Smile Windstar/Gauguin Tahiti:Persons who have sailed on both ONLY

[St Paul Girl]

Hi CruiseCritic members:

I am new to this discussion board. My husband and I are planning on sailing around Tahiti in the autumn of 2015 and have narrowed down our choices to Windstar and Paul Gauguin.

I was going to post on the already being discussed thread, but we would like to hear from persons that have sailed on both and hopefully both in Tahiti.

Price is NOT an issue for us. We like fine dinning, meeting other persons, a little more casual than formal, I do NOT drink alcohol, but my husband makes up for me, and the cabin is a place to sleep, shower and nudge/wink/wink

We have sailed 3 times before, Holland America, Princess and Celebrity.

Your comments are very much appreciated.

Thank you and have a great day;

PS: I have also posted this on the Wind Star discussion area

[Cruisedreamer1]

To be honest, we will be going on our 7th PG cruise in September. While the islands are beautiful it is the ship and its crew that draws us back.

 

We have sailed on the cruise lines you have sailed in the past and I can assure you that even on our least best PG cruise, the PG experience was heads over the other cruise lines.

 

On our least best cruise, it was the passengers who made it least beast due to their attitude (older, wanting to be hand feed their experience).

 

PG sails in the Pacific where everything is flown in and if a meat provider can make a shipment the chef has to scramble. French law is also another challenge for the ship.

 

Hands down, except for the Gauiguines, entertaining on the ship is marginal.

The ship is small so one will have less attractions but I feel that the ship is more like what cruising use to be, before rock climbing and all that came about.

 

Sit back, relax, have a glass of wine at LA Palatte and watch the sunset set and then tell me it isn't wonderful.

[St Paul Girl]

Hi cruisedreamer1:

Thanks for the encouragement. We are "mature" and service means everything to us as well as meeting people when we are away. We read a lot of reviews in the past 24 hours and have decided on Paul Gauguin.

A follow up question, have you done the "longer" Tahiti and Fiji together cruise? I noticed a few more days of open water sailing. I have gotten sea sick on our Alaska cruise, so on our most recent cruise to Bermuda, I wore a "patch" and had no problems.

Thank you very much:

[gardenMaui]

We have done the both the Tahiti, Tuamotos & Marquesas trip & also the Fiji, Tonga, Cook, Society Islands trip. Both have several sea days. We thought the sea days were great for relaxing, going to lectures, etc. Only one rough day for us - leaving Tahiti for the Tuamotos (2007). Those with cabins on the upper decks suffer the most (if there are rough seas).

We stick with deck 4 & have not had any problems.

[DGK]

St. Paul Girl, I also am extremely prone to motion sickness and gave it a lot of thought picking our itinerary. We chose the 10 night Society and Tuamotus ( one sea day ) and was absolutely thrilled with it. We also had the luxury of extending our trip by arriving 4 days prior with one night at the IC Papeete and three nights at the Hilton Moorea . I do have to admit one eve I got very ill as I was trying to be brave and did not wear the patch which was my own fault . I cannot comment on Windstar. You will have a wonderful trip know matter what you choose as it is all paradise !

[St Paul Girl]

Hi DGK:

Thanks for the encouragement. We are flying to New Zealand to spend at least 3 weeks driving around and we want to maximize our time "down-under" with seeing the Islands. WE have always dreamt of seeing Tahiti, but do not know much about Fiji. Air New Zealand has told us that we can "stopover" at our convenience, so the airfare is kind of free.

Anything else that you can think of concerning Fiji would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much:

[Cruisedreamer1]

There are sea days but I don't remember being sick from motion. I always taken Bonine and wrist bands with me. You will enjoy the trip and if you dive you will love Fiji diving!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I also get seasick, so I would take whatever medication is suitable for you--you just never know what the weather gods will bring. We had very smooth sailing on our Marquesas trip on the PG, but had a wild storm once off of Bora Bora. I also always take Bonine and will again this September when we go back for another "fix" on the PG. We also usually choose a mid-ship cabin on deck 4, and rarely bother with a balcony since you spent very little time in your cabin except to sleep.

[radgalut]

Thanks for the information. I am looking at doing a solo cruise to Tahiti in 2015 and it has been good to see all the different takes on the two lines. I am still debating but from price Windstar appears to be ahead. But still need to figure out what i am going to do.

 

Amy

[Tikiintahiti]

Thanks for the information. I am looking at doing a solo cruise to Tahiti in 2015 and it has been good to see all the different takes on the two lines. I am still debating but from price Windstar appears to be ahead. But still need to figure out what i am going to do.

 

Amy

 

Go check prices again, PG is typically about 15% less and the bar tab plus the gratuities are inclusive ;)

[radgalut]

I assume the difference is in the solo supplement. The quote i got today pg was 6900 and windstar was 4400. Even assuming airfare and tips 2500 is a big difference. I drink but I can still cover a big tab with that

 

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

[Tikiintahiti]

I assume the difference is in the solo supplement. The quote i got today pg was 6900 and windstar was 4400. Even assuming airfare and tips 2500 is a big difference. I drink but I can still cover a big tab with that

 

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

 

I didn't notice you said, "solo."

 

Disregard what I said :o

[Emdee]

Regent has just announced future cruises to Tahiti. However I think their single supplement now sucks..

Crystal has a wonderful supp of 25% and they may visit the area on their world cruise.