witt's end

We found the parkas were true to your normal size. I am a size 8 or 10 and exchanged the M that I ordered for a L because the sleeves weren’t long enough. My husband is a 3XL and that is what he got on board.

I’m not sure what measurement is throwing you off but I wouldn’t stress about getting it right because the fitting/exchange process was easy.

They got both hard copy and email within a couple of hours.

There are many options available and I did not hear anyone onboard

complain that the process was difficult.

Sadly, we are back in Papeete and our luggage is in the hall!😢

Yes,

Papeete Intercontinental.

It was easy - booked through the concierge and they came to the room at $120.00 pp.

Hi from Bora Bora!

I don’t mind answering any questions.

There is a 110 outlet in the vanity and one in the sitting area cabinet. There is also a grounded one in the bathroom that says ‘razor only’. There may be more that we haven’t discovered but we are managing well with the two.

As for masks; we need to wear them when we are inside and can remove them when seated. The vast majority are compliant. We are not even close to capacity so it is rare that I have felt that I couldn’t social distance as my first Covid defense. The crew is always masked.

Temperature checks are at the entrance to the restaurant and when you board the ship after an excursion. I am not confident that a fever is an indication of Covid so it doesn’t ease my mind about avoidance. Since I am not a health professional, you can take that for what it is worth - my opinion.

One obvious down side to mask wearing is that I find that passengers are not engaging as much socially as we have in the past. We are traveling with another couple and we pretty much stay to ourselves.

Two regrets I have in my packing:

* returning guests get 5 laundry items per day. This would have been good to know because I have more clothes than I needed to bring.

* I wish I had packed my binoculars!

I hope that helps!

I just asked at reception and they are firm about 72 hours - not 3 days. We did an antigen test at YVR before boarding our flight and our RT-PCR in SFO and it was easy (and cheaper than in Canada). If we had done a PCR in Canada it would have been 73 hours with the 3 hours difference and we didn’t want to risk it. Our friends did it at the Intercontinental the day before we sailed - very convenient.

Remember an antigen test does not suffice.

I hope that helps.

We are enjoying a sea day today after a beautiful beach day on Fakarava. We swam with very friendly dogs and black tip sharks who were thankfully not interested in us!

The photos are on my phone so I can’t post them here from my iPad since I can only have one device connected to the internet at a time. These ones are from the Intercontinental in Papeete.

My next post will be from my phone so I will include some.

The meals are exceptional, particularly the very fresh fish, and the service is impeccable. 

The Ponant French influence is evident as this is truly a bilingual ship - almost exactly 50:50. Announcements are conducted in both languages and lectures with different time slots for each language. It makes social distancing much easier.

We are having a great time and I will happily answer any questions.

7 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

If your on-board now then your with a predominate European passenger list which could be the reason why the dress is a bit more formal. Most of the European passengers are past Ponant travelers on other their other ships which are a bit more formal. The French love the Marquesas itinerary ... the other itineraries such as the Society, Cooks and Tuamotus will be less formal. 

Our make-up is almost exactly 50-50 French to English speaking so your comment is valid. 

I am on board now and what you are describing for dinner is on the casual end of what I see. From there it goes up to nice dresses and men in jackets, so a full gambit. As long as you are within the dress code - do you!

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I wonder if PG Cruises has 'carried over' its list of former cruisers to Ponant ownership?

 

Our previous PG was in 2009 when it was still with Regent and we are considered returning loyal guests so there is a carry over, even from that long ago.

It was fun watching her from our bungalow as she returned from Moorea to Papeete.  It has been 2 long years and we are ready to sail again. 

Two negative Covid tests and 10,000 km from home, I finally find myself watching Moorea emerge as the day begins. 
The time difference and my excitement for the trip had me on our OWB balcony willing the sun to rise. The sound of the waves crashing the reef has now got the visual to match. 
I am happy to answer any questions as our trip progresses. 

Thank you for all of this input, especially the ‘zoo’. What appealed to me was shore access for snorkeling but I know we will find that elsewhere.

The lagoon atrium is off my radar now!!

I was looking into excursions yesterday. I go the the South Pacific for the water so we will choose snorkelling and water excursions and, spend time daily off the swim grid when it is open - great fun!

