It was two years ago we attempted this trip, but a firefighter strike in Tahiti shut down the local airports for five days and we ended up in Palm Springs, California. Lightening didn’t strike twice – no strikes – no hiccups - and our dream of a blissful Polynesian paradise became reality on this amazing 12-night experience. Combining a week long cruise of the Society Islands on the Paul Gauguin ship, along with resort stays in Tahiti and Bora Bora made for a seamless, idyllic combination of exploration, relaxation, fun-filled activities and breathtaking scenery. What you remember about great vacations – and particularly when cruising - is very often the people you meet along the way, and how lucky we were to have enjoyed and shared in this experience with a fantastic group of like-minded and high-spirited new friends.
Coming from New York, we knew we had a long journey ahead of us – first with a flight to Los Angeles, followed by 8 hours of flying time to Papeete (the capital of Tahiti), and plenty of airport layover time factored in. It had been some time since flying American Airlines coast to coast, and although their business class cabin was a heck of a lot more comfortable than would be sitting in coach, I must say that I have noticed a downgrade in amenities – I mean where is the little kit filled with toiletries these days? The flight attendants were great and attentive but it just didn’t have the same allure that the transcontinental run in business class had just a few years ago. We were filled with excitement regardless and as I always look forward to flying carriers I have never experienced before, next up would be our journey on Air Tahiti Nui. We had economy class seats but snagged a bulk head row with plenty of legroom and had a thoroughly pleasant flight. The attendants were wonderful and changing attire from their turquoise blue uniforms to colorful Polynesian garb three times en-flight made quite the impression. I spent time chatting with a few of them in the galley and they could not be more friendly or welcoming, as they even provided their favorite local recommendations on the island.
Flight #7 arrived Papeete at 10:00pm and even after the long haul the energy of the travelers (many of them on their honeymoon) was on a high level as once entering the airport terminal we were all greeted with entertainment by local Tahitian dancers and musicians. We had pre-arranged private transportation and our driver Greg (who in fact would be the same driver who helped us out in later arrangements on the island), met us with traditional lei greeting and whisked us off to our hotel, Intercontinental Tahiti Resort. Located just 5 minutes from the airport, this is probably the most beautiful setting for an airport hotel you’ll ever see and the ideal place to start your trip if spending time on the island of Tahiti. Catching up on jet lag and a 6 hour time zone change, we spent two restful nights pre-cruise in a lovely panoramic view room with balcony overlooking a turquoise blue lagoon, overwater bungalows and swimming pool. Not bad for our first taste of the South Pacific!
While we were in the know that the island of Tahiti itself is not a must-see destination of the region, we were here for a day and opted to explore on a guided motor coach tour taking us to such sites as the Ara-Ahoaho Blowhole (an underground tunnel naturally formed by ocean waves through the rock and a very cool sensation of wind!); the Paul Gauguin museum (manuscripts and reproductions of paintings giving the history of his work and which we found apropos as we would be sailing on the ship of his namesake the following day); the Vaipahi waterfall and Botanical gardens.
InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Island Tour
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The evening found us back at the resort enjoying their live band, Seafood Extravaganza at Tiare Restaurant, followed by their fabulous show, “Les Grands Ballet de Tahiti” – a terrific troupe comprised of local authentic Tahitian men and women dancers in traditional costume and thrilling, pulsating choreography. It was great fun and we got to meet the director and dancers onstage too.
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We loved this terrific Polynesian dance troupe!
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Welcome Aboard! The
cruise port in Tahiti is located in the heart of the town of Papeete, bustling
with local boutiques, tourist shops, street vendors, a huge marketplace and
countless stores selling what Tahiti is famous for, black pearls. As boarding
the ship was not permitted until 3:00pm, we spent the earlier part of the day
strolling the waterfront area and back streets, having lunch people-watching at
their popular Retro restaurant and purchasing black pearl jewelry at the
Tahitian Pearl Market.
We were the first to board the ship and the check-in process
was smooth and effortless. Always
exciting to walk the gangway for the first time and be greeted by the ship
staff with welcome aboard champagne, we were escorted to our stateroom where
much to our delight, our luggage had already arrived.
