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My First (and hopefully not last) Paul Gauguin Cruise


yourSLCwoman
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My husband and I sailed the Society Islands 7-night cruise on March 24, 2018. The best research information I found online for this cruise was through this forum, so I wanted to contribute by adding my thoughts. My review won’t be as good as some I’ve read on here as I didn’t take good notes and I don’t take fabulous pictures, but hopefully you’ll find it interesting anyway. :hearteyes:

BACKGROUND INFO

 

I’m Laura, age 47, and my husband is Scott, age 46. We have been married almost 11 years and we have five beautiful daughters (his are 26 and 24 years old, mine is 18, and ours are 7 and 4).Before meeting Scott, I started cruising in my early 20s and sailed on Royal Caribbean (Baja Mexico), Carnival (Mexican Riviera, Eastern Caribbean, and Western Caribbean), and Norwegian (Alaska and Western Caribbean). When I met Scott, he joked that he had also been on several cruises…..with the U.S. Navy. :D

Shortly after getting married, Scott and I took our first cruise together in the Mediterranean on Silversea’s Silver Wind. Since then, we’ve been on two more Med cruises on the Seabourn Legend and Seabourn Quest, a Silversea cruise to Alaska on the Silver Shadow, and most recently, a Mexican Riviera cruise with my parents and siblings to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary on the Ruby Princess.

Both mine and Scott’s jobs require us to travel regularly, but luckily we still love to travel on our off days and usually take our two youngest daughters with us. We haven’t yet taken our girls on any cruises with us because we’ve been enjoying the luxury cruises, which aren’t geared towards children. We read about the ambassadors youth program on Paul Gauguin so we may one day take them with us on a future PG cruise, but for now, we have booked our first family cruise on the Royal Princess over Christmas break this year.

HOW WE CHOSE THIS CRUISE

 

A picture of the Paul Gauguin anchored in French Polynesia has been hanging on my dream board for several years now, but this cruise wasn’t at all a part of our near future travel discussions. Some friends of ours had joined us on our Silversea Alaska cruise a few years ago and with their 30thwedding anniversary approaching, my friend posted on facebook that they wanted to celebrate somewhere special and asked for suggestions. I immediately thought of a Paul Gauguin cruise and had Scott post my suggestion to them (I’m not on facebook). He did and also joked that we would happily celebrate onboard with them.

 

The next day, our friend called me and said that they wanted to book the cruise, but only if we would join them. Within days we had put down a deposit on the cruise and purchased our airfare from LAX-PPT on Air France.

A few weeks later, our friends contacted us and said they had to cancel! Although they weren’t able to make it, I am so grateful that they insisted we book this trip with them and that we had purchased non-refundable airfare so that one of my travel dreams could come true.

 

Right after we booked the cruise, we began a major remodel of our home, so I didn’t have the time to do my regular obsessive research online that I like to do before a trip until the remodel was complete about two weeks before we were scheduled to leave. But during those two weeks, I read many reviews and posts on cruise critic, so a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the PG forum!!!

Scott and Laura with our Littles in Mazatlan:

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From Dream Board to Reality:

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FLYING TO TAHITI

 

We started our trip with a late evening flight from SLC to LAX. We used skymiles for the domestic flights so it was on a different PNR as our LAX-PPT flight, but the Delta agent in SLC was able to check our bags all the way through to PPT; however, she wasn’t able to check us in for the international flight.

 

At LAX, we arrived in terminal 2 and it took us a bit to figure out where to catch the shuttle to the international terminal without leaving the secure area. Once at the international terminal, we spent some more time searching for a Sky Team lounge. We eventually found the Korean Air lounge and they gave us access by us showing them our flight receipt (we still didn’t have a boarding pass for the AF flight) and Scott’s Platinum Medallion card with Delta.

 

We enjoyed some water and light snacks in the lounge and used their wi-fi to check-in for our AF flight and make sure our bags had made it to LAX with us. When it got close to boarding time, we went to the gate to show our passports and have our boarding passes printed. The flight was delayed for about an hour, so we found a place to sit and people watch until it was finally time to board.

