Question about seasickness and cabin on 7 day Tahiti cruise - please advise!

Hello. I have cruised before on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, and have been very happy with the cabin sizes and balcony sizes. My husband and I are thinking of doing the 7 day Tahiti cruise (Society islands) in late September. This will be our first time on a smaller ship, and our first time to the South Pacific. I do not get sea sick but my husband does. (though he rarely did on those big ships!)

So I have a few questions:

1) I'm wondering if rough waters are likely to be a problem at all in September, especially since the ship doesn't really go on the open seas much.

2) I wanted to do a veranda stateroom on deck 8, (I have a hold on 813), but I see that these are not really mid-ship, so will the motion be likely to get to my husband?

3) As an alternative, we could do a mid-ship Category C on deck 7, but the balconies and rooms look so small! We love to sit on our balcony during a cruise, but a 37 sq. foot balcony seems tiny. Does it feel tiny to those of you who have done Category C? I don't mean to sound spoiled!

I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate any advice you could give me. I feel like I need to book this soon, but I'm conflicted about the cabins. We're also considering just a land trip to Bora Bora and Moorea.

Thanks, all! :)

Cabins that are mid-ships and on lower decks will have less motion. Whether or not that will be an issue for your cruise is not knowable. Sometimes the seas can be quite high in and around French Polynesia, but usually not. One of the wildest "rides" I've ever had was on the PG. When last on her in September we had rain but no seas to speak of.

My personal opinion is that the lovely little cabins on deck 4 are perfect for the PG. I've been in a penthouse cabin on the PG, but still didn't spend very much time in the cabin: the decks and bars are where I can usually be found. So for me the penthouse was largely wasted money. The layout of those little cabins on deck 4 is really well done.

This is different than other ships I've been on, where cabin and balcony size are much more important.

In your case, the fact that these cabins are on deck 4 will reduce the chances that your husband will have an issue with the motion.

I agree completely with David.

Deck 4 midships is the place to be if you are worried about motion. Look at cabins in the 420 range (but not 426).

Deck 8 is REALLY great too, but as you point out you are closer to the front of the ship and will move a bit if the seas are rough. They almost never are on the 7 night cruise. Strong possibility on the 11-14 night cruises (that are on the open ocean much longer).

Also it is ABSOLUTELY true that the cabin is NOT where you will be on the PG. You will want to be hanging out with your new best friends in all the public areas! :)

Be sure to take Bonine with you and start once you are on board. As I recall, I think the 1st night out was a bit much for me (it was our very first cruise ever and the motion sickness woke me up from a dead sleep). I did not take any precautions and paid for it. We will be taking our 8th PG cruise at the end of October and am happy to say I sail just fine now. I also take wrist bands.

I always start any cruise with a Bonine now and see how things go. I usually don't have to do anything afterwards.

I remember being on a large Princess cruise ship coming into San Pedro, CA in the am and woke up with slight motion sickness and we were practically in the harbor!!!

We have been on all the decks except the 3rd and sailed without problems. Don't worry about where your cabin is on the PG. You will enjoy it no matter which deck you are on! Go for the longest one you can afford!!!

I love both deck 4 and deck 8 so either are great.

I personally do not care for the smaller balconies. Deck 8 is convenient to many things and has lovely cabins and balconies. My other fave is deck 4.

Either way you cannot go wrong on the PG.

I had a post from my first time on PG after being on 30+ cruises a few months ago. When I came home, I told a friend who was very prone to sea sickness not to go on this ship. I am not prone to sea sickness at all, but I never felt a ship move as much as this one. It is both a small ship, and I understand a flatter bottom to help it get into some locations. As a result, you will definitely feel the ship move WAY more than a larger cruise line than Royal or Celebrity or the like. I remember a number of times needing to grab the handle in the bathtub while taking a shower so as not to fall out. What your tolerance is for sea sickness is a personal decision of course. But no matter where you are on this ship, you will feel it move a lot more than a larger ship and you need to go into this cruise with your eyes wide open to that fact. The week before we were on the ship I was told it had to miss either one or two ports and many people were seasick due to rougher weather(which according to someone in the spa wasn't all that rough but was for this ship). My spouse who never gets seasick was eating ginger a lot, and felt nauseous, but never got fully sick. So again, all is a personal choice, but if you are very prone to sea sickness, I would advise this isn't the line for you.

