A Very Late Review - 10 Night Society Islands & Tuamotus

[Cruising Librarian]

I love the coconut sequence! Persistence pays off.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to post pictures and share your thoughts. I am enjoying the first installments so much and you are not even on the ship yet.

 

:)

[lovetotravel68]

I love the coconut sequence! Persistence pays off.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to post pictures and share your thoughts. I am enjoying the first installments so much and you are not even on the ship yet.

 

:)

 

Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words :)

 

P.S - glad you like the coconut sequence! I thought it was so funny (especially since we have seen SO many coconut opening demonstrations :p)

[lovetotravel68]

Before we knew it Wednesday had arrived, the day we were boarding the PG! We checked out of our room at 11am and spent a couple of hours at the beach reading and swimming then used the dayroom to shower. We had organised a transfer to the ferry terminal this time so waited in the reception area and made use of the free wifi. As we left we were each given a shell necklace as our parting gift.

 

The 30 minute ferry ride back to Papeete went very quickly and once again we had to wait for our bags to be unloaded from the luggage cage. The Paul Gauguin was docked right next to the ferry terminal so after a quick walk we were there. Ready to begin our 10 night cruise!

 

As DH and I rolled up next to the PG with our luggage we got our first close up view of the cruise ship. By 'normal' cruise ship standards the PG is pretty small - it only holds 332 passengers (our cruise only had 250 onboard) but it was really perfect for our first introduction to cruising. There was no line when we got there and after filling in a quick health and safety form, we were onboard. Our luggage was taken, we had our picture snapped, we were then given a glass of champagne and shown to our room all in the space of ten minutes.

 

(our room for the next 10 nights)

 

I had been gearing up for a room the size of a cupboard but it was suprisingly spacious. We were in room 324 (a porthole room) and once again we had considered upgrading but this would have meant less money for excursions. We were happy with our decision as the porthole room was fine for us and it was nice to be out on the main decks enjoying a cocktail with everyone else.

 

(champagne and fruit basket in our room)

 

Our first glimpse of the food on the PG and it was amazing! Along with all the cakes, fruit and treats they had a 'make your own burgers' station; I had a premonition that our waist lines might be slightly expanded by the time we disembarked...

 

(afternoon tea on our first day)

 

After eating we unpacked our bags, worked out, showered and got ready for pre dinner drinks! I don't really drink very often (like twice a year often) but I seemed to be consuming quite a few cocktails on this cruise... Actually it was so nice not to have to worry about keeping a mental tab of how much you have spent on extras. We have just returned from an Alaskan cruise (where drinks etc were not included) and although we were keeping an eye on how much we were spending it was annoying having an 'extra' bill at the end!

 

(the first of many, many cocktails)

 

We met our trusty new friends in the main dining room for dinner and here's where we really started to notice the incredible service onboard the PG. I had already been greeted by name multiple times since boarding (how they already knew my name was beyond me), been fussed over for being newlyweds and as we entered the dining room all the female guests were escorted to their tables by the maitre d. Dinner was always from a 'set menu' but with many different options and courses to choose from (or you could have all of them if you wanted!). I had a yummy soup as an entree, chicken dish for my main and an apple crumble for dessert. The food was consistently excellent for the whole cruise. I only had one meal I didn't like the whole time (DH ate it - he thought it was good and I ordered something else).

 

(apple crumble and kiwifruit sauce)

 

They also had 'after dinner' treats every night. We had chocolate covered strawberries this particular night.

 

(yummy chocolate covered strawberries)

 

After we had finished eating, talking, drinking and laughing we returned to our room and sent out our first pile of washing. We had purchased a laundry package (best thing ever) which enabled us to have as much washing done as we liked (washed, ironed and pressed). We sent out 28 items on our first night haha! They could barely all fit into the washing bag. As we lay in bed that first night we were lulled to sleep by the gentle movement of the ship. This was the only time we noticed any movement at all as we powered off to our first stop Huahine!

[Emdee]

Thanks for your review. Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

I am technically challenged so hope I can post some pics like yours in the future.

 

I would like to post interviews of popular PG staff on cc. Col Wes did it for Silversea and I think it would be a great acknowledgement of the wonderful PG staff.

