Update on Grand Circle - Paul Gaugin problems!

[Call me Ishmael]

We are booked in on PG in September. When is Bossard's termination date?

 

We heard from several sources that Bossard would be gone sometime this spring.

 

Since we also heard that the maintenance staff's pay was unilaterally reduced, it may be that Bossard's termination was also for cost saving purposes. (He has been captain since ship's launch in '97.)

 

A change in captain shouldn't necessarily negatively impact the experience on the PG. However, if the new owners dictate certain cost savings measures, I can think of a few that might have some impact. (E.g., fewer tenders to save fuel -- but this is totally hypothetical.)

 

The one area where there might also be an impact is on the Cook Islands cruise which is scheduled for September. I was quite interested in this itinerary as a way to have one last sail on the PG. However, in discussing it, we were told that the new owners had declined requests from executive staff to do a reconnaissance on the new ports. How this might affect the PG is anyone's guess.

 

I would probably still take the Cook Islands cruise even with all this information, but my wife preferred the Baltics on the Voyager so we are doing that one in June instead.

[Terry&Elizabeth]

Last week our TA pretty much corroborated the contents of this thread. He also mentioned that GCT dudes had set of a tacky travel desk in the PG lobby.

 

We are reluctant to book at this point, despite the fact that the PG is our favorite vacation. If the bean counters take over, the frosting will be off a wonderful cruise.

[Terry&Elizabeth]

FWIW..we think that Captain Bossard is a "CLASS ACT"

[flahagan]

Wow, so much new information in the 4 days since I've been able to check this thread! We've had houseguests and have been kept pretty busy.

 

I am truly sorry to hear of all the changes that are happening with the PG. Sounds like those of you lucky enough to have sailed her in the past are indeed fortunate.

 

Meanwhile, we've been trying to make other travel plans. Unfortunately, this cruise was the one thing that all 3 couples agreed on completely, and now we're all making separate plans.

 

One couple is doing a week's stay in Hawaii, another just booked a Windjammer cruise out of Aruba, and I think we've decided to do independent travel to Berner Oberland area of Switzerland! I know, a complete 180 from our original plans, but we've all been so bummed out that we had to step back and regroup, and this is what each came up with! For us, we've been wanting to return to the Alps for a longer stay, and this just seems like a trip where there can be no comparing some other beach or cruise vacation to the one we lost.

 

For any of you doing PG trips this year, please be sure to post reviews so we can travel vicariously! By the way, we still haven't heard if we'll be getting a refund on the trip insurance, just hope we can transfer it to the new itineraries.

[TedC]

Have the three couples considered the Tahitian Princess 10-day cruise? Princess uses a former Renaissance ship that carries about 650 pax, I understand.

[drwong]

Chris Elliott has posted the "resolution" to this situation on his website: http://www.tripso.com/archives/2005/04/getting_the_run.html

 

Sorry it wasn't more favorable for the cruiser - wonder whether it was due to the incestuous relationship between GCT and RSSC. Hearing about these and other problems makes me thankful for Oceania's fixed-price cruise and "free air" package. I hate unpleasant surprises, especially when it comes to billing.

[lizf]

We were on the verge of booking the 11 day Christmas cruise on the PG (today), and I would like to ask the consensus of the posters here. Would any of you previous PG cruisers, book such a trip this far out? In light of the firing of the Captain, I find it hard to trust that things won't be changed that would affect the wonderful things we have been reading in past reviews of the PG.

Is there anyone out there who actually would book a December cruise on the PG today? Thank you. Liz

[Kathy Z]

Hi Liz,

 

I'm a previous PG cruiser and am looking forward to our next PG embarkation on June 11. After reading all these posts I am slightly apprehensive that our experience won't be as perfect as last year but am going with a positive attitude and hoping for the best. I'll post when we get home (after June 25th) and give you my impressions.