 

When we purchased our tickets, we paid extra to have a row near the window with only two seats instead of three. Even though it was towards the back of the plane, we felt it was worth it to not have an extra person near us. I was dreading this red-eye in coach and I spent a lot of time on Amazon researching the best flight pillows. I ended up buying the 1stClass Sleeper (I found it too complicated to use and get comfortable with) and the Travelrest Premium Travel Pillow with Plush Cover (Scott and I each used one and we liked it). I wasn’t able to sleep at all during the flight (I can’t sleep on planes, even in the lie-flat seats), but I was more comfortable with the Travelrest pillow than I would have been without it.

 

Soon after takeoff, we were served drinks and a light meal, but it was so late at night that we chose to just have water and a few bites of cheese and bread. I watched movies all night as AF had a good selection on the individual seatback monitors and provided headsets if you needed one. Breakfast was served about an hour and a half before landing with a choice of omelet or pancakes.

 

After we landed in Tahiti, we were some of the last passengers off the plane, so it took us about an hour to get through customs. There were Polynesian dancers and different displays to look at, but it was still a long, hot, boring wait in line. One interesting side note: the couple standing in line in front of us ended up on the PG cruise with us. If only we’d known then that they would become our great friends that we are still in touch with!

 

Once through customs and claiming our bags, we located an ATM to get some local XPF, but this really wasn’t necessary. We were quoted USD for everything we purchased throughout our stay in French Polynesia.

Our First Look at French Polynesia:

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TAKING THE FERRY TO MOOREA

 

Scott has Diamond status with Hilton, so we like to stay at Hilton properties, but when I first searched for a Hilton in Tahiti, only the Moorea location came up, so I started looking for a different hotel for our one-night pre-cruise stay. After reading deladane’s review (THANK YOU, Dana!), I realized how easy it is to get to Moorea from Tahiti, so we ended up staying at the Hilton after all.

 

Based on when our flight was originally scheduled to land in PPT, I thought we could easily make the 8:10am Terevau ferry to Moorea, so Scott emailed the Hilton to request early check-in plus transportation from the ferry port to the hotel. After getting cash at the airport, we quickly found a cab to take us to the ferry. Due to our late arriving flight and long customs line, we arrived at the port just in time to wave goodbye to the 8:10am ferry.

 

I had emailed myself a schedule for both ferry companies, so I knew that the next one leaving for Moorea was the Aremiti at 10:00am, so we handed our luggage off to the Aremiti porters and found a waterside café to start this vacation right with a mimosa. We were concerned that we had no way to contact the Hilton to let them know we wouldn’t be there for our scheduled pick-up, but the locals we spoke to all assured us that it wouldn’t be a big deal and to not worry about it – and they were right.

 

The ferry ride only took about 25 minutes and once we arrived on Moorea, it was obvious that we hadn’t needed to pre-arrange a pick-up at all as there were plenty of transportation options. I asked a taxi driver how much it would be to the Hilton and he quoted me 30 USD. I then walked over to a bus and asked the driver if he stopped at the Hilton. He said yes and that it would be 300 XPF (basically 3 USD), so after collecting our luggage, we boarded the bus. When I said before that we never needed XPF the whole trip, the bus may have been the one exception, but if we had only had USD, we would have just taken the taxi.

On Our Way to Moorea:

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Arriving in Moorea:

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PRE-CRUISE HILTON MOOREA

 

The bus ride to the Hilton seemed to take about 30 minutes and we were dropped off at the street, but it was a short walk to the lobby. When we checked in, we were told that Scott’s Diamond status made him eligible for an upgrade; however, there were no beach bungalows available to upgrade us to, but the garden deluxe room we had reserved was immediately available. We chose not to pay for the overwater bungalow and I was very happy with the garden bungalow we got. We had a large room with king-sized bed, huge bathroom with separate tub and shower, and a patio with a private plunge pool. Diamond status also gave us water, soda, beer, a bottle of champagne, and some chocolate chip cookies. We were content not paying the extra money for an overwater bungalow, but perhaps ignorance is bliss? :confused:

 

After getting to our room, we changed into our swimsuits and went to the pool area to get towels and snorkel equipment. We snorkeled right from the beach, enjoyed a cocktail and the view, and then went back to our bungalow to get ready for dinner.

 

We decided to just have dinner at the Hilton and although the food wasn’t that memorable, the view from our table sure was – especially when we saw the Paul Gauguin pass right in front of us on her way to Papeete.

