loungelizard61

This trip is quite tempting...hey Steve, Mike (who isn't a real whiskey drinker) did enjoy some of your special bottle.

We really want to dive Fiji and may look into that instead of the B2B but the Tuamotu's were great too. How about Australia to Fiji to PG cruise??? That would be a great trip!

Don't be embarrassed. No one knows who you are in real life. I'm a housewife watcher too! :o

But we do know him from the last reunion cruise. Too funny!

Go for it Liz.

 

Okay - which board should we start on? Roll Call - with no date? or here (general PG board)?

More info--thanks!

 

Hey Liz--are you and Mike going on the reunion cruise? Or does it just depend on the date?

I really would like to try - 2016 will be busy for us so I'm trying to leave 2017 open to do this again. I have enough AA miles for the trip... ;)

I hope there are good diving port stops too; that may be part of my decision as well.

Hi Donna! - Yes I do remember both of them too - and they were missed on our September cruise. Did you guys get to Australia?

And knock, knock - are you decent Mitch? Hahaha (we were neighbors on the aft balconies last Sept). We want to try the Tere Moane too but have too many other trips booked right now - and want to dive on the other side of the world!

We need to start a possible 2017 reunion thread to keep in touch...

Liz

Yes, they are covered.

You can get a cheaper a la carte breakfast too. I take a 10 or 20 minute walk and stock up cheaply for breakfast and lunch at two local supermarkets.

We tried to get the a la carte but they only offer it after the buffet - or so we were told - like 10 or 11 am. We were up too early for that so forced into the buffet. That was the first morning only since we, too, go shopping and buy food for the room.

I believe they only offer the Discover Scuba course which would allow you to do a very beginner type dive. If you could at all possible get certified before your trip, it would save you precious time not being in "school" while on vacation. However, the Discover Scuba course may not be too involved but you won't be able to make the deeper dives.

This is on their web page... http://pgcruises.com/node/1528

Liz

We were in 767. The vent is above the bed but has a cover that diffuses the air off you. Dunner (765) and I had that cover taken off so we could get more cold air in those rooms. I'm not sure the removal really helped but maintenance did eventually get the rooms cooler.

I only had the A/C issue and a musty smell near the balcony door. I don't think the rain water is properly diverted around the outside of the sliding door and seeps into the carpet (inside) a bit. The last issue I had was the furniture movement very early in the morning. If you are a heavy sleeper, you may sleep through it. We didn't make an issue of it since I am well aware of noise issues when booking a cabin that has public space above it. Having said all this, I would probably book the room again. I loved the bathroom, room layout and size - especially the balcony. We use our balconies every day and that aft view is great! It's always a personal issue with rooms like this...

 

Thanks for the tip about the bread! Are you supposed to feed the fish old bread though?

http://oceancrusaders.org/why-you-shouldnt-feed-bread-to-fish/

Feeding the fish is not good for them...

There is a possibility of either itinerary...Cooks or Fiji.

The ship is to go to dry dock so on the way back Fiji to tahiti is doable. If we can get the stop at both of the Cooks it's good. It's what we did on our Fiji cruise.

I would definitely book something like that since I doubt we will repeat the itinerary we just did.

I think you will like the cook island or the tahiti to Fiji that includes the cooks.

I think you are right but we, too, are scheduled into 2016. Plus, if there is another reunion cruise I would like to consider it in 2017. There are still too many other places to explore! *IF* there is a 2017, would there be a possibility to change it up?

Thanks - that was fun watching. I want to go again on a different itinerary!

We signed up for the Quark "Epic Antarctica" last July for the Dec. 2015 - Jan. 2016 expedition (S. Georgia, Falklands and Circle). I, too, hesitated over the price until I learned that we could get a 15% discount when early booking. We were so early we got to pick our cabin which is one of the largest on the bottom level and signed up for the kayaking. Plus, I have another year to save so it won't hurt too much paying the final bill. I also plan to use airline award flights to get there. It is much more time off than I really should take but since it's over the holidays, that makes it a bit easier.

We are really getting excited now and it's still a long way off...

Oh, I totally forgot about those. I do want to state that we have a cheaper underwater camera and it's my husband's job to take pictures. I haven't done any decent editing and I really don't think they are very good but at least the memories are there for us.

So, here is the link...

We only brought mask, fins and booties and were very glad to have those. Their BCD, reg and wetsuit were just fine.

