TAHITI, BOARDING THE TAHITIAN PRINCESS – Day Three, Feb. 22, 2005

Our room - if you were in the bathroom, you could look through
the window in the middle of the room to see the outside!

Our balcony

The view from our balcony

Before packing up and checking out of the hotel, we took advantage of a few activities.  We checked out kayaks and paddled around the over water bungalows.  We also took a swim in the Lagoonarium. 

a ray in the Lagoonarium

Marketplace - shopping in Papeete, Tahiti

our $15 arrangement

Checking into the Tahitian Princess was a breeze. We were able to grab a bite to eat at the grill before heading back off the ship to the market (Marche Municipal) to buy our fresh flowers for our room - $15 US for a nice arrangement! They also had handmade jewelry and trinkets to buy upstairs in the market and a lot of the places took Visa rather than French Pacific Franc.

Our Cruise Director Frank - he was also our
CD on a later cruise to Alaska!

We met our steward Rodolfo (Rod), who would take care of us for the entire trip.  He always had a smile and was waiting to greet us!  The Tahitian Princess was a smaller cruise ship.  Passenger capacity was 680, and 373 crew.  It meant we got to know a lot of people!  

Smaller deck and pool

MOOREA, FRENCH POLYNESIA – Day Two , Feb. 20, 2005

On day two, we took the ferry to Moorea - meaning 'Yellow Lizard'.  Moorea is less one hour from Tahiti by Ferry.  Approximately 12,000 call Moorea home.  Many people commute by plane (10 minute trip) or ferry to work on Tahiti.  It offers spectacular bays and white sand beaches! 

Ferry to Moorea

Mt. Rotui

We rented a car for the day. With it being Sunday, the juice factory was closed. We walked around the Moorea Beachcomber, sister resort to where we were staying (we thought the Tahiti resort was a bit nicer) and drove up to the Belvedere Lookout – what a beautiful panoramic view!

Intercontinental in Moorea

Beer of Tahiti

 In Painapo, we went to The Other Place (http://www.painapo.com/painapo_restaurant.html) and had their Tahitian feast.  It was off the side of the road (easily spotted by the gigantic warrior statue on one knee), and they put on a great Sunday brunch show!  It is known well to the locals.  Be sure to stop by on Sunday and take advantage of the Ahima’a (underground) meal.  We had chicken, pork, fish, cabbage, veggies, breadfruit, fresh fruit, coconut milk, and many Hinanos!  We also snorkeled right there off the beach.

Cooking the entire meal Ahima'a (underground)

This 80 year old man did a coconut demonstration, then climbed the palm tree BAREFOOT

The Roulettes were a perfect choice for dinner that night, and very affordable.  A roulettes are food trucks and all the locals eat at them!  If you want to blend in with the locals and enjoy a great, inexpensive meal, try a roulette!  We had pizza, salad, and the best homemade crepes!  That evening, we met our Cruise Critic friends in the Tiki Bar at ICB – they were a great group of people!!!   It was or first experience using Cruise Critic.  Since then, we always join the forum/boards for our particular cruise.  We have met so many great people!  You can also get great tips, ask questions and research ports and things to do.  Visit http://www.cruisecritic.com/ , create a user name and password, then click on Boards!

French Polynesian Cruise – Tahitian Princess, Feb. 19 – March 3, 2005

TAHITI – Day One, Feb. 19, 2005

This is one of my very favorite tropical vacations!!!  I want to go back, and will go back someday!!!

Way back in February 2005, we took a two week vacation (no kids) with our neighbors and best travel friends, Wad and Trina Woodard.  We had booked our cruise through www.kimskruises.com and got a great deal on Princess.  We had to book our own airfare and hotel for our pre-cruise stay in Papeete, Tahiti.  At the time, we found a good deal on Expedia.  We were able to book our flight, and book our hotel as a package deal, saving us some money!

Our Cruise Critic friend took this great picture of our plane flying
into Papeete.  You can see Moorea in the background!

Our flight to Papeete, Tahiti started in Seattle, leaving on Feb. 18 at 5:30pm.  We flew to Los Angeles and boarded Air France for the almost 9 hour flight. We left LA just after midnight, so we tried to sleep the best we could, since we were arriving in Papeete in the morning!

Tahiti is an island in French Polynesia, middle of the South Pacific.  French Polynesia is composed of over 150 islands and islets.  Tahiti is the largest of the islands with over 402 sq. miles of surface area.  The highest peak reaches 7,353 feet into the clouds. 

The views around the Intercontinental Tahiti Resort!  Amazing!

We arrived in Papeete early in the morning and taxied over to the InterContinental Beachcomber (ICB).  Toni and Trina were in the pool by 10am!  We had a 3rd floor panoramic room with a view of the lotus pool and Moorea at the ICB. The food at the hotel was very expensive – or so we heard. In the afternoon, 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.

An aerial view of the ICB - see the lagoonarium and the water bungalow rooms!

The ICB was amazing top rated resort!  It looked right out over the South Pacific to Moorea.  It had a private beach, two pools (with swim up bars), two restaurants, spa, tennis courts, and a unique Lagoonarium.  The Lagoonarium houses sea life of all species, including parrot fish, sting rays and angel fish.  You can snorkel in the lagoon or view the sea life from the bridges that cross over. 

Le Belvedere

Le Truck

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, and I highly recommend it. For two people, we paid $123 US. That included transportation, salad, beef fondue (a large portion), really good French fries, a large carafe of wine, and ice cream for dessert. We had great company (also joined by our Cruise Critic friends) and a great view of the city below! It was well worth it! 

The amazing view from Le Belvedere