Our stateroom, #735 perfectly located mid ship on deck 7,
was well appointed, highly comfortable and boasted more storage space in its
design than we have seen on most other vessels. Even with almost two weeks worth of luggage, we still didn’t use all of
the available drawers and bins. We loved
the lighter wood tones used in our stateroom and throughout the ship as opposed
to darker and heavier motifs found on some of the other intimate sized cruise
ships. Our balcony comfortably fit two
chairs and small table, perfect for sharing wine after a day’s excursion or
before heading to dinner.
Except for shore excursions, the Paul Gauguin is an
all-inclusive cruise experience with meals, beverages, gratuities,
entertainment and onboard marina water sports activities such as kayaking and
windsurfing included in the fare. With
capacity of just 332 guests, it is a wonderfully sized ship that enables
passengers to get to know one another in an open-seating dining platform and
with a cozy ambience in all its public areas. Meals are plentiful in your choice of 3 terrific dining venues – L’
Etoile, the main dining room with an international a la carte menu; La Veranda
(our personal favorite), with indoor/outdoor breakfast and lunch fare and a
reservation-only French bistro at dinner; and Le Grill, casual al fresco
pool-side dining serving buffet style breakfast and lunch and reservation-only
dinner featuring South Pacific inspired cuisine. Select wines and spirits are served throughout
the ship any time of day and during meals at no additional charge. For us and the crowd we became friendly with
over the week, this feature was surely the most popular! Some of our favorite entertainment
highlights were the Crew Capers, performed by members of the crew and featuring
one very funny room service steward impersonating Charlie Chaplin; our cruise director Verity Brown’s showroom
act; the troupe of lovely Polynesian
hostesses and entertainers known as Les Gauguins; evenings and late night over-the-top antics
at both the piano bar and disco, including a performance by Alan (in full drag)
and I recreating the "Timeless To Me" number from “Hairspray”; and enjoying the
delectable wines at a tasting presented by Far Niente’s Larry McGuire, who was
aboard for the week with members of Far Niente’s wine club. A lovely honeymoon & anniversary
Polynesian Blessing Ceremony was held for each of the couple’s celebrating on
board to take part in, and we of course, celebrating our 26 years together
wouldn’t have missed being a part of it too.
Life aboard the m/s Paul Gauguin
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Our week in the Society Islands brought us to four island destinations, mostly cruising by night (or late afternoon) and spending full days and in two cases overnights on the islands. Our first visit was Raiatea, a lush green island surrounded by reefs and gorgeous motus and the second largest of the Society Islands chain. We opted for a Faaroa River and Island Exploration excursion which took us to the interior of the island by off-road vehicle led by our guide, Gigi, and a visit to the archeological site and monuments of the historic marae. We also embarked on an outrigger canoe to sail Polynesia’s only navigable river. Our guide for this leg of the excursion was a colorful character who easily could have been the inspiration for the Bloody Mary role in the musical, “South Pacific”. She provided our group of friends with plenty of laughs with her booming speaking voice and commanding attention.
Day in Raiatea
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What would become our favorite stop of the cruise was our next visit, a day on Paul Gauguin’s private islet, Motu Mahana, off the coast of Taha’a. A stunningly beautiful motu of its own with shallow, crystal clear turquoise waters, the line provides a complimentary beach buffet barbeque, a floating bar (yes in the water), an additional bar serving unlimited exotic drinks in oversized coconut shells , snorkeling, waters ports and an overall amazing experience filled with nonstop fun. It was this day that many friendships were formed as we shared laughs, stories and had the time of our lives in a setting we could never forget.
Motu Mahana - Paul Gauguin's private island off Taha'a - AMAZING DAY!
