Christmas On Board Le Paul Gauguin — Cook Islands & Society Islands — December 17 - December 28, 2022 — for Ponant Cruisers

[AussieBoyTX]

(I thought about posting this on the Paul Gauguin forum, but ultimately decided my comments would be more interesting to Ponant Cruisers here.)
 

Here we are again for one last cruise enjoying Ponant’s advantageous child pricing (for our seventeen-year-old). This time, we’re on Le Paul Gauguin, with basically the only itinerary Ponant offered this year that worked with our Christmas Break schedule. Ten days to the Cook Islands and the Society Islands (Bora Bora, Huahine & Moorea), with two days at sea. Gauguin is apparently polarizing — we’ve heard from many people who love it and some who — I wouldn’t say hate — but won’t go again. I guess we’ll find out where we stand.

So, first off, this trip is way too soon after our Antarctica trip on Lyrial, but we can blame this simply on American Thanksgiving and Winter break holidays being too close together. In any event, we were still a little tired from the last adventure and not feeling ready for our flight to Los Angeles that left only a couple of hours after final exams were done at school. In any event, flight to LAX was on time and uneventful. We had a five hour layover in Los Angeles (ugh), helped by time spent at some airline lounges we had access to, followed by the short, seven hour flight on Air Tahiti Nui’s new 787 to Papeete. I have to say that if I lived on the West Coast, I’d be in French Polynesia often!

 

We arrived at 5am and went to a dayroom we had reserved so we could chill until embarkation at 3pm. If you can afford it, this seems like a must-do. It’s offered as a package by PG for $1200 at the Intercontinental, which was a lot more than we wanted to pay, but found a simple place in town with air con & pool that was good enough for us. — but (ahem) you might disagree.

 

We went down to the cruise dock at lunch and in addition to Le Paul Gauguin found Aranui 5 (the “cruise freighter”) heading to the Marquesas and the German AIDAMar, on a 117-day world tour. As I’ve mentioned before, I would like to check out their bierhalle. We had lunch at a microbrewery across the street from the ships, went back for a swim and returned shortly after 3pm for embarkation.

 

Apparently some guests decide to wait at the pier from when their flight arrives until its time board, so there were well over a hundred guests who boarded ahead of us after waiting what, eight or nine hours? 

After our passports were verified against the list, we saw a lot of familiar people!

 

 - First off, our cruise director is the same from when we were on Le Lyrial over the Summer. She came over with smiles and hugs for all and said she was excited to see us again.

 

- Next at the foot of the gangway, and I don’t normally name names in my trip reports, we met our Captain, accompanied by Les Gauguines — Patrick Marchesseau! Marchesseau describes himself as “bipolar” (meaning he sails around the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica) and is usually on Le Commandant Charcot. But here he is working on his tan for a couple of months on Le Paul Gauguin — and he has his family along for Christmas. In any event, I’d say he’s among the most famous of Ponant’s Captains.

 

 - Then, while we’re on-board and waiting in the already too-long line for COVID verification we saw a French couple we had sailed with last Christmas in Seychelles!

 

If we had waited to board at four, maybe there wouldn’t have been a line to check-in, but I just can’t help but think there’s a way to improve this part of the experience. In any event, we completed the processes and were in our cabin just a little before four to find Champagne on ice, a fruit plate and a nice welcome letter.

 

We have a Window Stateroom on Deck 4, which is admittedly modest and priced appropriately, so I’d ask you not to take these comments as complaints, but more of what to expect… So first off, the cabin is smaller than we’re used to on Ponant — 204 square feet compared to 226 square feet in Le Lyrial’s Superior Stateroom. Twenty-two square feet (just about two square meters) makes a big difference here — a small glass table blocked access to one side of the bed, the convertible sofa bed and the refrigerator, so we had that removed. It’s actually not possible to open the refrigerator when the sofa bed is made and there are no outlets near the bed, USB or otherwise. Available storage is also awkward compared to what we’re used to, but we’ve adapted.

 

On the positive side, the shower is spacious (though it’s a little hard to contain the spray), the bedding is high-quality and comfortable, lighting is useful, the artwork is attractive and appropriately thematic, temperature controls work and the beers in the refrigerator are local and good.

