- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 4,879
- Reaction score
- 4,429
- Points
- 599
- Resorts Owned
-
Marriott:
Maui Ocean Club
Waiohai Beach Club
Barony Beach Club
Abound ClubPoints
HGVC:
HGVC at Sea World
I know that many of us on the Marriott TUG board love Maui Ocean Club, Waiohai, and the other MVC Hawaii resorts. My wife and I have long considered Hawaii our "Happy Place" and consider it one of the most amazing spots we have ever visited on the planet. Well, after our just-completed visit to French Polynesia, with a seven-night cruise on the m/s Paul Gauguin and a post-cruise stay at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort, Hawaii has some competition.
We still think Hawaii wins out on the variety of activities, the great restaurants, the golf, and the great resorts, but nothing we've ever seen compares to French Polynesia for sheer beauty. Bora Bora's lagoon is the most incredible place I've ever seen - I snorkeled alongside blacktip reef sharks and lemon sharks, interacted one-on-one with affectionate stingrays, and snorkeled with so many fish it felt like I was inside an aquarium - and that lagoon water has such an incredible variety of colors of blue.
I post this because I know so many Marriott owners love Hawaii, and I think you all would also love French Polynesia. Below is a link to a review I posted in CruiseCritic (the TUG for cruising).
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2673306-our-june-8-paul-gauguin-cruise/
A lot of people call French Polynesia "Hawaii Unplugged" and that title fits. It's sort of what people who have never been to Hawaii probably picture Hawaii to be, and what Hawaii probably was like 80-100 years ago.
We'll continue to go to Hawaii at least every other year, but we're probably going to have to figure out how to work Tahiti and Bora Bora into our rotation at least once more as well. Maybe a week or two in Hawaii followed by another Paul Gauguin cruise.
We still think Hawaii wins out on the variety of activities, the great restaurants, the golf, and the great resorts, but nothing we've ever seen compares to French Polynesia for sheer beauty. Bora Bora's lagoon is the most incredible place I've ever seen - I snorkeled alongside blacktip reef sharks and lemon sharks, interacted one-on-one with affectionate stingrays, and snorkeled with so many fish it felt like I was inside an aquarium - and that lagoon water has such an incredible variety of colors of blue.
I post this because I know so many Marriott owners love Hawaii, and I think you all would also love French Polynesia. Below is a link to a review I posted in CruiseCritic (the TUG for cruising).
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2673306-our-june-8-paul-gauguin-cruise/
A lot of people call French Polynesia "Hawaii Unplugged" and that title fits. It's sort of what people who have never been to Hawaii probably picture Hawaii to be, and what Hawaii probably was like 80-100 years ago.
We'll continue to go to Hawaii at least every other year, but we're probably going to have to figure out how to work Tahiti and Bora Bora into our rotation at least once more as well. Maybe a week or two in Hawaii followed by another Paul Gauguin cruise.