[TheDee]

I love reading this review. We are on the PG in September, so that your words are adding to our building excitement. ( Love the food pictures!) Linda :-)

[Miramar]

I'm enjoying your review! I'm considering a cruise on the PG so love reading about people's experiences.

[lovetotravel68]

Thanks for your review. Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

I am technically challenged so hope I can post some pics like yours in the future.

 

I would like to post interviews of popular PG staff on cc. Col Wes did it for Silversea and I think it would be a great acknowledgement of the wonderful PG staff.

 

Thanks Emdee! It took me a while to figure out how to do the photos but I finally got there! :)

 

Great idea about the PG staff - they really were fantastic and deserve some recognition for their consistently outstanding service :)

[lovetotravel68]

I love reading this review. We are on the PG in September, so that your words are adding to our building excitement. ( Love the food pictures!) Linda :-)

 

Ahh you are going to have such a great time!! DH and I were only going to visit FP 'once in our lives' and we are already trying to figure out a way how we can get back there on the PG!

 

Glad you are enjoying the review and the food pics :)

[lovetotravel68]

I'm enjoying your review! I'm considering a cruise on the PG so love reading about people's experiences.

 

Thanks Miramar! I would absolutely recommend the PG wholeheartedly. Our friends are all sick of DH and I talking about it (still - almost a year later!). It really was fantastic :)

[lovetotravel68]

We awoke relatively early as our first excursion was booked for 8:30am and there is no way DH or I would survive without eating breakfast haha. We made our way up to Le Grill and had a beautiful view of the island of Huahine as we ate our eggs. I was so excited, I didn't even finish my meal and dragged DH back downstairs to our meeting point for our first activity - horseriding! The 'brief' showed amazing pictures of couples riding bareback through the water. Yes I couldn't wait to gallop along the beach with my hair blowing in the wind ;) So imagine my disappointment when I discovered that DH and I were the only two people on the whole cruise who had signed up for horseriding and hence it had been cancelled!! DH was relieved and suggested we do something else, I was a bit annoyed that they waited until the time of our tour to tell us. Seeing as we were the only two people signed up, surely they would have known the night before that they were going to have to cancel? Nonetheless, there were many other excursions to choose from and I would never let such a little thing ruin my day!

 

After much debate we decided to go snorkeling so went back to our room to get changed and lined up to get the tender to shore. A quick ride on the tender and we were on the dock ready to board another boat for our snorkeling trip.

 

(enroute to our snorkeling spot)

 

We went out to a spot near the reef and jumped in eager to see some fish! There were lots around as well as some beautifully coloured coral.

 

(purple coral and yellow fish)

 

After a while we noticed people getting back on the boat as the current was pretty strong (thank goodness for those flippers!) and the water was chilly. As we hopped back on we had a refreshing orange juice waiting for us and were off to our next location. We stopped at a beautiful beach where our guides did a flax weaving demonstration and showed us how to open a coconut (I was watching DH to see if he way paying attention hehe).

 

(our boat at the beach)

 

If we were to go back to Huahine again we probably wouldn't repeat this tour. While it was fun, there is much better snorkeling to be had in FP (Bora Bora and Fakarava were amazing) and we would choose something land based.

 

By the time we arrived back at our cruise ship it was lunch and we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around on the ship. We ate dinner that night at Le Grill (the open air restaurant up on deck), their speciality is Asian/Pacific fusion. This was my least favourite meal of the cruise, everyone else (DH and our friends) enjoyed their meals however, mine just wasn't to my taste (did I mention I am a major fusspot?). No worries though, I just ordered something else and DH ate my original meal. After dinner we went up to the bar for a few hours and met some new people (everyone was very friendly onboard) and had a few laughs while we sailed away from Huahine.

 

(the PG in Huahine)

[Emdee]

Huahine currents can be pretty strong. My DH one year had difficulty getting back to the boat without flippers and started to panic. Fortunately, a kindly gentleman helped him to the ship. Since then he has never snorkelled in Huahine.

 

Awaiting the next instalment.

