Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories! You will be on the same ship as we were. The R4. Huahine was an interesting island. We took a inland tour (this one was not rough at all) and the resisdents bury their loved ones in their front yard, which means the house stays in the family. We were shown where they had/have ancestor worship and we fed the sacred eels. Chicken/roosters run free. It was the only island where we did not spend time in the water. We did have lunch in the small little town at a restaurant on stilts over the water, we had a tuna dish cooked by marinating the tuna in lime juice and served with coconut milk and red onions. It was delicious!!!

One thing we did that you might do is we sent the captain of our ship a note asking if we could have a Bridge tour. He had an embossed invitation delivered to our stateroom inviting us to the sail away from Moorea complete with time and where to meet. He, one course was busy, but he had a crew member show us around and once he ssiled into the sea, he came over and introducted himself. A very nice touch.

And I, of course, should have proofed those sentences for spelling errors before hitting "post". Sorry.....

Thank you CD. I'm glad you got some nostalgia from this and that you mention about 4x4 trip. I'll be sure to do this. I was just talking to my wife about it in fact.
I wonder if post 9/11 the bridge tour thing would be appropriate but its worth a try.
As they say in Fiji, "bula" its their version of "aloha" Larry

Larry--To answer your question--yes, the R4 is the same ship as the Tahitian Princess.

I can't give you the flying time from the midwest because I flew to San Francisco and took a Globus tour of about 10 days days through Yosemite, Carmel, and down the CA coast to LA. I ended the 1st tour in the AM at the airport and caight my flight to Tahiti in the afternoon. It seems to me it took 8 hours to fly. I remember that it was much further than I had anticipated.The flight over the islands as you get closer is something to behold. Amazing water and formations!

I went in June/July and Papeete was VERY hot and humid. Seems like we had some rain also that added to the sauna effect!

CD: I, too, received an written invitation to tour the bridge with the captain. A few hours later that small group of about 8 were invited to join him for drinks right outside the dining room. Then, we were escorted into the dining room for dinner at the Captain's table.

I remember a large mirror right behind the table. The captain said this was the best location in the whole room because you could see everywhere from his seat. My seat was the 2nd best one he said (I sat to his right).

I can't remember the handsome captain's name, but he said he was the youngest sailing at that time.

My cruise was during the summer of 2001, a few weeks prior to 9/11 and then of course a few months before Renaissance's bankruptcy.

You don't do much cruising in those islands--they are too close together. One day the captain did figure 8's all day and they called it a day at sea!

Too bad it is so very far away. I'd like to return someday.

Larry, Be sure you post a review when you return so we can relive some more memories!!

Cruiser: Be sure the review will come. Your guess about the flying time is correct. I looked it up and from LA to Papeete is 8 hrs. 20 min. We will be there in mid August and I hope the weather is better. From what I could find it is usually a bit cooler than what you experienced. I hope so. Actually about the time you were there we were in Fiji then, July of 2001. The weather there was ideal, mid 80's, dry and sunny. Bula! Larry