mermaid 285

We just asked on the roll call if anyone wanted to share our tour with us and would have paid for a private tour if necessary. Another couple joined us on the roll call and Ato found 4 more cruise passengers to share the tour. I'm sure it would be acceptable to just pay the difference though if you don't find enough participants. We went back to Fakarava for a few days last year prior to our 7 day cruise, just so that we could do the South Pass again. This time we did it through our accommodation. The ride was not rough at all on either occasion, but maybe that would depend on the time of year. We also did the Blue and Green Lagoon, it was nice enough but few fish and no colourful coral. The South Pass on the other hand is just out of this world! The snorkelling is the best we've ever experienced, with an abundance of colourful coral and many different colourful fish and sharks. The Sables Roses are a string of interconnecting motus that you are likely to have to yourself to explore while Ato or whoever takes you prepares lunch. Possibly one the most beautiful places ever and I'm saying that as someone who's been to the Maldives, French Polynesia 6 times, Seychelles and Thailand etc. I'd go back in a heartbeat and our 8-year-old son has already asked us to go back again. He took some amazing photos of small reef sharks. I've attached a couple of photos to give you an idea of the tour. If you want to see any more images check out my instagram account: monistravelgram. If you scroll back to 2018 you can also find some of my earlier photos of the South Pass. In my opinion not to be missed!

Hi, he was 8, the other participants were between 7-16. Our son is really into marine life so he was very happy taking part in whatever was going on. They did things such as taking the kids snorkelling and identifying different sea creatures, knowledge quizzes, investigating different things to do with land and sea, tug of war on the motu in Bora Bora, watching movies and documentaries whilst enjoying pizza and popcorn as well as star gazing one evening. Whenever I picked up our son the older kids also seemed pretty happy to be there and every one seemed to get along well. Of course each child is different and this may not be for everyone. But as our son aspires to be a marine biologist, it was absolutely perfect for him.

In case anyone else is in the same position as us and would like some information on the Te Moana Explorer programme I thought I'd give some details of our experience. The programme runs in school holidays and activities can be chosen to fit around anything else that you are doing as a family. Activities will take place even if only one child signs up. Parents can choose to take part in the activities themselves but this is not a requirement. Our son really enjoyed every activity he took part in, from games in the Captain's lounge, to tug of war on the motu in Bora Bora to snorkelling with turtles in Moorea. He was always really excited about the activities which centred around learning about the fauna and flora of the islands. On a couple of evenings there were also events such as star gazing and cinema night with popcorn. The programme was fantastic and our son already can't wait to sail on the Paul Gauguin again.

Ours is later on in August maybe we'll get something in the mail soon. Have a great time!

When is your cruise? Just wondering how long before departure you get your 'package'?

It is available on the app and I have previously seen it advertised and wondered if it would suit us more as it seems to also go to the coral gardens but does not require you to be highly experienced snorkelers.

Just wondering if anyone has done this shore excursion? Do you end up snorkeling in the same coral garden as the drift snorkel tour? Do you still do the drift? Or snorkel further away from the current? Does it take place at around the same time? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Happy to report back about our experience upon our return and maybe come up with some more ideas of activities that would be open to you with a toddler. I know from experience that your options are more limited while your child is so young, but that doesn't been to say you won't have a great time. As you are travelling over Christmas, there will definitely be other families on board. No matter what, I'm sure you will enjoy French Polynesia and being on the Paul Gauguin. Happy travels!

Hi Wanderlust_23, we will be bringing our 8-year-old on the cruise in August. It seems that many cruisers on here are not particularly happy to see kids on board. But at least the PG will be operating a kids activity program during the Summer and also Christmas holidays that focuses on the flora and fauna of the islands and ocean conservation. As our son is very interested in marine biology and sharks in particular, I think he should be well catered for. But these activities are only for kids aged 7+. We also took our son to French Polynesia when he was 3 and stayed in hotels, which worked well for us as the butlers were happy to entertain our son and some places had kids clubs. In terms of activities, you will be more limited with a young child, but there's still plenty to enjoy. You will still be able to go to the beaches, hire a car, take boat trips etc. Our son found the boat trips in particular very memorable and kept talking about them for a long time. The pool will also be fine, as long as your child wears swim diapers and wears a flotation device. I have absolutely no regrets about taking a 3-year-old to this part of the world. On the Paul Gauguin you may find help with your child more limited unless of course the grand-parents are coming too and will be helping you out. As regards the food, I would reach out to Ponant, they will be able to tell you what they can offer for your child. If you haven't booked yet and are not bringing the grand-parents, I would probably opt to stay in hotels with a toddler and leave the PG until he/she's a bit older. We have cruised on the PG twice before we had our son and on both occasions came across kids aged about 7 upwards who we never saw as a problem. In our experience the people that took away from our experience where not the kids, but large American groups on corporate incentives. For some reason whenever people travel in large groups they feel entitled to shout across the pool deck and behave like they own the whole ship/resort. At the end of the day all passengers should show consideration for others not just parents with young children.

Hi excited balcony, just wondering whether you decided to go for the vow renewal and if so, how did it go? Would love to hear some details as we have one booked for August. Happy travels

The Moana programme is only offered during school holiday periods, so if you plan carefully to avoid them you should be fine avoiding kids, unless of course anyone brings kids below school age! Being an educator myself, I have always had to travel in school holidays, including two cruises on the PG before I had my son. Even in school holidays there aren't many children on board.

Is there anyone on here who actually likes the new toiletries and has something positive to say (about their shampoo and conditioner)?

Thanks TheDarkestBlue, it seems their toiletries have gone a bit downmarket then. That's a real shame! Looks like I will have a complaining husband then, because I never travel light! 🤣

I would rather not have to bring my own (my husband always complains like mad that I bring too much stuff, LOL! I'm only trying to find out what the general consensus is on the shampoo and conditioner so that I can be certain they are decent products in the general opinion, i.e. of equal quality to what Paul Gauguin used to offer in the past such as Aqua di Parma or L'Occitane.

To get back to the original question, could anyone comment on the quality of the shampoo and conditioner please? I need quality products for my long coloured hair otherwise it might look parched. Are there any ladies among you who also rely on good hair products? If so, please let me know how you got on with the products on PG.