Language spoken on board

[fizook]

Previous sailers - what can you tell me about the language(s) spoken on board?

 

 

I watched a YouTube vid last night and although the production was in English some of the staff on board spoke French which was then translated to English.

 

I've also heard though the "grapevine" that native French speakers are sometimes given "preferential" treatment - comments?

[FlightMedic555]

Virtually everything is in English.  The overhead announcements are made in both English and French.  At the shows the introductions were done in both English and French.  I did not observe any preferential treatment for the French speakers.  It is a great cruise.

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 minutes ago, FlightMedic555 said:

Virtually everything is in English.  The overhead announcements are made in both English and French.  At the shows the introductions were done in both English and French.  I did not observe any preferential treatment for the French speakers.  It is a great cruise.

On our Iceland cruise I was very pleased with the Cruise Director's ability to switch from French to English and back.  Rather than wait for the entire announcement in one language, he would switch every few sentences – and I have enough command of French to notice that sometimes the French version was fuller but sometimes the English one was.  Felt very fair and efficient.

[MrRandal]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:48 AM, FlightMedic555 said:

Virtually everything is in English.  The overhead announcements are made in both English and French.  At the shows the introductions were done in both English and French.  I did not observe any preferential treatment for the French speakers.  It is a great cruise.

I agree, the vast majority on both of our PG cruises were native English speakers, and we never saw any preferential treatment to those who did speak French. Actually, the majority of the crew, those you will be interacting with in the dining rooms and your cabin stewards are from the Philippines. I'm sure with the new Ponant ownership there are probably more French officers onboard. But how often does the average guest interact with one of the ship's officers? However, you are very cordially greeted almost everywhere by the crew in Tahitian.

[minabruuke]

The native French speakers were absolutely given far more attention and care from the cruise director, Les Gauguins and Les Gauguines on our last PG cruise. It was extremely obvious and over the top.  We absolutely understood that the native language of those particular staff members was French and thus it may have been more comfortable and easier for them to interact with the French speaking guests but that particular team of staff really needs to be accessible and engaging with all guests and they really failed at that on that particular cruise. Several members of that team were fairly new and I do believe that had something to do with this.  As one example, I went to two craft sessions in a row where they passed out supplies to every single one of the French speaking guests first and basically ignored the English speakers. At the first session, a couple of us finally decided to help ourselves to the materials and then we had to actually walk over to them and ask if they wouldn't mind helping us as well (this was over 10 minutes after they had already given the French speaking guests instructions). At the second session, they actually ran out of supplies. All of the French speakers were given the supplies first and despite being the first to arrive, I and several other English speaking guests did not get to participate. I never actually witnessed the cruise director conversing or even greeting anyone but the French speaking guests.

 

That said, I noticed nothing of this sort on our first PG cruise and absolutely no other members of the crew on either of our PG cruises appeared to favor any particular group of guests. 

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

The ship is French owned, the officers are French and the local host are French speaking as the primary language. I would expect there to be a bit  more 'freedom' for all of them when speaking to the French ... 

It can be noticeable but not intentional ...

 

I've also noticed over the years that if you make an effort to speak a bit of French they open up to you ... just saying

Edited September 9, 2022 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[SWFLAOK]

The ship has only been owned by Ponant since mid 2019, and cruising ended by March 2020. Many of us have not been able to cruise on PG since then due to cancellations.

We do speak some French, but have never needed it onboard the PG to make ourselves understood. Les Gauguins and Les Gauguines always seemed to enjoy the chance to speak English. We translated some words and phrases for them now and then, just as French speaking people in the Caribbean have done for us in the past.

Hopefully none of that has changed since the last time we were onboard, but I can't just dismiss the previous review if the officers onboard are now all from France.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

but I can't just dismiss the previous review if the officers onboard are now all from France.

Having sailed on Ponant, I can say that on their 'own' ships they are very bi-lingual and do not preference French over English – and with their current marketing in North America that is not likely to change.  Therefore I don't think they are pressuring Paul Gauguin to become more French-focused.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:21 PM, minabruuke said:

The native French speakers were absolutely given far more attention and care from the cruise director, Les Gauguins and Les Gauguines on our last PG cruise. It was extremely obvious and over the top. 

This is worrisome.  The ship was quite French for our first two PG cruises (2000 and 2003), with the CD doing bilingual speeches, for instance.  I found that aspect quite charming, although some American guests didn't think so.  Over the years, the ship seemed to cater more primarily to anglophones.  I do hope that there's not an ongoing negative attitude onboard towards English-speaking passengers.

[minabruuke]

8 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

This is worrisome.  The ship was quite French for our first two PG cruises (2000 and 2003), with the CD doing bilingual speeches, for instance.  I found that aspect quite charming, although some American guests didn't think so.  Over the years, the ship seemed to cater more primarily to anglophones.  I do hope that there's not an ongoing negative attitude onboard towards English-speaking passengers.

The cruise I was speaking of was actually shortly before Ponant took over so it may not reflect the current situation at all (I apologize for not clarifying that from the start). While we did experience what I described, I would not assume that this was/is the norm. I simply wanted to point out that it has happened. That doesn't mean it is frequent or the standard. It could have been a totally one off experience for all I know. It surely would not stop us sailing with Paul Gauguin again. But I will say, that if we did experience the same thing again we would probably choose to try another cruise line. 

 

I actually enjoy hearing bilingual speeches, announcements, etc. and I absolutely feel it is appropriate for Paul Gauguin to be offering programming, announcements, etc. in French as well as English. I enjoy meeting people from around the world which of course means interacting with people that speak different languages and any time a ship can provide programming in multiple languages, I find that a hugely positive thing as it can help attract a diverse group of passengers! This can definitely be done without showing favor towards one group and I truly hope that Paul Gauguin will manage to do so under Ponant.

 

 

[EPTCB]

English has not been a problem but the crew members that are now French that have interacted with on current cruise have been pretty easy to identify by their stereotypically French attitude; that is to say not exactly exuding warm and friendly vibes.

[MotuIslander]

On 9/11/2022 at 9:36 AM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

This is worrisome.  The ship was quite French for our first two PG cruises (2000 and 2003), with the CD doing bilingual speeches, for instance.  I found that aspect quite charming, although some American guests didn't think so.  Over the years, the ship seemed to cater more primarily to anglophones.  I do hope that there's not an ongoing negative attitude onboard towards English-speaking passengers.

Hi Wendy!

 

We were on board this past June and we found that some of the new senior office were very French, but the crew at large was very much the same as you will remember (many ARE the same!).

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Personally I've found that the French Captains have been nice. May not be as outgoing as Captains prior but never less nice and helpful ....