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We were capping off our trip with a 3-night stay post-cruise in Bora Bora, so needless to say our preview visit on the ship was one we were highly anticipating. The ship docked early Tuesday morning and would be staying in port until 5pm on Wednesday. After morning showers which regretfully caused cancellation of some excursions, we ventured to the line’s private beach area on Bora Bora motu. While there were various activities that were offered throughout the day, only a small handful of guests opted to visit this secluded beach – a far cry from the previous day’s Taha’a beach festivities. When we arrived we were the only ones there making this our own private paradise for the two hours we spent. The rains had stopped and we enjoyed the peaceful environs and the alone time sunning on the sand. Next morning we explored Bora Bora’s little shopping village of Vaitape (not much going on there) before a fabulous afternoon of jet boating around the entire island and swimming with stingrays. On our boat ride we got to glide past the spectacular overwater villas that would soon be our home at Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa, along with all the other amazing overwater villas of the island including those at Four Seasons, St. Regis and Le Meridien. This was oh-so-exciting indeed!
Boating around Bora Bora included swimming with stingrays!
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On the island of Moorea, known for its legendary peak Bali Hai, and said to be one of the inspirations for James Michener’s book, Tales of the South Pacific (later a Rodgers & Hammerstein Tony-Award winning musical), we rented a car and drove the circumference of the beautiful island. Kudos to Alan for getting us around without a hitch even though he had not driven a stick-shift in over 20 years (I don’t know how to drive a manual shift myself). We even managed to drive up the steep and narrow winding roads to the Belvedere vista point, which normally provides spectacular views of the bays, peaks and valleys below. Unfortunately for us it was a very overcast, cloudy day, so we did not experience the views the way we would have loved to. There is a beautiful strip of beach adjacent to the Sofitel Moorea Resort. On our drive perched on the road high above, we were able to take in the breathtaking site of their overwater bungalows, stunning beach and gorgeous vistas stretching out into the lagoon and beyond. That evening another highlight was a sunset catamaran cruise, captained by an endearing 29-year old Frenchman, Nicolas Manen, who shared with all of us his many worldwide travel experiences. During the 90-minute outing we got to see breaching whales in the far off distance and the remains of a sunken German war ship. Despite the overcast skies of earlier in the day, the dramatic cloud formations and sunset were quite remarkable and exactly what we had hoped to see.
Lovely Moorea and stunning sunsets!
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Besides the spectacular destinations and the wonderful, attentive, caring staff and crew, we were honored to interview Captain Toni Mirkovic, on the bridge of the Paul Gauguin.
Meet the Captain
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What we will most cherish about this wonderful cruise are the people we met and shared in the experience. Memories of our amazing dinners, cocktails, laughter, and crazy, fun-filled singing & dancing soirees will remain with us always. Thanks to all!
Best part of the cruise was our fabulous new friends!
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Ah, but it’s not over… the best was yet to come!
Turns out several of us were continuing our journeys with resort stays in Bora Bora. The inter-island domestic carrier, Air Tahiti, not to be confused with the international carrier Air Tahiti Nui, which is a separate company, has very stringent luggage restrictions using small ATR-72 aircraft…prop-jets with 66 passenger capacity on their Papeete/Bora Bora flights. Although most people use the luggage storage service at Papeete airport to store their additional bags, we arranged for Greg (our driver who picked us up initially at the beginning of our trip) to meet us at the cruise terminal at 8:00 am, drive us to the airport, and take 2 of our unneeded suitcases (mostly filled with laundry) back to the Intercontinental Tahiti for storage. Thanks to Taive, the chef concierge at the resort for making this possible for us at no extra charge. We were a little trepidacious at the Tahiti airport when there was a sudden downpour of rain. What were we in for during the next few days’ weather wise? How fun to see the arrival of a few of our comrades from Paul Gauguin who would be on our same flight to Bora Bora. We were thrilled the rain was temporary and stopped before we even boarded. As Air Tahiti is open seating, I advised our friends to sit on the left side of the aircraft for the best views of Moorea and Bora Bora below. The view was spectacular indeed and we landed to sunshine at the Bora Bora airport, which is on a motu and requires boat service to get to all of the resorts. We took a final group photo as we were not all staying at the same location, and off we went on our respective boats for the next and final phase of our Polynesian adventure.
