PG Docking question

[jwas1]

On the 7 day cruises, other than Papeete, does PG actually tie up to a dock or does it always anchor out with tender to land?

[Call me Ishmael]

The docks are not big enough for anything sizeable so there is no choice but to use the tenders.

[JanR]

Papeete is the only port by which the shipis actually docked to a pier. All of the other destinations (on the 7-day itinerary at least), the PG drops anchor in the middle of the lagoon.

 

One of the advantages of the PG is that it's shallow draft allows it to sail right into the lagoons. Nearly every other ship (to include RSSC's Voyager and Mariner) can not do this.

 

This means that although you must tender to shore, the tender times are only about 5-10 minutes. It also means for Moorea and Bora Bora where you stay overnight, you have the entire beauty of the lagoon surrounding you, which I personally think would be much more enjoyable than simply tied up to a dock.

 

One minor inconvience of PG's shallow-draft is that the ship does tend to roll quite a bit on the Bora Boara to Moorea leg. I can only imagine what the ship might be like on some of the longer itineraries (FP to Fiji // FP to Australia) if the seas kick up a bit.

 

However, for sailing among the Society Islands, the PG is perfectly designed.

 

For what it's worth.

 

v/r

 

Jan