Just Back, Some Quick Thoughts...

[ducklite]

Ducklite, in your review you mentioned savings by not booking the air and hotel.

 

I think the PG deposit is 20% so if PG forgave you that money they did not receive because your tour operator absconded with the deposit then you were certainly made somewhat whole from your loss which by the way had nothing to do with PG. I only repeat this here as others may not have remembered the postings and concern which some of the people on your tour felt at the time and expressed on this board.

 

Didn't work quite that way. To be honest, what the tour company absconded with was less than what we would have been credited had we booked as a regular passenger and not taken the air and hotel. I'm not saying that they weren't gracious under the circumstances, but the reality is that in the big picture, it was a break even for them over what we would have been charged as a "regular" customer.

 

I do understand your disappointment on the wine as sometimes cruise line wines are less than stellar - its easier to just take a case of the stuff on board so you have what you want when you want. I recall one poster on the PG board who did do that not so long ago. We have also bought quite a few bottles when we have been on other ships as well including Azamara, Tere Moana and Regent. I barely drink so it doesnt matter to me but both DH and DD Chiara love a good wine! Its just easier to make ones own arrangements then rather than be disappointed.

 

The point is that they offered it as free-flowing wines from the specific vintner, and those wines were far from free-flowing and more often than not, they were only pouring the second label, when the bar wasn't out of it entirely. We quite often had to run from bar to bar around the ship trying to find one that had the wines from that vintner available. As we were on a wine specific cruise, we didn't feel we would need to bring any along... Nor should we have had to.

 

Imagine being on a cruise with an emphasis on chocolate. You arrive, and instead of the Godiva chocolate your have been promised and are expecting, you are served Hershey's half the time, and then before the cruise is over, are told there's no chocolate left, but you can have the Lollipops that the ship has on offer.

[twin123185]

Didn't know they have a wine package! I have never seen it mentioned anywhere on board. However the pay for wines are many and some I know from experience are excellent. I guess I just don't understand this dilemma.

 

 

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[ducklite]

Didn't know they have a wine package! I have never seen it mentioned anywhere on board. However the pay for wines are many and some I know from experience are excellent. I guess I just don't understand this dilemma.

 

 

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The wine package was a one off thing. It was a special arrangement for a group of about 50 of us that were sailing with a specific vintner. We were supposed to have an unlimited amount of that winery's wines--the "package" was specific to those wines which had been brought on board for us. What ended up happening was that we were offered mostly their second label (ie wine made by the winery that isn't good enough for their name to be on it, so they call it something else and sell it for less to a different market. For example Quintessa sells Faust, Léoville-Las Cases sells Clos du Marquis, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars sells Hawk Crest, etc.) and a very limited amount of the first label wines by the winery which we had to chase around the ship for.

 

We had already paid a premium for the wine package--billed as the first label--in our cruise fare. We shouldn't have had to pay additional for caliber of wine we had been promised.

Edited June 24, 2014 by ducklite

[twin123185]

Ok thanks for that. Thought I was missing out on something.

 

 

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[Emdee]

I have been reading the various postings on the internet on the Fine Food and Wine Fiasco. Very interesting. From the reports 2 PG cruises were effected and 1 Windstar cruise.

 

The 2013 PG cruise was a full ship charter which was half paid. Since it was really late and customers had already purchased air etc PG, together with the winery involved took the hit though they had no responsibility to do so.

 

The Merry Edwards cruise was cancelled in mid-December (Summer med cruise) and the people with bookings were told it was due to a dispute with Windstar and there would be no refunds from FF&W, and that they should speak to their travel insurance. Windstar washed their hands off the group and retained the deposits. Cruisers were told to look to their travel insurance and to their credit cards. It was rumoured that Travel Guard was not paid by the operator.

