PG Has Fallen Apart

[twin123185]

Stupid question. The folks here that like Windstar better. Have you taken Windstar in French Polynesia? That would be the only fair comparison.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[twin123185]

Stupid question. The folks here that like Windstar better. Have you taken Windstar in French Polynesia? That would be the only fair comparison.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Adidas4fun]

Hmm, my thread on here post my cruise I clearly stated those aspects of the PG I was unhappy with; but I wasnt shouted down? And despite that I have been acused of wearing rose tinted glasses and being a cheerleader.

 

But never fear, these days this board is inhabited by a rabidly vociferous naysayer. One who despite their limited number of cruises has amassed an overwhelming number of posts and is everywhere telling everyone what to do or think - they brook no opposition and will make threats against those who dare oppose.

 

And throughout all this ... Where is the OP?

Edited September 10, 2014 by Adidas4fun

[ducklite]

Stupid question. The folks here that like Windstar better. Have you taken Windstar in French Polynesia? That would be the only fair comparison.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I disagree. The vibe and service of a cruise line will be the same regardless of where in the world that line sails. Yes, food, ports, and certainly shore excursions will differ, but otherwise the ship is the ship, and location isn't going to change that.

[twin123185]

We agree to disagree. My Princess cruises in French Polynesia had a much different feel and vibe than my other princess cruises.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[MotuIslander]

I have been wanting to take a PG cruise for years, and now I am finally planning it. Tahiti & Society Islands May 2015. I love everything that I know about the Paul Gauguin, but there are quite a few very negative reviews about this ship and the cruise line. I'm really have serious second thoughts.

 

I have heard great things about Windstar, and they don't seem to get so many negative reviews. But they aren't offering a sailing in May, and I don't like the fact that there are no balcony staterooms.

 

It's a dilemma. I'd love to hear input on whether the Paul Gauguin is really that bad, or if it's just a few people here and there that have really bad experiences.

 

Check your sources (reviewers). Google is your friend. :eek:

[stephenandrew]

So, my wife and I have sailed on the PG (14 day Marquesas), but have not sailed on Windstar, so I am unable to offer any perspective as to which is better, etc. Perhaps compared to some of you here, I am a pretty unsophisticated traveler. I have sailed multiple times on Princess, once on Disney, and once on NCL---basically all mass market lines. We enjoyed each of those cruises, but found PG to be a much better product. No doubt, a lot of that was just the itinerary, but we loved the small size of the ship, felt the cabins were great (I will agree that the AC was noisy) in terms of size, comfort and amenities; we thought the food in general was better than our other cruises, but I would also say it was not the greatest food I have ever had, but still very good nonetheless. Service was also very good...cabin was always clean, mini fridge stocked, and the dining room staff were pretty much on top of their game...always greeted us by name. I have never sailed on Seaborn, Silversea, etc.....and maybe the service/quality is better than PG....so maybe I have never experienced a true 5 star cruise, but man, if you can't have a good time on PG, then you really have demanding standards.....and that is fine, to each their own. For me, the PG was one of the best vacations I have ever had.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Los Angeles Travel Bug]

All good input. But I'm still pulling my hair out. Why is this decision so hard? LOL

I'm going to start a new thread since I highjacked this one.

[aeronan]

OMG, I can't believe what I'm reading! We sailed PG a couple of yrs ago &I was totally blown away by the personal service. It's so different on a small ship as opposed to a bigger one. Yes, you're going to feel the ocean movement, but yes, you're going to personally meet so many people. Weigh it out, I can do without the rock climbing walls, water slides, etc. to have the opportunity to meet & socialize every night with other passengers/crew from everywhere to the point that when you leave, it's a teary goodbye!

[MotuIslander]

All good input. But I'm still pulling my hair out. Why is this decision so hard? LOL

I'm going to start a new thread since I highjacked this one.

 

If it helps, we just booked our ninth sailing on the PG for next June. I have absolutely no concerns about the recent bad reviews. You really need to 'consider the source'.

Edited September 11, 2014 by MotuIslander

[ducklite]

If it helps, we just booked our ninth sailing on the PG for next June. I have absolutely no concerns about the recent bad reviews. You really need to 'consider the source'.

