Tahiti Renaissance Cruise Report
Kathy Dickey
report:
The ship is new and beautiful, the islands gorgeous, the people warm and
>>friendly. The snorkeling the best anywhere. The food was very good,
>>entertainment fine, excursions expensive but fine, spa/gym very good,
>>service adequate to good overall although not as friendly as Holland
>>Amer, Royal Carib or Princess. Best of all I liked the open seating
>>because we met so many great friends aboard at dinner. I also loved
>>having 2 days on each island - it made for a much more relaxing trip.
I
>>also liked not having 1500 extra people around during meals, shows,
>>tenders, etc - that was marvelous.
>
>It was a good value for the money overall, but there were also
problems.
>There are no reserved seats on the flights, so people were getting to
the
>airport at 5 AM to get good seats on a 1230 flight from LA to Papeete!
>Much to my anger, when we arrived 2 hours early they told us that there
>were no 2 seats together. I had booked this trip 18 months prior, and I
>couldn't even sit with my husband?! I caused a big stink at the counter
>until they "found" 2 seats together. I also didn't realize that they
board
>the ship in shifts, with over 1/2 the ship boarded on the previous day.
>Therefore, by the time we arrived there were no available appointments
for
>a massage, and the excursion I had wanted was also booked. On top of
that,
>I had requested 3 times for a cabin upgrade over the past year, but was
>told that none were available, only to find out after boarding that
those
>cabins were full of new guests who booked very late due to last minute
>cancellations. Obviously, my requests were not given any kind of
>priority. Our outside cabin was just fine, but a balcony would have
been
>nicer for us in warm, balmy Tahiti. Basically, our first couple of days
>were not very happy due to the above disappointmenst. Later in the
>cruise, the schedule did not always match the available entertainment,
and
>there were no explanations given, such as when a band did not show up
in
>Bora Bora, or when the orchestra didn't play for dancing on another
night,
>or another band in Papeete played only 1/2 the scheduled time. That was
>very strange and wasted everyone's precious vacation time. Whenever we
>asked about it, no one seemed to know what had happened. The cruise
>director was nowhere to be seen on those occasions, or he would have
>certainly heard from me! Another gripe I had concerned the 2 special
>resaurants on board = the Italian and the Grill. We had to be there at
730
>AM or call and call and call in order to get a seat for the next day's
>sittings. It would have been much better to just let us book each of
the
>restaurants for anytime during the cruise. After that, it could have
been
>on a first-served basis for more than once at each of them. The way it
>was, we felt ridiculous waiting in line at 730 AM! Nevertheless, their
>regular club restaurant was just fine and the food very good there in
>spite of very slow service. Another gripe (just for me) was the lack of
>papaya or mango every day at breakfast. Most days, just cantelope,
>watermelon and pineapple. All the workers seem very over-worked,
>especially our sweet cabin lady, who had 20 rooms to service!
>
>I have sent a long fax to Ren about the above problems. It will be
>interesting to see if they respond. If they don't fix some of the
things
>I mentioned (and some others, like snotty head waiters), many of the
>guests said they would not go on another cruise with them. I have very
>mixed feelings - I liked the cost of my trip, but longed for better
>quality and good, friendly service like we had on the Ryndam and other
>ships. I definitely would go back to Tahiti!!
Excursions: we loved all of them. My husband had some trouble with the
outrigger canoes for
snorkeling - they are crowded and the ladders are hard to get up and
down in the deeper water.
Not recommended for older or weaker folks. I loved our 4x4's on Tahiti
and Raiatea, the
Moorea motu swim/snorkle picnic, and all the circle tours we took. The
Lagoonarium on Bora
Bora was fun, too. Keep in mind that you can book many of these tours on
shore for less, but
they might not be as good.
>
>Hope this helps. Kathy