Should I book Paul Gauguin or Windstar for 6/24?

[Meggiemotu]

We have been on the PG 3x , most recently 9/23.  We love everything about the PG, but …but….Windstar is making it very attractive with pricing.  So, we have booked an 11 day in mid-August.  We will do our own air , hotel and transfers as we have done in the past.  We were on the Star Pride, similar to Star Breeze and loved the cabins , the double sinks and walk in closet and the variety of dining experiences.  Windstar has been on FP for 35 years and knows immersion.  I know the only thing I will miss is the balcony - I just can’t bring myself to pay up for a Juliette balcony - and we rarely spend time outside except once in a awhile for early breakfast - we are off the boat early and by the time we are back it’s getting ready for the evening .  It will be interesting to see the comparison- can’t wait to start seeing reviews 

[pappy1022]

For me, it’s PG. I struggled through the same decision but booked on PG mostly because I know what I am getting. I have friends that have recently been on PG and absolutely loved it.  As others have said, we need to see what Windstar brings to the region with their “stretched” ship. I would guess that they are going to have to bring on new staff for the larger ship and from recent experience on other luxury cruise lines it takes a while to get new crew up to the quality and personalization of experienced staff. It was a close call for me but I have confidence that either choice will be a good one.

[rjp50]

29 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

For me, it’s PG. I struggled through the same decision but booked on PG mostly because I know what I am getting. I have friends that have recently been on PG and absolutely loved it.  As others have said, we need to see what Windstar brings to the region with their “stretched” ship. I would guess that they are going to have to bring on new staff for the larger ship and from recent experience on other luxury cruise lines it takes a while to get new crew up to the quality and personalization of experienced staff. It was a close call for me but I have confidence that either choice will be a good one.

I'm not sure I agree with the new staff training issues.  The Star Breeze is not a new ship in their fleet.  It is just being re-deployed into FP on a permanent basis.  The staff will come with the ship fully trained.

[pappy1022]

My bad. I thought it was just recently “stretched” but it’s been a couple of years. Thanks for challenging me.

[pappy1022]

But I am still going on PG. 😀

[Dbld777]

11 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

For me, it’s PG. I struggled through the same decision but booked on PG mostly because I know what I am getting. I have friends that have recently been on PG and absolutely loved it.  As others have said, we need to see what Windstar brings to the region with their “stretched” ship. I would guess that they are going to have to bring on new staff for the larger ship and from recent experience on other luxury cruise lines it takes a while to get new crew up to the quality and personalization of experienced staff. It was a close call for me but I have confidence that either choice will be a good one.

We would agree with the training requirement for a top notch personalized service that many tout Windstar for. We were on the Star Breeze in Tahiti in March of '22 and we did not experience the personalized service and the "they'll know you by your name after a day or two" type of experience that  many Windstar fans spoke about here on CC. It was our first WS experience and we chalked it up to new crew still learning the WS service standard after the restart from the pandemic.

[Ski Mom 2]

I am currently booked on Star Breeze Tahiti to Fiji for January 2025. I just received notice that my cruise has been canceled! In fact, it sounds like many of the Tahiti cruises on Star Breeze for 2025 have been canceled. There is a Paul Gauguin cruise that almost lines up perfectly that we currently are looking at. This is the second time Windstar has canceled this cruise on us. Once in January 2024 and now January 2025. We are avid WS cruisers but this might be the final straw. I know nothing about Paul Gauguin but am reading all I can find here on CC now...

[Dolebludger]

Any idea of what the reasons for the cancelations are? Without knowing, I sounds scary!

[Ski Mom 2]

Here is what the letter stated:

 

We have been looking forward to you joining us on the Star Breeze, South Pacific – January  2, 2025 – February 5, 2025 sailings. Due to necessary fleet maintenance, it is our regret to inform you that the Star Breeze will not be operating in this region. As a result, your itinerary has been cancelled.

[pappy1022]

They are still selling those cruises on their website.

[pappy1022]

2 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

I am currently booked on Star Breeze Tahiti to Fiji for January 2025. I just received notice that my cruise has been canceled! In fact, it sounds like many of the Tahiti cruises on Star Breeze for 2025 have been canceled. There is a Paul Gauguin cruise that almost lines up perfectly that we currently are looking at. This is the second time Windstar has canceled this cruise on us. Once in January 2024 and now January 2025. We are avid WS cruisers but this might be the final straw. I know nothing about Paul Gauguin but am reading all I can find here on CC now...

I wouldn’t hesitate to cruise with PG. In fact I chose PG over Windstar for my 2025 French Polynesia cruise in June. Just be forewarned, January is in the rainy season and heavy rain and rough seas are more likely in that region. Just recently, there were 2 cyclones that went through that Region in January/February and it was reportedly very rough and several ports were missed. Who knows what it will be like next year but it is the rainy season.

[TheDarkestBlue]

5 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

Here is what the letter stated:

 

We have been looking forward to you joining us on the Star Breeze, South Pacific – January  2, 2025 – February 5, 2025 sailings. Due to necessary fleet maintenance, it is our regret to inform you that the Star Breeze will not be operating in this region. As a result, your itinerary has been cancelled.

