mermaid 285

Perhaps you could suggest to Ponant in your feedback to give everyone a ' Paul Gauguin' aluminium drinking bottle (which could be great advertising for them), take out the plastic bottles from the minibars and instead install some drinking fountains.

All drinks are included on the ship, so no need for water stations. Also you have free use of your minibar which contains bottled water, so if you want to fill up your water bottle for shore excursions you could always use the water from the minibar.

I would Google tours on Tripadvisor for Nuku Hiva. We did an amazing full day tour taking us to all sorts of beautiful spots, with cultural and historical input. It included a 4x4 tour as well as boat tour and lunch. Nuku Hiva is stunning it would be a shame not to explore it as much as you can. This is the email address of who we used, but it was 11 years ago: claudepua@mail.pf Below is the information he sent us about the tour: We can organize a full day tour in the 4 valleys. We will pick you up at your arrival on the dock ( at about 8 h. ) and we will leave in the comfort of an air-conditioned 4 x 4 for TAIPIVAI ( where lived Herman Melville ) - HOOUMI - HATIHEU - AAKAPA with stops at intervals to view the scenery from the heights and the remains of habitations. In our tour you will visit Kamuhei and Hikokua Pae pae. We will stop by the best sculptors of the island. We will have lunch in HATIHEU by Yvonne ( local food ) : Yvonne is the best restaurant on Nuku Hiva We will bring you back in time for boarding to the dock. We always work with cruise ships like the Paul Gauguin and we never had any problems. The duration of this excursion is about 7 hours. Our method of payment is cash to the guide : 12 500 cfp per person or 105 euros per person including lunch without drinks. English speaking guide. We guarantee you will spend an unforgettable day. There is nothing else to do...just waiting for August 25 th. We will have a sign so you will easily find us at the pier which is situated in Taiohae. The minimum number of guests is 4 and we have several vehicles which can take 30 guests in all.

Are the Tahitian ladies coming on board again to make flower garlands and crowns on the first night in Moorea?

We will be on the cruise on 26th August with our 8-year-old son. I have bought him some nice tropical shirts, but was wondering if it would be acceptable for him to wear smart shorts and sandals for dinner in all the restaurants? Or do I need to get him long trousers and smart (closed) shoes especially for the cruise? I'd like to be able to make use of all the dining facilities without any restrictions.

Having stayed at the Sofitel twice and having visited the Hilton for a meal (and a look around), we would choose the Sofitel any day - the standards seem very similar between both hotels, but we love the location of the Sofitel, as the views are totally amazing. We were underwhelmed by the Hilton - in terms of views and size of beach. I know it's very popular among Americans though as many use their points to stay. It's true to say that the Sofitel is further away from other hotels and restaurants, but as we usually hire a car in Moorea that's not an issue for us. Also the Sofitel is closer to the ferry.

We have done this in the past but that was before Ponant owned the ship. I have heard of others leaving the Paul Gauguin on the last day in Moorea to stay there for a few nights, so it must still be possible. I'm sure as long as you make them aware of your plans it should be fine.

Sorry Excited balcony, I had misread your post. You cannot drop your luggage off early prior to boarding time, but once you have checked in,you can get off the ship again to wander around Papeete.

Yes, that is possible.

Would be great if anyone could come up with the name. We need somewhere to store our luggage for a few hours in Papeete too.

Has anyone tried H2O in Bora Bora? How does this tour compare to Pure Snorkelling?

Ato's South Pass tour is amazing. The ship also now offers a South pass tour, either way, I would definitely not want to miss out on seeing the South pass and pink sands. We saw the most amazing coral, fish life (even without snorkelling) and beach scenery of our lives. We loved it so much that we are tagging on a stay in Fakarava to our cruise this year.

Thank for the info. Unfortunately we won't have any leverage with our privately booked tours, unlike you as you are booking for a larger group. So what will be will be but we will book our longer excursion for the first day in port. As regards the last day in Moorea, I was hoping to get a tattoo in the afternoon, I could therefore really do with the last shuttle being 16:30. Will we know the tender times for the whole week upon embarkation?

The problem is I would like to plan a private tour for the other day.

Just wondering when booking an excursion 60 days before departure, that is run on both days in Bora Bora, do you get the choice which day you want to book it for or is it allocated? We hope to be able to pick the day ourselves.

That's really great to know! I was starting to get worried. Do you remember what time the last tender was back to the ship on the second day in Bora Bora and Moorea? We are hoping it's 16:30.

So, will the second tender get us off the ship for 9 am latest?

Hi, just wondering if this 'cracking down' was to do with Covid at all? Could any one confirm whether or not this policy is continuing? We are hoping to do an independent tour in Huahine, Bora Bora and Moorea. Without getting on the first tender we would definitely miss our tour. Could anyone enlighten us please/or could those on the cruise starting on 15 April report back on this please?

Hi, just wondering whether this tour operates on both days in Moorea (on the 7-day cruise)? Also what time does it start and finish? We'd like to maximise our time ashore, which is why we'd like to know the timing of this tour.

For anyone else who's wondering about an early departure, I have had a reply from Ponant, they are fine with us leaving the ship early on the Saturday morning.

I have reached out to Ponant, but so far have not had a reply.

At least you have the option, I will have to be back at work on the Monday, so we will need to get off the ship early on the Saturday morning and if that's not possible we will have to cancel.

We also have an early morning flight around 8.30 am to Paris. I hope that won't be a problem. On 2 previous occasions we left the Paul Gauguin the night before to catch the flight just before midnight. If catching this flight isn't possible we will have to cancel the cruise. That would be a great shame.

Super thank you!

We are interested in a Grenadines cruise on Royal Clipper next year. Due to the nature of my job we would not be able to arrive until the day the cruise starts, at around 2 pm. I understand embarkation starts at 4 pm but can anyone enlighten me please by when embarkation finishes? I believe the sips sails around 10pm.