For those of you on the PG May 19 trip

Would you find out for me if there are dives (SCUBA) available at Aitutkai and Rarotonga? Either through the ship, or if there are local dive companies. We are doing a cruise with those stops in 2008 with friends who are diving fanatics. Also ask about Tubai, if you would be so kind.

Thank you in advance! :)

I'd be very interested to hear about the motion on the ship on the days you are cruising the Pacific Ocean. I'm considering the Marquesas cruise next year and I'm a bit concerned about how the PG will feel on the open sea, so I'd love to hear your experience.

Thanks!

Me also. I want to hear how the ship handles the open ocean from FP to Tonga and then from Tonga to Fiji. Hope someone is able to log on and give us some live reports. Would also like to hear what the shore excursions were like at Tonga and Fiji. Wishing you all calm seas and a great cruise!

Pat

Hi Folks!

I don't know if I will be posting from on board or not; I'm hoping to not have anything to do with email while I'm gone. (Folks at work have bet me I won't be able to hold out.)

But I will try and make note of the SCUBA excursions, DH is a new diver so he is interested too, and the motion of the ocean.

But I've only ever been really seasick once and that was last June when the whole ship was seasick. I made it to dinner but then couldn't eat; that was on the Empress of the Seas on the way back from Bermuda and our cabin was all the way forward. Eww. I get queasy just recalling it! That night even some crew were sick.

But I am taking a notebook so I will capture my impressions.

Bye!

Caroline

Thank you so much. I appreciate your looking into this for us! Have a wonderful trip. :D

Was anyone able to find out anything about the diving? :)

Hi Everyone!

First I had no motion problems on board. I know that some folks did but it was not a consistent problem. I think I took Bonine one might and that was really me being cautious.

We were in a cabin on the 3rd level but I did feel more motion in L'Etoile and in La Palette.

As for diving. There was a dive for Aitutaki but not one listed for Rarotonga. The listing I have lists the information for the Aitutaki dive as TBA and since my husband did neither of those dives I can't say anything more.

Both Aitutaki and Rarotonga we were only anchored from 8 am to 6 pm. With the first tender being around 8:30 am the last at 5 pm I think. So while there are probably independent dive operators, especially on Rarotonga I would think, you should make sure they would get you back in time.

Caroline

Me also. I want to hear how the ship handles the open ocean from FP to Tonga and then from Tonga to Fiji. Hope someone is able to log on and give us some live reports. Would also like to hear what the shore excursions were like at Tonga and Fiji. Wishing you all calm seas and a great cruise!

Pat

As I said I really had no problem with ship movement. Yes, you could feel the ship moving and at times there were rocking and rolling but nothing I found problematic. But I know our stewardess said she was seasick a few of the nights but I don't recall if was in FP or outside of it.

I really didn't like Tonga. The weather was cool, for Tonga, and overcast/drizzly. There were 3 excursions for Tonga.

1. Coral Istand getaway

2. Cultural tour

3. Beeach Sights and Swimming.

I heard nothing about the cultural tour but folks did not like the Coral Island thing. The weather was dicey and there was no where to sit dowm. I took the beach sights and swimming. We were originally going to a resort but it was closed so they took us to another resort. Hrm. *Very* "rustic" but they did have tables and chairs and a small bar where you could get drinks. We did go to various places like the palace and to see some of the flying foxes and the blowholes. The weater was bad for swimming and my husband did not see much snorkling.

The only good thing was that seeing the other sights took so long we didn't have to stay long at the resort.

Tonga ia very poor and while the people are friendly such poverty is depressing. The market seems a bit sketchy and shabby but once you get in you see beautiful tapa cloth and handbags. Also folks were willing to bargain. The tongan dollar is about 2 to one US dollar. I used us dollars there since the ship did not have any tongan money.

I don't know where you are going in Fiji since our stops were changed to deal with a refueling issue.

Bill dove and I took the Pacific Harbour Cultural tour. Again the weather was sketchy. Mostly the place was a "mall" with a few stores and then they did a dance/song/firewalk presentation. I didn't like it; it took an hour to get there and I was not impressed. Iliked the show but could have done without the mall. Also the same dance troupe came to the ship on Saturday night so I had already seen much of what they did.

Savusavu is really a small town so you can walk up and down the stores in less than an hour. Again the weather was a bit sketchy. The one hightlight was that I go my husband to wear a sulu and while we were buying it the sales person was laughing the whole time. He kind of started a trend when he wore it since the next day 3 other men were wearing them on board.

Do you know what ports you are visiting in Fiji? We also went to Malolo island to a resort there but I don't think they were going back there.

Any other questions I would be happy to try and answer.

Caroline

Thank you so much for the information!

Yes, thanks for reporting back. I'm glad to know that sea sickness wasn't pervasive on those days on the open sea.

Welcome back to the real world!

We are just back from the 3 June Fiji/Tahiti trip.

there was a dive offered at Aitutaki ($115 for one tank, using an outside operator, only 6 divers maximum) which was OK. Apparently we should have seen giant turtles and eagle rays, but none that day... We had arranged to dive directly with the operator that afternoon ($90 one tank) but the steering on the boat broke so couldn't.

No ship was offered at Rarotonga, but there was an operator on the pier and I think there was a dive at 1030 and one in the afternoon. We didn't get to see the operation, but friends of ours did and they said that the equipment looked very good.

Not sure if your itinerary includes Fiji. We dived in Lautoka on the west side and were not overly impressed ($175 for 2 tank dive arranged by PG using outside operator). Yasawa dives were cancelled as no operator could be found. Dives in Savusavu ($260 for 2 tanks dive arranged by PG using the JM Cousteau resort) were very good, excellent soft corals.

We didn't really experience any ship movement to speak of. Swells up to 10 foot. We had a midship cabin on deck 4.

Hope this helps,

Roz