cents a minute and sometimes the satellite was out. There is a room where there is table games. My DH and I love scrabble so we played thAT a few times. The last day was hard. We had to be out of our rooms by 11 AM. But we were not being taken to the airport till 7 that night. So we ATe breakfast and then went to the library and I went to sleep on the couch. There were new people getting on board- so it was hard. We felt invaded. We ended up going to the cabaret lounge, and watched CNN and then they showed a movie. We had lunch and then a quick bite to eat before we left the ship. There is also a pizzeria on board. I am glad we ate before we left the food on the flight back was gross. The flight back to LA was an overnight flight. I slept, but felt very smushed we were in economy class and when it is a night flight u feel smushed , I had wished we went business class on the way back for more leg room. We stayed overnite at The Comfort Inn to just get sleep. It was perfect for what we needed it for. The first 5 days of our honeymoon we stayed at The Crowne Plaza, Beverly hills, it was great. My hands are killing me I will write more about Beverly Hills tomorrow. PS take hand sanitizer with you for the shore excurions the bathrooms ar enot like in The USA and sometimes do not have running water. EDITED TO ADD- GET water shoes there is coral in the water. We got it for 5.00 at Kmart, on the boat it was a lot more $$$$
July 16th, 2004....... We got to LAx airport at 10 AM for our 1 PM flight- we had to wait on alot of lines for security- NY has it more down pat, with the security check points. We had to give in our luggage and then wait for it to come back and then go on another line to check into the plane, then we were off to security check points. LEAVE A LOT OF TIME FOR THE AIRPORT. I felt completely safe when boarding the plane. The flight was 8 hours long, it seemed like it was going to take forever to get there, and they spoke French on the plane then English. I felt like a foreigner must feel like when they do not understand the language. The fligjht was smooth, just a little turbulance. We got 2 meals- dinner and a snack. Later when we arrived we had to fill out customs forms on the plane and present them to the officials at the tahiti airport. We got that done got our luggage an d meet the people that were going to bring us to the boat. It was a 20 minute drive to the pier. We got on the boat about 45 minutes later. We went to our room, and then quickly upstairs to eat at the panarama buffet. The life boat drill was not till the next afternoon. We were tired and hungry. There was a show that nite but we were too tired to even go to it. We ended up saying we were going to take a 'nap' and it was 4 hours later when we woke up. WE then got our luggage at 1 AM , but we did not care we ended up sleeping in our clothes we were so tired. The next day was our shore excursion - Highlights of tahiti. WORD OF ADVICE- Make all reservations ASAP as soon as u get on the boat for speciality restaurants. We had 2 nights at The Steak house and did 2 nights at Sabatini's, the rest was in the main dining room. There was a cover charge in the restaurants but it was well worth it. They were very accomadating in the restaurants, one night when we were in the staekhouse they were having lobster tails in the main dining room , we asked if we could get lobster tails with our steaks and they got it for us. The highlights tour was fun the bus was air condioned but the air was hot sticky and humid. We saw the house of the author who wrote Mutiny on the Bounty, we saw a lot of stray dogs , I felt so bad. We saw a lot of local highlights - it was breath taking- the ocean , etc. The next day we set sail for Huahine- the land of the flies!!! Literally, do not eat in the buffet area that day- I wish someone had told us this, there are alot of flies on that island and they got on the upper deck by the buffet area, there were fly zappers but I was grossed out. We ended up eating in the main dining room the rest of the day becuase of this. In this island we went on a glass bottom boat ride- it was FABULOUS!!!!!! We saw a lot of coral, and tropical fish etc. It was a great tour. We were then out at sea, the water was very choppy, we used sea bands and bonine, and the patch and it did no t work, the only thing to work was ginger pills which they sell on board or u can get them at the drugstore. We did our laundry that day early. There is a laundry room on the 4th floor. Get there early. We went to Tahaa which is part of Raitea. This was my favorite island. We took a 30 min. boat ride to tahaa and saw a vanilla plantation were it smelled like vanilla, and it smelled so good!!!! We were shown how vanilla