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Everything posted by BeechMan
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@WaggesAZ I did not mean to suggest that you were amongst the difficult, "powerful" people. I was referring to a few of my fellow cruisers who were exceedingly entitled, self-centered, and demanding of Arthur, whom he handled, as I witnessed, kindly and deftly. What I was suggesting was that Arthur, like any reasonable person, could be worn down by a bunch of interactions with such people, and simply be out of gas. I am so happy you had a great experience with the whales. I would not have even written, though I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the food, linens, and relative merits and tradeoffs of the PG's ability to handle the surf (the PG is specifically designed with a hull that compromises its ability to remain steady in rough seas in favor of its ability to cruise over shallow reefs - a trade off to be sure). What drew my fingers to the keyboard was your negative comment about a person about whom I think very highly on the staff. I'm not saying your interaction with him didn't happen. As I said, I believe that it was an anomaly. Different cruise experiences suit different people. Speaking for people like me, whose experiences on the PG were better than great, I am sorry that what has sparked our love for this vessel and its people did not accord with your preferences. But people are reading your reviews, too, which is why I believe some balance would be helpful. Be grateful that there are other cruises and experiences that suit you better, and while I do wish that your PG experience had been better, I am so happy that different people have different preferences and find their happiness in unique places. Each of us to our boats.
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I'm just going to chime in here. We had an absolutely magical 14 day cruise on the PG in July. Maybe a couple of misses on food issues over those two weeks, but the rest was fantastic. The staff was gracious and friendly. And, with every bit of respect because I don't know the circumstances, Arthur in the marina was one of the kindest, most thoughtful members of the crew we encountered. My wife, 13 year old daughter, and I are all certified scuba divers, and our 9 year old son was not. When our family was signing up for dives, Arthur saw how disappointed our son was that he couldn't join us, and he created a bespoke dive trip just for us, with Arthur helping our son with basic scuba - holding onto his BCD and taking him to six feet down. You should have seen my son light up about it. At the end of the cruise, Arthur hosted the reception for the guests who had done dives, and they called my son up and gave him a certificate of first dive. It's now framed on his wall. Arthur took our experience on board to a whole new level. I don't know how you got cross-wise with him @WaggesAZ, or what other issues he might have been dealing with at the time (and he was remarkably good at addressing guests with ... powerful ... personalities), but I can only say it must have been something anomalous. The entire trip was spectacular, and we cannot wait to be back on our home-away-from-home Gauguin and our next Ponant adventure.
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Errr - dive desk was on deck 5. Typo. I'm sure you'll find it!
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I can’t promise re: Rangiroa, but all of the two dive days I did were quite different between the first and second. I should have done Rangiroa - they saw a bunch of dolphins.
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Nuku Hiva (100 ft depth, but we saw four hammerheads), Faka Rava (family dive - easy and really fun), Bora Bora, (eagle and manta rays) and Moorea (turtles). All great. We stayed two nights at Vanira Lodge on Tahiti Iti before the cruise and had a rental car. I dropped the family at the ship, returned the car the airport, and took a taxi back to the port. It’s all very close - that whole thing took less than 45 min. Worked fine. Leaving Tahiti tonight. Absolutely wonderful trip.
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@K8-CanadaOn board now. The dive staff is FANTASTIC and very accommodating. You will have several great dives available to you as an open water diver. I recommend heading to the dive desk on Deck 6 as soon as possible after you get on board to make your reservations. The line will probably not have very many people in it, but it will go very slowly as each party has a lot of questions and there is a lot of consideration of ability and sites for each diver. We are arriving at Bora Bora tomorrow and I wish we had more time because it has been a wonderful cruise with breathtaking dives.
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Me either. But when I was speaking with PG Customer Service, scheduling excursions, I asked very specifically about this, and she told me that one cannot pre-book dives; that it must be done onboard.