 

The 2014 PG cruise was salvaged by PG cruises and I post an excerpt from PG President Diane Moore which I found in the Cellar Tracker Forum:

 

BEGINNING OF QUOTE:

As you may have already heard, Fine Food and Wine Cruise.Com is closing their doors and will no longer operate wine cruises. I have heard from their owners that you had booked the Long Shadows Vintner’s Cruise scheduled on the m/s Paul Gauguin departing on April 26, 2014. I have already had discussions with Allen Shoup, founder of Long Shadows Vintners, and we are planning to move forward with this scheduled cruise. Allen and I promise to make this cruise just as exciting as the original planned through Fine Food and Wine.

 

We both hope that you will still plan on sailing. French Polynesia is one of my favorite destinations and I know that you will love it. And pairing this with the fabulous Long Shadows wines throughout the week will make it even more special.

 

Please contact me personally to let me know of your intent. At that point, I will ask our senior group specialist, Marcia Pilgeram, to be in touch with you to finalize details. As Allen said in his letter to you, we fully intend to honor the deposits made directly to Fine Food and Wine. However, as we have received no money from them for this reservation, should you choose not to travel, Paul Gauguin Cruises is unable to refund the deposits you already made.

END OF QUOTE

 

Other comments on the same site called PG cruises and Diane a Class Act and said that PG cruises understood the 'Customer for Life' concept.

 

Amazing the power of the internet. Mind you all hearsay but collating sources I understand the gist to be true! Of course Ducklite who lived through this will be able to give us the true story.....

[Emdee]

The wine package was a one off thing. It was a special arrangement for a group of about 50 of us that were sailing with a specific vintner. We were supposed to have an unlimited amount of that winery's wines--the "package" was specific to those wines which had been brought on board for us. What ended up happening was that we were offered mostly their second label (ie wine made by the winery that isn't good enough for their name to be on it, so they call it something else and sell it for less to a different market. For example Quintessa sells Faust, Léoville-Las Cases sells Clos du Marquis, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars sells Hawk Crest, etc.) and a very limited amount of the first label wines by the winery which we had to chase around the ship for.

 

We had already paid a premium for the wine package--billed as the first label--in our cruise fare. We shouldn't have had to pay additional for caliber of wine we had been promised.

 

With respect to wines getting over before the end of the cruise I want to relate a true story of the Regent Navigator where on a cruise to Alaska a bunch of champagne drinkers consumed the entire stock. People who were on that cruise said that it was common for this group to drink 10 bottles of champagne at any one sitting. The upshot is there was no champagne on board for the return to Vancouver. From time to time various ships have run out of a particular wine -this can happen.

 

In any event wouldnt that have been the vintner who co sponsored the cruise's issue ( James Tobin I think) and not PG who had responsibility for that part?

[ducklite]

With respect to wines getting over before the end of the cruise I want to relate a true story of the Regent Navigator where on a cruise to Alaska a bunch of champagne drinkers consumed the entire stock. People who were on that cruise said that it was common for this group to drink 10 bottles of champagne at any one sitting. The upshot is there was no champagne on board for the return to Vancouver. From time to time various ships have run out of a particular wine -this can happen.

 

 

 

In any event wouldnt that have been the vintner who co sponsored the cruise's issue ( James Tobin I think) and not PG who had responsibility for that part?

 

 

No. PG was responsible for providing the wine, the vintner only sold it to them. I was not on a Tobin James cruise. Had they run out on one of those, there would have been a mutiny!

 

When PG took on the responsibility of the cruise, including providing the wine, they should have planned appropriately and had enough. Otherwise they simply shouldn't have made the offer.

[Emdee]

No. PG was responsible for providing the wine, the vintner only sold it to them. I was not on a Tobin James cruise. Had they run out on one of those, there would have been a mutiny!

 

When PG took on the responsibility of the cruise, including providing the wine, they should have planned appropriately and had enough. Otherwise they simply shouldn't have made the offer.