is planted and harvested etc. then bought some vanilla pods which were dried to bring home to my sister and aunt. I am going to try to make a cheesecake soon and use some of the vanilla bean in it. After this we went to a pearl farm - it was amazing! My husband got me a black pearl. It is alot less $$ to buy it loose then to get it set in something - it was hundreds to get it in something then to get it loose and bring it home to your jewler. Here they showed you how a black pearl is made etc. The ride back to the boat was breath taking and I took it all in, the water was 7 shades of blue! I told my husband that we better remember this moment when we are shoveling snow this winter. LOL We went on a sunset champagne sail in Bora Bora, it was nice but it was not as romantic as we thought it was going to be. The people who were in charge of the boat were interested in picking up some girls on the tour and we did not have light on when we got off the boat or when we were sailing. WE are mad about this becuase the other catamaran had more entertainment and there were lights on at all times. WE complained to the shore excursions manager we are still waiting to hear what the outcome is, we even contacted Princess to let them know what had happened. The sunset was beautiful we just wished the lights were on. In Moorea we went on a sting ray encounter this was so great!!! We got picked up by boat to go to the Motu ( Beach) and while we were in the boat there was a school of dolphins it was AMAZING, the sting rays were fun too. But my Dh told me it is not like sting raY city in the cayman Islands. here there were about 5 sting rays he told me in the Caymans there are about 30. 'Bob' the sting ray loved me , he kept coming over to me. I was a bit freaked when he looked like he was breast feeding off of me. My Dh got a pic of it. Get a water camera for this excursion, it is well worth it. We also had a picnic on the beach, it was yummy. We went to a cultural village tour in Roratonga- it was like Old Bethpage Village meets the South Pacific. It was so much fun . we also had a polynesian dance show there and they gave us local fruits . I swear I never had such yummy fruit in my life. I forgot to mention we went to Bloody Marys in Bora Bora and also a highlights tour of Bora Bora too. We saw Marlon Brando's house . The boat was great, Our room was a mini suite on the 8th floor. It was well worth the $$$. We were winners on the Newlywed game on the ship we got 6 out of 6 questions right. I am sure Janet the cruise dorector will tell u there was a couple from NY who got all 6 questions right- she said no one ever got all the questions right but us. LOL We had on matching t ee shorts so she called us salt and pepper shakers. LOL There was one night on the ship that there was island night. They had a champagne water fall, where they set up a tower of glasses and everyone one by one poured champagne in it till they were all filled. We bought the picture of me pouring it in as well as the pic of my DH pouring it in also. There was a polynesian show that night too, it was great. One word of advice the 2nd seating for dinner is 8:15 pm, I had wished we had taken the earlier dinner seating at the main dining room- we were so tired. There is lots to do on the ship. The internet was 50 cents a minute and sometimes the satellite was out. There is a room where there is table games. My DH and I love scrabble so we played thAT a few times. The last day was hard. We had to be out of our rooms by 11 AM. But we were not being taken to the airport till 7 that night. So we ATe breakfast and then went to the library and I went to sleep on the couch. There were new people getting on board- so it was hard. We felt invaded. We ended up going to the cabaret lounge, and watched CNN and then they showed a movie. We had lunch and then a quick bite to eat before we left the ship. There is also a pizzeria on board. I am glad we ate before we left the food on the flight back was gross. The flight back to LA was an overnight flight. I slept, but felt very smushed we were in economy class and when it is a night flight u feel smushed , I had wished we went business class on the way back for more leg room. We stayed overnite at The Comfort Inn to just get sleep. It was perfect for what we needed it for. The first 5 days of our honeymoon we stayed at The Crowne Plaza, Beverly hills, it was great. My hands are killing me I will write more about Beverly Hills tomorrow. PS take hand sanitizer with you for the shore excurions the bathrooms ar enot like in The USA and sometimes do not have running water. EDITED TO ADD- GET water shoes there is coral in the water. We got it for 5.00 at Kmart, on the boat it was a lot more $$$$