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Sure thing. We still need to book onboard. I think they want to actually size you up and look at your logbook, etc. I don't know what I was expecting, and I don't know what exactly will happen, either. I have about 10 dives in the past month, and my wife and daughter have four, so we may qualify as having recent open water experience sufficient for some of those. I'm just going to be completely honest with them and leave that to their discretion - they know the dive sites and I'm sure they've seen plenty of mediocre scuba skills! I booked through a TA, but PG will talk to you directly for this sort of thing, too, if you call customer service. I hesitate to post the email address of the divemaster here...
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@K8-Canada I just received the updated diving itinerary for the July 6 sailing, which I believe is probably the same as yours. Divemaster onboard wrote: "It’s a new cruise, its why its not on the PG website yet. Please, find the schedule we will follow. Please, noted that its important to come with a recent medical certificate signed by your doctor and a proof of certification. Also, for the dives in Rangiroa, Marquesas and Fakarava, even if its written All certified divers, we will take divers who dove recently, less than 1 year because we don’t have time to do a refresh in this dive site (no mooring line, some swell)." BOOKING FORM ENGLISH MQS Ua Pou14 days.pdf
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Since you're not on my sailing, I say get there as early as possible! 😉 Honestly, I don't have any sense for how fast the dives fill up, but I would think that divers with advanced certifications would tend to gravitate toward dives that require it. At least that's where my mind goes. I have also heard that the two-week itineraries tend to lean ... geriatric, which, again I am guessing, might put less pressure on the scuba program. Our plan when we get on board is to park half the family in line for dinner reservations and half in the scuba line. I've heard the scuba line moves slowly because people have lots of questions.
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Thanks for the word! I'll let you know if our sailing has any chances - but ping me if I forget.
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There are a lot more dives available on this posting for certified, rather than restricted to advanced, divers. My wife and daughter are open water, and I’m advanced. So I’m really glad to see more opportunities for our family!
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@JinxyBThank you so much! We really appreciate all of the scans!
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We're on Islands Of The Marquesas & Tuamotus, 14-day, Sailing July 6. So glad you had a great time!
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@Tom SandraWe have the Moorea stop itinerary now, too. Confirmed by to me by PG.
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@JinxyBDoes your family scuba? If so, any good tips so far?
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I’m sure that’s right. Additionally, bringing kids, buying two extra plane tickets and booking an extra cabin for a 14-day voyage is … not cheap. When we were last on the PG (early 30’s without kids) I remember it being very friendly to families, though. We’ll hope for some kids in July, but be prepared either way.
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Don't spend a moment of your cruise when you could be enjoying other things on this! 🙂 Enjoying the updates!
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Thanks for the update, and I'm so glad you're having a great time! I was wondering about whether they would still run the Moana Explorer program if there are a small number of kids - glad that they do. I'm curious to see how many there are on the July voyage. Absolutely fine with me if there aren't many Americans. Glad the food and service is top notch.
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In fairness, I was comparing the PG add-on for three nights at the Intercontinental versus direct booking. For a three night over-water bungalow stay, the PG price was $3,000 USD more than direct-booking. I don't know specifically about the day pass. So let's assume you got a good deal! I am pretty sure it does not include a tour.
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Did you figure this out, Jordan? 98% sure that it includes transports to and from the Intercontinental, the day-use room and food. We looked at the PG option, but at least as a stand-alone, it was prohibitively expensive compared to direct booking with the hotel. We're at the Intercontinental for a few days post-cruise, but we're renting a car in Papeete.
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Hey all - I've never dived with PG before. Would someone be so kind as to give me an appropriate tipping primer for the divemaster(s)? Does it matter whether the dive is a PG-hosted dive versus a third-party operator? Thanks! Looking forward to it!
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You must be just about packing bags, JinxyB! Hope it's a great trip!
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Have a fantastic time! If you have a moment to drop us some kid tips right afterward, we'd love to see them. But don't worry about it if not, for sure.
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July 6? We'll be on that boat with a 13 year old and 9 year old. Can't wait!