Just back from June 20 sailing

[okiebaugh]

Just getting back into regular life after a great week on the PG! We travelled with our two kids and would be happy to answer any questions. One highlight was a private Cateraman tour in Moorea with Voila Moorea that was fantastic. Only issue was with our pre cruise stay booked through PG. We stayed at the Intercontinental Tahiti and believed we booked a room with 2 queen beds. Was given a tiny room with a king and a roll away. Couldn't even move around the room or open our suitcases. The hotel blamed PG and PG said nothing they could do as hotel was full. This put a very bad first impression of PG in our minds. We are still waiting to hear back from PG. I could have booked hotel directly for less money and expect when I pay a premium that I should get premium service and our concerns should have been addressed immediately. Luckily the staff on board were wonderful and once we left the IC and got to the ship we had a great time.

[olesiabr]

I'm glad to hear the week on the PG was great, despite the less than stellar pre cruise stay. How many nights were you in Tahiti, and did you do any excursions pre-cruise?

Also, do you recommend any of the snorkeling tours, particularly those offered through PG? We are sailing in October and will have some on board credit we would like to use!

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

[Emdee]

You should have booked the panoramic room. Since DD comes with us we usually book those rooms. Worth the small additional cost.

[RZ3]

With the two kids did you book two rooms on the PG?

[twin123185]

I don't believe there any rooms on the PG that accommodates 4 people. Maybe if the kids are really small.......also don't recall any rooms at the PG with 2 queens - and I have stayed in all of the different types of rooms.

It's funny when I hear the IC blaming the OG and vice-versa. It's the same company!

Edited July 3, 2015 by twin123185

[okiebaugh]

My mother in law travelled with us so we had a cat B for 2 and a cat e for 3. We thought we had booked a panoramic room at the IC but apparently that wasn't the case according to them, although technically that and the bungalows are the only ones that accommodate 3. And yes our frustration was/is the finger pointing and lack of trying you make it right especially since they are owned by the same company.

 

In Bora Bora we did the snorkel tour through the ship that visited the stingrays, sharks and coral gardens. It was fantastic! I think it had mahoi Nui in the title. In Huahanie we would recommend the Sacred sights tour if u like hearing a lot of history. The guide was very interesting.

 

We did 2 nights pre cruise. While there we did a jet ski tour through the hotel. The water was a bit rough that day, but we still had a blast. We also did an island tour that we had the concierge set up. It ended up being just a taxi driver taking us all the way around the island. We made a few stops but the driver wasn't very informative. If I had it to do again I would have gone on one of the organized tours with hopes that the guide would be more talkative.

 

One other tip- We did not really care for the food on the plane so u might be prepared with your own snacks.

[Emdee]

I don't believe there any rooms on the PG that accommodates 4 people. Maybe if the kids are really small.......also don't recall any rooms at the PG with 2 queens - and I have stayed in all of the different types of rooms.

It's funny when I hear the IC blaming the OG and vice-versa. It's the same company!

 

I think the A suites can accommodate 4 people.

[micmacmissy]

Thank you for sharing! What a wonderful trip for your kids! How old are they? Were there many kids onboard?

 

We're the meanie parents that will leave our kids home when we go on the PG...and I've wondered how many kids are onboard (we'll be going in June 2017).

 

I have heard lots of complaints about the IC pre-cruise stays. Did you fly out directly after the cruise?

[Cruisedreamer1]

Please tell us about your ship experience! Did you enjoy the shows? What was your favorite dining venue? Did you try the exercise room? Did the kids participate in the environmental program?

 

We have stay after and before and have found that our PG experience is the best part of the trip. We recommend that people go for the longest trip on the ship that they can do and forget about pre and post stays.

[twin123185]

Thank you for sharing! What a wonderful trip for your kids! How old are they? Were there many kids onboard?

 

 

 

We're the meanie parents that will leave our kids home when we go on the PG...and I've wondered how many kids are onboard (we'll be going in June 2017).

 

 

 

I have heard lots of complaints about the IC pre-cruise stays. Did you fly out directly after the cruise?

