WaggesAZ

@BeechMan the interaction was exactly as described. We brought the equipment to show him, I explained that the clip was missing and because of the malfunction it made it difficult for him to snorkel so he elected not to do the second pass. Arthur said "There's not much I can do, I am only responsible for dives and divers. It's free equipment" He then replaced the "free equipment" and he asked if we were good. That was the extent of our exchange and interaction at the platform other than the original pick up and subsequent return. There was no "cross-wise" to be had, as we hardly spoke, and were speechless when he handed us the equipment and quipped "We good?". Kindness goes a LONG way in these situations, there was nothing to be powerful about on our end. I accepted the equipment, thanked him and walked away, stunned. Perhaps because we weren't divers (that is his focus and dives are his responsibility) he didn't feel any further response was necessary. Diminishing my experience by telling me of how wonderful yours was does not make my experience and perception any different. I am truly grateful to hear of his treatment of your family, especially your son. That was an incredible thing for your son and a wonderful memory your family was able to create. We traveled a lot when our kids were younger as a family, and I miss that now that they're grown. Those memories are precious. I have belonged to CC for 15 years and I challenge you to look at my posts. You will see I am not a complainer. I can and do find the good in many things. I did on this trip as well, despite rough weather and the mishaps. This was by far the most disappointing time I have experienced aboard any cruise. I have mostly cruised mass market lines, however this was touted to be luxury and overall, the cost was not inline with the experience, in our opinion. I dreamt of this trip for over 4 years, having originally booked in February 2020... I have been to many fine hotels and restaurants and for me, this was not on par with any of those experiences. I have cruised Alaska in a better/larger cabin with a wonderful land tour for a total of 11 days for less money than 7 days on PG. Yet, I do not regret that we went, as the biggest reason for going was to swim with whales. That experience was by far one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my life, outranked only by getting married and having our 2 sons. However, I could have done that by flying to Tahiti, and staying on Moorea. There are a lot of people like yourself who had me believing I would be wowed and amazed by Paul Gaugin, wanting to return again and again. Unfortunately for me, Paul Gaugin is definitely on my never again list. Be grateful that wasn't your family's experience, I am for you.

I wish you wonderful weather and a great experience!!!

We are good sailors as well. We are very grateful to not experience motion sickness. However the fact that the bed was one direction and the waves caused the rocking to be the opposite, it was not as if we were being lulled to sleep. And to your point, yes, we paid approximately $1825/night for this cruise. We were in C - 767 The middle of the 5 aft cabins, with the flag immediately off our balcony. The views were LOVELY - I attached a sunset photo I snapped. Hi Bill, Here is the PG response: Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding your recent cruise experience with us. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we assure you that we take it very seriously as we continuously strive to improve and enhance our services. We are sorry to hear about the issues regarding the shore excursion. Please know that we have shared this feedback with our internal teams. To remediate your dissatisfaction, and as gesture of goodwill, our onboard team extended you a 50% discount on your Shore Excursion. (I had acknowledged that it was a kind gesture in my original email?) Paul Gauguin offers three distinct restaurants, each providing a wide range of culinary choices to cater to various tastes and preferences. The selection includes high-quality ingredients and diverse menu options, designed to meet and exceed industry standards. We genuinely appreciate your insights regarding your culinary experience onboard. We are sorry to hear that your experience did not meet the high standards you had anticipated. We understand how important it is for every aspect of a vacation to be enjoyable, and we apologize for the disappointment you encountered with the food. Your feedback is instrumental in helping us improve, and we sincerely appreciate your honesty. We ate at all 3 dining rooms, and with the evening at Le Grille, there was not a lot to compliment. When they're feeding thousands, you adjust the expectation for quality. PG's own website boasts "Paul Gauguin Cruises is proud to offer an extraordinary value in luxury cruising, thanks to our all-inclusive pricing. Spend more time enjoying your cruise vacation and less time worrying about every little detail when it’s all been taken care of—from gourmet dining" Sadly, that was not our experience. IMG_1050.HEIC

