Tahiti: Oceania, Windstar or Paul Gauguin?

[SellaVee]

We love the Windstar sailing ships, and will soon take our 5th Oceania cruise, but for FP we chose Paul Gauguin, and absolutely loved it.  It was great spending time with the Gauguines, and we loved everything about it.

 

I will say that I found the passengers on board a good bit louder and more exuberant than on either WS or PG.  This is not meant as a criticism.  It was strange at first because both the other lines can bye very quiet.  There was a French group on board who were great fun at the karaoke.  It was a very jolly experience.

 

We're from the UK, so FP is a big commitment of both time and money.  We spent some time in Santa Monica, them more time in Moorea, so that we were completely over the jet lag by the time we boarded.  If I was to do it again I'd go back on the PG.

[MAEUNC]

20 minutes ago, SellaVee said:

We love the Windstar sailing ships, and will soon take our 5th Oceania cruise, but for FP we chose Paul Gauguin, and absolutely loved it.  It was great spending time with the Gauguines, and we loved everything about it.

 

I will say that I found the passengers on board a good bit louder and more exuberant than on either WS or PG.  This is not meant as a criticism.  It was strange at first because both the other lines can bye very quiet.  There was a French group on board who were great fun at the karaoke.  It was a very jolly experience.

 

We're from the UK, so FP is a big commitment of both time and money.  We spent some time in Santa Monica, them more time in Moorea, so that we were completely over the jet lag by the time we boarded.  If I was to do it again I'd go back on the PG.

PG and Windstar Star Breeze have the exact same 7 day itinerary but PG is twice the price.  Are you saying the passengers on PG were louder than Windstar and Oceania?  We like an exuberant crowd and seeing others having a good time.  Will we find the Windstar crowd being very reserved, playing chess and rocking their chair?

[MAEUNC]

2 hours ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

We did Oceania’s Tahiti to Tahiti 10 night trip.  It was fabulous.  We did several of Oceania’s excursions and they were excellent.  (Drift snorkel was fab.). Keep in mind that if Windstar still has the sailing ship in FP, non of the cabins have balconiesn but the ship does have the swim platform.  Paul Gauguin and Windstar home port in Tahiti. Oceania is seasonal.  Again, oceania was wonderful.

We would be on the Breeze.  It has balconies.  I'd like to see a menu.  My husband is a meat and potatoes guy

[MAEUNC]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

To me it’s simple. Do you want to go to FP to immerse in the culture, in the local fresh foods, and educated by truly outstanding enlightenment speakers? 
 

Or, do you want to see the FP in a very comfortable Americanized manner eating in the PG and Toscana, getting the exact same foods served to you as you would in the Med, Baltic, or Asia? Maybe one night at the buffet you’ll even get a FP night, with an Americanized version of the food. 🙄

 

Do you cruise to cruise, or cruise to travel? Particularly for the FP, once you answer that simple question, the other answer is clear.

Not particularly clear.  I was asking the person who originally posted this question for a review of his choice.  You only mention PG as giving an Americanized type.  Are you saying don't cruise and just go to an FP island?

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, MAEUNC said:

Not particularly clear.  I was asking the person who originally posted this question for a review of his choice.  You only mention PG as giving an Americanized type.  Are you saying don't cruise and just go to an FP island?

I think the PG that Pinot  is referring to is Polo Grill a restaurant on Oceania

 The OP started this thread 2 yrs ago  so may not be still reading here

[SellaVee]

15 minutes ago, MAEUNC said:

PG and Windstar Star Breeze have the exact same 7 day itinerary but PG is twice the price.  Are you saying the passengers on PG were louder than Windstar and Oceania?  We like an exuberant crowd and seeing others having a good time.  Will we find the Windstar crowd being very reserved, playing chess and rocking their chair?

You know the bit where I wrote

 

"I will say that I found the passengers on board a good bit louder and more exuberant than on either WS or PG.  This is not meant as a criticism."?

 

[MAEUNC]

25 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I think the PG that Pinot  is referring to is Polo Grill a restaurant on Oceania

 The OP started this thread 2 yrs ago  so may not be still reading here

Gottcha.  So he is saying that Paul Gaugin provides a more authentic experience.  It's also twice the price of Windstar.

[MAEUNC]

26 minutes ago, SellaVee said:

You know the bit where I wrote

 

"I will say that I found the passengers on board a good bit louder and more exuberant than on either WS or PG.  This is not meant as a criticism."?

 

You were speaking about Paul Gaugin and then said the passengers on board were louder and more exuberant than on WS or PG.  I thought you may have meant WS or Oceania. Excuse my confusion but the statements do not convey clearly

 

[SellaVee]

36 minutes ago, MAEUNC said:

You were speaking about Paul Gaugin and then said the passengers on board were louder and more exuberant than on WS or PG.  I thought you may have meant WS or Oceania. Excuse my confusion but the statements do not convey clearly

 

Humble apologies, I did mean Windstar and Oceania as you correctly thought.

 

We did a longer itinerary, so I didn't compare prices with Windstar (or O).  Value for money, and itineraries are the things I look at most.  One of the things I like about O is that I can choose the itinerary, then pick a stateroom to fit my budget.

