Jump to content

Detailed Photo Review of Paul Gauguin 10-Night Cruise 9/6/17 Plus Moorea Pre-Cruise


deladane
 Share

Recommended Posts

My camera is the Olympus TG-5. The new model came out a month or two before this vacation so I bought that instead of the TG-4. They are very similar cameras, but the TG-5 has a few extra features so may as well get the newest model. I also bought the fisheye attachment lens. I LOVE this lens!! It takes beautiful landscape photos, and it's what allowed me to take photos that are half below and half above the water line. Hope that helps!

 

deladane - We are leaving on the PG on Tuesday next week and are so excited! Based off of your review we purchased the same camera to get those amazing underwater shots. I find it overwhelming, however, when reading through the manual as there are a thousand settings! Can you by chance give me a few of the settings that you use for doing your underwater photography?

 

Thanks much!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

deladane - We are leaving on the PG on Tuesday next week and are so excited! Based off of your review we purchased the same camera to get those amazing underwater shots. I find it overwhelming, however, when reading through the manual as there are a thousand settings! Can you by chance give me a few of the settings that you use for doing your underwater photography?

 

Thanks much!

 

My advice is to get comfortable with the basic settings, then add on the other settings gradually so you don't get overwhelmed trying to learn it all at once. For most of my underwater photos, I turned the scroll wheel on the top right of the camera to the underwater setting (the fish icon) and then let the camera do all the work. Within the underwater setting, there are 4 subsettings. I pretty much just use the standard regular setting, and occasionally switched to macro (that's how I got the detailed photos of the brain coral, but I only did that a few times). If I had the fisheye lens attached, you set that up the same way whether the camera is underwater or on land. For my land photos, I mostly just use the auto setting unless I wanted to force the flash, in which case I used the program setting which gives more flash options. The camera is really smart, so most of the time if you just use the auto settings, it will adjust according to your environment and do the work for you. Have a wonderful cruise and come back to let us know how it went!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice is to get comfortable with the basic settings, then add on the other settings gradually so you don't get overwhelmed trying to learn it all at once. For most of my underwater photos, I turned the scroll wheel on the top right of the camera to the underwater setting (the fish icon) and then let the camera do all the work. Within the underwater setting, there are 4 subsettings. I pretty much just use the standard regular setting, and occasionally switched to macro (that's how I got the detailed photos of the brain coral, but I only did that a few times). If I had the fisheye lens attached, you set that up the same way whether the camera is underwater or on land. For my land photos, I mostly just use the auto setting unless I wanted to force the flash, in which case I used the program setting which gives more flash options. The camera is really smart, so most of the time if you just use the auto settings, it will adjust according to your environment and do the work for you. Have a wonderful cruise and come back to let us know how it went!!

 

Thanks so much! I can't wait to try it out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you SO SO much for your extremely detailed review, advice and amazing pictures. I am planning a trip for 2020 and just wanted you let you know I appreciate all the work that went into something like this. I've gone through the entire thread twice and took notes. By the way, I did the 14 day Celebrity Eclipse cruise this past November/December, so I am anxious to read that thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terrific review. Thanks SO much!!! We're taking this trip of a lifetime in Sept, celebrating our 60th birthdays. Doing to Society & Cook Islands; looking for reviews on Cooks. PG Private Beach in Bora Bora, is this the prearranged shuttle to Matira Pt/Beach or an excursion?How do we get info? What have you heard about Lagoon Excursion & Polynesian Feast with Patrick? Will we get similar food at Polynesian dinner on board? Lagoon is supposedly awesome.I'm really looking for a good wide secluded beach and I'm thinking this might be the best option on the trip. Any suggestions? Thanks so much, Cindy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking for info on how to book "Marc's Moto Picnic Combo in Huahine" online. Cam anyone help me? Thanks very much. Cindy

 

 

Hi Cindy,

 

Their website was down yesterday but you can email Maud, the lady who booked and confirmed our Marc's Moto Picnic tour for July 19, at:

huahinenautique@mail.pf

 

