Review of wonderful Society Islands PG cruise holidays 2014

Just returned from 10 days in French Polynesia. We did the Christmas/New Year's sailing on the Paul Gauguin, with a 3-day pre-stay in Moorea.

Though PG handled our air from LA, we first had to get ourselves to LA. I gave us a 5-hour layover in LA; however, since it was the holidays and storms were around the northeast, we were a bit nervous with our connections until we got to LA with plenty of time to spare. I was determined to pack such that we could carry on our bags until we reached LA, and we did manage that. We even took our own snorkel equipment (you can also use PG equipment), though we did buy new shorty (“swimmer’s”) fins. Even with that, we took more clothes than we really needed. Our bags were slightly over Air Tahiti Nui’s weight limit, so we did check our bags from LA to Papeete. Didn’t mind that, as the bags were given directly to ATN and the flight was non-stop. Being from the eastern time zone, we were pretty tired by the time we left LA. I know some people have complained about ATN, but economy was tolerable enough, especially since we slept through most of the flight (me with the help of Ambien; I have a lot of trouble sleeping if I’m not in my own bed.)

The transfers to and from Moorea, where we did a pre-stay at the Intercontinental, were handled efficiently by PG. The IC itself was pretty nice. I snorkeled multiple times each day right off our over-water bungalow. It had rained a lot the previous week, so the water wasn’t crystal clear, but visibility was pretty good – I could see the bottom even in the deepest areas. Lots of fish; saw a sea turtle and reef sharks as well. The food at the IC is good, but the service takes a while, and the meals are expensive. There is a market a 5-minute walk up the road that we hit up a couple of times. We did a sunset catamaran cruise and were the only tourists on the boat – lovely! Watched the sharks and rays. We also did the “3 Coconuts” hike (with a guide). We were the only people on that excursion, also. It left from the Belvedere, so we got those views, along with great ones from the top of the saddle where we found ourselves after several muddy, slippery miles. The guide also pointed out plants of interest. People have asked about mosquitoes – yes, we had them. Worse yet were the “no-see-ums”, which were responsible for most of the bites I got during vacation. We did wear repellent with deet, but in and out of the water, plus persistent bugs, meant we weren’t always fully protected. Since I am the preferred meal, my DH escaped unbitten.

We were able to get into our bungalow early the day we arrived, but we had to vacate at the 11 o’clock checkout on Saturday. We gave our luggage over to the hotel, sat out by the pool for a few hours, then cleaned up in one of the transit rooms (basically, a shower with changing area). We had a bit of consternation waiting to check out when we spoke with a woman waiting to check in who had just returned from the previous week’s PG cruise. She had a lot of complaints. The weather was horrible; they missed the motu on Taha’a; the staff were unpleasant; the food was awful. Yikes, we thought, what are we heading into? As it turned out, we were heading into a fabulous cruise on a great ship with a wonderful crew. It really goes to show that you have to judge for yourself; what one person hates you could love.

The PG is beautiful; bright and shiny. The halls are lined with pictures and artifacts from Polynesian history. There are also a *lot* of mirrors. Seriously – you don’t have to worry how you might look – you get to check yourself out every few yards. (I will say the bare walls of the stairways could have used some artwork.) The cabins are lovely, and there are drawers and storage crannies everywhere. We had a veranda and picked the deck (7) with cabins, not public areas, above and below. We aim for that, as I am a light sleeper. Unfortunately, our luck ran out, as we had a herd of elephants 3 tweens/teens sharing a room directly overhead. Fortunately, with the help of my trusty travel Ambien, and the fact that we weren’t on the same schedule, we only had one night where the overhead pounding and door slamming kept us up.

With regard to kids – this being the holidays, there were a lot of families on board. PG had a special program (environmental stewardship through the Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Futures Society) for ages 10-17 for both our cruise and the one prior (they also do it June-August). The kids weren’t an issue (other than the fact that the ones over our cabin were noisy). I think the program kept them pretty busy. There were also younger kids (down to toddler age), but they were also well-behaved. I actually envied the kids – nice to be brought up in a family that has the wherewithal to take such a wonderful trip.

The passenger country breakdown was listed – just over half were American. Several couples we met were doing extended trips, going on to New Zealand, Australia, and/or Singapore. Our fellow travelers were interesting and fun to chat with. The crew was fabulous - *every one* of them always had a ‘good morning’ and a smile.

A couple of notes on the cabin – the bathroom has a shower/tub combo. This means you need to step over the tub edge, and keep your balance while showering. There are grab bars in the shower. The toiletries are good, but the bottles they are in don’t squeeze easily. We took to storing them upside-down to make using them easier. The safe I did not like. Unlike most hotel/cabin safes, there is no display. So be really careful when inputting a code, as you don’t get any confirmation. The A/C worked well.

We ate several times in the specialty restaurants – twice in La Veranda, and once in The Grill. Along with the main dining room, the dinners were outstanding. Only a couple of main dishes weren’t wonderful; the duck was only ok, and one vegetarian option was way too spicy for my taste. The appetizers were tasty and imaginative. The food is presented artfully. We did room service breakfast each morning. Again, very good food. Once or twice, early on, something arrived lukewarm, but mainly the hot dishes were hot. The lunch buffets were more hit-and-miss. The buffet desserts tended to be better and more plentiful than the main dishes. Best of those were the carving stations (pig one day; ham another).

