Just back from the PG....Any questions?

[karenj4546]

Her name was Claudia Periou. She'd JUST come on board after a break. There was also a guy, Andy, who was the "social host". Don't really know what jobs each had as they seemed to work with each other a lot.

Karen

[Kathy Z]

I agree with Wendy that many people including my husband and myself were quite happy on the PG without the added expense of a balcony. Breakfast in a swimsuit and coverup at one of the tables outside La Veranda although not as private as on your own balcony was relaxing, tropical and romantic. We were in a cabin with large window all 24 days we've been on the PG.

[Emdee]

Both times on the PG we didnt get a balcony cabin something we usually get . Took the daughter with us instead! I missed a balcony in the morning for my morning coffee. However, I enjoyed sitting on the La Verandah balcony at breakfast instead. I think because there are not too many days at sea you dont a miss a balcony so much. Usually that's the time when I relax/read on the balcony.

 

Miriam

[Jim B]

02/15/2003 5 couples of us went on the 7 day PG.

Scale of 1 to 10 it was a 12!!

We all booked F cabins and were not sorry that we did.

They were great. only difference was we had 2 porthole windows instead of a large window. No difference in cabin size.

We all decided that it was more important to spend the money saved on cabin size and use it on excurrsions.

Since you are at a port every day on a 7 day cruise and since there were 10 of us we never had time to stay in our cabin.

Another thing was that we had 2 couples that had never cruised before.

Since the PG is shallow draft you do notice the movement a little more than other ships. Being in low cabins on the ship was a big help.

 

I have put together a packing list for a 7 day PG Tahiti cruise if anyone is interested.

Just let me know and I can send it to you. Please write "packing list"

so I know what it is about.

http://www.bastian20@hotmail.com

[LBLBSC]

Would somebody PLEASE tell me what

DH stands for?

[Leejnd4]

Dear Husband. It's a standard internet abbreviation, like LOL or ROFL. The rest of the family is DW, DD and DS...

[azgkrudi]

Thanks, LeeAnne! I have always wondered that myself, thank you for asking, LBLBSC. I thought maybe it was "Designated Husband" - LOL!

[LBLBSC]

Some of the possibilities I have mulled were unprintable. It is great to finally know the abbreviation!

Please also tell me: What are the necessary essential extra things to bring on the PG?

- swim shoes - bug spray - a raft(?)-suncreen..anything else? Thanks........

[RichardRogers]

Wife and I will be sailing on PG Sept 07. She wanted to know if there is

a designated area on deck for adult sunning, topless?

Thank you. Richard

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Nope, don't think so. In the early days maybe. I'm not sure if many eyes would turn at it, but I've not seen it. Toplessness is tolerated on at least some of the islands, and of course there's the motus. You could certainly go to the end of the beach and nobody would care. Especially on the Bora Bora motu.

[karenj4546]

Some of the possibilities I have mulled were unprintable. It is great to finally know the abbreviation!

Please also tell me: What are the necessary essential extra things to bring on the PG?

- swim shoes - bug spray - a raft(?)-suncreen..anything else? Thanks........

 

We brought rafts (never opened the packages and finally gave them to some local kids), bug spray (didn't open either, but should have. Next time, I'd bring bug wipes, as the spray could get messy if it opened/spilled) and swim shoes (used them a LOT).

3 plugs in the room, so you don't need power strips. Loads of space in the bath, so no need of "over the door hangers". No use for bungee cords, either. We do take duct tape 'cause "you never know".

Bring extra Sunscreen! Bring Hats (though I never wore one....DH did). We also brought a couple of cheap (>$1) throwaway rain ponchos. Used one at the Motu to keep our stuff dry and were the envy of those around us.

Also, though tips aren't necessary, we did tip 3 folks. Also, brought postcards and baseball caps from here to give away. One cab driver was thrilled to see the Rocky Mtns on a postcard and floored when we told him to keep it. Brought a FP book that we used and a guide to the fish. Used both.

Wow, I wish I were going again, and I haven't been home for even a month yet!

Karen

[egret]

We packed too much stuff. For instance, we brought my umbrella. There are umbrellas in the rooms and they have umbrellas at the gangway. They had umbrellas in the rooms at the resorts we stayed at too. We didn't bring enough sunscreen. There always are some guys wearing jackets and/or ties at the receptions. That is not necessary and you will be in the minority. So leave the jacket and tie home!!!

We also didn't bring an adapter. All the hotels have loaners but they were all being used so my wife was PO'd about her curlers. No problem on the ship as they have 110v US style outlets.

