MrRandal

Well that simplifies things a little bit, however with Paul Gauguin still requiring a negative RT-PCR test done 72 hours prior to embarkation it creates many issues for many people. Hopefully they will relax that to an antigen test as well.

With that being said, you are looking at the Paul Gauguin for all of the right reasons. The food, the cabins with verandas, the outside space and although no longer a diver, I understand the dive program is top notch. While I enjoy a sailboat, I love the Paul Gauguin. Or at least I hope to love her again after everything that has happened during this pandemic.

On 6/15/2021 at 11:47 AM, Mickey22 said:

Hello,

     We are also on the August 28th sailing and would be interested in cabin  767.  I am sorry you won't be cruising but would appreciate your letting me know if you cancel.  Thanks

 

 Jane

So Jane we will be looking to you to report back with a glowing review of the Aug 28th cruise. If I were you, I would call Paul Gauguin direct and request 767. If they say it's booked, make sure they are talking about a new reservation/transfer, not the old Pengawin3 reservation.

Yes, I was aware that the March 2020 Cooks cruise turned into a Society/Tuamotus cruise which ended up being cut short. That, plus the fact that they are offering the December 4th Society/Tuamotus as an 11 day gives me a certain amount of confidence they would change ours to an 11 day Society/Tuamotus if the Cooks aren't open by September. While I might be fine with the itinerary change, others may not, and I don't think PGCruises wants or needs anymore negative PR.

If PGCruises doesn't relax the 72 hour prior to embarkation RT-PCR requirement, the Paofai Lab might be a viable/only option for many. Also, PGCruises did tell me that if the "guaranteed" results from Paofai weren't received by embarkation, they would allow us to board, and we would be restricted to our cabins until the results were received.

On 6/3/2021 at 10:05 AM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

You could go to LAX on Wednesday. Get tested and pay for the "Rush". Verify you will have the results within 24 hours. Stay over night around LAX if you don't live close. Results can be obtained within 24 hours. Your good to board AF on Thursday and to board the ship on Saturday. 

After some diligent internet searching, I have found a couple of locations in San Diego who offer 24 hour results. So, we could have the tests done on Wednesday after noon local (3:00pm in PPT) and would be good for both flight and embarkation. PGCruises also sent me a link to a lab/location in PPT that states they are able to process RT-PCR tests same day for tests that are done before 2pm local time for app $175 U.S., although I would hate to have to rely on a company in PPT, and would feel much safer with results in hand before boarding our plane. I will post the link below, it starts out in French, but switches to English. You want to look for Paofai's Lab at the bottom of page 4. This may be the an option for someone flying from the East Coast. You are able to schedule online, and they are open M-F 6:30am-4pm and Sat 7am-11am. 

On 6/4/2021 at 6:57 AM, FlightMedic555 said:

Clearly not the fault of PG if the Cook Islands is closed.  What the issue I believe is would be the total lack of communication between PG and travelers.  Since the Cook Islands will not be open I would guarantee that they have an alternate itinerary set.  Why have they not shared this??  I would also guess that there is a tiny, tiny chance they could simply cancel the cruise (sorry for mentioning this).

I fully understand that PG has no influence on when the Cooks may open. As you stated, it's the lack of transparency with their passengers on what type of cruise they will have if the Cooks don't open. I would assume it would be an 11 day Society/Tuomotus cruise, similar to their Dec 4 sailing. I'd be happy with that, it's not knowing that causes the anxiety. There is already enough stress involved with this trip. I have to make my final payment 3 days prior to the August 28 cruise ever leaving the dock. A lot could go wrong on any of those first 3 cruises, hopefully the extreme safeguards PG is taking make for smooth sailing.