 

We decided to go check out the tea service offered today at La Veranda on Deck 6. Well, it was quite a bit more than tea and offered pizza, pasta made to order, sandwiches and a wide selection of deserts (and tea or course). I’ve often said that it would be good if Ponant had something more than the current boarding afternoon offer (generally small canapés at the main lounge) and this expansive buffet certainly addresses that. It was way more than I would expect, but I’m sure it was appreciated by the guests who just waited outside the ship before boarding. The pizza was really good.

 

We were able to register for Scuba diving at the Scuba Desk — Given the way scuba works in French Polynesia, having the proper paperwork is challenging. Of twelve guests before us, only two had all the paperwork they needed. I suspect they were missing the required “doctor’s clearance to dive” form, which can probably be fixed with a visit to the ship’s doctor. The required forms are listed on PG’s site, but I’m sure they’re easy to be missed. Anyway, we’ve been diving in French Polynesia before and know the drill. We had all the proper forms. One disappointment is that, at this point, there won’t be diving in the Cook Islands, as the required local contractors won’t return the ship’s calls / e-mails.

 

Even though more than sixty guests were arriving on later flights, we had the muster drill at 5:30. It was a reasonably efficient process that just had us go directly to our muster station without lifejackets for instructions. It was here, though, that we realized the preponderance of guests are English-speaking. I will ask at some point, but I guess that less than 20% of the 311 guests from 29 countries are French-speaking. In any event, the ones near us seemed like American and Canadian families for the most part. Perhaps good news for us, as we promised our teen that other teens would be on the ship. The only accent we expected, but didn’t hear was Australian. There are apparently few on board.

 

After the drill, we went to the “life on board” talk in the main lounge. I like the layout of this space with alternating swiveling chairs and lines of banquettes / sofas and the large windows windows. One surprise to me was that of the people attending, maybe ten said they had been to French Polynesia before. I was expecting many repeat cruisers, so maybe they simply don’t attend the “life on board” talk. That would be surprising, as it’s the first introduction to Les Gauguins / Gaguines, who we’re promised are the heart of “m/v Paul Gauguin.”

 

And this is where I realized there is some pride among the long-time Gauguin guests & crew — they refer to our ship as “m/v Paul Gauguin” while the new crew, Ponant crew and Ponant guests refer to our ship as “Le Paul Gauguin.”

 

After that, there was a talk on the offered excursions that was very well done by the Excursion Manager, something that I don’t think is always done well on Ponant ships — but nobody attended like maybe twenty people, which I thought strange. Well, that question was answered quickly for us:

 - Every single excursion (of interest) had already been booked — some well in advance and the remainder as guests boarded!

 

Noobs that we are, we had no clue and now need to sort out private excursions for each destination.

 

Oh, well — it was dinner time, at which point, we found that Le Grille on Deck 8 required reservations and those had filled up immediately. Same for La Veranda on Deck 6. That left l’Etoile on Deck 5. We were not dressed for l’Etoile and did not intend to dress for l’Etoile, so we got room service delivered (they were happen to deliver what we wanted from Le Grille and it was good), figured out where to stow our stuff and went to bed.

[AussieBoyTX]

[AussieBoyTX]

On our first day aboard Le Paul Gauguin, we got up at five AM to watch the World Cup Final in the Grande Salon! The ship’s A/V team was able to deliver an excellent quality, huge video of the match and perhaps fifty of us plus as many crew members who could sneak away to watch joined us. Sodas and water were also provided, but no coffee. We probably woke some guests when France tied the score 2-2!

As the match went into overtime, I stepped out to watch our spectacular arrival into the narrow passage into the Huahine bay. Then, maybe anticipating what was going to happen in overtime, I went to breakfast at Le Grille and watched the early activities and first tenders going ashore.

 

Through some sort of miscommunication that may have been my fault, we hadn’t booked scuba diving for the morning and were free to do something else. We decided to take the tender to the island and check it out. We were met by one of Les Gauguines and a band playing local tunes. PG had organized a bus to take us for the twenty minute ride to Fare, which I guess I’d call the capitol. Being Sunday, most shops were closed and there wasn’t a lot going on, but we did enjoy watching the residents prepare for their Sunday barbecues and could see smoke plumes from town and all along the bus ride. 