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

We are doing the exact same 10 night cruise so thank you for posting this and I look forward to your next installment! Curious to hear if you heard from fellow passengers what they thought the best excursions were in each location if you can remember

[Tikiintahiti]

Huahine currents can be pretty strong. My DH one year had difficulty getting back to the boat without flippers and started to panic. Fortunately, a kindly gentleman helped him to the ship. Since then he has never snorkelled in Huahine.

 

Awaiting the next instalment.

 

Yes the current can be a bit strong on Huahine. I always bring my Fish Blade 5000 ........... pulls me along at 3 knots for up to 3 miles ......... love it!

 

[lovetotravel68]

We are doing the exact same 10 night cruise so thank you for posting this and I look forward to your next installment! Curious to hear if you heard from fellow passengers what they thought the best excursions were in each location if you can remember

 

Hi! You are going to have a wonderful cruise - I am really glad we chose the 10 night over the 7 night (the longer the better in FP!). I will write about what excursions our fellow passengers enjoyed later, but in Huahine the tours I heard the most positive comments about were 'Sacred Sights and Legendary Places' (run through the PG) and Marc's tour (private)(http://www.huahine-nautique.com/).

 

I hope that helps! :)

[lovetotravel68]

Bora Bora. The stuff dreams are made of. White sand, swaying palm trees and the most brilliant shades of blue water you could ever imagine. The PG docked here for two nights so we got to spend two whole days in this tropical paradise.

 

We had booked a private speed boat excursion for our first day through a company called Bora Bora Photo Lagoon (we did the 4 hour tour called Bora Bora Dream). It's basically a private tour of the island while the captain (who is also a photographer) takes photos of you in paradise. We met our captain at the dock, boarded our super slick boat and we were off!

 

We went all around the island and got to see all the different shades of the beautiful blue water.

 

(our 'loveboat' tour)

 

(beautiful blue water)

 

We even got to go snorkeling in the coral gardens. The water was so warm I could have stayed in there for hours. Plus it didn't hurt that the snorkeling was AMAZING!! Here are some of my favourite pics... (I would like to claim that I took them but I could never take photos that well! They are courtesy of our guide)

 

(yes we do!)

 

(a moray eel)

 

(fish and coral)

 

After the incredible snorkeling we hopped back on the boat and relaxed in the sun, taking in the sights as we were whisked around the island. My favourite part was when the captain stopped the boat, told us to get in the water, cracked a coconut open and gave us a bottle of champagne! I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

 

(the best way to have champagne)

 

The four hours went by so quickly and we thought the tour was absolutely amazing. It was VERY pricey but hey it's Bora Bora, what do you expect?! As well as getting a private tour of the lagoon, we came away with over 300 hundred photos of the two of us with the most amazing scenery in the background you could ever imagine. Some of the photos are très cheesy, but others we will cherish for a long time to come. It's not often we get photos of the two of us in paradise! The company specialises in 'honeymoon photography' but even without the photos we would have still enjoyed it! We got to see all the overwater bungalows of the various resorts dotted along the motu's as well as some pretty impressive personal "boats" with helicopter landing pads and smaller jet boats attached to the side. Let me just say that there were some pretty high rollers visiting Bora Bora that day..... plus DH and I haha.

[DGK]

Thanks for taking the time to post a wonderful detailed review. We cruised with PG Jan. 2013 and hope to return. I also want to say I admire your attitude regarding the cancellation of your excursion . Thrilled your were able to find another excursion at late notice. I totally agree as you should of been notified the evening prior and so glad you didn't let it ruin your day. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

[lovetotravel68]

Thanks for taking the time to post a wonderful detailed review. We cruised with PG Jan. 2013 and hope to return. I also want to say I admire your attitude regarding the cancellation of your excursion . Thrilled your were able to find another excursion at late notice. I totally agree as you should of been notified the evening prior and so glad you didn't let it ruin your day. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

 

Thank you! If we had a bit more notice about the cancellation we would have tried to join Marc's tour, but because we didn't find out until the morning of, it was too late. But honestly, if I got up in arms everytime something went wrong on holiday we would never enjoy ourselves! As you will see later we had a major 'event' that we could have let completely ruin our honeymoon... but we didn't! If life gives you lemons, make lemonade :)

 

Thanks for your comment and we too hope to return someday. So much for our 'once in a lifetime' trip! :D

Edited July 18, 2014 by lovetotravel68

[Tikiintahiti]

What fun ................ good for you guys ........... high rollers for the day :)

[lovetotravel68]

After our fantastic morning, we headed back to the cruise ship just in time for lunch. We feasted to our hearts content then I went off to do a Polynesian dance class. It was really fun and I learnt some new moves. I had such a good time I even went back a few days later for another class.