Link to 24 hour RT-PCR test site in PPT

https://en.calameo.com/read/003461503ff5f51c66dd4

We are scheduled on the Sept 25th Cooks/Society cruise. PGcruises can't tell me what the itinerary will be if the Cooks don't open to tourism by then, as I'm pretty certain they won't. We're flying Air France, which leaves Thursday night, arrives Fri morning. Staying at the IC Tahiti Friday night. We will need to get an RT-PCR test Tuesday for it to be within the 72 hour window for our flight, but that would put us at 90-94 hours away from embarkation. I called PGcruises yesterday, and was informed that test will not suffice for boarding and we will need a second RT-PCR test within 72 hours to embark. The only way this can be accomplished is to have a second RT-PCR test done late Wednesday here in the U.S. before we leave, so 2 different tests, a day apart, at $175 each, or $700 total for my wife and I. And pray we receive the test results via email before Saturday embarkation. Add in the antigen test when we arrive at PPT, the antigen test at 4 days after arrival and the antigen test before we leave the islands and fly home. So, 5 total tests coming and going, adding about $1000 to an already very expensive trip. All of this in addition to being vaccinated. Erring on the safe side is one thing, but PGcruises is making it incredibly inconvenient, for some impossible, and extremely expensive for their passengers with their onerous testing requirements. I hope we can make this work, but it will be our last cruise on the PG. 

I see that the name of the ship is not there, but if you try to book a cabin, the layout of the Paul Gauguin shows up. And Ponant does not show any sailings in French Polynesia in December, at least not on the U.S. site. As I said, I think they are making a lot of changes to their website. I called pgcruises yesterday to find out for certain what our itinerary will be if the Cooks are still closed to visitors, and the woman I spoke to had no idea. She followed up with an email after talking with a "supervisor" saying they simply don't know.

There are no longer any excursions listed under our booking, but there are a list of excursions on the website for each port. Pre and post hotels are still listed under our sailing. There were a lot of things not on the website a few days ago, which are now back up, so maybe they are working on some changes. I'm sure they are having to work with their vendors/excursion companies to tighten/clean things up. Even with the vaccine and the insane amount of testing, I have a feeling a lot of excursions will not be available, others will have limited availability. It simply says excursions will be available to book 30-7 days before departure. While pre and post hotels are listed under our sailing, we booked on our own through Delta, all 100% refundable (we're flying Air France booked through Delta, no change fee) we booked our flight to Bora Bora through Air Tahiti, also refundable but with a small cancellation charge. After the hell Ponant put has put hundreds (thousands?) of people like you through over the past 16 months, I wasn't going to give them any more of my money than necessary.

On 5/25/2021 at 10:45 AM, Pengawin3 said:

We've moved this trip 3 times already. It seems ludicrous to return to cruising with this long and costly trip. Marquesas...

Okay, I'm starting to feel the need to postpone this sailing, YET AGAIN. 

I'm not down with being the Guinea pigs for a return to cruising. Especially not at $25k!!!

And PG has yet to show me they are truly a 5 star line. So many hoops to jump through and little to no help from this luxury line. ☹

Anyone else thinking the same?

We are scheduled to sail on Sept 25th, the PG's 3rd cruise after restarting. It was scheduled to be an 11 night Cooks/Society cruise, but I don't see any possibility of the Cooks opening up, so it will probably be changed to a 10 or 11 nigh Society/Tuamotus trip. We are on standby, not certain what we should do. We have a number of reasons why this would be the perfect time for us, and really not that concerned with the itinerary change. I do know, according to the PG website, our cruise is about 90% booked. @Pengawin3 I was really hoping you would take your trip and report back here with glorious reviews. 🙂

Paul Gauguin has made it official, 

"Additionally, we’ve made recent updates to our health protocol. Surveys have indicated that 94% of cruise passengers would like to return to cruising, as long as everyone on board is vaccinated. For this reason, vaccines will now be required for all passengers over the age of sixteen. All the details are here on this page, which will be updated regularly. We’ve also included a FAQ section at the bottom of this page."