 

Completing our walking tour in between brief bouts of heavy rain, we returned to the ship by noon and had a buffet lunch at Le Grille around noon. 

 

At one, we went for the daily dive. It was billed as for “advanced” divers, so there were only three guests — two of us plus one. We bring our own equipment, so my look at the supplied equipment was cursory, but it looked reasonably new. They also offered fifteen liter tanks, which would let me outlast the teen. Our dive master was good, gave a quality safety briefing and led the dive of Huahine’s west channel. The dive was just okay, through no fault of anyone — the current wasn’t really flowing the way we wanted and the sky became overcast, making it a bit dark. Nonetheless, we got to see some white-tipped reef sharks and a good collection of fish. The dive did actually require a little bit of experience, so I thought it was properly rated.

 

Back on the ship, there were activities going on all day by the pool. Les Gauguines hosted all sorts of activities immersing the guests in French Polynesian culture and life through crafts, stories & dance. And for those not interested in that, the pool itself was active with plenty of swimmers and sun worshipers.

 

We got back to our cabin to find that our teen received an invitation to the “Captain’s Daughter’s Table” for the Gala Dinner at L’Etoile on Deck 5. He was excited about that, so we changed our plans to make that happen.

 

Before the Gala was a bit of a story of Paul Gauguin, followed by the senior officer introductions by Captain Marchesseau. I thought it was really well done and really quite personal from the Captain. I was also surprised / pleased to see the number of senior officers either born in French Polynesia, or who have made FP their permanent home.

 

At the gala, we decided to join a table for eight — the selection must have been made by the PG Marketing Department, as some of our table-mates were frequent PG cruisers. If I heard correctly, one couple was on their thirteenth PG cruise! I know another guest said this was her sixth. The final couple normally sail on Seabourn and this was their first time on PG. The had a misconnect in Los Angeles and are fortunate to have made the ship — unfortunately their luggage did not and their first opportunity to be reunited will be Friday in Bora Bora! The repeat PG guests said how much the loved the friendly crew that they see again-and-again and, of course, Les Gauguins / Les Gauguines.

 

We managed to avoid politics and skirted around COVID, so the conversation was enjoyable. We had some discussion of the changes made since Ponant acquired PG. One of the most quantitative ones that I can remember is that a change in embarkation time makes it impossible to use the once-a-week flight from Hawaii — and the flight goes only once a week, meaning these guests will have to go to the mainland and back for their future cruises.

 

What was discussed at the “Captain’s Daughter’s Table” will stay there.

 

We ended the evening with a dance program performed by Les Gauguins / Les Gauguines highlighting stories from the island chains. We liked it and it was short enough, we think, for just about anyone to enjoy. 

 

At that point, we went to bed, but note that the disco was open from 11 until late. 

[AussieBoyTX]

[AussieBoyTX]

Monday was a day at sea as we steamed towards the Cook Islands. I began it in search of coffee and was again unsuccessful, settling for plain-old coffee with breakfast at the breakfast buffet at La Veranda on Deck 6. the buffet was fine and I found the bacon particularly memorable for some reason.

Afterwards, I was looking for a quiet place to read and work on some other obligations. I found that at Le Piano-Bar on Deck 5, which was very quiet and I was occasionally joined by others playing games or reading from the library. This bar was recently renovated and is very attractive. I understand that it once held a small casino and I was perfectly fine with having that gone.

 

For lunch, we had a Greek-themed buffet at L’Etoile on Deck 5. I liked how the venues open for lunch rotated between the three restaurants.

 

Throughout the day Les Gauguines again hosted French Polynesian-themed activities. We made bracelets made from a local plant fiber. Our Executive Chef hosted a presentation of a massive moon fish and showed how to filet it. The moon fish was offered on the menu that evening of course (this might actually have happened on Sunday, now that I think about it). We sailed through a strong rain shower, which drove a lot of guests to their cabins for the afternoon. Others went to a presentation on the geography & politics of Tahiti.

 

The favorite part of the day for me was that we were actually offered an open bridge — a first for me since 2019! We stayed for almost a half hour visiting with the officer and sailor on watch, getting our questions answered and talking about other things as well. The watch officer had been on the plane with us, but unfortunately his luggage missed a connection and he, also, was without all his belongings at least until Bora Bora.