I had a post from my first time on PG after being on 30+ cruises a few months ago. When I came home, I told a friend who was very prone to sea sickness not to go on this ship. I am not prone to sea sickness at all, but I never felt a ship move as much as this one. It is both a small ship, and I understand a flatter bottom to help it get into some locations. As a result, you will definitely feel the ship move WAY more than a larger cruise line than Royal or Celebrity or the like. I remember a number of times needing to grab the handle in the bathtub while taking a shower so as not to fall out. What your tolerance is for sea sickness is a personal decision of course. But no matter where you are on this ship, you will feel it move a lot more than a larger ship and you need to go into this cruise with your eyes wide open to that fact. The week before we were on the ship I was told it had to miss either one or two ports and many people were seasick due to rougher weather(which according to someone in the spa wasn't all that rough but was for this ship). My spouse who never gets seasick was eating ginger a lot, and felt nauseous, but never got fully sick. So again, all is a personal choice, but if you are very prone to sea sickness, I would advise this isn't the line for you.

Generally speaking, all modern ships have mostly a "flat bottom". Paul Gauguin was designed to a level of draft which would allow it to enter the lagoons at many islands which dictated the overall size and capacity of the vessel. Larger ships, of course, cannot enter these beautiful anchorages. Seasickness is a very personal issue varying completely from person to person and even day to day. As a former ship Master who started as a seaman, I too suffered from Mal de Mer. Most of us can get over it. If not there are many ways to combat it. The most effective for me is the injection from the ship's Doctor. I have used this in Force 10+ on the North Atlantic. You will see nothing like that in French Polynesia. On our recent PG cruise, there was basically no motion to speak of. A very smooth ride. This of course is based on sea conditions. Even the largest ships will move, sometimes drastically in certain conditions. One of the roughest rides I have ever had was on Queen Mary 2 (approx. 150,000GT) in the Bay of Biscay. There is no way to guarantee a motion free cruise but I would not hesitate to sail PG again, even in choppy conditions.

I have been 8 times on the PG in a total of 50+ cruises but have never been sea sick.

If you are concerned about sea sickness book a lower mid ship cabin and cruise on the 7 day itinerary which stays in the Society Islands.

One of the roughest rides I have ever had was on Queen Mary 2 (approx. 150,000GT) in the Bay of Biscay.

Indeed, as I stated, one of my roughest rides was on the PG, the smallest ship I've ever been on. But a close second was during an Atlantic storm on Oceania's Riviera, which is the biggest ship I've been on.

I wrote about this extensively- including my 3 step method for avoiding motion sickness in my review; linked in my signature below. I have not had near the amount of crushes on PG as the folks above, but I will say that for us, on a "milestone trip" and not an annual vacation on PG, having the balcony was wonderful! On the 7 night, most sunsets (except those when docked at Moorea) are spent cruising from island to island. As first time visitors, I loved being on my balcony in my robe before dinner, hubby taking photos and me relaxing with a glass in hand! I would absolutely get a balcony again because the deck scene would require clothes, and socializing, which means I'm focused on others rather than the scenery and my beloved. During excursions and dinner we socialized heartily! :D

I was very concerned about seasickness when I booked my first ever cruise, which was on the Paul Gauguin. I was thinking that the waters would be calm. But as David said, we had a storm, quite a big one. The PG, for that time (2000) had a bum stabilizer. So I needed my Bonine, which I dutifully took, and never felt a thing. But there were some green faces on that cruise.

I have since been on the ship 5 times, so I have persevered. Mostly I never feel a thing, but I start with the Bonine, like Carol, and see how I get along.

Best thing is to get a cabin low down, mid-ship. Deck 4 is ideal--the balconies are really not worth it--they are, as you suggest, tiny, and the pool deck is much nicer to sit out on. Even with the (slightly) larger balcony on deck 8, I found that it was too hot to sit out on the balcony most times, unless our side happened to be in the shade, and since at anchor the boat rotates, that doesn't last long.

Even the deck 8 cabins are only a tiny bit bigger than the deck 4 ones, and the bathrooms are identical.