Air Tahiti en route to Bora Bora!
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After a 20 minute boat ride filled with anticipation and excitement, we approached the dock of the Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa to the sounds of a male staff member in traditional Tahitian dress blowing the hotel’s welcome signal through a conch shell. It is a sound we would become familiar with through our stay as it used to announce activities and welcome all guests approaching the pier to the resort. We were immediately whisked by the front desk’s Fabricio, via golf carts, on an overview tour of the resort and passing through the meticulous landscaped grounds, enticing spa and pool areas, we knew our next few days would be idyllic as we were served a refreshing fruit juice and cold towel at registration. The resort’s personable General Manager, Guillaume Epinette, came over to personally greet us, give us a little background on the property and already took our dinner reservation requests for the next evenings to come. Our villa was not ready yet, so we opted to have lunch at Sands, their beachfront restaurant, and take in the gorgeous view while sipping sumptuous banana daiquiris and bloody mary’s.
As soon as we finished lunch, we were escorted to Villa 117 … again via golf cart, and as we were driving along the wooden bridge, passing several other over-water villas (all of the accommodations boast overwater villas of equal size – over 1,022 square feet of luxury, with the only difference being view), our hearts pounding as the thrill of this realization of where we were sunk in, we saw we would be staying in a villa that was quite far out over the water. Upon opening the door to our Villa, we were both completely in awe of our accommodations and the environment. Very stylish, meticulous and Polynesian in motif, yet filled with modern amenities and all the creature comforts one could possibly want, we were immediately taken with our private outdoor deck that led to a ladder by which we could access the turquoise waters of the lagoon. This is what we had always dreamed of and was high atop our bucket list of what we had wanted to experience in our travels.
Our villa and interview with the resort's General Manager
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With further exploration of our villa, we discovered a glass coffee table in the living room, with a glass top that slides open so you can feed fish (or any other water creature swimming through) directly from your sofa. We spent lots of time here, gazing into the water below our villa, where we saw stingrays, eels, and swarms of tropical fish. The bedroom boasted one of the most comfortable king sized beds we have ever slept in, and had a head-on view facing the lagoon … an incredible vista to wake up to every morning, albeit we never lowered the blinds. The bathroom, with double sinks and a rain showerhead, always adorned with orchid accents, was divine. And to top it all off, fragrant flowers were placed throughout the suite creating an amazing aroma that was soothing to the senses.
After we quickly unpacked, we just had to take a plunge in the lagoon from our deck – I mean isn’t this what we came to Tahiti for! It was amazing…a vast clear lagoon with a color palette comprising shades of turquoise, blue and green we had never quite seen before with an astounding view of the majestic Otemanu mountain … if there is a heaven on earth, we know we were experiencing it right here. Of particular eco-friendly note at Intercontinental Bora Bora & Thalasso Spa is it being the first hotel in the world to use sea-water air conditioning for all its cooling requirements, a concept imagined by the late Marlon Brando who lived in Tahiti and further developed by his friend Richard Bailey, owner of Intercontinental Hotels in French Polynesia. I don’t think we have ever spent so much time enjoying a swimming pool as we did at this resort – one of the cleanest, most crystal-clear inviting pools ever. And the resort’s many facilities, a world-class spa managed by Algotherm, overall grounds and postcard setting provided “wows” with each and every turn. There was always something wonderful to discover in every detail of the resort. The charming and buff Polynesian pool boys were always on hand to interact and assist guests and provide eye candy in the process. They were in charge of water sport activities, daily opportunities to feed the stingrays at 2:00pm, local raw fish preparation and pareo tying demonstrations and would even bring you drinks at the pool. We shared wonderful Happy Hour gatherings in the pool with our dear friends from Paul Gauguin and experienced both of the resort’s lovely restaurants, Reef and Sands. Breakfasts were an elaborate buffet feast, with lunch and dinner offering a la carte menus and thematic dinners.
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa ... paradise found!
