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Epic Highs (& A Few Lows) Cruising French Polynesia
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Jan 28, 2025
It took me 26 hours, three flights, and a time change of 12 hours to get to my French Polynesian cruise in one of the remotest parts of the world. It was brutal, and so how did it go once there – and do I recommend putting yourself though all that? I explore all of this in this video For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers * Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
it took me 26 hours three flights and a
0:03
time change of 12 hours to get to my
0:06
cruise it was brutal so how did it all
0:08
go once there and do I recommend putting
0:10
yourself through all of that let me
0:12
start with the very best bits in case
0:15
you don't know it took so long to get
0:17
there because French Polynesia is in the
0:20
Pacific halfway between South America
0:22
and Australia it has 118 Islands
0:25
stretching over a staggering 1 200 miles
0:28
that's 2 000 kilometers it's very very
0:31
remote without a shed of Doubt one
0:33
enormous highlight of the cruise was the
0:35
phenomenal and unique scenery across
0:38
those islands I was absolutely Blown
0:40
Away by what I saw with volcanic soaring
0:42
mountains lushly covered with vegetation
0:45
beautiful coral reefs surrounding most
0:48
of the islands powder soft beaches
0:50
teeming sea life and ocean the color of
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which is totally mind-blowing on my poor
0:58
Gorgan Society Islands Cruise out of
1:00
Tahiti I saw huani Taha Bora Bora and
1:05
Maria and one lasting memory is how
1:08
undeveloped and pristine all of them
1:10
were a stark contrast to the Caribbean
1:13
islands that I visited on numerous
1:15
cruises all had pretty low population
1:17
even the famous iconic Bora Bora has
1:21
only 10 000 residents across the island
1:24
there's no big Resorts crammed along the
1:26
beaches overwater Bungalow resorts are
1:29
much more common
1:30
there aren't even Cruise docks on the
1:33
islands other than at the key on
1:36
vacation Port of papayetti on Tahiti so
1:39
we tended to and from the ship on every
1:41
single Island surrounded by that
1:43
incredible incredible scenery but what
1:47
also really struck me was just how clean
1:49
it was there wasn't plastic and rubbish
1:52
strewn all about it was spotless and
1:56
they were not packed and busy with mass
1:59
tourism and busy cruise ship calls more
2:01
on that later as to why another plus of
2:05
exploring the society islands is how
2:06
close they are to each other with
2:08
surprisingly little sailing for example
2:10
from Taha to Bora Bora was only about
2:13
three hours and about one and a half
2:15
hours to sail for morea to papieti and
2:18
so there were actually some overnights
2:20
which were great because they allowed
2:22
exploring and appreciating some of the
2:24
islands in much more depth this included
2:26
for me Bora Bora Maria and of course
2:29
papietti there is though some downsides
2:33
about all of this to come but let's keep
2:34
going on the highs the second big plus
2:37
for me was that the best things to do on
2:40
the island were active and those
2:42
overnights meant being able to do
2:44
multiple activities
2:46
of course many were water-based with
2:49
excursions including snorkeling scuba
2:52
diving catamarang rides flow Riders one
2:56
big highlight for me anyway was in Bora
2:58
Bora where I snorkeled with sharks and
3:01
Rays obviously not dangerous sharks and
3:04
then through an incredible car Coral
3:06
Garden that was packed packed with fish
3:09
on land I went on several e-bike tours
3:12
like riding through pineapple fields and
3:15
up to the Belvedere Lookout which is
3:17
really high up a mountain on Maria I
3:19
also cycled 27 kilometers right around
3:22
the islands in huani and then about 32
3:25
kilometers all the way around Bora Bora
3:28
they're also great hikes to do for
3:31
example I hiked up Magic Mountain in
3:34
Maria that's a equivalent about going up
3:37
something like 55 stories of a building
3:40
up high stunning incredible views
3:43
even just going to the beach meant
3:46
snorkeling opportunities because there
3:48
were reefs there were raised there were
3:50
fish everywhere we went across the
3:52
islands one downside was that unlike
3:54
other cruising regions I've been to I
3:55
quickly discovered if I wanted to
3:57
self-explore I needed to plan ahead I
4:01
quickly found there were no or very very
4:03
limited taxis places to spontaneously
4:06
hire a car a bike or tour operators
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waiting to sell tours and trips when I
4:10
got off the tender boats that just
4:12
didn't happen so I and others on the
4:14
trip if they want to self-explore found
4:16
it was best to pre-book something online
4:19
a day or two before report to make sure
4:21
the taxi the bike the hire car or a
4:23
local tour guide was waiting I did
4:25
notice they seemed to be relatively few
4:27
health and safety rules here when on
4:30
tour so unlike other regions where our
4:31
cruise I wasn't asked to sign loads of
4:33
waivers before snorkeling or e-biking
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nor was I given or acquired to wear a
4:37
life vest when snorkeling and so on a
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bit of a surprise one thing I liked
4:41
about the islands is that all of the
4:43
tender drop-off spots there was a local
4:45
market and unlike most Cruise regions
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like say the Caribbean or Alaska it was
4:50
all handmade handcrafted items although
4:54
they were rather costly a topic I will
4:57
also return to later the third real high
5:00
for me were poor golgan's Private Island
5:02
and Beaches they were special secluded
5:05
and absolutely stunning places
5:08
in Taha we spent a day on porgoggan's
5:11
private island called Motu Mahana this
5:15
is a beautiful little island we had
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magnificent barbecue lunch there we
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could go kayaking snorkeling swimming or
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just lays about the on-board Entertainer
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is called Les garganz played Polynesian
5:27
music they showed how all the coconut
5:30
tree is used they ran dancing classes
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and even how to make a kind of a head
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Garland the Specialists of the day by
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the way was actually attitude because
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one of the guests chose here to propose
5:39
to the girlfriend which of course caused
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lots of excitement it was also the poor
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Gorgan private Bora Bora beach which was
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stunning and a really beautiful special
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experience now talk about the line
5:51
itself's pros and cons in a bit but
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before that there is a much more General
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point about the line and the ship one
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massive highlight and a must I found is
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choosing to cruise in French Polynesia
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on a small ship like I did and on one
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that specialized is in the area now the
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three main lines with ships based for
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summer all of the Year within French
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Polynesia are pork organ with 330
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passengers wind Style with wind spirit
6:19
which has 148 and star Breeze with 312
6:22
and aranui a part ship part freighter
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which carries 230 guests going on a
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small ship was best for two key reasons
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first since shutdown French Polynesia
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have outlawed Mega Ships coming through
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the region at all they also have
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severely limited the islands that larger
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ships of up to 2 500 can call on and if
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you're coming to the region of course
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you should plan to visit the most iconic
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island of all Bora Bora now that can
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only be done on a small ship as they now
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allow a maximum of 1 200 passengers per
7:00
day then of course the other benefit of
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being on a small ship besides things
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like easy embarkation never waiting for
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lines always getting a table no crowds
