January 26 17 Night Cruise Review Part 2

Early on January 27th, and one day late, we boarded a bus to the ship. Most all on the cruise were staying at the Sofitel in Brisbane and Paul Gauguin assigned us to departure times each spaced about 30 minutes apart. We had to leave our luggage in the hallway outside of the room the prior evening and we identified our luggage in the hotel lobby before it was put on a truck to the ship. We were off pretty early with an 8:00 am bus departure time. We arrived at the cruise ship terminal and had a short wait until customs and immigration was open. From there it was a short walk onto the ship with the obligatory photo being taken upon embarkation.

For those of you who are new to the ship here is a brief overview of the public spaces. Deck three forward has the “hospital” and the marina is located on deck 3 aft. The marina is where you pick up your snorkel gear (including a mesh bag and snorkel vest) and keep it for the duration of the cruise. This is nice as you can use it for excursions booked through the ship as well as for privately booked excursions. Many of us brought our own mask and snorkel and used the ships fins in order to save weight in our luggage. Deck four midship has the reception desk where you can check your account, sign out DVD’s and exchange currency. During our cruise 10,000 cfp would have cost $118 USD. Adjacent to this is the travel concierge desk (commonly known as the shore excursion desk) as well as the dive desk which is where the dive master signs up participants for dives.

Deck five houses L’Etoile, the large dining room which is open for dinner and does not require a reservation. It also has the internet café, photo shop, piano bar and casino. The casino had about 20-30 slot machines, one blackjack table and one roulette table. The main draw to deck 5 is the Grand Salon where movies, evening shows, lectures, and the first ever Paul Gauguin live Superbowl party was held. I’ll get to the higher decks a little later.

My first thought when I saw the ship was that it was very impressive. The outside was newly painted and there was no rust streaking visible. During the cruise, at every port, the painters were out touching up the sides of the ship to keep it in perfect shape. During sea days a team of painters was constantly visible painting every imaginable exterior metal surface to keep it pristine. My kudos go to the maintenance staff on the ship. When we entered on deck five we were immediately taken by the pristine condition of the interior space. Every floor in every area of the ship had new carpet. The old solid red carpets were gone replaced with tropical print carpets. These new carpets were in all halls, every restaurant, and even in every stateroom. Coupled with this were newly upholstered seating in almost every venue. It was like getting onto a ship fresh out of the shipyard, which I guess it really was.

Check in was a breeze and a cabin stewardess then showed us to our deck four window cabin. We met Helen our cabin stewardess and was pleased that she, and others, remembered us by name. Most of the crew welcomed passengers with a “I remember you from your prior cruise” and it was amazing if they really did remember us. Since 80%+ of the guests had sailed previously it was a good gamble to presume we were repeat cruisers but I really think they did remember us. After a quick look in the cabin we wanted to explore the ship. The cabin was in pristine condition as not only had the carpet been replaced but the floor in the bathroom was new and the linens on the bed were new. It is pretty amazing that all of this work had been accomplished in a little over three weeks time. We went up to the pool deck as the ship had arranged for an aboriginal dance troupe to welcome us and then we had our sail away party. Here we met the ships crew including the cruise director Michael Shapiro. Michael was not our cruise director during our prior cruise as he rotates off every four months with another cruise director. Michael is energetic, always on the go and a consummate professional. He has a lengthy show business background and performed in the Grand Salon on a few evenings. He has a great voice.

Lunch is always served buffet style in La Veranda on deck 6 or at Le Grill on deck 8 (next to the pool). Each day has a different theme lunch and in recognition of our sail away our lunch on day one was Australian. Every lunch had a cold and hot soup, breads, cheeses, cold cuts, sliced and whole fruit, a pasta station and about a dozen hot entrees to choose from. There were also a multitude of dessert options. If one of these items was not to your liking you could always order a cheeseburger, pizza or quesadilla. After our lifeboat drill we attended an enrichment lecture “Mans Conquest of the Pacific: Human Settlement of Oceania” presented by the on board archaeologist and anthropologist Mark Eddowes. Many have heard Mark speak during prior cruises or they have attended guided shore excursion led by Mark. He is a wealth of information as he has been conducting research in the region for more than a decade.