 

Sorry my mistake on James Tobin - it was the long shadow cruise I believe. Reading about the fiasco is very confusing as the nuances are many

 

So you would have prefered that you lost your deposit like the Windstar people rather than have a bottle or two less of the wine that you liked?

[ducklite]

Sorry my mistake on James Tobin - it was the long shadow cruise I believe. Reading about the fiasco is very confusing as the nuances are many

 

So you would have prefered that you lost your deposit like the Windstar people rather than have a bottle or two less of the wine that you liked?

 

Yes.

 

Let me break it down.

 

I did lose my deposit.

 

What PG charged us for the cruise was more than had I booked it on my own.

 

PG didn't provide air, transfers, or hotels unless we wanted to buy a package from them at an additional cost.

 

If you take the cost of a PG cruise, subtract the credit for not taking their air/hotel/transfer package, you come up with "X" dollars.

 

If you take what we paid PG, you come up with "X" plus several hundred dollars. Trust me, we didn't drink several hundreds of dollars of wine--there wasn't enough on board to have done that.

 

The reality is that when you sit down and do the math, PG actually didn't do any of us any favors.

 

The original cruise we had booked was a full ship charter, included a guest "celebrity chef," all the wine makers (we got one out of eight), etc. There were other perks that were included, which is what made the cost what it was.

 

My deposit was over and above the cost of the PG cruise. I paid PG the "rack rate" for their cruise (adjusted for not air/transfers/hotels) plus some.

Edited June 24, 2014 by ducklite

[ducklite]

I believe the 2013 one with the PG was a Gary Tobin cruise so you should call him and get the scoop for us.....

 

Regarding popcorn......My favourite is the sweet and salty.... have your tried it? I am not joking here as I seem to have consumed two bags in the last week almost by myself. Its so addictive. The Sweet and Cheddar is nice too.

 

There were three affected cruises. Tobin James which I want to think was booked for early February 2013, Merry Edwards which was on Windstar and supposed to be June? 2013, and Longshadows booked for April 2014. Right after Christmas in 2012, the company producing these cruises went belly up. Tobin James (NOT the PG) picked up the tab for all of their wine club members who had paid for cruises to cruise on the PG. They paid PG the balance, which was about 25%.

 

Frankly if they hadn't, the PG would have been pretty much an empty ship that week, as it was a full ship charter, and pretty hard to fill berths at six weeks out.

Edited June 24, 2014 by ducklite

[shrkdive1]

Dang! I was going to call Tobey, as we call him, a friend of the family, to get the scoop but no need now.

 

As a wine drinker, one who's family is greatly involved with the Paso Robles wine country, I've found the freebie wines usually pretty good and as I said if I didn't like that days offering the wine steward would gladly find something else that would be to my liking. Sorry you didn't find something to your liking but then again, you seem to be the exception to what most people experience.

 

 

 

I was on the PG last November. Both my wife and I enjoy good California wines and can say that there was only one bottle (first night) that was drinkable. The wine that was offered throughout the remainder of the cruise was no better than the $10 bottles that you can buy at the local package store. If you enjoy good wine at home don't expect to find it for free on the ship. You can however pay extra to order your own bottles which many passengers did on our cruise.

[Tikiintahiti]

Dang! I was going to call Tobey, as we call him, a friend of the family, to get the scoop but no need now.

 

As a wine drinker, one who's family is greatly involved with the Paso Robles wine country, I've found the freebie wines usually pretty good and as I said if I didn't like that days offering the wine steward would gladly find something else that would be to my liking. Sorry you didn't find something to your liking but then again, you seem to be the exception to what most people experience.

 

 

 

I was on the PG last November. Both my wife and I enjoy good California wines and can say that there was only one bottle (first night) that was drinkable. The wine that was offered throughout the remainder of the cruise was no better than the $10 bottles that you can buy at the local package store. If you enjoy good wine at home don't expect to find it for free on the ship. You can however pay extra to order your own bottles which many passengers did on our cruise.