Contrary to the weather the week prior (even the crew talked about it), we had calm winds and little rain. Day 2 in Bora Bora did have a lot of rain – that was the only day. A couple of other days did have some shower activity. It’s the type of thing, though, as others have said, where it rains for 10 minutes and that’s it. It was actually pretty nice when we had some clouds – the sun is STRONG. I am almost three quarters Portuguese ancestry, and I usually don’t have to worry about burning. Well, I burned in Polynesia, just from being out and about. Bought a $24 bottle of sunscreen from the ship’s boutique that was worth every penny.

The PG had some specialty entertainers (Jazzdagen, who were very popular) and a local singer of some renown. There were also interesting guest lecturers. We attended 2 of the 3 environmental/earth science lectures and one on the true story of the HMS Bounty. The kids’ program had additional lectures, as well. There were several Polynesian music/dance troupes that gave shows; the one on the last night (in Papeete) was truly amazing.

The marina was open most days, and we did take advantage to kayak (off the motu) and to paddleboard (well, that was just me. I have wanted to try that for quite a while now. After about 5 minutes getting the hang of not losing my balance, it was great fun.)

For excursions, we did half privately-arranged and half ship’s tours. On Huahine, we did the all-day trip with Marc’s. Great trip! Got to see eels, historical sites, vanilla beans, and a pearl farm and snorkel, including during a shark feeding (which had been added to our trip because two couples from one of the resorts had asked for it). Great motu meal. We were 6 people for most of the day, and then combined with the 4 from the resort. Water very clear.

On Taha’a, I (only) did the drift snorkeling through the ship. Great trip, wonderful snorkeling. The people going were divided up into 3 different groups, so no group was very large. Don’t do this one if you’re a novice snorkeler, though; strong current and shallow waters over the coral. After that, I met up with DH on the PG motu. Fabulous food; more snorkeling; kayak race. One of kids got dehydrated and fell and needed medical attention, but I saw him the next day, and he was fine. Rumor did have it that an older passenger had some sort of medical issue that necessitated leaving the ship.

Two days on Bora Bora; two privately-arranged snorkel trips (I had told people I was going to spend 10 days in the water, and I did!) Pure Snorkeling’s Reef Discovery trip was great. Environmentally-conscious and respectful of the reefs. We snorkeled above manta rays - how I love them! The 2nd day (the day we had heavy rain off and on) we went with Rannui. Right from the start this wasn’t as wonderful – a Holland America ship was also in port, and we had 14 people, which was probably 4 over the limit (and there was one in particular I could’ve done without). Also, the guides not only didn’t warn the guests not to stand on the coral – they stood on it themselves, and even anchored to it! O.o We swam while they fed stingrays (the stingrays put up with being manhandled), and also reef sharks. Then we went to another spot and saw lemon sharks. The lemon sharks are larger and stay deeper, and one guide dove down and rode the shark like a cowboy on a horse. I am not making this up. Yes, I still had fun that day, but the excursion was definitely more over the top. Again, the animals put up with things, but I wasn’t a fan of the way the animals and coral were treated. It was the only day I felt hadn’t been even more wonderful than the things I had already done.

As a side note, the tenders from the PG run every 30 minutes. As we were returning from the motu meal (only 4 people, including us, had taken that as part of the tour, and had I known that was the only difference between the full-day tour and the half-day one, I would’ve skipped it – it was a pretty basic meal), a tender was just leaving the dock and sailing by our docking boat. I jokingly stuck my thumb out, and the tender returned for us! Nice.

For the 2 days on Moorea, we did 2 ship’s tours. The first was a catamaran ride with snorkeling (mainly the cat ride, which was lovely). Only 8 people on the trip. The 2nd day, we did the dolphin watching with Dr. Michael Poole – a great trip to take. Also some rain this day, but nothing that stopped anything from happening.

So, to sum up – we loved the trip, loved the PG, loved the islands. It’s a very loooonnng way for us to go, though (we spent over 24 hours traveling there and again coming home), so I don’t imagine we’ll get back there. But I can definitely understand the people who have caught the “PG flu” and go back year after year.

Well done : Will be there in 3 weeks , Thanks for the info....S-stuff-55

Thanks for your review and glad you enjoyed your trip.

Interesting about Raanui. Never been but it was recommended by Tiki. I guess the standards are not maintained.

Thanks for your review. Was the ship sailing full? It seems like it. Did the ship any holiday "special"? Did the chef make a Christmas cake(an English dessert)?

I have always wanted to take holiday cruise!

We sail again on the October 31st sailing to New Caledonia. We can't wait!

Was the ship sailing full? It seems like it. Did the ship any holiday "special"? Did the chef make a Christmas cake(an English dessert)?

The passenger/country breakdown they put in the daily brochure showed 335 pax. As there were families, I know that there were 3 (or more) people in some rooms. I don't know how PG gets to their 332 pax capacity, but I guess you could count the rooms.

The ship was nicely decorated for the holidays. It was a bit incongruous, actually, given the hot and sunny tropical paradise surrounding us. I had to keep reminding myself it was the Christmas/New Year's season.

We didn't board until Dec 27th, so I don't know if they did a special Christmas cake. They did have a special menu (the same in all the restaurants) on New Year's Day. We did not make it to midnight FP time, sad to say. We rose early each day, hit the gym (well, most days!), and maximized our daylight time in FP. I heard that the New Year's Eve celebration was nice - music and dancing in the salon, as this was the very rainy day we had.

Enjoy your trip!

I laughed about your description of the toiletries bottles. We just returned from our trip on Dec 20, and I thought I was the only one who had a hard time squeezing out the shampoo in those bottles!