During this first day I stopped by the dive desk to try and schedule some dives. I wanted to sign up early for the shark dive in Fiji when we reached Suva as this was listed as being held in Beqa Lagoon, a world renowned dive spot. As I was signing up I asked about the dive and the dive master did not know where the dive would be held and also told me that instead of the shark dive it would be a soft coral dive. The reason for the change was that we were now one day behind schedule and the dive shop rotates the dive location based upon day of week. I was disappointed that the dive master did not have a lot of information about the original dive location nor did he really know where the dive would be held. He acknowledged confusion due to the delay coupled with communication challenges while underway. I asked if it appeared it would be hard to book future dives and he told me that he did not think there were many divers on board. I also asked about dives at our second port in Fiji and this was when I was first informed that this second port would have to be skipped due to the one day delay. This was the beginning of the lack of communication as the passengers were not told officially about missing this port until two days later. In any event, I booked the dive in Suva and the dive master assured me that he would keep me informed.

Later this first day I attended a naturalist lecture “Sharks and Rays of French Polynesia” which was presented by Bobby Verdegaal our onboard naturalist. She presented about half a dozen lectures during the cruise and they were all spectacular. She is very knowledgeable and her teaching background allows her to effectively communicate her knowledge with the group.

During the day the captain told us about challenging weather that lay ahead and that he would do his best to avoid the worst of it. He described a low and high pressure system that were merging causing “cyclonic activity” in the region. He expected 12-15 foot seas during our transit to New Caledonia. It was tough to look at the sea and determine the wave height but it was a little rocky. I guess I took it pretty well as the dining room was pretty empty for the first two days as many passengers were pretty green with sea sickness. This first day also included the Welcome Aboard Block Party when all guests are encouraged to come out of their stateroom and have a glass of wine in the hall in order to meet their deck mates. This is a great concept that PG is known for.

Our typical evening included sitting in the piano bar at about 6 pm listening to the piano player Bob Style (new on the ship and pretty good) while we had a drink and some hors devours. At about 7:15 we would go into the dining room for dinner and ask to be seated at a large table. This allowed us to meet many of our fellow passengers. Dinner was very casual (dress) but always included a seven course meal. Appetizer, soup, salad, pasta, intermezzo, entrée, cheese course and dessert. Obviously you did not have to order one of each but many of us did. It was important to be seated by 7:30 as the typical dinner was a solid 2 hours in length. The evening show began at 9:30 and late diners usually missed the show.

Evening show time was at 9:30 every evening and was preceded by the group Siglo (drum, bass and guitar) playing from 9:00 pm until the show started. This group is spectacular. Their music and singing is amazing and all enjoyed listening to them every evening. Our first nights show was A South Pacific Discovery featuring Michael Shapiro, Les Gauguines, Bob Style, Siglo and a special guest entertainer Aaron Meyer. The show was a great lead in to the rest of the cruise. For the late night crowd Siglo would usually play from 11:00 pm on in La Palette on deck 8 aft.

For those that have not been on the PG before Les Gauguines are a group of 8 beautiful Polynesian women who work on the ship. They sing, dance, lead activities, and are out and about constantly. Whether you want to make a shell necklace, walk a mile each morning on deck, play bingo, play board games, etc. Les Gauguines are there leading the activity. They assist with registration on the ship, I observed they working the lighting during an evening show, they perform during every dinner and they are truly the ambassadors of the ship.

More in part 3

Awesome. Thanks Flightmedic555.

So glad you got Siglo. Last onboard they were taking a break, and they were sorely missed.

Thanks - great review. Am looking forward to part 3. Makes me wish October was coming more quickly.

Cheers,

Lorna

Thank you FlightMedic 555, you have me even more enthusiastic about our upcoming adventure.

Great detail. Thanks! Looking forward to part 3.

All sounds good to me!

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this review Flightmedic. It is very informative, and gives such an insight into the ship and what we may enjoy in our up-coming trip. It makes me even more excited, and am counting down the days till July! This will be our first cruise and first time in FP, and we are really looking forward to it and meeting others on the trip.

Did the remodel address adding shade to the pool area?

On the pool deck they did not add shade but the shaded area on the starboard side which used to be a smoking area is no longer a smoking area. They put in some nice wicker style chairs and sofa type seating with seating for about 20 people in total. The only other shaded area is at the pool bar but that tends to be quite crowded.