 

After dinner we were really feeling the effects of jet-lag, so we stayed up watching TV as late as we could, but I think we were both asleep by 7:30pm. Of course I woke up super early, so I read in bed for a few hours. I was reading “Sarah’s Key” and ended up finishing it during the cruise, so I left in the library onboard. Around 5:00am, we heard a rooster wishing us a good morning right outside our bungalow, but we were already awake, so we were able to laugh about it. Once the sun came up, I did my workout DVD in the room (21-day Fix) using the provided DVD player and then we went snorkeling again.

 

We went back to the bungalow to get ready for breakfast (free for Diamond members) and then stopped by the front desk to request a late check-out. They weren’t able to let us stay in our room past 11:00am, but they did offer to keep our luggage for us and give us a changing room 30 minutes before our shuttle ride to the ferry pier.

 

We planned to take the 3:00pm Terevau ferry, so we spent a few hours lounging at the Hilton’s pool. We met a family with three young children there and I asked the kids if they were loving spending their spring break in French Polynesia. One of them shrugged and said, “Yeah, it’s okay.” :cool:

 

Our Hilton Deluxe Garden Bungalow:

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Our Bungalow's Plunge Pool:

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The Pool at the Hilton:

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Here are a few more pictures from our stay at the Hilton Moorea. I purchased the Campark ACT74 Action Camera with waterproof case so we could take pictures while in the water, but I wish I would have practiced with it a little more before we used it. We didn't correctly set the date and sometimes we had it in video mode when we wanted camera mode. One time we accidentally left it recording video while in our beach bag, so when we went to use it while snorkeling with a manta ray in Bora Bora, the battery was dead. :loudcry:

Ready to snorkel:

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Snorkeling at the Hilton:

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Beach at the Hilton:

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Overwater Bungalows at the Hilton:

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Our View During Dinner at the Hilton:

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following! I also read deladane's review and I am anxious to read more of yours :)

 

Thanks for following! I usually stick to reading rather than posting on CC, but I was so grateful to all who post on this forum that I wanted to contribute.

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THE PAUL GAUGUIN

 

The front desk at the Hilton had arranged a shuttle to take us to the ferry pier (I believe it cost us $35) and we got there with plenty of time to spare. Before too long, we were on our way back to Tahiti. As we started to pull into the ferry port, we could see that the PG was really close to where we were docking, and it ended up being only a five minute walk. Once we produced our boarding documents outside the PG, we were in our room (with the luggage already there) in less than 20 minutes. This was the fastest we’ve ever boarded a ship!

 

We chose cabin 314 based on the positive reviews I read about the window rooms and a balcony isn’t a must-have for us. Overall, the room (and the ship itself) is not as nice as the ones we’ve had with Seabourn and Silversea, but it certainly met our needs and we would definitely recommend this cabin to someone looking for the most economical room onboard. A few of our observations:

 

1- Cabin temperature: Scott was constantly complaining (once to the reception desk and many, many, many times to me) about how hot our room was even though we had it set to the lowest setting. I personally wasn’t bothered by it, but I am always cold, so if I’m comfortable, I know that most everyone else is too hot. This was actually the warmest ship I’ve ever been on; it was the only time at dinner on a cruise ship that I haven’t needed a sweater.

 

2- Lotion dispenser: This is a very minor thing, but I like small lotion bottles that I can carry around with me. I was fine with the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash being in a refillable bottle, but (gasp) I had to use the hotel lotions I had packed in my bag for when I went ashore.

 

3- Location: Our cabin was only steps away from the tender exit and conveniently located near stairs and elevators.

 

4- Hairdryer: I noticed this was discussed in another thread as it was the best hair dryer I’ve ever had on a cruise ship or hotel (and I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels).

 

5- Mini-fridge: We didn’t drink the provided soda or beer, but we drank lots of bottled water. After the first full day onboard, our wonderful cabin attendant kept us well-stocked with six water bottles in the fridge and an additional four on the shelf above – every day.

 

6- Storage space: We had plenty of space (with leftover) for organizing all of our things.

 

7- Clothesline: The clothesline above the tub was great for drying our swimsuits.