Ponant has announced they will require all passengers to be vaccinated. I would think this policy would include the Paul Gauguin, although nothing has changed on the U.S. Paul Gauguin website.

https://us.ponant.com/sail-with-confidence?utm_source=E-mailing_fidelisation&utm_medium=E-mail&utm_campaign=E-mail-Sail-With-Confidence-B2C-US-04_21&ectrans=1

New entry rules listed on the Tahiti Tourism site, so official:

https://en.calameo.com/read/0034615031db1ff1cf564

Let's hope with all of the precautions that everything goes well in May. 

"If it is based on a protocol (see box) today validated by Paris, the gradual resumption of tourist activity will be in the “test” phase, in May, as Edouard Fritch indicated on Thursday. The reopening of borders is designed in a “ progressive and responsible ” manner and its character is “ reversible ”.”Is not excluded:“ In the event of an epidemic resumption (…), if there was a danger that appeared for our population, we would go back ”, warned Dominique Sorain."

On 4/6/2021 at 9:15 AM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Doesn't effect us who live in the USA  .... antigen test are allowed for USA  

 

"In Los Angeles County, anyone traveling for leisure or recreation, or to visit a family member for a nonessential reason, who enters L.A. County from anywhere outside the Southern California region, which is defined as the counties of Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura must self-quarantine themselves for 10 days."

 

We live in one of the counties mentioned :)

The above quoted text is for domestic travel.

Per CDC Guidelines this is not correct if returning from international travel, unless you are fully vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated you still need a viral test 3-5 days after you return, and self quarantine for 7 days,  or 10 days without the test, even if you live in Southern California. If you are fully vaccinated, a viral test is recommended, but self quarantine is not required, unless your state requires it.

1 hour ago, FlightMedic555 said:

We are also on the 6/16 cruise.  Speculation is that travel will be permitted as soon as May 1 or as late as June 1.  Just speculation but we need something to look forward to. 

I have read where United and Air France have cancelled flights to PPT as far out as May 29th, so they may know more than we do, or perhaps they are just speculating June 1 as well. No idea about Air Tahiti Nui or French Bee.

Tahiti Tourism Board changes travel ban from "indefinitely" to "to temporarily suspend travel to French Polynesia for tourists from all origins. This restriction remains in place for April 2021 and will be updated as soon as the authorities have more information on a reopening date."

Not sure if that is good news or bad.

I received an this morning from Paul Gauguin, showing new stateroom. New chairs, sofas, linens, lights all look really nice. No mention of bathroom renovation, which I felt was really needed. A couple of images of Le Palette. Only images of the fabrics used in the restaurants and other public areas that I can find. Hopefully more images will be available soon.

https://www.pgcruises.com/renovations?utm_source=PGCConsumer&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=DryDockAnnounce/?ra_ref=pg1978

Keep checking back here, there are some people on this board who have very close contact with the ship and usually post regularly about when things are happening.

The Paul Gauguin is in dry dock in Singapore, and is scheduled to resume service from Papeete in June, and is selling cruises for June 6th and beyond. At the moment French Polynesia is completely closed to tourism due to Covid, but there is hope that they will open back up in April. Nothing is set in stone, everything is fluid, and everything is just a guess at this point. A year ago I thought my Sept 2021 cruise would certainly sail, I'm not anywhere near as certain at this point. 

I didn't realize the on board crew would do that much work while underway, although it does make sense. Certainly the teak work and decks could be done underway. But I don't imagine them getting new furniture until they arrived in Singapore. I guess rip out the old on the way there, and install the new on the way back. Let's at least hope so anyway.

On 1/12/2021 at 3:27 PM, SWFLAOK said:

 

Ship Refurbishments

• New furniture
• Refurbishments of the staterooms and suites
• Modifications/refurbishment of the public spaces
• Environmental upgrades including advanced water treatment and energy efficiency systems
• Steel work
• Deck and engine upgrades
• General preventative maintenance
• Equipment replacement

Now that it is pretty well confirmed that Ponant will not be converting the aft cabins, I'm very curious to know how much of the above will actually be undertaken in dry dock. Are they going to spend the money and truly refurbish the ship, other than converting the aft cabins, or are they just going to get the old girl seaworthy and able to accommodate Covid requirements? I think the amount of money Ponant is willing to invest in the Paul Gauguin at this point will be very telling about her future.