 

Different palates require different standards. I'm not picky, and for the record, I can buy a $10 bottle in Paso Robles that is very drinkable, but then again, we get things for less money in and around local Paso Robles if you know where to shop or if your a winery owner as most wineries cater to each other for discount wine.

 

My standard was meant and frankly some of the NZ wines on the PG are not bad, IMO

[ducklite]

I was on the PG last November. Both my wife and I enjoy good California wines and can say that there was only one bottle (first night) that was drinkable. The wine that was offered throughout the remainder of the cruise was no better than the $10 bottles that you can buy at the local package store. If you enjoy good wine at home don't expect to find it for free on the ship. You can however pay extra to order your own bottles which many passengers did on our cruise.

 

After being (wrongly) told by our server that we couldn't get the wine from the winery we were sailing with at lunch the first day, we tried a Chianti that was barely OK. We also tried a Sauvignon Blanc later in the cruise that I took one sip of and left. I'm not all that hard to please, and have any number of $10-20 bottles in my cellar (we polished off a fantastic $12 Californian SB on Sunday) but these were more like $4-8 bottles--and that's retail. Anyone who knows anything about the wine business knows the ship is paying 40-60% off retail. The sad thing is that it's not all that hard to find some really good value wines--it just takes a bit more effort.

 

I know that of the 50 or so of us that were sailing as a group, the vast majority were unhappy with the cruise--particularly the situation with the wines we were supposed to have but didn't, and would not likely return to the Paul Gauguin. Sad as these are exactly the types of people they should be courting--empty-nesters with a good deal of disposable income that they spend on travel.

[ducklite]

Wanted to say that a couple of the postcards I mailed on the ship showed up today. Eight weeks. Glad I wasn't waiting for a check from the Prize Patrol!

[Tikiintahiti]

After being (wrongly) told by our server that we couldn't get the wine from the winery we were sailing with at lunch the first day, we tried a Chianti that was barely OK. We also tried a Sauvignon Blanc later in the cruise that I took one sip of and left. I'm not all that hard to please, and have any number of $10-20 bottles in my cellar (we polished off a fantastic $12 Californian SB on Sunday) but these were more like $4-8 bottles--and that's retail. Anyone who knows anything about the wine business knows the ship is paying 40-60% off retail. The sad thing is that it's not all that hard to find some really good value wines--it just takes a bit more effort.

 

I know that of the 50 or so of us that were sailing as a group, the vast majority were unhappy with the cruise--particularly the situation with the wines we were supposed to have but didn't, and would not likely return to the Paul Gauguin. Sad as these are exactly the types of people they should be courting--empty-nesters with a good deal of disposable income that they spend on travel.

 

The loyal base of the PG is loyal not because of the pour. They love adventure and most know things just don't always go exactly as planned when your in this part of the world. The cost of importing California wine into FP is expensive, the government of FP makes it so as French wine rules. As they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do. French wine is relatively cheap in FP compare to state side.

FP has some arrangements with NZ for imports. As the PG is stationed full time in FP provisioning is done locally, not in Hawaii or California where California wine can be purchased cheaply. Many of the ships who come through FP for a trip or a few months now and then don't have this problem.

 

The PG does stock decent hard liquor that is poured at no additional cost. No your not going to find a bottle of good cognac but most of the brands are just fine, IMHO

Edited June 24, 2014 by Tikiintahiti

[ducklite]

My husband just noticed that the postcard that arrived at our house was postmarked Papeete June 13, 2014. So it took the PG over six weeks to get them in the mail. It was not a delay on the part of the FP post office. I'd suggest to anyone wanting to send postcards that they drop them in the mail on their own, don't give them to guest services on the ship.

[grandma*knows*best]

Many have complained of noise and vibrations. Maybe you are comfortable sleeping with your door unlocked, and open--I am not. Not to mention it would have been too humid to be comfortable.

 

Considering that another poster who was on the same cruise had many of the same comments about the ship as I did, I believe it was Paul Gauguin having an off week, not us.