Cheers,

Lisa

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This subject is on another thread and Tahitianbigkahuna contacted Marc personally, and Marc replied that if you tell them you want to be back at the ship by 3pm to see the Children of Huahine performance at 3.30pm, tell him that at the pickup and he will arrange for his guests to get an earlier transfer back to the ship so they don’t miss out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hey Dana, your review was beyond amazing- the detail, the descriptions, everything was just on spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to do it- we found ourselves on the ship saying “Deladane said that this would happen now.....” or “deladane recommended this.....” and we did it, and it was fabulous!!!! We too stayed in Moorea for 3 days pre-cruise, and enjoyed the sights. The MAC guys were fabulous- and when we mentioned your names, they lit up. (You might think about asking for commission!!!! JK). Their jetski tour was so much fun. We wound up doing the PureSnorkeling tour in Bora Bora, which was beyond amazing- the reviews are good, but fail to differentiate completely between the different operators (in my opinion). We took 2 different snorkeling tours in Bora Bora, and both were fabulous but VERY different. Our fave was with Fabian with PureSnorkeling who spent the day with us in the water, snorkeling, showing us things, pointing at things, really getting us into the water and seeking out the harder-to-find species. THAT WAS THE HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PS AND THE OTHER OPERATORS. The others dropped you off at great spots in the water to investigate on your own, but never went into the water with you. Regardless, we had a great time on ALL of the tours, but want somehow to let folks know that if they want a truly totally immersive snorkeling experience, look for these guys.

 

Also going along with your recs, we bought the Olympus TG5 for this trip. Great purchase! It was perfect. Is there an easy way to post pics to this thread? Regardless, we came home with amazing pics, thanks to your recommendation.

 

Thanks again for your time and effort, and happy sails to you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We went on the PG May 12th and had an amazing trip. Much thanks to this thread for all of the pointers, and especially the recommendation for the Olympus TG5. The underwater photos/videos that I was able to capture were absolutely amazing. Most people that see my pictures believe they were taken by a professional camera. Also, the ability to capture awesome pictures above water makes this camera an all around win.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
As a rule, I never book excursions through the cruise line. In my experience and based on the comments of other cruisers, they tend to cost more money to see fewer attractions with more people on the tour, and in a shorter time frame than private excursions. With one exception(see the Panama section of my Celebrity Equinox review!), I have had nothing but wonderful experiences working with private tour companies on all of my cruises. The problem was that I was used to planning cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean where far more cruise ships and tourists visit on a regular basis, so there were always plenty of options from which to pick and lots of variety to find a tour that suited our specific needs. This time around, I hoped to have the same experience, but I was worried that I would have trouble finding tour companies on such small islands (especially the less touristy atolls). I spent a lot of time reading through reviews on Cruise Critic and on Trip Advisor, and I was pleasantly surprised that I could find at least one highly-recommended private tour company on each island. Of course,I had more options in Bora Bora and Moorea than in Rangiroa and Fakarava, but that wasn't a surprise.

 

Sometime soon after we booked the cruise, PG had a sale where they offered $500 onboard credit per cabin. I called them and they immediately applied that OBC to our account. We are not spa people, and with all the alcohol, specialty restaurants, and tips already included in our cruise fare, we considered breaking my rule and using our $500 towards PG's excursions. We would only be in Rangiroa for 5 hours, so perhaps it would be safer to just go with a PG excursion and not have to worry about missing the ship? We kept our options open, but knew we could fall back on this option if we didn't think of anywhere else to spend that OBC.

 

Then, about a year later, PG offered another promotion for Valentine’s Day 2017 where your cabin could get a box of chocolates, a bottle of sparkling wine, and $200 OBC (probably meant to spend on a couple’s massage at the spa, but it was just a normal OBC that could be used any way we wished!). The fine print on the promotion specified that it could be combined with one other promotion! Sweet!! So I called up PG and once again, they quickly applied this promotion to our cabin! As luck would have it, DH’s birthday was that same week and my parents got him a $100 OBC to spend on the cruise as his birthday present haha They did not know we already had $700 OBC, but no worries, by then I knew we would take a few of PG’s shore excursions. With $800 to spend, we could book 4 exciting tours that we probably wouldn’t have taken otherwise. Although the thought still lingered on my mind that cruise ship excursions should be avoided whenever possible, I decided that with the PG being a small ship, it was not likely to have large groups on the tours, so it would likely be a good experience.