This is what I have selected for the days that your 7 day cruise overlap with our itinerary:

Huahine - we are doing the Motu picnic PFHUH54

Bora Bora - Lagoonarium and Catamaran Sail if both can be done in a day. PFBOB55 and PFB0B67

Taha'a - PG Motu party is great and included.

Moorea - I LOVE Moorea! - BBQ on Motu and snorkelling. PFM0074

I hope that helps.

We have cruised a lot so we don't need to do village overview tours, ATV, another Pearl farm.

I do suggest that you include a Pearl farm if that interests you though.

You can get Black Pearls that are stunning. This post reminded me to make sure that I pack mine for the trip so I am not tempted to buy more!

On our first trip to Tahiti we went on a tour with a Canadian who was doing research on the spinner dolphin that was really interesting.

The scenery is magnificent, the water an amazing clear blue and the people are delightful. ENJOY!

Please ask questions, particularly when we are onboard - April 11-23.

We are also on the April 9th cruise and are in the process of booking shore excursions. It is our 4th cruise in Tahiti and our second on PG.

Can’t wait!

That would be great DonandGary!

We board on the 9th so your information would be valuable to us.

I am confident that you will have a great time on Paul Gauguin.

i can’t find it now either!?

There is also a roll call for our cruise.

We are on this sailing to celebrate my husband’s 70th birthday! 

It will be our first cruise since Covid!

I have also sailed both - actually all three if you divide Windstar into sailing and motor. We are booked on our 3rd PG in April (the first was the last sailing before Regent relinquished her). The reason we chose PG is because they are so immersive into the culture. This is all that they do so they truly are experts here. Les Gauguins make this very memorable. This is one of many itineraries for Windstar so the depth of understanding about the uniqueness of the area is only as good as the staff onboard. 

You cannot go wrong in this beautiful part of the world on either of these intimate lines.

It was fake news - our TA sent the email to us in error. She had MANY who were booked on Alaska.

Ours will not likely sail and we will not be on it even if it does.

sigh

Our cruise was not included in the Alaska cancellations.

Darn - looks like FCC for us!

36 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

If you don't want to rebook and the amount really is $2,000 NRD it would be extremely foolish to lose such a large sum of money. It really is ridiculous but I would pay the balance and wait for cancellation. $2,000 is the value of a 1 week caribbean cruise for two. I would ask if you can get an extension on the 

final pay date and wait until the very last minute.

I agree, losing this would be foolish. The booking is more than one suite. Thank you for the suggestion to push the final pay date. I will mention that to our TA when she also negotiates the reduced rate that is currently advertised for the sailing. Hopefully, this will be included in the anticipated announcement later this week.

Our final payment is due on the 14th for our May Apex cruise that clearly won’t be sailing. The transatlantic on May 1st was cancelled several weeks ago but still no word on this sailing. I would like advice on what we should do about our approx $2,000 non-refundable deposit. My understanding is that we have no option but to either lose it or pay the full amount only to have them refund it to us when they cancel. We are not interested in re-booking this so FCC do not interest us. 

I wonder if the anticipated ‘before Feb 12th’ announcements for the summer Alaska cruises will also include the cancellation of the May Apex?

Is anyone else in this limbo? Thoughts? Thanks.

My original bet was April 8, 2021 and I remember when I posted it that it seemed so far away! Now, it is too early I fear. We are booked in May and are not emotionally invested in that one happening. The next one isn’t until the fall so our fingers are crossed for that one.

31 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

I'm anxious to learn when it will open as we have a "potential" flight out of YVR in November (if the cruise sails).  Yesterday I was reading that some European countries are opening borders between their countries if the number of cases the of the virus are similar and if they have enough hospitals and doctors.   I wonder why some provinces (like British Columbia - if they meet the criteria in terms of cases - cannot open before another province.  This could monitored by showing your drivers' license to prove residency.

 

BC has around 5M people while Washington has around 7.5 million.  Unfortunately, BC has way more cases and deaths than WA so I'm likely arguing with myself.  We just miss Canadian friends and wish the border was open.  As an aside (and it likely only people the live in BC would "get" this_ The lines at Trader Joe's and Costco are still very long.

 

P.S.  Like your new avatar!

Jackie, please check your facts on BC cases. BC has under 2500 cases and 140 deaths as of today.