[piper28]

2 hours ago, MAEUNC said:

We would be on the Breeze.  It has balconies.  I'd like to see a menu.  My husband is a meat and potatoes guy

 

I don't have any menus, but did do a WS trip in the caribbean this last christmas.  I'm definitely what you'd call a pretty plain eater (like, meat and potatoes without the potatoes I've been described as at times 🙂 ).  I didn't have any problems really with the menus.  Sure, there were a couple nights that were less thrilling, but I get that on any ship to be honest.  Candles (steakhouse) I thought was real good, the french restaurant was less appealing to me.  The one meal I really had the most trouble with myself was lunch - on the sailing yachts at least the buffet itself was pretty small, and often filled with things I had no interest in.  Not sure if the motor yachts are any different.  I did end up eating a lot of burgers for lunchs on that trip.  

 

Booked for the 14 day Tahiti and Marquesas trip next summer on the Breeze.  Looking forward to it very much (although less so the flying there and back part).  

[VacayAddict]

We’ve done the PG 3 times and just love it, once under the new ownership. All inclusive and lovely. 

[MAEUNC]

4 minutes ago, piper28 said:

 

I don't have any menus, but did do a WS trip in the caribbean this last christmas.  I'm definitely what you'd call a pretty plain eater (like, meat and potatoes without the potatoes I've been described as at times 🙂 ).  I didn't have any problems really with the menus.  Sure, there were a couple nights that were less thrilling, but I get that on any ship to be honest.  Candles (steakhouse) I thought was real good, the french restaurant was less appealing to me.  The one meal I really had the most trouble with myself was lunch - on the sailing yachts at least the buffet itself was pretty small, and often filled with things I had no interest in.  Not sure if the motor yachts are any different.  I did end up eating a lot of burgers for lunchs on that trip.  

 

Booked for the 14 day Tahiti and Marquesas trip next summer on the Breeze.  Looking forward to it very much (although less so the flying there and back part).  

I found menus!!  Looks Like I could stay on the ship and eat all day!!  The flight is the part I dread.  

[avalong]

11 hours ago, MAEUNC said:

We would be on the Breeze.  It has balconies.  I'd like to see a menu.  My husband is a meat and potatoes guy

To be clear, they are French balconies.

[Verokaren]

We did O in FP last spring for their 10 day itinerary and absolutely loved it. Regarding the food, while in Nuka Hiva, they brought aboard loads of fresh tuna, and we had the most delicious seafood extravaganza for two nights. I loved that they took advantage of the local catch.
 

We had some great excursions, both through O and privately arranged. Perhaps the only thing missing would be more speaker series. 
 

We definitely want to go back soon, so I'm enjoying this thread. I do think cruising this area provides the ability to see multiple islands and varied terrain. 

[Verokaren]

Here are some fun food photos from that trip!

[AMHuntFerry]

16 hours ago, avalong said:

To be clear, they are French balconies.

A few (6 or so?) of the suites have "real" balconies with furniture.

[avalong]

4 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

A few (6 or so?) of the suites have "real" balconies with furniture.

Yes, but I was talking about for us common folk. 🙂

[kayakcove]

As for all cruises it depends on what your preferences are. We did WS on the Wind Spirit and loved every minute. Prior to sailing I had watched their promotional videos and this was the only time I came home and felt our experience matched those videos. The idyllic scenes and experiences were all there.  Each evening we (104) were all on deck for sail away. As the music rose and the sails started extending it sent chills through me as we slipped through the break in the reef. 

Our first experience with Oceania was on the first Vista sailing and we will be going back. For Tahiti, it is different, and I felt it was best experienced in a small setting and with the sails pulling us along. MANY years ago we did the British Virgin Islands on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise and again that was the way to go for that locale.

We have also been on the Star Breeze for Panama Canal and Costa Rica and enjoyed it, but missed the sails.

Edited July 16, 2023 by kayakcove

[pinotlover]

56 minutes ago, kayakcove said:

As for all cruises it depends on what your preferences are. We did WS on the Wind Spirit and loved every minute. Prior to sailing I had watched their promotional videos and this was the only time I came home and felt our experience matched those videos. The idyllic scenes and experiences were all there.  Each evening we (104) were all on deck for sail away. As the music rose and the sails started extending it sent chills through me as we slipped through the break in the reef. 

Our first experience with Oceania was on the first Vista sailing and we will be going back. For Tahiti, it is different, and I felt it was best experienced in a small setting and with the sails pulling us along. MANY years ago we did the British Virgin Islands on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise and again that was the way to go for that locale.

We have also been on the Star Breeze for Panama Canal and Costa Rica and enjoyed it, but missed the sails.

This is the key to it all for us! +1000! 🥂

 

For some of us, there are extraordinary places and times where the experiences provided by the WS and Paul G are so authentic and special they far outweigh faux claims of food and sheet thread count. That not to say I’d rather be on one of their ships going to Iceland, Greenland, the Baltics, or the Southern tip of S.A. 
 

This is by no means a universally held position, but for us, there is a time and place for Oceania, and likewise for other specialty lines. 
 

For us, it’s not One size fits All!

Edited July 16, 2023 by pinotlover