 

I have made countdown candy jars for our last two cruises from the day we booked the cruise. The idea is that we eat one piece of candy each night and gradually watch the jar become empty as we get closer to the start of the cruise. DH said I wasn't allowed to do that this time because we booked it over 600 days in advance! I thought I waited long enough, so I started up our countdown once we were home and settled after the wedding. It's fun to have a daily reminder of such an exciting vacation coming up!

 

36533768403_51e16c5d1e_z.jpg

 

So now all that’s left to do is wait… and wait… and wait some more! 20 months is a LOOONG time to wait for a cruise! One of the nicethings about PG is that if they have a drop in price for your cabin category before final payment is made, they will honor that lower price. I found it really interesting that over the 18 months between booking and final payment due date, there were no changes in price for our cabin category. The price didn’t go up or go down- it stayed exactly the same the entire time! I have never had that happen before, and I am not sure if that is typical of PG cruises? If so, I guess I didn’t need to be as diligent with checking for price drops as I do with other cruise lines haha

 

 

Dana, I just found your board. I'm so excited to read about your whole trip. We just booked the 10 day cruise for July 2019 for our 40th Anniversary. This will also be our first time to FP and on a PG cruise. Our excitement is very hard to control. I don't think I could have waited as long as you both did. Anyway, I was curious how you found out about the extra OBC that PG offered. I believe we are getting $200 now. I will continue reading your messages and taking great notes. Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dana, I just found your board. I'm so excited to read about your whole trip. We just booked the 10 day cruise for July 2019 for our 40th Anniversary. This will also be our first time to FP and on a PG cruise. Our excitement is very hard to control. I don't think I could have waited as long as you both did. Anyway, I was curious how you found out about the extra OBC that PG offered. I believe we are getting $200 now. I will continue reading your messages and taking great notes. Thank you

 

Every week or two, I just went on the PG website because they usually put information on their homepage when they have a sale. IIRC, it only happened twice, but when I saw that there was a sale offering OBC, I just called PG customer service and asked them to apply that sale to our account. One of the sales was for Valentine's Day... Take your sweetie to Tahiti, or something like that haha Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any other questions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dana did you book with PG direct for those discounts or with a travel agent? We use a TA in America so wondered if we need to ask her or just PG?

Thanks for your help, cheers Wendy

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I booked directly with PG, not through a travel agent, so I was able to call PG directly when I wanted the sales applied to my account. I'm not sure how it would work with a travel agent, but I'm sure if you call PG, they will let you know if that is something they can do for you or if you need to go through your agent. Or maybe someone else reading along knows how it works with travel agents??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just found your PG report of your trip in 2017 and I am enjoying it so much! I love your underwater shots. I have a good Lumix point and shoot high-end camera for my trips. It has 30X zoom and 18 pixels, which works really well, no extra lens to carry around for distance. But I am always worried about taking it to the beach and especially near any water. My last one that I had a long time got a tiny grain of sand in the lens and the cover wouldn't close. Luckily I had bought the extended warranty and didn't have to pay much to have it fixed. Now I have a newer model of that Lumix DMC-ZS60. I would love to get an underwater camera like yours. Your photos are all so sharp and bright! My whole family of 6 are going to be on the PG and staying in Moorea afterwards next July.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Dana

Thank you for your detailed report.  I did the same 10 day cruise 19-29 Sep 2018.  I even had the same cabin 318.  The tip for the snorkeling spot right at the pier in Rangiroa was spot on.  I also did the Blue Lagoon tour with Ato (actually his son) on Fakarava.  Great trip.  Thanks again for the tips.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

really enjoyed your reviews. We've done the long 14 day PG cruises - to Fiji and the other one ended in New Zealand. Best snorkeling ever in Vavau, Tonga and Cook Is are wonderful too.!! We are going in Feb 2019 on Oceania to see Fakarava and Nuku Hiva. - a much larger ship but it is the itinerary we want and the dates fit for our 50th anniversary.

My daughter lived on Branham & Pearl and then moved across the street from Leigh HS in Los Gatos. We are up there all the time so I know the area well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...