 

At some point, we also learned of 309 guests, 70% were American / Canadian, 20% were French and 10% were other non-French speaking guests. 

 

We had meant to have dinner with our friends from the Seychelles cruise, but got our wires crossed and wound up eating late at Le Grille on Deck 8. I really enjoyed the seared tuna, fried wontons and wonton soup. This menu only changes once midway during our cruise — but I’d have it again. Being a bit more casual than “country club casual” requested at the other venues, Le Grille is a guest favorite and reservations fill quickly.

 

I also noted that the portions served are huge compared to what I expect on Ponant. I had veal, which was well-prepared, but I felt bad that I couldn’t finish it — it was two or three times what I would have been offered on Ponant.

 

It was almost ten when we finished dinner and missed much of the show by the featured singer, with a tribute to Edith Piaf, in the Grand Salon. So, off to bed for us, again noting the disco would open shortly without us and be open late.

Edited December 21, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

[jpalbny]

I think it's been 15 years since we visited FP, on the Tahitian Princess. Thanks for the memories! PG looks very different from that ship.

[AussieBoyTX]

After a very calm sailing, on Tuesday, we arrived at Aitutaki, Cook Islands, a gorgeous lush green coral atoll with a spectacular clear lagoon. We remained outside the lagoon with the ship’s position held by its thruster system. 

Shortly after our arrival, Matson Iuma arrived on its fortnightly (more-or-less) freight delivery. It was fascinating watching the containers lowered onto a purpose-built barge for transfer to the dock.

 

I enjoyed this even more, as I found my coffee — it’s at La Palette, the small bar aft on Deck 8 where the bartender knows how to make my drink and has it ready as I walk up.

 

After the passengers on excursions caught their tenders, the rest of us caught ours at our leisure. The ride was actually a little exciting — the tide was coming out through the narrow pass and the tender struggled to make it through. But soon enough we were on land at the gorgeous town of Arutanga. The grass was a very lush green and well kept, as were the buildings and homes. The scuba shop was closed, confirming why we weren’t able to dive today. Entrepreneurs were there ready to take guests to the beach for $20 USD each. From our look at the map, it seemed like a nice walk, so we decided to explore on our own — it was, actually not far and was a pleasant walk among shops, snack bars and well kept homes. I also noted the mopeds & motorcycles all had working mufflers, so the road was actually quiet.

 

We decided to stop at the second local cricket oval, which had covered benches adjacent to the beach and swam in the crystal clear water. Lovely! After a bit more exploring, we returned to the ship for a late lunch at La Veranda on Deck 6. And what did we find?

 

Our beloved Reblochon!

 

Aside from our favorite cheese, the buffet lunch was also fine and it was well past two before we decided to take a short break. 

The ship offered a sail away party at five at the Deck 8 pool. We watched from Deck 9, which was a little less frantic, as we sailed along the Aitutaki coast until sunset.

 

We had late dinner with our French friends we met on the Seychelles cruise and had lots to talk about — they’d gotten married and they’d sailed to the North Pole on Le Commandant Charcot! We wanted to hear about both. We also talked about our teen’s college plans and the first thing we’d do if we became Twitter CEO. 😉 We also thought about things Ponant could do to make the experience more familiar to Ponant guests without breaking what PG cruisers love. It was a great dinner.

 

Then we caught the last part of the featured illusionist’s show in the Grand Salon before going to bed, again missing the disco from 11pm until late. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

[AussieBoyTX]

Wednesday brought us our second stop on the Cook Islands — Rarotonga. I began the day watching the arrival from La Palette on Deck 8, my favorite coffee made as I walk in. The bartender now noticed the detail that I moved small coffee table to be closer to where I’m working and now takes care of that for me.

 

The seas had become a little rough overnight and the ship had quite a bit of roll as we drifted offshore. Enough to occasionally make some things not tied down slide around. Otherwise, the weather was perfect — high 70s Fahrenheit, partly cloudy and a light breeze. Completely unlike the weather at home, which was forecast to be below 10 Fahrenheit tomorrow!