 

The words "recent bad reviews" are key. When was the last time you sailed on the PG?

 

The poor reviews are piling up not just on the forums, but on the cruise reviews section as well. Eight of 17 reviews this year rated the PG three stars or below. That means almost half found them to be average or lower. That is unacceptable for what sells itself as a luxury cruise.

[RZ3]

Well, since I'm the source, I'm going to go ahead and trust it. :)

 

Everyone has different levels of satisfaction. For some, the destination or traveling companions make up for any shortcomings in the quality of the ship. For others, who may be repeaters and recognized by the oldest members of the crew, there will be a different and likely more positive experience.

 

Those of us who are new to the PG are viewing it with a different lens. There is no predisposition one way or the other before the trip other than the excitement of the destination. Unfortunately, more and more people are seeing that the PG is not a luxury ship. There are some serious crew training opportunities. There is no way any 4 or 5 star restaurant would ever let a glass of water get to empty much less sit empty for extended periods of time, yet if you look through the reviews and you see that's a common issue. It's such a simple thing and is restaurant management 101, yet overlooked by the PG wait staff. The exception is the maitre d' who was the only one who would notice it during my cruise.

 

I truly hope that PG reads the reviews and starts training staff to be a bit friendlier and more responsive to the new guests. They are in a magical destination and the people on the islands are wonderful. However, the majority of the ship is not staffed by locals and they need to be trained.

 

Now let's sit back and watch the flame wars again. People voice opinions. Accept them for what they are and form your own opinions without discounting that someone else has had a different experience. Any of you who want to pick apart my one example, go ahead. It's one, very easy example of something incredibly easy to fix, yet it goes unresolved throughout multiple cruises and multiple reviews. There are many others, but few so easy to resolve.

[MotuIslander]

The words "recent bad reviews" are key. When was the last time you sailed on the PG?

 

The poor reviews are piling up not just on the forums, but on the cruise reviews section as well. Eight of 17 reviews this year rated the PG three stars or below. That means almost half found them to be average or lower. That is unacceptable for what sells itself as a luxury cruise.

 

I was last on the Paul Gauguin in January of this year. Before that, I was on last summer. Is two sailings in the last 14 months recent enough for you?

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. MY opinion is that there are some posters that are determined to be unhappy no matter what. That is sad.

[stephenandrew]

Those of us who are new to the PG are viewing it with a different lens. There is no predisposition one way or the other before the trip other than the excitement of the destination. Unfortunately, more and more people are seeing that the PG is not a luxury ship. There are some serious crew training opportunities. There is no way any 4 or 5 star restaurant would ever let a glass of water get to empty much less sit empty for extended periods of time, yet if you look through the reviews and you see that's a common issue. It's such a simple thing and is restaurant management 101, yet overlooked by the PG wait staff. The exception is the maitre d' who was the only one who would notice it during my cruise.

 

I truly hope that PG reads the reviews and starts training staff to be a bit friendlier and more responsive to the new guests. They are in a magical destination and the people on the islands are wonderful. However, the majority of the ship is not staffed by locals and they need to be trained.

 

Now let's sit back and watch the flame wars again. People voice opinions. Accept them for what they are and form your own opinions without discounting that someone else has had a different experience. Any of you who want to pick apart my one example, go ahead. It's one, very easy example of something incredibly easy to fix, yet it goes unresolved throughout multiple cruises and multiple reviews. There are many others, but few so easy to resolve.

 

I am not going to "pick apart" your example. If this is the sort of thing that matters to you, then you should absolutely pick a cruise/vacation/restaurant/whatever that meets your needs. It is your money and your time, so I have no issues with your observations/criticisms. I would agree that when I was on the PG I did see similar sorts of things---room service trays sitting outside a cabin door for extended periods of time; empty glasses on tables near the pool, etc. But for me, those things were relatively minor and inconsequential to my enjoying the cruise. I think PG does a lot more right than wrong, and am able to look past the small stuff (to me anyway). I wish I were there now.

