This was our first cruise EVER. We wanted something special to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and boy did we get something special. We stayed at the Intercontinental in Papeete for 3 nights prior and one after the cruise. Coming from Australia, this best suited our plans - but more on that later. We had a Cat 'A' cabin on deck # 2 (238) and that part of the ship (forward) is the way to go - least noise when gang planks and tenders are lowered and least rolling of the boat when there was any. The cabins are spacious and superbly laid out. Heaps of space for all your things, luxury toiletries and all modern and clean. The food was superb in quality and there were always loads of choices. Breakfast is on Deck # 4 and is basically like any 5-star hotel buffet including a made-to-order egg & omelet bar. Seating is inside or outside on the deck. You are not allocated a time - just come between 6am and 10am and there was always plenty of seating. Lunch is between 12 and 2 pm at the same venue. Dress is quite casual for breakfast and dinner (shorts/T-Shirts/Polos) but elegant casual for dinner which basically means what you want it to mean but excludes jeans and sandals/thongs and requires a collared shirt (Polo is fine). Dinner is again 5-star and you turn up at Amphora restaurant and are seated by the manager. You can choose to mingle or dine on your own. There's a drinks package you can buy but we think that unless alcohol is a big part of your life, it's better to just pay-as-you-go. For a cruise of this standard, drinks are very reasonably priced (all in USD) eg. $7 for a beer of maybe $8 for a wine by the glass. We did lots of excursions via the ship but we found that there were always options where you were offered similar excursions when you went ashore. To be honest we couldn't really fault it. We had a great time and so will you. Just for information, it's probably about 60% US guests, 30% Aust/NZ and then a few from here and there. Now for some tips.

Papeete. My view is that it's a cross between a quiet island town and a bustling city but it's really neither. The markets are kind of a non-event. In summary, interesting but not essential.

Hotels (Pre/Post).. The general consensus is that the Intercontinental is better than Le Meridian. These are really the only two high end choices. I say this because many of our fellow cruisers stayed pre cruise in Le Meridian but changed to the Intercontinental for the post cruise accommodation. Tip - ask about a day-room to use for after the cruise. It's a nice place to hang out waiting for that late night flight home. Read more