 

Fairly early, perhaps nine AM, our Captain noted on the PA that the seas would remain rough all day and advised passengers who felt the needed help to move around the ship to ring Reception for assistance — he also said that the tender transfer might be difficult for some guests and suggested they might want to stay on board this stop.

 

The tender transfers were also taking a bit longer because of the seas and it was after ten when it was our turn to go ashore. There were five sailors on hand to ensure each passenger got on board safely, helping them to time their step across perfectly with the swell, which was maybe three feet for so — or maybe in some cases carrying the passengers across the threshold without them even knowing.

 

The short tender ride was fun, with the occasional wave coming across the bow and over the top, but soon enough, we were inside the protected small harbor that we shared with an imposing police boat and another Matson Lines freighter.

 

Also, at the pier was the Cook Islands Tourist Commission team, with glossy maps and plenty of suggestions on how to spend the day. We knew our Cruise Director was going to use a bit of personal time to do some shopping here, so we decided to walk through town to check that out. What we noticed was that if New Zealand were a bit warmer, we could have easily been there. There were mostly Kiwis on the street, here on Christmas holiday and the shops were stocked with the Australian and New Zealand brands we are familiar with. The only indication there might be a long supply chain was at the liquor store, that noted “Boat’s In; Loads Back in Stock!”

 

We spent several hours walking around the environs of the picturesque town. Rarotonga isn’t yet an atoll, so where we were wasn’t protected and would have been a (literal) beating against the volcanic seashore. We also got our picture in front of the Australian High Commission “just in case” and noted a dive shop that was closed — confirming and ensuring we’d have no Cook Islands diving on this trip. Disappointing.

 

We returned to the ship for a late lunch and found the seas had come a bit rougher, making getting off the tender a little bit more difficult for the guests. Anyway, we made it back for the end of the lunch at La Veranda and enjoyed the Philippine theme — there was a whole roast pig that was very well prepared. I also had a traditional chicken soup, empanadas and an assortment of Philippine deserts.

 

Of course, Les Gauguines were offering craft, history and dance classes throughout the day and right before our sail away, a local troupe performed Cook Island song and dances and we prepared to return to French Polynesia at 5:30. At his sail away announcement, our Captain made a point of thanking the sailors for safely executing the tender transfers today, which I thought appropriate and a nice touch.

 

We joined a friend for dinner at Le Grille on Deck 8 at seven and wound up being the last guests when we left after nine.

 

Although Le Grille has a small menu that changes once halfway through the cruise, it has become our favorite for dinner and we especially enjoy the seared tuna, vegetable wontons and soup. All four mains are also well prepared, but there is a portion issue that we’ve become used to now — for the chicken and veal, we ask for a half portion, which is still a little bit larger than I want (but fortunately we have the teen that will finish any leftovers), but the prawns seem under-portioned and I’d potentially ask for an additional serving.

 

Le Grille is also slightly less formal, allowing shorts, which feels a bit more appropriate in the South Pacific.

 

Personally, I’d allow dress shorts in all venues, but at least most guests see Hawaiian / Polynesian shirts as formal-enough for men.

 

For lunch and tea, we’re gravitating to La Veranda on Deck 6, which is generally quiet and air-conditioned.

 

La Veranda has also been nice for a more upscale dinner, though there are some portions are also quite large — I had a Duck Magret that was just more duck and more foie gras than one person should be allowed to eat in a single sitting.

 

We’ve generally not chosen to eat at l’Etoile — the big plus side is getting to meet other guests at the group tables if you want, but I don’t like the banquet catering food style that is difficult to avoid when feeding so many guests. I also found the makeshift lunch buffet food temperatures aren’t maintained properly.

 

We missed, but could hear, a performance by the popular Santa Rosa Band and we also missed Karaoke with Les Gauguines and, of course, Disco from 11pm until late.

[AussieBoyTX]

[jpalbny]

55 minutes ago, AussieBoyTX said:

I had a Duck Magret that was just more duck and more foie gras than one person should be allowed to eat in a single sitting.

 

You're making me hungry! 

[AussieBoyTX]

6 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

You're making me hungry! 