Oh, that is interesting because I was speaking with someone who had organized a group tour and was a host for a travel agency. She is the one who mentioned to me there was not stabilizers. I assumed since she had booked PG for years, she knew that to be true. 
 Assumptions...You know what they say, ha! I do know that the captain came on and made announcements about how rough it was going to be and apologized, so perhaps they were not working efficiently. 
 Unfortunately, your group tours have not aligned with my ability to travel, I have tried. Your group next year will be right as I’m returning from the Mediterranean so there was no way I could do a back-to-back as I’m still working and being away for five weeks is not optimal at this point.

I will definitely update any response I receive. The scenery, even in less than stellar weather, was incredible. You can't imagine that it is prettier in person than the numerous photos you have seen, but I assure you it is magical and majestic in person. The crew on board is beyond wonderful and truly are kind, fun and definitely committed to enhancing your experience. The pastry chef was fantastic, so if you have a sweet tooth like me, you will not be disappointed-HA!! I genuinely hope that we just had a one off occurrence, as it wasn't just us, we spoke to likely 10+ other couples who were disappointed in the lunch and dinner entrees. I wish you a wonderful trip!

I would say your posts and FB page definitely helped my expectations to be set pretty high. Out of respect to your page I chose not to put any feedback there since you organize group tours there too. All things considered, the food is our biggest complaint/disappointment and the lack of a stabilizer was definitely the most unwelcome surprise. I had not read that anywhere and I planned this since 2021. I had PLENTY of time to research, as we had to postpone our original booking. I spoke with others who mentioned the linens to us and as I said numerous passengers we spoke with agreed about the food lacking in taste. Maybe we had a 1 off experience with the food, I don't know. I do know you are fortunate to have not had that experience in 16 previous voyages.

My apologies, I thought I had replied and thanked you! Your advice was spot on!!

They will release the tours 60 days prior to sailing and I believe the times were on there. We had a private Humpback Whale Swim and the tour operator really wanted to pick us up earlier than the 1st tender. I asked to go at 7;30 and was given permission. We were on with crew members, and the table/refreshments for arriving/returning passengers but that was the only difference in the tender.