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waiting to go off on excursions crew
7:12
getting to know your name and your likes
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was that the islands did not get swamped
7:17
by Cruise passengers and as all the
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islands are tender ports there was no
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waiting ever around it was easy to
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basically head to and from the ship on a
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whim I chose portugalgan as they are so
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intertwined with the region and have
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been sailing and based here all year
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round for 25 plus years now since 2019
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they've become part of the French Cruise
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Line ponante
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a highlight was that much of their crew
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was French Polynesian and instead of an
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entertainment team they have that local
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Troop that I mentioned earlier called
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Les gangans this group ran daily
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immersion into the culture with
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Polynesian language dance and craft
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events they met and greeted us on the
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islands when we got off the tenders they
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put on some local dance shows in the
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Grand salon Lounge they were really busy
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all the time that they did also run the
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daily Bingo on top of all those kind of
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immersion things as well now they
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probably weren't the slickest
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Entertainment Group you're going to find
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on a cruise line but it felt authentic
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genuine and it was local I also liked
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that Paul gagan brought other local
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polonies performers on several of the
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nights they had a Polynesian themed Gala
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night as well another reason I chose
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pork organ is their ownership certainly
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when I went was also designed very
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specifically for the region with a very
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shallow draft meaning it can maneuver
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into the islands with Reef all around it
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which some of the bigger ships can't now
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that design does have a downside though
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because when setting there was quite a
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lot of movement much more than most
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passengers expected even when swells
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were pretty small there were four other
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highlights and best things about Paul
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galgan for me as well and these are them
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first it was a rather luxurious and
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pampering this is important because this
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trip was to celebrate being with my
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partner for 20 years although the ship
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is old built in 1997 it's been
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beautifully updated by panont second for
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me the cabin we booked of Veranda Suite
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it was a great size for a small ship and
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had a very comfy feel to it and a decent
9:17
sized bathroom they're the regular
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Veranda cabins are a little bit tight
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especially when some told me they were
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traveling say with a child or a teen
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sharing with them it got a little bit
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cramped and tight third of all we had
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amazing food and also by the way there
9:30
were many inclusions like drinks Wi-Fi
9:32
and gratuities in terms of dining we had
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the following choices love Aranda or la
9:37
grill for about a breakfast and lunch
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with lunches themed each day by a
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different part of the world of course
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including Polynesian for dinner we had
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letter the main dining room with open
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seated dining or we could book club
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Veranda which became a chica a la carte
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restaurant or LA Grill on some of the
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evenings which became more of a steak
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and fish kind of menu all the
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restaurants by the way had a wide
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vegetarian section on the menus which
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was rather surprising the fourth thing
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that I liked about Paul gagan was the
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passengers and the diversity
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I knew it would be kind of a vibrant
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adventurous and active crowd of people
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the average age I was probably 50s I
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would guess but it was a really wide
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range from kind of kids right through to
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70 and Beyond because there were many
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multi-generational families groups of
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friends and even a cycling tour group
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was on board the nationality mix was
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really diverse to the Americans
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Canadians French Italians Brazilians
10:35
Australians and Brits it was all those
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groups were well represented there were
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by the way a few solos though they do
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offer low or no solar supplements on
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some sellings but there weren't many
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solos it's more of a kind of couples and
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groups experience so while these highs
10:52
made the long trip and jet lag start to
10:54
seem fine there were some lows I also
10:57
had to talk about and consider before
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making a final call on whether this was
11:01
all worth it before I do that I wanted
11:02
to mention that as I do on all my trips
11:05
now I posted four video updates during
11:07
this trip showing what was happening and
11:10
answer on the go questions posted by my
11:12
patreon patrons to find out more on how
11:14
to get those exclusive Patron videos
11:16
updates while I'm on upcoming trips go
11:19
to patreon.com tips for travelers of
11:23
course one key downside is the one I've
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touched on with the time it takes to get
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there and the time difference the
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struggle to make sure jet lag does not
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negatively affect the experience is a
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big one now a key consideration when