[ducklite]

I was last on the Paul Gauguin in January of this year. Before that, I was on last summer. Is two sailings in the last 14 months recent enough for you?

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. MY opinion is that there are some posters that are determined to be unhappy no matter what. That is sad.

 

I love being happy. I am not happy when we booked and paid for what was described as a luxury cruise, and what we got was much closer to a mass market experience. THAT is the sad part.

 

If I was "determined to be unhappy" then explain the glowing reviews I've given two other lines.

[clairesmom]

I am really looking forward to a review or 10 from the repeaters cruise. I think a lot of people have too high of expectations though. I LOVE luxury. I love spending a holiday at the Ritz, where true 5 star customer service is everywhere. That said, the PG is FAR from a mass market line! I don't even understand the comparison...it is a cruise ship. There's no way everything is going to be perfect!! It's impossible.

 

I also do not understand why those that really don't like PG hang out on the PG boards??? I love coming back here because it reminds me of my time there. For those places that I found unacceptable, especially to the point of writing a poor review and spending hours talking negatively about it, I don't return! It's not worth my time...

[RZ3]

The reason I still come here is that I did enjoy my time on the PG and I expect to return to FP at some point. I don't know that it will be on PG or not, but it might be if the price is right. I just think they have some things to work on from a customer service standpoint.

 

It seems unreasonable to me that they advertise themselves as a luxury brand when they are not. All of those little things like not filling drinks at dinner (every night, not just once), leaving trays in the hall, not meeting customers with a smile, severely restricted hours... and it goes on... mean they are not a 4 or 5 star destination. It's all fixable, though. I just hope they read these reviews and work toward correcting them. They can very easily be the 5 star destination they advertise.

 

Many travelers will go on the PG and be OK with some of the shortcomings. That's OK. They are having a good time and that's what matters. Others have been going and expecting luxury... but it's not. My experience was just "meh" when it came to the ship. There were a couple of stand out crew, but for the most part I got better service on Royal Caribbean. "Go back to Royal Caribbean", you say? I'd rather not. I prefer a small ship adventure. PG, the ship, was fine. The crew needs training. Maybe I was just overly optimistic and the basics of customer service don't apply to a luxury cruise ship in FP.

 

I've said before that PG is a good value when compared to other options for FP if you take one of the less expensive cabins. I'm not advocating that people not go. FP is absolutely wonderful and I wish I were going back sooner. PG is a good option. Just don't expect to get better service than anywhere else and it will be a wonderful trip.

[stephenandrew]

It seems unreasonable to me that they advertise themselves as a luxury brand when they are not. All of those little things like not filling drinks at dinner (every night, not just once), leaving trays in the hall, not meeting customers with a smile, severely restricted hours... and it goes on... mean they are not a 4 or 5 star destination

 

And that is where we would reasonably disagree. While there were some shortcomings (those that you and I both mentioned), I would say it still fulfilled my definition of "luxury". For what its worth, you did seem to have different experience than I did with the crew--I found them all (or nearly all) to be friendly, pleasant, etc. Hopefully, you just had an isolated bad experience. And regarding the restricted hours, we did not experience that, but I have heard repeatedly that when a large group is booked, sometimes parts of the ship are restricted to that group...maybe that was happened to you? (That would p**s me off too.)

 

Glad you liked FP---pretty terrific place!

[ducklite]

And that is where we would reasonably disagree. While there were some shortcomings (those that you and I both mentioned), I would say it still fulfilled my definition of "luxury". For what its worth, you did seem to have different experience than I did with the crew--I found them all (or nearly all) to be friendly, pleasant, etc. Hopefully, you just had an isolated bad experience. And regarding the restricted hours, we did not experience that, but I have heard repeatedly that when a large group is booked, sometimes parts of the ship are restricted to that group...maybe that was happened to you? (That would p**s me off too.)

 

Glad you liked FP---pretty terrific place!

 

I was on the same cruise as RZ3 and was part of a group of 45 or so. We had four events during the cruise. Two were held in dining rooms during off hours, so there was absolutely zero impact on other guests. One was a dinner in Le Veranda the last night. The other was 90 minutes on the top deck above the pool one evening before dinner. It wasn't like on some ships where they close off pools and such for entire evenings.