 

To answer your question about booking now for the December date you mention I would say use a travel agent (not Grand Circle) and remember that if you decide to cancel at least 120 days before your embarkation you can get a full refund on the cruise. If you don't have any pre-existing health conditions to worry about you can also wait to purchase travel insurance through RSSC at the time your penalty phase starts to kick in. That's what we did last year. This year since my husband had some shoulder surgery we had to purchase travel insurance with a different company within 10 days of booking our cruise to cover ourselves fully. If we had canceled our cruise ahead of penalty phase we would have also found ourselves out the insurance cost.

[lizf]

Kathy- Thank you for responding. The ship is already half sold out for Christmas and we could switch to earlier in December which we usually choose anyway due to the crowds at Christmas, but this 11 day itinerary really sounds nice and to go so far for just the 7 day cruise almost seems not long enough to rest up and then be coming back already. What a dilemma. I told my husband that we are just too late coming to the party. We may have missed the greatest cruise experience of our lives.

There doesn't seem to be anyone else doing such a wonderful cruise, but I think we will wait till June and would appreciate your letting us know if you see any early signs of change. Liz

P.S. We usually do buy our insurance through a private insurer to get better coverage due to our age. I checked and that company will charge about $1,000 for the coverage for this trip. Don't want to lose that much.

[flahagan]

Here's a link to the column running on the internet today, written by the National Geographic Traveler ombudsman, Chris Elliott.

 

tripso.com/archives/2005/04/getting_the_run.html#more

 

Note that he gives Cruise Critic posters a nod, while not mentioning the site directly. Jut thought you'd be interested in seeing this.

[Dolebludger]

All:

 

It is exactly this "incestous relationship" between GCT and RSSC that has many of us long term PG fans worried. The PG has always been owned by parties other than RSSC and leased by RSSC. But before, the owners were not involved with bookings or any of the functionsof the ship and cruise. Now, we see a change, in that GCT IS certainly more involved in these areas than former owners have been. And we seem to see that involvement expanding. As "mere customers" we don't have access to copies of the agreements between GCT and RSSC, and I'm sure there are many. It worries me that GCT seems to be doing a "phased take-over" of all operations of this ship.

 

This causes me to be concerned about our future PG cruise, booked for late September. I'm not so much worried about the details such as a change of Captains, but I'm worried about the "big picture" of what a cruise would be like on the PG with increased GCT control.

 

Until recently, GCT operated with a fairly good reputation. The events which are the subject of this thread and similar events are enough to make one wonder why anybody books GCT tours any more. But even when GCT was running a "cleaner ship", it was never an organization geared to luxury travel.

 

A few years back, we booked a European river cruise on GCT. When we got the entire packet, we saw we were only given a short time to cancel penalty-free. We looked over the materials, including some photo's of the interior of the ship, and saw it was way sub-NCL! Looked more like a military facility! And truthfully, the materials said this was "not like a cruise ship." We, of course, called and cancelled immediately.

 

Bottom line, an organization with the mind-set and market target of GCT would have no concept of how to run a luxury cruise. You can believe that between now and our cancelation date leate next month, we will be looking closely at these boards!

 

Thanks,

Richard:(

[lizf]

I called RSSC to express my concerns and apprehension about booking so far out with the changes that GCT is making. I called the department that takes the bookings from customers and the gentleman I spoke with told me he was an employee of RSSC, not a travel agency. He said that their contract with the ship was through 2006, which you all know. He also said that no changes in the staff or operation was in the wind or would change without RSSC knowing it. When I mentioned the Captains termination, he wanted to know where I heard it because they were not aware of it. I told him CC, Radisson board. Again he said they would know it first and nothing was going on like that. So ............. whatever that means, I think we will probably decide to book sometime soon and as Kathy said we have until 120 days out to back out. We'll just wait until then to buy the insurance and may get it from RSSC.