You may have or have had a different experience, but I wanted to share our most recent experience. This is long so hopefully you get something out of our feedback. We have arrived home and wanted to let you know how genuinely disappointed we were in the overall experience on Paul Gaugin. Following are the experience as encountered by us. Wonderful boarding experience, appreciated the towels, and organization on the pier and inside. Our stewardess showed us to our room and we LOVED Eleanor The ability to order breakfast prior to a 6 am delivery. Breakfast room service was great The staff EVERYWHERE except the Marina Supervisor were all incredible Le Gaugins were also such a warm and welcoming entertaining group. The different performances were wonderful and the hula dancer with the small troup that came into the dining area was wonderful to watch The Picnic Tour operator on Huahine was also just wonderful. They were funny and lunch was delicious. The drift snorkel operators Taha'a were excellent - pouring rain so the 2nd pass was not much of a drift as a swim, but they kept us safe and did a wonderful job The red wine selections were fantastic Disembarkation was seamless as well In summation, we expected luxury, as that is what your website states. That expectation was noted in the price that was paid. Shockingly, we had a far better experience on a Princess cruise last year in Alaska at approximately the same time. We paid less money for 11 days days (4 days on land/7 at sea) and their food was superb in comparison to yours. We also had an aft cabin on the Majestic, and our room and balcony size were comparable. We had an all inclusive package for alcohol, crew gratuities, photos, 2 specialty dinings and still paid less than this experience. That is a complete shame. I have never returned from a vacation where I was excited to go home and had no desire to do that experience again. That has now changed. After reading about the many, many passengers and meeting a few passengers who return year after year, I can only think it is due to your amazing crew. If you managed to get through all of that, I would like to offer more information about our time before, during and post cruise. I am fully aware PG is not responsible for weather and/or how it affects our voyage, so if I talk about how weather impacted us, that is without any blame directed at PG. We flew SFO to PPT on United in Premium Economy. They had a small amenity kit, great service and food was served on proper dishes. They also offered free alcoholic drinks during the flight. We sat in bulk head, and with the additional pitch and leg rests taking a nap was easy. We arrived at 7:00pm or so and were at the hotel around 8 or so. The taxi was easy and close to 2000 XPF. We arrived 2 days before and stayed at the Hilton. Nice property, great pool! Breakfast was $50/person but a very nice presentation. Our room had no hot water when we got there but we were exhausted and just quickly showered off. When we woke up and had no hot water again, I called. We went fishing with a local captain and it was a beautiful day on the water, the ocean was calm and we saw 2 humpbacks, a new born calf and mom, the baby was riding on her nose and it was a wonderful surprise. We went back to the hotel, and maintenance said it wasn't good news, they had to call an outside contractor. We went to the pool and enjoyed the afternoon. Finally enjoyed a hot shower before heading to bed. We walked to the Carrefour the next morning and bought a couple refillable bottles for our cruise, which were not needed as Paul Gaugin provides them. We went to Papeete Market and bought a few things, and I found the best selection and prettiest set pearls with guarantees to be sold upstairs. We went to the ship around 1:30 and were able to be in boarding group one. They actually starting boarding a little earlier, around 2:30. We boarded in intermittent rain, and sailed away during a downpour. The ride to Huahine was rough, however the day there was overall very nice. We had to book a last minute excursion through PG and were able to enjoy a Motu Picnic lunch. We had booked a shared combo tour with Huahine Nautique, who cancelled the day prior as the other guests cancelled. They didn't offer to move my booking to the picnic, or go private, so when I asked about the option to do just the picnic, I was told it was full. My husband said what if we do private, so I asked again, and had no response for hours so I called using WhatsApp. I spoke to Marc directly, who said they had already booked a private tour for the combo tour, and that was done after my cancellation. VERY disappointing, as we requested our reservation in March and they confirmed it in May. VERY grateful PG was able to save our day! On the Motu Picnic, the day didn't look promising as we boarded our Drift Snorkel booked through PG. While it rained as we drifted, the snorkeling was beautiful and we saw so many things - a giant anemone that was host to a family of clown fish, black tip and white tip reef sharks, beautiful corals, giant clams and the list goes on. It was also warmer in the water than on land, so that was a plus. To our dismay, we had to go straight to the Motu, rather than the ship to shower off and/or get warmed up. Since we were soaking wet, and it was raining and windy, we grabbed lunch and eagerly awaited the next tender to the ship. On to Bora Bora, there were numerous things were cancelled both days. We had booked with H20 Bora Bora directly for our first day, and sadly it was cancelled as was our sunset sail with PG. The first day had no tours available and the excursions desk suggested that we take a taxi tour. We took the tender over and then found the awaiting taxis. Our driver was Danny had a very strong accent and we don't speak enough French to make it easy for us to understand one another from time to time. It was a nice way to see the island and he was SO kind. He took our photos at different sites. The next day we had booked a private fishing charter and gave it a valiant effort but the swells were WAY too much to be able to enjoy the day as we were being overcome by the water of the bow for a solid hour, we returned to the harbor. Bora Bora Fishing Charters did their best to give us the day we hoped for, Carter was great to work with as was our Captain Tau. Tau was a great fisherman and very experienced, so again weather was out of their control and absolutely no complaints. We ended up having lunch on the ship and enjoying a relaxing afternoon poolside chatting with our fellow passengers. The reason we initially booked this trip was the opportunity to swim with humpbacks on Moorea. Because it's nature, I booked a whale swim for both days. I booked a trip the first day with Pacifik Attitude. They did a great job trying to get us an encounter with the whales, but unfortunately we only experienced their beauty from the boat. However the second day was ABSOLUTELY the MOST amazing day and encounters were BEYOND incredible. We went out with Moorea Moana Tours. We had a group of 4 check us out on our first entry and they were so close we had to back up. The second encounter was with 2 whales, and we were the only boat there. We spent 45 minutes with them checking us out, swimming around and I am left without words to accurately describe this experience. I don't know if I have cried while doing anything else besides getting married or giving birth. It was next level special. The day we left PG we booked a private tour with Tahiti Eden Tours and Fabrice is the owner and was our guide. He shared GREAT information and it was a wonderful tour, and our luggage accompanied us on the tour. We ended our time with a room I had independently booked outside of PG, at the Intercontinental. We arrived around 1:15, checked in and went to lunch. They told us to check back in around 2, and our room was ready. It was nice to relax by the pool and have a shower before going to the airport. While there was a reported security strike at PPT, the lines moved efficiently and we enjoyed having time in the Air Tahiti Nui Lounge before boarding. We flew Poerava Business Class and ATN offered wonderful service on our flight to LAX and their food was fantastic. We only ate breakfast but heard dinner was good as well. Our experience once we landed at LAX was a *****$how and please believe me when I say you NEED 3 hours, regardless of what the airlines tell you or allow you to book. We have Global Entry and were the first people off the plane. We were through customs in less than 10 minutes from walking off the plane. We waited for over an hour for our luggage, after the plane leaving PPT was delayed. Our connecting flight was boarding at 12:25, and we did not receive our bags until close to 12:40, and were still in the Tom Bradley Terminal. I will not talk about that experience any further, as I knew better and should have required them to change our connecting flight to a later time. AGAIN, you may have a different experience, but this is ours. Since I read how amazing everything is on PG, we were disappointed as our expectations were clearly higher than they should have been. I am not wanting to debate, as it is our perception which is our reality. I am happy to answer questions

