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Paul Gauguin/Ponant Schedule Changes

Host Jazzbeau

By Host Jazzbeau,
in Paul Gauguin Cruises

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Host Jazzbeau

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Ponant has released this document [in French and English] showing cruise cancellations and confirmations through the end of 2020 [thanks to @AussieBoyTX]:

https://fr.calameo.com/read/000132423cf461dcaf716?authid=BIZNrwBnxZY5&fbclid=IwAR3rbqUhzDlQCmgPPNqFR7XPgxyQNMA3yoB8CiTr_rOIHdgLr1mt8lyU0AE

 

I spent some time [during a Zoom meeting – there is a benefit to Covid lockdowns after all!] analyzing the Ponant document, and came up with this version that only shows the confirmed and possible sailings for Tahiti.  [I also changed the dates to the US format of mm/dd/yy – if you prefer the other format you will find it in the sailing numbers.]

Paul Gauguin Revised Schedule 2020.pdf

 

The full schedule is available here:

 

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dsgriggs

dsgriggs

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Also, Air France has pushed back their return to LAX until at least the beginning of November, so for those scheduled on AF from LAX, you will need to make alternate arrangements for your flights.


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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

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Actually she left for a bit and came back ... that was on August 21.

 

Will be interesting to see what unfolds ... I don't even want to speculate. 

 

Have my own guesses but I'll keep my cards close to my chest for now .... we'll know soon enough.

 

 

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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Host Jazzbeau Great Review Rare

Host Jazzbeau

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In looking back on the announcement of PG's new builds, I noticed that their design is "an evolution of the Explorers series" of Ponant ships.  So I thought this might be a test bed for design tweaks – but Le Soléal is one of the older Ponant series.  Still, the two series aren't that different, and the specs for the new PG ships are in between [Le Soléal is 10,944 tons, Explorers are 9,976, and new PG is 11,000;  Le Soléal holds 264 pax, Explorers are 184, new PG 230]  I don't know whether the hulls are similar between the two Ponant series.

 

Or maybe, with Covid limiting cruise demand, Ponant will kill the PG new builds and transfer Le Soléal and one of her series mates to French Polynesia.

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AussieBoyTX "Live from...." Rare

AussieBoyTX

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1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Or maybe, with Covid limiting cruise demand, Ponant will kill the PG new builds and transfer Le Soléal and one of her series mates to French Polynesia.

I think few will be surprised if M/V Paul Gauguin is retired instead of renovated in 2021 and replaced with one or two Ponant ships — one even renamed Paul Gauguin. 

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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

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One new ship is scheduled for delivery to FP in 2023, that was announced a week ago.

 

The Soleal holds about 220 double occupancy, 264 when loaded to full capacity.  Soleal was refurbished in 2019 so I would assume she is in good condition. 

 

 

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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Host Jazzbeau

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58 minutes ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

One new ship is scheduled for delivery to FP in 2023, that was announced a week ago.

 

The Soleal holds about 220 double occupancy, 264 when loaded to full capacity.  Soleal was refurbished in 2019 so I would assume she is in good condition.

 

Actually it's 264 double occupancy, 220 if all possible Prestige convertible cabins are used as Prestige suites.  There are no cabins that can hold more than 2 people.

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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

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42 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Actually it's 264 double occupancy, 220 if all possible Prestige convertible cabins are used as Prestige suites.  There are no cabins that can hold more than 2 people.

 

From CC: "Because several of the cabins interconnect to create suites, the capacity of the ship can vary."

 

From CruiseMapper.com: "Le Soleal cruise ship deck plan has a total of 132 staterooms for 224 passengers (max capacity is 264 guests)"

 

Capacity

 

Interesting  .... 132 startrooms X 2 = 264  .... doesn't makes sense at 224 ...

 

Not saying it is correct, just quoting my source ... I didn't pull it out of thin air 😉

 

New PG ship rendition

 

Paul_Gauguin_Render_Dec19-3.jpg

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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Host Jazzbeau

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I could see how it happened, because most sources think of ships as having a basic double-occupancy number and a larger number when the extra beds are used.  But Ponant (and some other luxury small-ship lines) work the opposite:  the basic double-occupancy number is the big one; when they convert 2 cabins into 1 suite the number goes down.

 

Here's the Ponant deck plan for this class of ships.  The details at the bottom show how many Prestige cabins are on each floor, and how they convert to a smaller number of Prestige suites.  Whether it's sold as a Prestige cabin or a Prestige suite, there are only two occupants – so each suite reduces the capacity by two guests.

Ponant Deck Plans (L'Austral, Le Boréal, Le Lyrial, Le Soléal.pdf

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Host Jazzbeau

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3 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

Yeah I saw that on the Ponant page  .... 

 

Guess we'll all wait in suspense to see how everything goes down  ...

 

Hopefully the crew will be moved over to the Soleal ... the crew is what makes Paul Gauguin  .... Paul Gauguin

 

Probably easier to move that crew over [they are already post-quarantine] than fly a new one in.

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tracey7777

tracey7777

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I wish I understood what is happening.   We are supposed to be on the October 14, 2020 cruise and it's listed as canceled on this sheet.   However, when I contacted Paul Gauguin, they said the cruise was still going.    It's listed on Paul Gauguin's website, however, it was removed from Ponant's.     We have three weeks to go and have plane tickets going to LA earlier, confirmed medical tests for our RT-PCR for $500, and airfare with Air Tahiti Nui which we will need to modify.    If this cruise isn't running, I'd sure be glad if someone notified us.   There are also two other cruises that are listed as canceled.     I'm trying to be as patient as I can, but this is stressing me out!