 

(polynesian dance class with Les Gauguines)

 

Later that evening the cruise line put on a 'blessing ceremony' and those who were celebrating their honeymoon or wedding anniversary were invited to attend. It was a really nice ceremony where the entertainment director read out a lovely poem and one of the dancers performed. Then one by one, starting with the couples who had just been married and finishing with those who had been married the longest, we were invited to be wrapped in the 'fertility blanket' to be blessed. As DH and I had been married for just 11 days we got to go first!

 

(newlyweds)

 

We made a toast to all the couples onboard and were given a piece of cake to celebrate. If we were to return to the PG, DH and I would actually go to this ceremony again as it was really well done. They did a great job of making everyone feel special and it was nice to have a special evening onboard. To continue on our 'special day' we had made a reservation for 'La Veranda', an ambient restaurant which features French cuisine. Our dinner was so amazing, I loved every single thing I ate - even the creme brulee. For someone who doesn't even like custard, that's a big call :) Each course was paired with wine so we just had what the waiter recommended and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

 

(grilled wahoo with green beans)

 

(creme brulee)

 

A great end to our first day in Bora Bora.

[lovetotravel68]

What fun ................ good for you guys ........... high rollers for the day :)

 

Haha thanks Tiki! We had a great time and you only live once right ;)

[Emdee]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. It's a real pleasure to read. It's clear you had a great time.

 

You are doing wonders for our anticipation. Cannot wait for September.

 

I forecast the beginnings of the PG Flu in your future. If we next go on the PG soon becomes WHEN we next go on the PG. All of a sudden you become a lifer like some of us!

[clairesmom]

ahhhh...so glad I found this! If can't be back on the PG, I want a detailed review to read!! Great job so far!! Loving it!

[Tikiintahiti]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. It's a real pleasure to read. It's clear you had a great time.

 

You are doing wonders for our anticipation. Cannot wait for September.

 

I forecast the beginnings of the PG Flu in your future. If we next go on the PG soon becomes WHEN we next go on the PG. All of a sudden you become a lifer like some of us!

 

I can tell she is getting the 'flu' .......... I'm sure I'll meet up with her someday :)

[Tikiintahiti]

After our fantastic morning, we headed back to the cruise ship just in time for lunch. We feasted to our hearts content then I went off to do a Polynesian dance class. It was really fun and I learnt some new moves. I had such a good time I even went back a few days later for another class.

 

(polynesian dance class with Les Gauguines)

 

Later that evening the cruise line put on a 'blessing ceremony' and those who were celebrating their honeymoon or wedding anniversary were invited to attend. It was a really nice ceremony where the entertainment director read out a lovely poem and one of the dancers performed. Then one by one, starting with the couples who had just been married and finishing with those who had been married the longest, we were invited to be wrapped in the 'fertility blanket' to be blessed. As DH and I had been married for just 11 days we got to go first!

 

(newlyweds)

 

We made a toast to all the couples onboard and were given a piece of cake to celebrate. If we were to return to the PG, DH and I would actually go to this ceremony again as it was really well done. They did a great job of making everyone feel special and it was nice to have a special evening onboard. To continue on our 'special day' we had made a reservation for 'La Veranda', an ambient restaurant which features French cuisine. Our dinner was so amazing, I loved every single thing I ate - even the creme brulee. For someone who doesn't even like custard, that's a big call :) Each course was paired with wine so we just had what the waiter recommended and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

 

(grilled wahoo with green beans)

 

(creme brulee)

 

A great end to our first day in Bora Bora.

 

I can see the color in your face on that last picture ....... is that because of you being outside in the sun having the time of your life or ....... ah ..... is it because of the 'fertility blanket' :eek:

[twin123185]

I want a creme brûlée ......

 

 

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