 

I'm so sorry this happened to you, and for the second time 😑 Are you able to go in a different month, because, as pappy1022 said, it's the rainy/humid season? I was looking at May through August as the dry side of the calendar,  we went in June of last year and only had 1 day with rain, the rest was lovely 🏝

 

There is not a lot of throughput in this forum compared with others, please ask away and someone will help 🙂

[Ski Mom 2]

Thank you so much for your response TheDarkestBlue! We already have an Azamara cruise of New Zealand booked later in January 2025 and this PG cruise lines up perfectly for us. We do realize it’s the rainy season but we are ok with that. I’ve spent the bulk of the afternoon and now all evening reading up on PG and it looks and sounds like what we enjoy and we are pretty excited. We have a cabin on hold and have a few days to make our final decision. We already have flights to Tahiti so at least we won’t have to switch those. So instead of having 3 nights in Fiji following the WS cruise that is no longer we will have 3 nights ahead in Tahiti for this cruise. We will then fly direct to Auckland from Fiji and jump on our Azamara cruise the next day! Crazy I know but it will be an adventure!

 

I know I’ll have more questions about PG. I will post those as I think of them. Again thanks so much!

[TheDarkestBlue]

19 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

Thank you so much for your response TheDarkestBlue! We already have an Azamara cruise of New Zealand booked later in January 2025 and this PG cruise lines up perfectly for us. We do realize it’s the rainy season but we are ok with that. I’ve spent the bulk of the afternoon and now all evening reading up on PG and it looks and sounds like what we enjoy and we are pretty excited. We have a cabin on hold and have a few days to make our final decision. We already have flights to Tahiti so at least we won’t have to switch those. So instead of having 3 nights in Fiji following the WS cruise that is no longer we will have 3 nights ahead in Tahiti for this cruise. We will then fly direct to Auckland from Fiji and jump on our Azamara cruise the next day! Crazy I know but it will be an adventure!

 

I know I’ll have more questions about PG. I will post those as I think of them. Again thanks so much!

 

Wow! New Zealand looks fantastic and hope that is part our next trip to the South Pacific. Hope to get back onboard the Paul Gauguin again while we are down there, we really had a blast. Fiji 😍 you are going to have a great time!

Edited March 2 by TheDarkestBlue

[Dolebludger]

Did Windstar pull the Star Breeze out of French Polynesia?

[rjp50]

30 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Did Windstar pull the Star Breeze out of French Polynesia?

I hope not.  We are scheduled for this September.   In looking at the schedule for the ship, it will not be bookable from Januaury to March some time.  I'm a little baffled by the excuse of necessary maintenance - does that mean all cruises for the rest of this year will be done on a ship in such need of maintenance that they can't wait until they have a scheduled dry dock which does not disrupt people's vacations?

[Ski Mom 2]

Someone else was booked in March 2025 and their cruise was canceled. They found out it is now going to be on a private charter with another travel company.

 

The January, February and part of March Star Breeze cruises either show no cruises or no availability until mid March. My TA will be calling next week to find out whatever they might tell her.

 

In the mean time, we are putting our deposit down on PG on Monday!

[Dolebludger]

Thanks, Ski Mom! When your TA answers the matter, please post the results right here. What I can read so far doesn’t sound good.

[Dolebludger]

I checked Windstar’s Tahiti cruise on the Breeze for scheduled sailings. There were some in 2024 but none Jan. Feb, and March 2025.But a good sign; there are scheduled cruises in April 2025 and beyond. -So apparently this 3 month period of no cruises is not the start of a pull out. Still hope somebody is able to post a fuller explanation.

[pappy1022]

Amazing that Windstar doesn’t address this question. Silence breeds doubt and rumors.

[Dolebludger]

No rumors from me — just a theory. It may be that, since those months are summer in FP, Windstar decided to have the Star Breeze cruise elsewhere in those months. Those months are reported to be very rainy there.

[oakridger]

On 3/3/2024 at 9:54 PM, Dolebludger said:

I checked Windstar’s Tahiti cruise on the Breeze for scheduled sailings. There were some in 2024 but none Jan. Feb, and March 2025.But a good sign; there are scheduled cruises in April 2025 and beyond. -So apparently this 3 month period of no cruises is not the start of a pull out. Still hope somebody is able to post a fuller explanation.

 

I had Windstar Cruises in February and March 2025 cancelled.  I received a very contrite email from them today with the full explanation ("better late than never").

 

The drydock/maintenance that was supposed to be done in New Zealand is now getting done in Central America so that is why it's going to take the ship out of service longer.  Star Breeze will be back in Papeete for the already scheduled cruises from February 16, 2025 on.  Apparently, the New Zealand taxes/fees charged to Windstar for the dry dock became so high that it's worth it to WS to make the changes and pay the cancelled passengers the compensation and goodwill OBC.

 

~Nancy

[pappy1022]

After the lost revenue from the COVID days and the need to go borrow a lot of money to stay in business, cruise lines have put cost cutting/saving opportunities above their customers. I see this across all the cruise lines, including the high end lines. As I have read in several places, “this is the new norm, get used to it”. 

[Dolebludger]

In any event, it is good to know that Windstar is not out of the game in French Polynesia.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Having just come back from New Zealand, I can say that things are quite expensive there.  And their government has so many rules about everything, I'm not surprised that a dry dock there would be prohibitive.  But it is amazing that it was so much cheaper that it paid to send the ship all the way to SA and back, and refund customers' monies!