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number8

number8

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35 minutes ago, tracey7777 said:

I wish I understood what is happening.   We are supposed to be on the October 14, 2020 cruise and it's listed as canceled on this sheet.   However, when I contacted Paul Gauguin, they said the cruise was still going.    It's listed on Paul Gauguin's website, however, it was removed from Ponant's.     We have three weeks to go and have plane tickets going to LA earlier, confirmed medical tests for our RT-PCR for $500, and airfare with Air Tahiti Nui which we will need to modify.    If this cruise isn't running, I'd sure be glad if someone notified us.   There are also two other cruises that are listed as canceled.     I'm trying to be as patient as I can, but this is stressing me out!

 

Its a damm shame that they don't do a good job of communication with future passengers about what is going on. Thats why we jumped ship, lol and moved our trip to next year. Didn't want to go through what you are planning with the layover in LA and the Covid testing and all the unknowns. We were lucky we have a good TA that was able to move our cruise and we didn't lose any of our deposit. Hope it all works out well for you and you can make it there and the cruise actually sets sail. Good Luck

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sita

sita

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If I were going to guess, maybe the 10/14 cruise is ‘under analysis’ because they want to push over to the Soleal cruises around the same time, the dates don’t line up exactly. 
 

We were going to be on this cruise with you, bailed a long time ago but had to fight to get our money back.  Cannot imagine the stress of sticking it out and current lack of communication. Hope it all works out for you.

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SWFLAOK

SWFLAOK

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We looked over the bookings on the PG site, and quite a bit is available. In fact, hardly anything is booked. Pretend you are going to book another cabin and list those that are available. It's wide open on all decks. In fact our cruise in Dec. '21 looks wide open as well.

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minabruuke

minabruuke

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I am really sorry for those that are feeling the stress of this delayed/lack of communication.  I hope that you have answers soon!

 

We had a big trip to Africa booked for this December that was understandably cancelled.  I've had my fingers crossed that we possibly could try to take the PG reunion cruise in January as a replacement trip.  We actually have airfare tentatively booked  but we've decided that we would not make any other travel arrangements or decisions until much closer.  We have no problem waiting until last minute to make a decision and if the option is not available by that time then we'll just feel it wasn't meant to be.  As of right now there is just no where around us that we can get COVID test results in the necessary time frame so that is one of the big factors holding us back. We just don't have the extra time to spend in LA if we do an 11 night cruise so we have to hope that the testing situation changes.  We're also COVID long haulers- though the virus has long been out of our bodies it did some pretty serious damage.  It is still just too soon to know if we'll feel well enough to travel by then.  For us it is also important to see what they are saying about the length of immunity a few months from now - if the medical professionals and scientists state that they are starting to see more and more people re-infected with COVID then we will not take the risk.  That said....like so many others we really need to get away for our mental well being.  

 

All that said, my gut is telling me that Ponant may be switching ships and I have to admit this would be a real bummer for me because I believe it will push the trip out of our budget.  We book the porthole rooms on Paul Gauguin both because we don't need a balcony and actually like the portholes and being so close to the water but also because they allow the trip to be within our budget. Looking at the Le Soleal , correct me if I am wrong, it appears that all of the staterooms are balcony rooms. I would not be surprised if Ponant/PG price the lowest category around the price point of the current lowest priced balcony room on the PG.  If that's the case then I guess we've already sailed with PG for the last time😔  

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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

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10 minutes ago, minabruuke said:

I am really sorry for those that are feeling the stress of this delayed/lack of communication.  I hope that you have answers soon!

 

We had a big trip to Africa booked for this December that was understandably cancelled.  I've had my fingers crossed that we possibly could try to take the PG reunion cruise in January as a replacement trip.  We actually have airfare tentatively booked  but we've decided that we would not make any other travel arrangements or decisions until much closer.  We have no problem waiting until last minute to make a decision and if the option is not available by that time then we'll just feel it wasn't meant to be.  As of right now there is just no where around us that we can get COVID test results in the necessary time frame so that is one of the big factors holding us back. We just don't have the extra time to spend in LA if we do an 11 night cruise so we have to hope that the testing situation changes.  We're also COVID long haulers- though the virus has long been out of our bodies it did some pretty serious damage.  It is still just too soon to know if we'll feel well enough to travel by then.  For us it is also important to see what they are saying about the length of immunity a few months from now - if the medical professionals and scientists state that they are starting to see more and more people re-infected with COVID then we will not take the risk.  That said....like so many others we really need to get away for our mental well being.  

 

All that said, my gut is telling me that Ponant may be switching ships and I have to admit this would be a real bummer for me because I believe it will push the trip out of our budget.  We book the porthole rooms on Paul Gauguin both because we don't need a balcony and actually like the portholes and being so close to the water but also because they allow the trip to be within our budget. Looking at the Le Soleal , correct me if I am wrong, it appears that all of the staterooms are balcony rooms. I would not be surprised if Ponant/PG price the lowest category around the price point of the current lowest priced balcony room on the PG.  If that's the case then I guess we've already sailed with PG for the last time😔  

 

nothing ... close my mouth 

 

 

 

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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