Staying optimistic

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

I do know some of the crew was re-called and are on-board. This ship is getting prepared to cruise ... just waiting on the FP to give the go ahead. My guess is that the crew will give it everything they have to make the first cruises going out as good as possible.

Sure there are the current protocols and hopefully those will get loosened over the new few months as the pandemic numbers drop. Would really like to see the testing lighten up  for those that want to use private vendors and lets say rent a car on an island. IMO there really isn't any need to hold those wanting to take private excursions to a higher testing standard.  Frankly this places stress on cruisers who simply want a cruise that can be as normal as possible. Ship excursion vendors and private excursion vendors all know each other, heck many are even related and are close friends ... one vendor group is not less likely to be carrying active covid IMO. Hopefully this changes over the coming months  ... 

Please don't go negative on my thread ... if you have such a need please start your own thread ... I prefer to have a thread that can be a bit more positive 😉 

[tdl60]

We are really hoping that our cruise goes ahead on February 19, 2022.  It will be our first cruise to the South Pacific and first time on Paul Gaugin.  I have read online that the weather can be rainy in February but it will still be much better than snow!  We live near Ottawa Ontario.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

4 minutes ago, tdl60 said:

We are really hoping that our cruise goes ahead on February 19, 2022.  It will be our first cruise to the South Pacific and first time on Paul Gaugin.  I have read online that the weather can be rainy in February but it will still be much better than snow!  We live near Ottawa Ontario.

 

We've done at least a dozen trips to FP during the 'rainy' season. Only once did we have weather problems  ... usually the rain comes and goes quickly and the sun comes out in textured skies ... perfect for good photography.

Keep in mind that much of the beautiful flora is because of rain  ... some fruits and flowers don't bloom  when there isn't rain  ... and the waterfalls are at their best during the rainy season  ...

You will be fine, mark my words ... and yes I'll take a bit of rain over the cold of February in your home town 😉

[Wendy The Wanderer]

21 hours ago, tdl60 said:

We are really hoping that our cruise goes ahead on February 19, 2022.  It will be our first cruise to the South Pacific and first time on Paul Gaugin.  I have read online that the weather can be rainy in February but it will still be much better than snow!  We live near Ottawa Ontario.

I wouldn't worry about it.  I haven't been in February myself (December, April, May, June, September, October). You'll find it a bit muggier and hotter perhaps.  The occasional tropical downpours will seem refreshing, most likely.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Each day we get a bit closer to 'normal'  .... by December things will likely look way different than today. Would love to see private excursions, car rentals and walking into town acceptable without having to test every 3 days which IMO creates stress ... something we don't need.

 

If everyone gets tested every 3 days no foul but to single out those who simply like to be a bit more independent is wrong IMO.

Edited September 5, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Over 100 doctors, nurses and support personal arrived in FP yesterday from France  ... the media doesn't like saying positive things but there are optimistic things happening  .... probably several months out for being somewhat 'normal' but things are moving in the right direction. The local Polynesian population continues to get vaxxed and normal immunity is helping  ....  

[LikeToCruise2015]

Guess I have a different take on this.  The only reason that 100 additional medical personnel arrived in FP is because things are getting worse.  If everything was A-OK than these personnel would not be needed.  This is an unmitigated disaster which will, at some point in time, get better.  Whether that point in time is in 1 week, 1 month or 1 year is not known.

 

If you like to gamble I would think/hope that things will start to get better within a few weeks but getting better simply means less cases and fewer deaths and hospitalizations.  Due to the current huge numbers "getting better" needs to happen with a sustained decrease in disease over the next few months, not over the next few weeks.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

11 minutes ago, LikeToCruise2015 said:

Guess I have a different take on this.  The only reason that 100 additional medical personnel arrived in FP is because things are getting worse.  If everything was A-OK than these personnel would not be needed.  This is an unmitigated disaster which will, at some point in time, get better.  Whether that point in time is in 1 week, 1 month or 1 year is not known.

 

If you like to gamble I would think/hope that things will start to get better within a few weeks but getting better simply means less cases and fewer deaths and hospitalizations.  Due to the current huge numbers "getting better" needs to happen with a sustained decrease in disease over the next few months, not over the next few weeks.

 

The numbers have gotten better over the last week ...

 

And my original post stated "get loosened over the next few months as the pandemic numbers drop." Notice I said 'months'  ... nuff said .... I'm optimistic😉

 

 

[Wilcoam]

There is some very positive news from French Polynesia, according to the NY Times the percentage of those locally vaccinated continues to rise, now up to 48% single vaccinated and 36% double vaccinated

 

IMO as those numbers climb Tahiti becomes long term a much safer part of the world to visit, and it bodes well for anyone who is cruising in this region Nov 2021 forward 

 

However short term, IMO the daily number of those infected is um staggering, while the enviro changes so much every 7 to 10 days, unfort, I think it will have to settle down quite a bit for the current cruise moratorium to end on Sept 20, I think we are a week to 10 days from it being extended to Oct 4th, with another round of cancellations for PG, WS, and others

 

Plus as TBK has brought up, there is a difference between being able to cruise in FP and being able to cruise with less health restrictions, being able to book private excursions, being able to leave your land resort in BB or MOR, you do have to ask yourself, as we are, do we keep our approaching Oct sailing, looking at the situation with a half full glass, or being prudent just push it back a bit to a later timeframe when perhaps things are more normalized in the region?           

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

More good news ....

it is an indisputable reality: the number of people hospitalized has been falling steadily over the past few days ...

367 patients (excluding sheaves) on August 30, 351 on September 1, 330 on September 2 and “only” 291 today. This is one of the encouraging indicators to retain from the last epidemiological square communicated by the health authorities.

Finally, 118,757 Polynesians have so far been fully vaccinated against 143,885 who have received a first injection.

This is huge ... heading in the right direction

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

and ... it appears the PG will be cruising shortly as the protocols have changed ... things are getting better 🙂

[SWFLAOK]

Hey Big, do you have a link please? 
 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

2 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Hey Big, do you have a link please? 
 

 

Link?

 

I know things ... nuff said.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[ACRECL]

We’ve been told by our TA (who spoke to PG) that the 9/25 cruise is a GO! We are booked on it and flying out on 9/23. All our paperwork and ETIS are done. Last step is our PCR test on Monday.  We were on the last cruise before the COVID stoppage and are looking forward to being on the first cruise back in service.  😀

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

13 hours ago, ACRECL said:

We’ve been told by our TA (who spoke to PG) that the 9/25 cruise is a GO! We are booked on it and flying out on 9/23. All our paperwork and ETIS are done. Last step is our PCR test on Monday.  We were on the last cruise before the COVID stoppage and are looking forward to being on the first cruise back in service.  😀

 

Small world  ... we were on the last before the covid ... March 2020

Have a wonderful trip and please do post an undate while your on the cruise ... maybe a picture or 2 🙂

[ACRECL]

I will try during the cruise based upon internet access. If not definitely after.  I’ll post on the Roll Call for the cruise. BTW, we saw you on the last cruise before COVID, just never formally introduced ourselves. 😉

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

52 minutes ago, ACRECL said:

I will try during the cruise based upon internet access. If not definitely after.  I’ll post on the Roll Call for the cruise. BTW, we saw you on the last cruise before COVID, just never formally introduced ourselves. 😉

 

I'm a landmark on-board  ... this December, March 2022, July 2022 and October 2022

On the March cruise I'm a guest host ... will be teaching a photography class.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

The PG will sail today  .... looking forward to hear how it went from those on-board. 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Finishing cruise # 2 this week  ... things are looking good