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This is Ponant's usual pricing strategy:  cruise prices have a set rack rate and a diminishing Bonus discount.  Booking early gets you the best price.  This works really well for people like me who plan and book really early.  I wonder if they are adopting that strategy for PG?

That may be the case, but curious if seascot received a 30% discount from the prices now posted on pgcruises.com. This was never Paul Gauguin's policy before that I'm aware, although they would offer sales for short periods on select cruises. However those cruises were usually in the near future, were not full, and they were trying to fill empty cabins.

It's a little bizarre, if I type in Ponant.com, I will sometimes get the French site, which shows the Paul Gauguin. However, if I click one of the cruises, it takes me to the US site, which is us.ponant.com which does not show Le Paul Gauguin or any of her cruises. Most of the time when I type in ponant.com, I'm automatically redirected to the U.S. site. If you look for Oceania and Pacific Cruises on the U.S. site, they only show cruises in Australia,  perhaps it's because they are still booking U.S. passengers out of the Washington state in the U.S., and they are using the pgcruises.com site. I can change countries on the site to Australia, and it will take me to au.ponant.com, show the Paul Gauguin and her cruises and prices in Australian currency. As I said, all rather bizarre, or a site malfunction.

So did you get a 30% discount off the already lowered 2022 prices posted on pgcruises.com? 

That's interesting, the U.S. site seems to be a bit wonky. The ship does not show up in the drop down menu at all, and if you look for Oceania and Pacific cruises, it says no matches. Then the Paul Gauguin popped up on one page, and when I clicked to see the cruises it disappeared. It may very well be that it is  an issue with the U.S. site. Do the prices I quoted above from pgcruises.com align with the prices Ponant is offering? How long ago did you book? Has your price changed from when you booked?

After studying the Paul Gauguin website, it seems that lower prices will apply to almost all of Paul Gauguin Cruises in 2022. I'm seeing some dramatically lower prices in 2022 for identical cruises/dates charged in 2021. The Dec 4th, 2021 11 night Society and Tuamotus cruise prices start at $6995, while the same cruise, minus the extra night in Taha'a, just 30 days later on Jan 4, 2022, has a starting price of $5110, that's a 27% drop in price. Other 10 night Society/Tuamotus cruises in 2022 range from $5395 to $5900 with one at $6200. That's pretty significant. My Sept 25, 2021 Society Island/Cooks cruise has a starting price of $7245, but the March 5, 2022 price for the same itinerary starts at $5410, and a cruise closer to the same season I'm supposed to cruise in 2021, an August 27, 2022 cruise has a starting price of $6010, again, same itinerary. Of course I may not see the Cooks in September, as it appears NZ and the Cooks will most probably remain closed to tourism through 2021. My cruise may turn into an 11 day Society/Tuamotus cruise, with that extra night in Taha'a. Or not, who knows at this point. Those are all per person prices for the cheapest cabin, and includes economy air on Air Tahiti Nui out of LAX. I'm not sure when these prices dropped, I just started looking at 2022 cruises in case the Paul Gauguin cancels our September 25 cruise. I don't know if other cruise lines are dropping prices like this, or if this is a reflection of all of the negative PR Paul Gauguin and Ponant have received over their pandemic caused cancelled cruise refund policies, which as we all know by now Ponant changed after cruise contracts had been signed by both parties, and which denied many passengers refunds, that were entitled to refunds, and only offered FCC. I suppose the good news is if you took the FCC, and want to/are able to cruise in 2022, you can bump up to a nicer cabin, or use your extra FCC on excursions. Also curious is that as of today, the Le Paul Gauguin is not listed on the Ponant website. There is a picture of her on one page, but she is not listed as one of the ships in the drop down list, and you can't find any of her cruises. They were there a while back. Perhaps this is temporary, maybe they are updating their site.