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most of those French Polynesian cruises
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are seven nights long
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while it's 26 hours traveling and 12
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hour time difference from Europe that's
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the most extreme I guess it's still at
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least 15 hours from East Coast USA with
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a seven hour time difference it's an
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eight to nine hour flight from the west
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coast and a three hour time difference
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so the downside I found is I really
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needed to build in time before and
12:02
afterwards to make sure that I was in
12:04
the zone could appreciate it see as much
12:06
as possible and importantly be ready for
12:09
the very busy schedule once on the
12:10
cruise this is key because it's likely
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to be a once in a lifetime trip and you
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need to pack so much and you need to be
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on the ball and ready now I'm glad that
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I've built in Priest days in papieti and
12:22
a post-crew state in Bora Bora for that
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reason I wish I'd consider instead of
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doing the classic seven night Society
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Islands Cruise it was doing one of the
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10 to 40 night cruises that go further
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afield to the to the tour Martis and the
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marquez's islands to see more maybe this
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next downside should have been the first
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as it's huge low cost first it's really
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expensive to even get there with limited
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flight options so probably it's got to
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be like ETA itinui or Air France if
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you're coming out of Paris and Europe by
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Los Angeles or now also via Seattle for
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you United flights there from San
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Francisco but Airline choices are very
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very limited and and of course because
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of that and the distance it's really
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costly so for example looking at June
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next year I went in June an economy
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flight would cost two thousand six
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hundred dollars it's about two thousand
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pounds from Europe six thousand dollars
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four thousand seven hundred pounds in
13:15
business from the West Coast it's at
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least 1 600 returning economy and about
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three thousand six hundred dollars in
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business the cruises are also crazy
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expensive evening considering those
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inclusions for example repeating my
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seven night Paul galgan Cruise in due
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next year in the cheapest option a
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portal only cabin will cost at least
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nine thousand dollars for a couple for
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seven nights that's 640 500 pounds per
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person per night for the comparison
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Windstar in their portal cabin with
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similar all-inclusive rate would be
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around seven thousand dollars for a week
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for a couple that's five hundred dollars
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four hundred pounds per person per day
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so really really expensive the
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excursions are extra and pricey the
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snorkel tour for example I mentioned
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earlier in Bora Bora was 145 dollars per
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person and out and about things are
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expensive too I was paying like at least
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six dollars for a can of Coke in the
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craft market prices were Hefty some
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simple hand craft wooden boxes we liked
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were going for 200 bearing in mind both
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of those downsides I was very aware that
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weather could rule it all as having
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cloudy wet and windy days would not be
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great because that would mean activities
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were canceled they would be less
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enjoyable and you know spend all that
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money to go to a rainy place not great
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French Polynesia is in the tropics so
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rain and wind are common that's why
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although I could go any time of the year
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I went in June uh June to September is
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considered the best time to visit
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because it's the driest and the
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temperatures are too warm but by the
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definition not too warm is 25 to 20
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degrees Celsius that's about 77 to 82
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degrees in Fahrenheit the rainy season
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by the way is from November to April
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that's a peak rainy season and I really
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didn't want to spend all that money and
15:01
all that time to go in the rainy season
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we actually had one day white out by
15:06
Massive rainstorms in Bora Bora and if
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we didn't have that post day to enjoy it
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I would actually felt pretty aggrieved
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although by the way usually it doesn't
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rain for long periods of time but if
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like me you want to get the most of your
15:18
money I recommend stick to what is the
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rather short four-month Prime season so
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considering the best and the worst sides
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of cruising French Polynesia did I
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regret it well if I could get the money
15:30
together
15:30
I would actually go again but as I said
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I would do maybe a little bit
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differently like the longer Cruisers
15:36
going beyond the society Islands or try
15:39
that aranui half ship half freighter
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which goes to some of the more remote
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Islands however if this is a bucket this
15:46
Cruise isn't appealing to you why don't
15:48
you watch this video where I count down
15:50
what I think are the 11 mustard cruises
15:53
in the world and actually there you'll
15:55
also find out where French Polynesia
15:56
ranks in that ranking see you over there
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