It was well prepared. 😎

[AussieBoyTX]

On Thursday, we earned another sea day. I began it with my coffee at La Palette and stayed most of the morning as Les Gauguines taught us Tahitian dances and percussion music. Our ad hoc band & dancers did a passable job with heavy assistance from our hosts.

 

Though it was a little windy, we had an Asian-themed lunch on the actual outdoor veranda at La Veranda. The Tom Yum soup was good as, amazingly, was the sweet and sour pork. We finished with a number of Christmas-themed deserts before taking a break.

 

We had a chance to play with the technology in the cabin and found you could order room service from the TV. We ordered a caesar salad and juice and it arrived 20 minutes later. Not bad. You can also see your bill, as well as messages that aren’t delivered to your mailbox. I’m not sure how you’d know to look there, as there’s no indicator aside from on the TV when it’s turned on and on that screen. And this message was an invitation to a “Repeater’s Reception” with our Captain, so we didn’t want to miss that!

 

Some of the other technology was potentially cool, but the execution needs improvement — the daily program and destination guide can be downloaded by scanning a QR Code. The codes were conveniently placed in the elevators, gathering areas and on the program itself — but the assets are located off-ship and for me, at least, I couldn’t make them download except for when I had cell service.

 

In the late-afternoon, I watched a film on tattooing in the Grand Solon, along with another enrichment program on French Polynesia hosted by Les Gauguins — unfortunately missing the Trivia in the Piano Bar — a had a personal invitation from the Cruise Director as I passed her in the hall — she promised I had already heard the questions before. This may be true — on Le Lyrial, we did have the same questions the second week, and I still lost!

 

We had dinner at Le Grille to try out the new menu. Because of the wind and loose canvas ceiling, it was extremely loud — loud enough to trigger the environmental sound warning on my Apple Watch. It caused a number of people to cancel their reservations, so for the first time we had seen, this restaurant was not full.

 

The new menu was very good — we enjoyed the coconut-crusted prawns enough ask for an additional portion and the restaurant manager promised we could have additional portions if we wanted. Then a pumpkin bisque that was very good. I wasn’t very hungry, so had the BLT salad as my main and it was fine and enough for me. We also had a strip steak that should make any steak lover happy, and a mixed seafood dish that wasn’t to our liking — we were hoping for something grilled, but this was something else in a heavy sauce and unfortunately a miss for us.

 

We had an early start tomorrow with French Polynesia immigration at 7:20, followed by scuba diving, so we were to bed before the singer even started her Argentine-themed program. And of course, we missed Karaoke and disco until late at La Palette.

 

I’m sure they rotate places, but Les Gauguins have something going on from 9 in the morning until “late” each day of the cruise. Impressive.

Edited December 24, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

[AussieBoyTX]

We returned to French Polynesia on Friday with a stop in Bora Bora. Unfortunately, that meant we had to deal with FP immigration again starting at 7:20 AM so that we could go diving at 8. The process in the Grand Salon was reasonably well organized and we were called up by excursion time, meaning we were among the first to be cleared — but still not fast enough to get coffee before meeting at the Marina on Deck 3.

 

Still only five of us were diving, which didn’t seem like a lot to me. The first dive was at a site I know as Tapu Nui, in the west channel, very close to the ship and known for shark sightings — indeed, we dropped into the middle of seven black-tipped reef sharks or so. It was a pleasant dive with good visibility and an interesting variety of fish.

 

On the other hand, our second dive was completely full. We went to the famous site of Toopua, a short ride to the South of the ship, in search of Eagle Rays. My luck here is bad and the visibility was quite poor — though, we did actually see some rays in the distance and one circled over us a couple of times so we could get a picture. One of my favorite parts of this dive is actually on the way back to the boat to see the numerous giant clams in the shallow reef water.

 

We returned to the ship in time for lunch after we got cleaned up. We had the Mediterranean-themed buffet at La Veranda and also tried the cheeseburger and fries. It’s not up to its competition, the exceptional Ponant burger, but we prefer the style of fries here on Gauguin. We also noted the deserts are becoming more numerous and also Christmas-themed. It’s not possible for us to even finish small samples of all of them now!