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Another special treat of our magical stay in Bora Bora was a visit to St. Regis Bora Bora for a site inspection and unforgettable dinner at their signature restaurant, Lagoon by famed restaurateur Jean George. Arrangements were made to pick us up at our hotel for the 5-minute boat ride to the resort which is just two hotels over from Intercontinental. Interesting that there is no water taxi service available in Bora Bora to bring guests from resort to resort. If visiting another property – whether for a meal or to see a guest, arrangements must be pre-arranged and the boat transportation is very costly. St. Regis feels like a fantasy island - a utopia of its own reaching out across 44 acres of landscaping edged by powdery white sand and a crystalline lagoon. Its refined elegance and magnificent appointments are dispersed in villa accommodations ranging from 1,550 to over 13,000 square feet. As the resort capacity was at a high, we got to see one accommodation – a Premier Overwater Whirlpool Villa – positively stunning and massive at almost 2,000 square feet. The piece de resistance of our visit was the exquisite dining experience of Lagoon – French/Asian influence set on a deck over the water with our table for two at the platform’s edge - the most romantic setting ever imaginable. We dined on such culinary temptations as foie gras, black papio crusted with spices, sweet pea ravioli and Black Angus beef tenderloin –sheer perfection with service bar none. A farewell cocktail before bidding this wonderful experience so long, we then ventured back in the evening to our resort, where we watched their weekly fun-filled Polynesian floor show to our delight.
The divine St. Regis Bora Bora
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What a truly incredible heart-felt feeling of emotion comes
upon us when thinking of our stay in Bora Bora. It was a blissful experience of 3 nights and
4 days that will forever linger in our hearts. It was difficult to say good bye to our Villa 117 and the pleasures that
Intercontinental Bora Bora & Thalasso Spa brought us. Leaving the pier where we said our farewells
to Mr. Epinette and boarded the boat back to the airport, we were grateful for
this exceptional vacation, all the wonderful people we met and a trip we would
never forget. As we had Air Tahiti Nui
business class seats for our journey home, we reveled in their fabulous
service, gracious attention and total comfort enabling us a restful sleep for
the overnight flight to Los Angeles. The U.S. based carriers could learn a lesson or two from Air Tahiti
Nui! American Airlines brought us back to New York and how
fantastic that all of our luggage made it to and fro for 12 days, 3 carriers, 6
flights, 2 hotels and 1 cruise without a hitch.
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Our flight from Tahiti to LAX on Air Tahiti Nui… great service, great night’s sleep! |
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How ironic that these two tails were back to back at LAX. We flew in from Tahiti on this Air Tahiti plane (r) and flew back to New York on this American Airlines plane (l). |
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Here’s to a great trip! Last rounds of champagne on our American Airlines flight from LAX to JFK. |
Til Our Next Trip .... Mauruuru!
It dawned on me that although this was my fifth visit to Paris in my travels through the years, I had only experienced the magnificence of this city in the cool, brisk air of late October, or most often, the pre-winter chill of late November when festive lights and holiday decorations were just starting to appear. No matter the gloves and scarves, Paris always reigned supreme as one of my favorite cities. It was, however, a particular treat for my partner and I to recently spend four nights discovering Paris in the spring - and how glorious it was, taking on a whole other dimension for us we had not seen before, with flowers in bloom, lush greenery in the parks and a vibrant energy of the crowds which made our favorite pastime of people-watching all the more exciting. After a first day of weather in the 70’s, we continued to enjoy the splendor of 60 degree temperatures as we took to the streets rediscovering the charms of the neighborhoods such as the artist-infused Montmartre area, and our favorite, le Marais. Other highlights this visit included our first trip to the Opera House – the “Phantom” famed Opera National de Palais Garnier, which completely took my breath away in its architectural grandeur. We took a guided tour of the interior (highly recommended) as there were regretfully no performances taking place the time frame we were there. From the brilliant marble Grand Staircase, to the multiple Foyers and the spectacular auditorium itself, I left there so wanting to see a live performance. Hopefully a future visit. The legend of The Phantom of the Opera lives on at Opera Garnier, as Box No. 5 is reserved for the masked man himself to this day.
