Food and wine under new PG management?

There was a review today on the Fodor's forum that said the food and wine on the PG were quite disappointing. What has other people's experience been?

Thanks.:)

can you link the fodors post you referenced?

Hi--it's

http://www.fodors.com/community/australia-the-pacific/staterooms-on-paul-gaughin.cfm

As you can see, I actually hadn't asked about the food. I was concerned in part because of the change in management and they had gone recently.

If you have any C level stateroom suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Mauruuru:)

I read this review that panned the food and wine on the PG. To each his own, but if this person thinks the food and wine is going to be better at a FP resort, she is going to be disappointed. We have stayed at several high end resorts precruise and while we enjoyed the stays, the service and quality of the food did not compare to the PG.

Hmm, all I see when I click on this link is a thread in a forum about staterooms. Can someone help me navigate to the actual review?

If you click the link, you'll find the food review of PG. It's maybe the third or fourth post down. In fact, my question had been about staterooms not about food, but it's that (and other criticisms)that they responded with.

The general impression I'm getting is that there is not much difference between staterooms (in terms of view etc) in the C balcony class. If we like this cruise as much as I think we are going to, maybe someday we will be able to manage one of the 8th floor Veranda rooms.

Okay, I see. He said he didn't like the food. Fine. Most people will I expect, or at least I hope so. Looking forward to continuing feedback on this issue.

We have stayed in the deck 4, deck 6, deck 7 and deck 8 cabins. All are nice. The deck 8 cabins are a tad larger and provide butler service and exit onto the pool deck(the best reason to be on deck 8). The butler was nice but for us really not necessary. He brought canapes each evening and is there to help you out with reservations and other services. He did,although, help us out with a minor issue with the housekeeper and was extremely nice.

You will enjoy the cruise no matter which cabin you chose. Have fun!

Thanks cruisedreamer--we are getting excited. :) Did you have any favorites of the excursions (or use local ones not ship connected)?

We mostly stayed with the cruise line's excusions. Take any Mark Eddows' excursion. He is a guest speaker on nearly all of the cruises. He knows and studys South Pacific Islander cultures. I believe the fees collected go toward his study site expenses. The prices of outside venders were not that different than the cruise line ones.

We are going on the June 12 seven day cruise of the Society Islands.

Mauruuru:)

DH and I were on the Feb 20 sailing. The food was amazing the service wonderful and the lectures and ambiance onboard with the Gaughines was great.

We were in a B Verandah Suite and our butler Jerry was great.

I am recommending to anybody that is interested in Tahiti. For DH and me it was the best way to see the islands. We would shoot ourselves if we stayed in one place as the resorts are very quiet. The food on the islands are ridiculous and the PG offers the best value.

We had awful weather for the week but that did not stop us from having fun. We especially loved Ta'Haa. We walked around the island and felt we were the only ones in paradise.

I forgot to add that after the 7 day Society Islands cruise we will be spending 4 nights in Bora Bora.

We just came back last week. We loved the cruise. Food was great and I'm picky ! I'm not sure what that person on Fodor referred to. I'm wondering if he or she was one of those people who ordered hamburger and fries for lunch (I couldn't believe it) as opposed to get a lunch buffet, which was very good and every day diffrent, French, Italian, Asian, many choices, salads, great deserts etc. or get a fresh fish or steak made to order. We liked the best La Veranda restaurant.

We stayed in a C cabin towards the back of the ship and it was a great location, close to restaurants and quiet. 767 is a newer cabin, and it's supposed to be nice, somebody on the board here stayed there or going to stay there and he talked about it, try to go through the older posts, I remember reading about it. It was raining so there were some leaks mostly in the hallways , usually by the door, as people opened the doors I imagine.

We liked the best Stingray ballet in Bora Bora and Dolphin watching in Moorea is supposed to be good. Snorkling on Bora Bora motu was also very nice and free.

You will have a great time !

I just returned from a 7-day cruise. I last cruised on this ship in 2006. I thought the food and service were even better than the first time, and the all-inclusive drinks, wow, we never even touched our room bottles and brought both home. In all ways except the coffee (still blah) it was fantastic!! I love this ship and can't wait to cruise on her again!

cmstraf,

Where are you staying on Bora Bora? More than likely your food and service experience will be a let down from the PG. You may want to save visits to Bloody Mary's and such for when you are at the resort and spend more time at the Bora Bora Motu while on the ship.

We, especially DW liked the jet ski around Bora Bora, I didn't like the catajets at Moorea, Michael Poole is great at Moorea.

We are staying at the Intercontinental Moana in a horizon bungalow over the water (4 nights). We chose this over the stunning Thalasso because my husband thought it looked more Polynesian and because being on the mainland we hope to find some relatively inexpensive places to eat (pizza, buy bread, fruit and chesse at grocery store etc). Unfortunately, we are on a breakfast plan which I wish I had opted out of while it was possible.

We arrive on Bora Bora on DH's 50th birthday and I would like to do something really nice for dinner that night. Am undecided between La Villa Mahana if we can get reservations or roomservice candlelight on the deck of our bungalow.

I think your idea of the motu while we are on Bora Bora with the ship is a good idea. The other two ship excursions that are interesting us are the Stingray ballet so well reviewed here and the underwater walk.

