Can one choose early or late flight?

Hello, everyone. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for all your suggestions, advice and reviews. I've been a lurker on this forum for quite some time. I feel like I know several of you. I am now seriously considering a Paul Gauguin Cruise for early fall 2020. I know it's a little ways out, but I have two large trips planned before then. I'll have more questions in the future, and I do read all I can to avoid wasting your time, but I guess I can start with the airfare.

Does one get to at least choose early/late flight? I believe the answer is no. I understand there is a deviation fee if I go a few days early. This is a moot question, I suppose, if I go early, but I'm planning this with friends who may not have the time to go earlier. We're thinking of doing the 11 day Cook Islands itinerary based on the advice of this thread. Thanks for your help.

The short answer is probably no ...but I’m not PG so I’ll leave some room for being incorrect.

Usually there is a block of seats but who knows what flight(s). There could be a block on several flights but PG could release a block if the cruise isn’t full. Another words PG may not fully know until 30-60 days out what will be available, thus the deviation option ;)

Well, more than two years away, perhaps those friends can plan to squeeze even one night extra. In that case it's worth the deviation fee to arrive and de-stress overnight before the cruise in a nice hotel, or book the room thru PG and save the deviation fee, although I presume paying the fee allows you to choose which flight you prefer (I have booked my own flights for some time now, so I'm no expert on this.)

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate it. Although there are definitely worse things in life, arriving late and heading to the ship sounds awful. Since it's an 11 night cruise, we may only be able to stay one or two nights pre-cruise. We have a trip to Italy and Sardinia this summer and a Windstar Caribbean cruise next year, but it seems I am most excited about this one. Thanks again.

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate it. Although there are definitely worse things in life, arriving late and heading to the ship sounds awful. Since it's an 11 night cruise, we may only be able to stay one or two nights pre-cruise. We have a trip to Italy and Sardinia this summer and a Windstar Caribbean cruise next year, but it seems I am most excited about this one. Thanks again.

We've taken several cruises in the Caribbean, even on a small ship .... but once we did French Polynesia on the PG there was no comparison ... be warned, once your heart has been taken by the PG and FP you never look at other places the same way as the bar is set high ;)