 

8- Television: Some people may not use a television on vacation, but we do. We use it to wind down at night and Scott likes to watch movies while waiting for me to get ready. The PG has new interactive tv’s that you can use to check your folio balance and order room service (not sure how well the room service ordering works as we never did it). It also looks like they may eventually post the dinner menus there as well. The best feature was the on-demand movies that we could start watching and then save for later if we didn’t finish it in one sitting. I had read online that the rooms included a dvd player, so I thought I’d be able to use it for my in-room workouts, but it looks like the new tv’s have done away with the dvd players. I was still able to do my workout using Scott’s laptop and I also had to move the small stool and table out of the way.

 

9-PG Crew: This was the nicest, friendliest, most hard-working crew we have met onboard a ship. At the end of our cruises, we usually fill out the comment card with the names of crewmembers that we felt went above and beyond. Scott and I felt that everyone on the Paul Gauguin truly went above and beyond to provide us with excellent service!!!

View from Cabin 314:

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PG CRUISE – DAY 1 (Papeete)

 

After unpacking and placing all our empty bags under the bed, we went to La Veranda for a glass of wine and some sandwiches. While there, we went ahead and made a reservation for dinner at La Veranda that night. We then explored the ship (stopped by the reception desk to get a printed copy of the deck plan), had my 1st“drink of the day” and then went to the muster drill.

 

We actually pre-planned our route from our muster station to the marina so we could be first in line to get our snorkel equipment. We ended up being second in line as another couple hustled even faster that we did. The line was pretty long as we were leaving, so “thank you” to those of you who posted the importance of getting there quickly after the drill.

 

After going back to our cabin to get ready for the evening, we headed to the Piano Bar for pre-dinner canapés and drinks. The ship was really quiet that first night, so after an enjoyable meal at La Veranda, we decided to go to bed early.

 

By the way, there is a dress code onboard the Paul Gauguin every evening after 6:00pm. It is country-club casual; no jeans, shorts, flip-flops, t-shirts, etc, and Scott didn’t have to pack a sports jacket. It was very casual compared to the other lines we’ve cruised on, but I still heard more than one husband grumble on the pool deck when their wives said it was time to change for dinner (mine included). Sheesh, guys, it only takes you 10 minutes to get ready; I guess since none of us had our kids onboard, someone had to talk back to us. :D

 

Today's Activities and Service Hours:

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PG CRUISE – DAY 2 (Huahine)

 

Our first morning onboard the PG, we still hadn’t adjusted to the time zone, so we woke up fairly early. I did some reading, followed by my in-room workout and then we got ready and went up to Le Grill for breakfast. We stopped by the excursion desk for port facts and a map of Huahine. A list of onboard activities, dining hours, the tender schedule, etc for the following day was delivered every night, but information on the individual ports was only available at the excursion desk.

 

After gathering some water, our snorkeling gear, and the towels that had been left in our room for us to take ashore, we took the tender to Huahine.

 

Our opinion on shore excursions: This was my twelfth cruise and between all of them, I’ve done exactly one cruise ship sponsored excursion. We’ve pre-booked a handful of private shore excursions for some destinations, but our preferred way of seeing a port is doing some research before we get there and then deciding what we want to do once we actually arrive there. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for us.

 

I had read online that there was a decent public beach on Huahine at Fare and then I read about it again on the backside of the map we got at the excursion desk. So once we arrived on shore, we climbed on the complimentary Le Truck for the interesting ride to Fare. At Fare, we walked down the road a few blocks to a grocery store and bought some French candy to take home to our daughters (they are in a French immersion program at school and appreciate all things related to the French language and culture; and they are little kids, so they really appreciate candy). We then walked back towards where we were dropped off and continued walking along the waterfront until we reached the public beach.

 

Once there, I spread out the fabric shower curtain liner I had brought from home – bought at TJ Maxx for $5 – which was another tip I got from reading reviews online, and then put our towels and other things on top of the liner so they (and us) weren’t sitting directly on the sand. I used this liner again at the private beach on Bora Bora and would have used it again on Moorea since we went to a public beach there, but as you’ll see, we ended up not hanging out on the beach there. I definitely plan on packing it again for our Christmas Caribbean cruise this December.