We want to maximize our time in Moorea, since we only will be there the two days PG is there. Maybe the dolphins one day and renting a car on the other? I have been too scared to add up the cost of the excursions (we also want to do the 4x4 interior and river tour on Raiatea). I would like to do a lot of things but don't want to spend more than a maximum of $1000 (and would prefer to spend less, but it looks like that may not happen.

Thanks. All suggestions welcome:)

We are still amazed at our Paul Gauguin experience. We just returned from the March 6-13 cruise. The weather was fantastic, as the rainy season finally broke. The Captain was happy to have nice weather again, as they had experienced many weeks of rainy weather. During our cruise the temp was hot and humid. It will cool down some during the next few months.

About the food. We thought it was wonderful. The main dining room changed it's menu daily. The french dining room offered the same menu nightly, so eating there a couple nights was enough for us. We did not eat dinner at the third dining place, which is on deck 8 so we cannot comment.We did find it to be a great place for breakfast, though, especially if you sit on the either side of the ship at the end table. There, it is possible to get a breeze, enjoy breakfast and soak in the fabulous scenery.

We were upgraded to cabin 766 on deck 7 aft. It had a fabulous wide veranda. However, the weather was so hot and since there was never any breeze, we did not spend much time sitting on it. The beds were fantastic. We had a shower but many rooms have tubs. There is a refrigerator in the room and the attendant will fill it with your choice of beverages if what is in there is not to your liking.

The ship is not at sea very much on this itinerary compared to other cruise lines. Sometimes only a few hours at night and not every night. Most of the islands were not very distant from each other. Seasickness did not seem to be a problem for anyone.

The excursions are expensive, and unlike other destinations, were not much cheaper on shore. Prices at the boutique on ship were likewise the same as on shore. That was a big surprise. In fact, the first time the locals came on board to sell their jewelry and flowers the prices and quality were better than we ever saw on shore.

We are frequent cruisers and were exceptionally happy with this cruise. The service was impeccable.

Karen

We rented bikes to ride around the island. The agency is just ouside the tender area. It took the 3 of us less than 3 hours to do it. The traffic was not bad and the roadway mostly good. There was only one hill where I decided to walk it up and one downhill where there was gravel and I decided not to risk my knees going down so I walked it. We were able to stop when we wanted and were able to visit the IC hotel and see one of their over the water bungalows and they graciously let us use their restrooms. It cost us $15 US each to do this!

We later tried to ride on Moorea but cut it short due to the heavy traffic and no shoulders to ride on(we did get out as far as the airport there).

Karen,

Thanks for the glowing review. It looks like the major food problem on the PG is going to be trying to keep weight gain down to a moderate level! I'm getting more and more excited, checking this website several times daily. Kim, the pictures from your trip were fabulous.

I got a fluent French-speaking friend to call the Villa Mahana in Bora Bora and reserve for DH's 50th birthday.

Cruisedreamer,

Bicycling around Bora Bora was already on our list--we'll definitely do it. I hope that the $15 was for bike rental, not for use of La Moana's restrooms!

My current thought is to take either the Sting ray ballet or the Aqua underwater walk in Bora Bora with one day while PG is docked in Bora Bora and go to the motu beach on the other, then when we go back for our postcruise stay, take the day we arrive to do nothing, rent bikes to go around the island for another and spend a third on a daytrip to Maupiti...

Karen,

Thanks for the glowing review. It looks like the major food problem on the PG is going to be trying to keep weight gain down to a moderate level!

Less of a problem than you might imagine, since it's a very active cruise, and there is such a great selection of fresh fish and fruit. Just beware the croissants and desserts!

Yes, the 15 dollars was for the bike rental. Don't stress over the cruise...you will love the service, food and crew. The only worry I have is for your after cruise stay;the food and service will definitely not be up to the PG standards.We have stayed afterwards and before and trust us we were always let down by the quality and expense of the food and drinks(I can tolerate paying $12.00 for a Bloody Mary if the quality is good but the ones I tried while at the IC and the Radisson were terrible). Oh by the way, we found the restaurant Bloody Mary's to be a let down. Now, of course, we went during the day for a Bloody Mary and it was dead. The drink, too, was bad.I enjoyed the ones on the PG much more. I am not trying to be negative. I am just letting be prepared for the let down. I would put the money for a land stay into more days on the PG.

We are totally excited about the cruise--thanks for the warning about the postcruise stay. We are already committed to the stay at La Moana on Bora Bora but plan to eat as inexpensively as possible while we are there. We will avoid bloody marys. The one splurge dinner we are planning is to celebrate DH's 50th birthday, where I have reserved at the Villa Mahana. Sounds wonderful but many$$$. Have you tried it?

Just been reading all your great reveiws and we are staying in cabin 767. We requested this cabin as it is larger than the other balcony cabins.

Should we book the stingray ballet on board or before we leave? Does this excursion include swimming with the sharks?

Should we book the stingray ballet on board or before we leave? Does this excursion include swimming with the sharks?

If you have a can't-miss excursion, book it early. Not only does this help guarantee it, but it gives the ship an idea of capacity--we heard a recent report where excursions were cancelled because of lack of reservations.

As for the excursion itself, it used to be called "Shark and Ray Feeding". Then Bora Bora banned excursions that included "feeding" the sharks. They still do feed the rays, and yes, there are usually sharks around. They are harmless, by the way. Fairly small (about 3 or 4 feet perhaps.)