If you really want a balcony/veranda but want to minimize the cost, look around for deals. They frequently have statroom on board credit deals, reduced rates, etc. If you are patient sometimes a deal pops up. Also, look around for different TA's. Some are alot better than others.

[koalabear6314]

Thanks for all your advice an opinions re balcony or window cabins. We've now booked for the 14 day Sept 1st cruise in an 'E' class, as we decided that we'd probably spend more time on deck that on our balcony. The one advantge that has left us with though is the price saving we made has allowed us to book business class to Tahiti, which is especially important to us as we're coming from Germany on a 24hr flight !

I trust we've made the right descision :)

[RichardRogers]

Koalabear, Debbie and I are also booked on that sailing date.Sept. 1

Greetings!

I started a roll call at the Roll call section of this site but no one

has responsed yet. Maybe to early. Did you have any trouble booking?

We booked in Sept. and our TA said there was only two rooms available.

Richard

[koalabear6314]

We didn't have any problems at all booking our cabin, even though we only booked in November.

We are only in an 'E' grade, and from what I understand from our TA there was plenty of availability there.

I got the impression that if we'd of wanted a balcony cabin though, that these were almost sold out. Is that where you are ? :)

[Stock Cop]

Please enlighten me... What the Heck is a PG cruise?

Don't know if I have done one or not...LOL

 

Rich

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The PG is the Paul Gauguin, which plies the waters of the Society Islands and other parts of French Polynesia.

[Stock Cop]

Got it. Sometimes some of the abbrev CC'ers use are a little confusing.

I guess eventually I will figure them out.

 

Rich:cool:

[fireflytx]

We are planning the Sept. 1, 14 day cruise for my 50th... can't wait, is it as awesome as it sounds? We've been on many, many cruises, HAL our fav so far, but PG sounds like the trip of a lifetime.

 

Ricki and Don Smith

[Texed]

I just read through this quickly and will answer a question that I think was missed. We did this one night in our window cabin in 2004.

 

Kathy Z,

Nice to see you posting. We have booked PG again for June 30, 2007. Are you going again anytime soon?:)

[rubyolili]

Cool Cruiser,

Have you submitted your review of your last PG cruise yet? If not, maybe you can help me out. We're leaving for 14 day Tahiti/Tuamoto/Marquesas trip in March and thinking about shore excursions. Have already booked two on-line.

 

Is it true that you can cancel excursions up to 24 hours in advance with no penalty?

 

Even though you didn't get to do the "Coral Garden Drift", did you hear any reports (favorable or not) from other passengers? Was this the one at Motu Mahana?

 

We're particularly interested in snorkeling and very confident in the water. I work for a whale/dolphin/snorkle tour company on the Kona Coast of HI, so probably won't be doing that one. What else can you tell me about snorkeling on your own or on PG excursions?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

rubyolili

[Kathy Z]

rubyolili, yes, you can cancel your excursions about 24 hours beforehand (sometimes it is more like 30 hours so you have to check your excursion info. for each one) with no penalty.

 

A friend of ours did the drift snorkel at Taha'a in 2005. He said it had very good coral and fish but was in quite shallow water. There was only a small group signed up for the excursion so they each got to do it three times. You need to be comfortable snorkeling with little space between yourself and the coral to do this. It's no problem for experienced snorkelers but beginners would not do well. Personally, we did not want to miss any time over on Motu Mahana so we just went over there on the first tender. Our friend's wife also went directly to the motu so she was able to save a chair for him beside hers. He was with us by lunch time. Snorkeling at Motu Mahana itself can range from fair to good. (We've been there 3 times.) It partly depends on how much the other guests are stirring up the water. That's one of the reasons we like to get over there early and right out into the lagoon.

[theswimmer]

Since the planes to the United States leave late at night what do most people do after leaving the ship?

 

If you stay over for a night, I assume the hotels don't usually have rooms available very early.

 

The airport in Papeete will store your luggage (you pay according to the # of bags and the amount of time stored). So you can drop your bags at the airport and then head to town, coming back a couple hours before your flight.

[cruisin'cats]

I'd read somewhere in the multitude of postings on the PG cruises that it would be good to bring along a float for the motu day...I have one but want to know if I need to pack it or leave it home?

 

Thanks. Any other information is useful and welcome.

Helene;)

[Jim B]

PG Cruise.

 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises Paul Gauguin which sails permanently in Society Islands of French Polynesia. (Tahiti) is what they are talking about.

http://www.rssc.com is their web site