I have uploaded a few pictures to my photo website since I told a few people that I would share. A few are for certain people so disregard certain shots. I wish I had taken my camera out more but we were usually underwater. ;)

I haven't gotten to those yet.

Anyway, here is the link...

July 2017 fits our schedule well...yes, I do have trips planned into 2016 already as I love the planning stage almost as much as the actual trip. Health and wealth permitting...

In our case, I believe the heavy furniture was placed strongly (thud) on the deck. We did check it out and the chairs do have quiet, heavy duty, felt type pads on them so just moving them on the deck didn't make noise. I believe the staff had to set up the couches and chairs each morning and placement was quickly done by lifting and setting in place (thud again) without realizing how much vibration and noise it caused. On our last cruise we were in 719 and the pool chairs were an issue too. This time was different though since the pieces in La Palette are heavier. On our tired mornings we did get back to sleep and I am quite aware of the risk of having public rooms above you on a ship.

I would be remiss to not mention the food which we thought was very good - much improved from our last cruise. The few times we ordered beef it was very good to excellent. Of course we like ours red and almost mooing so there was little chance for it to be dry. The dinner service was too slow at times so we ordered room service one night and had our meals in 15 minutes. Very fast and efficient!

Yes, the first tender always left earlier than posted. They probably do this so they have wiggle room if there are problems, and to prevent stampedes (lol!)

 

I agree that the socializing on this cruise was great! Barely met you, Liz, but I do remember the meeting on the motu.

I agree about the early tender but the days I tried going much earlier were the days they didn't have a secret early tender and a lot of people were waiting and waiting. Ugh, I just started going when we were ready.

Yes, we had the short meeting at the motu; just too many things to do and not enough days! LOL

Here are my thoughts on the repeater’s cruise just finished:

Our cabin was a nice aft cabin – 767. We did encounter air conditioning issues which were fixed for 95% of the cruise. I loved the size and layout of the cabin more than the standard cabins that we had last cruise. The bathroom had no tub but I am not a tub person and knew that going in. We did have a large tiled shower with plenty of floor space around the commode and sink. Yea! We also didn’t encounter the soot issues others have talked about.

On the down side, we were woken up most every morning around 5 – 5:30am due to furniture placement on the La Palette deck above us.

Our room also had moisture around the sliding door which emitted a slight moldy smell. It does need to be addressed along with some of the buckled tile in the bathroom.

On to the bars and restaurants… We love Elmo!! We also loved our breakfast waiters, Joe (didn’t write down his real name) and Philip. Last cruise we didn’t interact with the staff as much. It really does pay off to make friends. Elmo learned the wines I liked and made sure to refill with those at dinner if requested. He also would make the ice cream drink after our excursion when we found him later in the day. Our breakfast waiters knew our espresso/latte order quickly and which table we preferred. Plus, their personalities really come through with interaction. Ray and Randy were great with my husband too!

Here were my comments for improvement – please don’t make us guess when the “real” first tender departs. It was not a deal breaker but I follow written schedules and got frustrated not knowing what time to be in line. Also, I suggest keeping the breakfast opening times the same. Yes, they are posted in the newsletter, however, it felt inconsistent.

Having said that, I liked this cruise better than our first. No, it’s not “luxury” in the extravagant/opulent definition of the word but it does fit indulgent/extra synonyms. I am glad it is not too posh or pretentious as it just wouldn’t fit in that area of the world. It works for what it is. I am glad PG has competition; that may be a good thing!

I also reflect on why this cruise may have been better for us than our first (and I liked our first too) and realize it may also have to do with interacting with the other guests. We met more people and staff and therefore had more “friends”. I do believe you get out what you put in at times and this was true in this case. We had a fun time at a great party!!

We flew out on the early 7:50 am flight to LAX, 4 hour layover and then to ORD arriving at 6:15 am - had another 4 hour layover and then home to BWI. Since I had booked on award points and my original flight was cancelled there weren't many other flights to choose from. It actually worked out quite well since we had to get up so early (which started our transition to east coast time) and caught naps on flights and layovers. Slept well after the first night home and no jet lag after that. I might even consider doing that again...

Oops - hit sent too soon. Was going to say we didn't have to call room service for our espressos and lattes when we woke so early.

Oh, and a great addition for us was the added espresso machine in La Palette - and my healthy morning breakfast juice (beet, carrot, apple, ginger and something else concoction). Do