 

Many of Ponant’s guest-facing sustainability efforts haven’t made it to Le Paul Gauguin — a Nordaq system hasn’t been installed and instead, there’s copious plastic bottled water in the cabins and public areas. I hope reusable bottles for the guests, water stations and Nordaq are on the “upgrade soon” list. In the restaurants, still water comes in pitchers, but sparkling is bottled, so I’ve taken to not order sparkling most of the time.

 

On the other hand, while I have thought that individual-serve glass condiment containers are a bit wasteful on other Ponant ships, here some condiments are presented by the waiter in bowls and you spoon out what you want — not sure I like that either, but it does feel less wasteful. My preference would be for the waiter to bring reusable ramekins with the condiments I ask for — that they fill in the kitchen.

 

We also liked seeing bulk shampoo / conditioner / body wash in the bath (though we’re not familiar with the brand)

 

Our afternoon was quiet, as we were psyching ourselves up for dinner off-ship in Bora Bora with our friends from Seychelles. That was enjoyable and a nice change of pace after a week of ship’s meals. We caught the 6:30 tender, where our taxi was waiting to take us on the short five minute drive to the restaurant. We were not in a hurry to complete our five course meal and returned to catch the 9:30 tender back to the ship — just in time to catch the International Crew Show.

 

I’m surprised (but really never surprised) by how very talented the crew are. The program included signing and dancing (of course), along with other entertaining segments — including a tribute to Charlie Chaplin reformed by one of our waiters at La Veranda. The program was very popular — at least two hundred guests — came to see it. We were cheering all the acts and gave standing ovations to several.

 

It was after eleven when we got back to our cabin, but I’m sure Les Gauguines were hosting disco until late at La Palette…

[AussieBoyTX]

Edited December 25, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Christmas Eve in Bora Bora was a bit more leisurely with more diving for me. With an 8 AM start today, I could get a quick couple of coffees at La Palette first, which helped a slight caffeine deficit I’d accumulated the day before.

 

The dives were the same sites as yesterday, but the highlight was most of the divers were pretty much new, with maybe ten dives or so experience and they were all so excited at the possibility of seeing sharks. I enjoy scuba with new divers for a change of pace — their excitement is infectious and it reminds me what what we’re doing is really cool. It also lets me do my own thing nearby while the dive master deals with keeping them focused on completing their dive safely (and of course having a good time and seeing all the things they’re supposed to see).

 

The Black-Tip Reef Sharks certainly obliged us today and stayed around for the entire dive, to everyone’s delight. I was surprised that we were also joined by two large Lemon Sharks that came at the end of the dive and stayed long enough for us to get pictures for evidence.

 

Our second dive at Toopua was pretty much like yesterday with poor visibility (I’m 0-4 here)/. However, we did still see Eagle Rays and I got to see more of the Giant Clams and a huge Puffer Fish. I was looking the other way and missed the glimpse of a Manta Ray. we had a group of four with two dive masters and two guests, so we had huge flexibility to cart our own path for this dive.

 

After my dives, I joined the rest of the family who had gone to the local motu and saw rays in the shallow, clear waters.

 

We had a late Indian-themed lunch at La Veranda, served by the stars of last night’s International Crew Show — and the selection of Christmas-themed deserts has continued to grow — we weren’t even able to try half of them this time.

 

After what seemed like a short break, it was time for the well attended Christmas Eve dancing by the pool hosted by the Santa Rosa Band, Les Gauguins and our Cruise Director — and a visit from our very own Tahitian Père Noël.

 

We had a very leisurely dinner at La Veranda with a friend and enjoyed the new menu, with some added Christmas treats. I enjoyed the foie gras terrine, mushroom soup and pear salad. I felt obligated to have the Christmas turkey and dressing, which, okay, was a mistake that I saw coming. Everyone else loved the well-prepared filet and fish. However, I was the winner at desert by choosing the yule log, which I had to share with everyone.

 

It was almost ten when we realized we were the only ones left in the dining room and excused ourselves to join the Christmas dancing. Maybe forty guests joined our Cruise Director and Les Gauguins for dancing — many savvy parents using this opportunity to exhaust their children so they’d sleep. We were among the last to leave at eleven, but the party was still going on — and supposedly would continue at the disco until late.