 

 

 

Well I have stayed at the IC 8 times and you won't hear a complaint from me. Over the past 10 years every aspect of the hotel has improved dramatically. Especially the food. I have always booked the pre cruise on my own so I can't attest to the way PG handles it although it's chaotic at the hotel the day of boarding the ship! Get IC Ambassador status, let the hotel know this well in advance and you should always get into a panoramic view room even when booking with PG. Or on your own booking the cheapest room.

[RZ3]

Thanks. We left our kids at home when we sailed the PG last year. I'm working out options to visit again and P is out of the question if I have to get two cabins. That's well outside the budget.

[twin123185]

I took my family once with Princess. Good option to check out.

[olesiabr]

Okiebaugh, thanks for the tips! Glad to hear the ship's excursion in Bora Bora is good.

We are also leaving the kids at home when we sail in October...

[okiebaugh]

Thank you for sharing! What a wonderful trip for your kids! How old are they? Were there many kids onboard?

 

We're the meanie parents that will leave our kids home when we go on the PG...and I've wondered how many kids are onboard (we'll be going in June 2017).

 

I have heard lots of complaints about the IC pre-cruise stays. Did you fly out directly after the cruise?

 

This trip was a graduation/18th birthday trip for our daughter..Our son turned 8 on board. My daughter did participate in the Youth program(her 18th bday was a few days after the trip) and son got to tag along for some of the activities. They both really loved it and learned a lot about marine biology. The 2 AOEY youth counsellors were great and knowledgeable. There were 10 kids signed up for the program, and maybe another 15-20 kids on board. I think the youngest was about 6, and all were very well behaved. Our kids have travelled a lot- over 20 cruises for each, so we know how they travel and knew this was a trip they could enjoy. If the kids need to be entertained constantly this may not be a trip for them. Ours love water, snorkeling, and hanging out with us so they loved this cruise.

 

We did fly directly home on the over night flight. We had a day room at the Tahiti Pearl. The food at IC is much better than the Pearl. If, no...when I go again I would stay at least 1 night after, or get off early and take a morning flight home. The late night flight was smack full and I can't sleep much sitting up, so a daytime flight would be better.

 

Even though we had issues with the IC, I did prefer that hotel overall to the Pearl. Our room at the Pearl was nice, but the grounds aren't as pretty as IC and the food at IC was MUCH better. I would most likely book my hotel stays separately next time so I have more control. Since this was our first trip to Tahiti and we had kids and mother in law we thought having the transfers and everything handled through PG would be easier. I would also do at least one night pre-stay just to adjust to time change and relax before sailing. We did 2 nights and did not regret it.

 

We ate 3 nights in The Verandah, 1 night at the grill, 2 nights in L'etoille and skipped 1 night. We had breakfast 2 times on deck 8, and then switched to deck 6. We just loved some of the servers in the Verandah so that is why we kept eating there. We ate at the Grill the evening we were in Bora Bora and it was a beautiful evening to eat out next to the pool.

I am happy to answer any other questions! Like I mentioned we have cruised a lot and we all said this was our all time favorite vacation. So anyone out there considering it, I say do it!

[okiebaugh]

Please tell us about your ship experience! Did you enjoy the shows? What was your favorite dining venue? Did you try the exercise room? Did the kids participate in the environmental program?

 

We have stay after and before and have found that our PG experience is the best part of the trip. We recommend that people go for the longest trip on the ship that they can do and forget about pre and post stays.

 

We did enjoy the shows and lectures very much. We honestly did not make it to much after dinner time (5 hour time change for us). We enjoyed the piano bar player and having a drink pre or post dinner. The kids dancing group from Huahine was great. We did several of the activities with The Gauguines like bracelet making and pareo tying and enjoyed them.

We intended to use the exercise room but ended up getting plenty of exercise on our excursions and didn't make it there other than to see it tge first day. And despite eating really anything I wanted this trip I didn't gain weight!:)

Agree the PG is the best part! Since we come from the central time zone it helps to have a pre stay, plus I don't think I would like coming in on the late flight and getting on board several hours after everyone else.