 

Ducklite, don't you know that you are not allowed to post anything negative about PG on this forum, :rolleyes: I suggest that you ignore the bullies/shills and continue sharing your experiences. Thanks!

[Paul Gauguin Cruises]

Dear ducklite,

We have read all your comments on this forum and would like to discuss these directly with you, including the deposits that we did protect. Please contact us at 800-848-6172, extension x6255. We look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Paul Gauguin Cruises

[twin123185]

Dear Paul Gauguin cruises:

Please don't do anything!!

Dear Grandma:

Posting negative stuff is ok. It's the way it has been presented and the relentlessness that bothers people plus all the negativity toward the ship on other forums.

Anyone else find it strange for a person who has taken 5 cruises (according to the profile) to have over 10,000 posts on Cruise Critic?

 

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Edited June 26, 2014 by twin123185

[ducklite]

Dear Paul Gauguin cruises:

Please don't do anything!!

Dear Grandma:

Posting negative stuff is ok. It's the way it has been presented and the relentlessness that bothers people plus all the negativity toward the ship on other forums.

Anyone else find it strange for a person who has taken 5 cruises (according to the profile) to have over 10,000 posts on Cruise Critic?

 

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Don't worry, I'm not asking for anything--although it would be a nice gesture for them to pay for the clothing that went missing in their laundry. The clothing I can prove I had on the ship as there are photos of me wearing it taken by the ships photographer, and that after "tossing" my cabin looking for them, the housekeeping manager agreed were missing.

 

The three things that my husband and I were most frustrated with were the cabin steward moving/taking our belongings; the missing clothing and the way I was treated by the housekeeping manager and guest services manager; and that the whole situation with the wine--having to run from bar to bar to find one with the wine available, and then they totally ran out.

 

As I have said several times, the Gauguines, Irina (International Hostess), and our vow renewal were all wonderful. We also have high praise for Jan, the ship's photographer. Our cruise wasn't all bad--I never said it was, but the things that were bad were very troubling.

[VacayAddict]

Many many posts that say the SAME thing over and over and over......very tiresome.

[ducklite]

Many many posts that say the SAME thing over and over and over......very tiresome.

 

 

Actually I only say things when addressing comments made about me by others. Should I just pretend that my cruise was all roses and puppy dogs? I hope PG is able to accept the constructive criticism I offer better than the cheerleaders with the rise colored glasses.

[6rugrats]

Posting negative stuff is ok. It's the way it has been presented and the relentlessness that bothers people plus all the negativity toward the ship on other forums.

Why would you care? I see plenty of negativity on this board directed toward posters who don't paint a rosy picture of perfection about PG. They have the right to post their experiences without being attacked.

 

Anyone else find it strange for a person who has taken 5 cruises (according to the profile) to have over 10,000 posts on Cruise Critic?

 

No, I don't. Why do you? This is an example of unwarranted attacks against a poster. Is there a posting guideline I missed that lists some how many posts you are allowed per cruise?

 

Many many posts that say the SAME thing over and over and over......very tiresome.

If you don't like a post, don't read it. You can also block your ability to read any member's post if they bother you. That may solve your problem.

[grandma*knows*best]

Dear Paul Gauguin cruises:

Please don't do anything!!

Dear Grandma:

Posting negative stuff is ok. It's the way it has been presented and the relentlessness that bothers people plus all the negativity toward the ship on other forums.

Anyone else find it strange for a person who has taken 5 cruises (according to the profile) to have over 10,000 posts on Cruise Critic?

 

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I just don't like it when people post their experiences/impressions on this forum and are immediately told by a certain poster that what they experienced didn't happen and then are harassed mercilessly.

 

About the number of postings and number of cruises take, what does one have to do with the other? :confused:

[twin123185]

About the number of postings and number of cruises take, what does one have to do with the other? :confused:

 

 

You "know best", you tell me.

 

 

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