 

We snorkeled for about an hour and then decided to make our way back – first on the shuttle “Le Truck” and then on the tender. After conveniently dropping our things off in our cabin, we went up on deck to get an afternoon snack at Le Grill and a “drink of the day” at the Pool Bar. We chatted with several of our fellow passengers and we met many fun and interesting people this cruise, which really added to our experience. We finished our afternoon by attending the “Children of Huahine” show in the Grand Salon, followed by the Moonfish presentation back up at Le Grill.

 

After getting ready for the evening, we noticed that there was jazz music at La Palette, so we decided to go have a pre-dinner drink there. This ended up not being our kind of thing. The room was set up so all the chairs were facing the stage making it more of a “show” than a lounge area to relax and have drinks and conversation. We noticed some passengers wearing matching buttons so I’m quite certain there was a group onboard. The evening jazz music was listed as available and open to all passengers, but we didn’t find the button wearing group to be welcoming towards the rest of us. As soon as we could, we ducked out of there and went down to the Piano Bar where the bartenders remembered us and asked if we wanted the same drinks as we had the previous evening; “Yes, please!”

 

We had dinner for two at L’Etoile and we both agreed that the moonfish was the best fish dish we have ever had. We decided to go to bed right after dinner again, but at least we were adjusting to a little later bedtime each night.

 

Huahine:

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Public Beach at Fare on Huahine:

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Our Selfie Attempt at the Huahine Beach:

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Following! Love that there is another review here! And I had not thought about doing a 1-night pre-cruise stay in Moorea (rather than Tahiti) so thanks for the idea!

 

Getting to and from Moorea was super easy and we liked it a lot better than our post-stay (also only one night) on Tahiti, so I am so glad we chose to stay there.

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...

2- Lotion dispenser: This is a very minor thing, but I like small lotion bottles that I can carry around with me. I was fine with the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash being in a refillable bottle, but (gasp) I had to use the hotel lotions I had packed in my bag for when I went ashore.

...

 

Just FYI, this decision was made for the sake of the environment, after much deliberation. With the current new awareness of how much we are polluting the environment with plastics of every shape and size, perhaps you will see this in a new light. And of course a re-usable bottle can always be refilled from a dispenser.

 

I'm loving your review, by the way, it's been exactly six months now since my last PG trip.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to post! We, too, are heading to French Polynesia and experience the PG for the first time this July for our 10th Anniversary and a milestone birthday, so your reflections and photos are getting me excited!

 

Thanks for including photos of the daily itinerary, it is helping me plan and finalize details. Your tips are very helpful as well!

 

I look forward to reading more whenever you are able!

 

Cheers,

Lisa :)

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SLC,

 

I will join in with the others and say thanks for posting your review. The dailies are nice to look at so we can recall some of the activities, so thanks again. :)

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Love your review and can't wait to see more! Our PG cruise was one of the most amazing times of our lives. I agree with you that the staff are the most amazing, friendly, helpful crew anywhere. And it never fails to amaze me -- no matter how many threads I read, I always learn something new. Never thought to take a shower curtain liner to use as a beach blanket. Genius! I'm going to use that tip on our upcoming Caribbean cruise!

 

Your pictures are great too. Looking forward to more!

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Just FYI, this decision was made for the sake of the environment, after much deliberation. With the current new awareness of how much we are polluting the environment with plastics of every shape and size, perhaps you will see this in a new light. And of course a re-usable bottle can always be refilled from a dispenser.

 

I'm loving your review, by the way, it's been exactly six months now since my last PG trip.

 

Thank you, Wendy, I definitely understand why they are no longer using the small plastic bottles and agree we should all do our part. I'll be sure to bring my own travel size re-usuable bottle next time! :)

 

And thank you for all the valuable information you and the other PG regulars post to this forum - I really appreciated it when I was getting excited for my cruise.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to post! We, too, are heading to French Polynesia and experience the PG for the first time this July for our 10th Anniversary and a milestone birthday, so your reflections and photos are getting me excited!

 

Thanks for including photos of the daily itinerary, it is helping me plan and finalize details. Your tips are very helpful as well!

 

I look forward to reading more whenever you are able!

 

Cheers,

Lisa :)

 

French Polynesia on the PG will be a great place to celebrate!

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