For those who have gone with PG, is the atmosphere relaxed? I know dress code is Country Club Casual, but I mean the general feel, is it easy going? We love great food, and are pretty low key so not looking to dance the night away or play bingo. We just like to "take it all in" while enjoying a cocktail or 2. Do we need to be "dressed" for breakfast or is t-shirts and shorts acceptable and common? Wines, are they mostly French that are served? My husband enjoys many French wines, so he's hopeful. Curious, are there US Beers served on board? Hear great things about Hinano, so he is looking forward to trying them! When arriving in ports - if not going with PG for an excursion, how long should we anticipate before we can hop in a tender? Thank you for sharing any tips/information!

We will be at the Hilton and if it’s not going to work out that night, it will be ok. I thought we could stop on the way to the Hotel, compensating the driver for their time, if course. thanks TBK-its a Wednesday evening so I won’t hold my breath 🤪

Do you know what time the food trucks close? We don't land until 6:40pm.

My husband will be fine to wear pants, and if he doesn't want to wear them after dinner, we will enjoy the balcony! We have a 1/2 day tour and a full day on the boat, 1/2 fishing and 1/2 snorkeling. I will definitely schedule LeGrill on an overnight, hopefully it will be a better experience. We are not vegetarian, but I am sorry your experience wasn't better. My parents are vegetarian and honestly have found food choices and flavor to be very good on their/our cruises. It has to have been a bit of a disappointment but I am glad to hear you'd return!

Thank you for all of this information!

Thank you TBK! Excellent, as always. Day 1 Huahine, Society Islands - Huahine Nautique- Marc’s Combo Tour Day 2 Motu Mahana, Taha'a Island (drift snorkel NEED TO BOOK- PG excursion or?) Day 3 Bora Bora, Society Islands H2O Bora Bora Day 4 Bora Bora, Society Islands Day 5 Moorea, Pacifik Attitude from 9:45 AM to 2PM Day 6 Moorea, 8:00 am - 12:00 Moorea Moana Tours Day 7 Papeete - check in at Intercontinental After reviewing what I have booked already, it appears we are only open one day on Bora Bora - or afternoons while on Moorea. Any suggestions? We are planning to fish the day before we board out of Papeete I was thinking of sunset sailing - would that be better on Bora Bora or Moorea?