[AussieBoyTX]

[jpalbny]

Merry Christmas! Waiting for the post where you finally make it to the disco. 😉 

[AussieBoyTX]

Christmas Day began for me outside La Palette with my coffee and a gorgeous view as Le Paul Gauguin entered the channel at Taha’a and sailed along the coast before coming to rest in the lagoon under perfect skies.

 

Unfortunately scuba was not on offer today because of a contractor cancellation. Some guests who had booked dives were not notified and were miffed they’d gotten up early, only to find a lump of coal in their scuba gear. The only reason I knew was because I said, “see you tomorrow” as I left the marina yesterday and was told about the cancellation.

 

Guests who had booked Christmas excursions left the ship shortly after nine.  I visited with a friend at La Palette while one Gauguine made Tahitian-style Christmas cards with guests. It was a bit after ten when we were invited to take a tender to Le Paul Gauguin’s private motu. It was after eleven when we arrived at the perfect white sandy beach with plenty of palm trees for shade and recliners for relaxation (and the tempting smell coming from the BBQ grills). Les Gauguins serenaded us as we unloaded and began to explore the motu, with giant coconut filled with icy rum drink in hand.

 

The exploration continued with a second coconut filled with icy rum drink in hand.

 

After resting a bit in the shade, we heard the BBQ was open. After letting the initial hungry crowds dissipate, we got our plates. The salad ingredients were good quality, has they have been every day on the ship. The meats and veg were good as well — steaks, chicken skewers, burgers & hot dogs were offered, along with corn on the cob and other grilled items.

 

It’s just not a good idea for me to be in the sun any more than I have to, so after lunch and a bit of a rest in the shade, I returned to the ship while the rest of the team explored the shallow lagoon water and loved checking out the sea cucumbers and blue lipped clams. Their only negative comment was they wanted to paddle board, but the paddle boards weren’t available to them.

 

They returned on the last tender after four with plenty of pictures and stories, leaving just a little time before our Captain announced we would leave Taha’a by sailing down the west coast, then between Taha’a and Raiatea before leaving through Raiatea’s East Channel. We watched this from Deck 9 with some German friends whom we had “just missed” meeting in the Seychelles last year! Aside from the houses, occasional church, restaurant or other building, we saw the Raiatea airport with an Air Tahiti ATR 42 leaving for Pateete. Also along the way, we passed Silver Dawn heading towards Bora Bora and just about lost our phone off the side of the ship when we blew our horn in welcome. (Our Captain apparently warned us this was going to happen, but we were too busy chatting to hear that important announcement.)

 

We had dinner at l’Etoile on Deck 5 at 7. I am not a fan of banquet dining on land or at sea. There’s a cooking-style and a service-style common at banquets that just isn’t to my liking — and the larger the venue, the more locked-in the service is. On a large ship, I will completely pass on the main dining room and will alternate between specialty restaurants and buffet, deepening on my mood — with maybe one visit to the main dining room to ensure I’m not missing out. Anyway, not to belabor this, but the staff were lovely and the food was okay. We had two courses plus desert and it took ninety minutes. Absolutely not even close to the worst banquet experience I’ve had and certainly above average. I’d just rather be somewhere else. I have no doubt that there were guests sitting next to us who will say it’s excellent. I’d just rather be somewhere else.

 

We finished the evening with the Christmas Show, which had performances from the entertainers, crew and guests. It ended with our Captain presenting awards to the crew for best decorated door, Christmas tree made from recycled materials and Christmas chorus. Fortunately, we got to see pictures of all the entries and the Engineering Team, the winning chorus, performed their entry for us — spectacular and fun!

 

I know you’re waiting to hear what’s going on at the disco until late — nobody was there! I’ll have to try again tomorrow.

[AussieBoyTX]

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks @AussieBoyTX.  Your reports have been keeping me going.  We leave today, and will be in Taha`a by Friday if all goes as planned. 

[AussieBoyTX]

3 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Thanks @AussieBoyTX.  Your reports have been keeping me going.  We leave today, and will be in Taha`a by Friday if all goes as planned. 

Safe travels! The weather has been perfect and is forecast to stay that way. 

[AussieBoyTX]

Things were serene until the Titan triggerfish came to visit...

 

https://youtu.be/tRAuMDCVCp8

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by AussieBoyTX