 

By the way, RZ3 and I had very similar opinions of the service and food on the cruise we were on. My husband and I had some additional difficulties, some of which PG corporate has resolved to as much of my satisfaction as they possibly could (I'm still not happy but admit that there is nothing more they can do).

 

The sad thing is that everything that RZ3 and myself, as well as other friends of ours who were on board all agree negatively impacted our opinion were almost entirely fixable with minimal effort. They were service related problems. In our case particularly with three crew members, one in the guest services area and our cabin steward whose behavior bordered on creepy, and the head housekeeper.

 

We weren't expecting Ritz Carlton level service. But we were expecting more than a mass market feel where we heard "no" a lot more than "my pleasure." I also will never forgive the major service issue with the housekeeping manager insisting on going through my entire cabin--drawers, closets, under the bed looking for items I had reported missing even though I kept telling her that I was in the middle of dinner. It was beyond rude and incredibly disrespectful.

Edited September 11, 2014 by ducklite

[Silver Sweethearts]

...I would say it still fulfilled my definition of "luxury".

 

Everyone must have their own definition of "luxury". How do you define the term in reference to cruise ships?

[Adidas4fun]

I was on the same cruise as RZ3 and was part of a group of 45 or so. We had four events during the cruise. Two were held in dining rooms during off hours, so there was absolutely zero impact on other guests. One was a dinner in Le Veranda the last night. The other was 90 minutes on the top deck above the pool one evening before dinner. It wasn't like on some ships where they close off pools and such for entire evenings.

 

By the way, RZ3 and I had very similar opinions of the service and food on the cruise we were on. My husband and I had some additional difficulties, some of which PG corporate has resolved to as much of my satisfaction as they possibly could (I'm still not happy but admit that there is nothing more they can do).

 

The sad thing is that everything that RZ3 and myself, as well as other friends of ours who were on board all agree negatively impacted our opinion were almost entirely fixable with minimal effort. They were service related problems. In our case particularly with three crew members, one in the guest services area and our cabin steward whose behavior bordered on creepy, and the head housekeeper.

 

We weren't expecting Ritz Carlton level service. But we were expecting more than a mass market feel where we heard "no" a lot more than "my pleasure." I also will never forgive the major service issue with the housekeeping manager insisting on going through my entire cabin--drawers, closets, under the bed looking for items I had reported missing even though I kept telling her that I was in the middle of dinner. It was beyond rude and incredibly disrespectful.

Ah yes, a group that was promised something by another travel company who took your money and delivered zip. Sadly PG tried to make things right - they should never have tried.

[ducklite]

Ah yes, a group that was promised something by another travel company who took your money and delivered zip. Sadly PG tried to make things right - they should never have tried.

 

Um, not quite buckaroo. The REALITY is that AmEx was more than willing to refund my money if I hadn't gotten my cruise.

[Adidas4fun]

Um, not quite buckaroo. The REALITY is that AmEx was more than willing to refund my money if I hadn't gotten my cruise.

 

REALITY??? You've previously stated there were more than fifty in your group and now its 45. You've previously stated you paid a higher than standard fare, and then recanted that. The number of claims you've made that dont stack up or which you later change leaves me doubting your grip on reality.

[ducklite]

REALITY??? You've previously stated there were more than fifty in your group and now its 45. You've previously stated you paid a higher than standard fare, and then recanted that. The number of claims you've made that dont stack up or which you later change leaves me doubting your grip on reality.

 

I never said "more than 50." The number was someplace between 45-50, I'm not sure exactly how many.

 

I apologized for my error on the cruise fare. Get over it.

 

RZ3 and I were on the same cruise and both had the same impression, it was not up to luxury cruise standards, and was like the mass market cruises we've been on. We paid a lot of money for a mass market cruise.

[MotuIslander]

I never said "more than 50." The number was someplace between 45-50, I'm not sure exactly how many.

 

I apologized for my error on the cruise fare. Get over it.

 

We will if you will.