 

I've read some more about the other RSSC ships and even though they seem nice enough, it was all of your praise here and the itinerary that caused us to want the PG cruise. Thank you all. Liz

[Call me Ishmael]

You may be right that GCT has gotten worse, but looking at the statistics on BBB doesn't make that clear. GCT has had about 50 complaints every 12 mos for the last 3 years -- with only 1/3 shown as "resolved."

 

I ran Tauck Tours as a comparison (merely because one of their flyers crossed my desk in the last few days); Tauck is also a packager of travel similar to GCT. Total complaints against Tauck in last 36 months = zero!

 

I don't know how many people bother with the BBB, but the numbers obviously represent a statistical sampling that conveys useful information.

[Winner]

Tauck is similar to GCT only in that each is a packager of tours. The reason Tauck has no complaints is because it an extremely well-run company, with many industry and consumer awards. Tauck is a high-quality tour company; GCT is not.

[Call me Ishmael]

Regardless of whether the packages are "high-quality" or "budget-quality," the key is customer complaints; GCT has many in comparison, Tauck has none.

 

I used Tauck because they are in the same business as GCT, rather than comparing GCT to a used car dealer, for example. I was certainly not suggesting that Tauck had any other similarity to GCT.

 

They both may be well-run or not, but based on their BBB records, one can conclude that Tauck keeps its customers happy. GCT's record is therefore not typical for its line of business.

 

I should have made that clearer in my post.

[drwong]

Liz - you're very smart to decline RSSC's insurance coverage - since the terms are written by lawyers hired by an insurer doing business with RSSC (another incestuous relationship!), you can bet there are enough gaps in coverage and legal loopholes to drive the Paul Gaugin through!!! We now use http://www.tripinsurancestore.com, that allows you to compare different policies and see the differences in coverage that the various insurers offer, in an easy-to-read format free of legalese. Their responsiveness to phone calls and emails is also remarkable as well.

[Dolebludger]

First a clarification. My comments that GCT used to be a more ethical company than it is now referred back to the mid '90's when it was operated by AARP. The travel product may not have been "classy" but AARP didn't misrepresent it, and didn't have a bunch of "last minute" price increases. Now, as I understand it, GCT is TOTALLY independent of AARP. It is not even SPONSORED by AARP as are some of AARP insurance programs.

 

Now a question for Ishmael: You have reported being told while on the PG that the Captain was being replaced, yet RSSC has denied this to lizf. Clearly somebody is spreading false information, and I DON'T think it is any board member. It is somebody at RSSC. Ishmael, did the Captain himself tell you this, or did you hear this from another staff member? While I don't place too much importance on the identity of the Captain on any future PG cruise I may take, I think it is an indicator of the general direction of the quality of the cruise on this ship.

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[Call me Ishmael]

Richard,

 

I saw that the reservation person at RSSC said he knew nothing about a change of captains on the PG. Hopefully that's correct. Maybe they came to an agreement regarding his pay or duties or the replacement didn't work out. Maybe it just hasn't happened yet.

 

To reiterate, the captain did not say he was leaving the ship. However, we did hear that information from two sources: one, a high level staff member who seemed very well informed about the change in ownership to GCT as well as ongoing daily events. (Example, this person told us the day before Moorea that we would not be able to stop in Moorea, even though the official line over the PA and in the daily bulletin was "next stop Moorea.") This person also told us that many of the staff were very unhappy about the captain's upcoming departure. I don't believe this person had any axe to grind at all as the attitude was 100% positive otherwise.

 

Second, we heard the same news from a GCT customer onboard who said it had been announced at the GCT customer cocktail party as one of the changes that GCT was going to be making.

 

Coupled with a few other things which seem to support that information (such as the presence on the bridge of an unescorted person in civilian dress who we were told was the captain's replacement), it seemed to be substantiated information rather than rank gossip.

 

As I said at the outset, it is possible that the new owners and the captain worked out their differences. GCT seems to proceed in directions that don't make a lot of sense and then apparently backs off them. As I recall, there was some indication they were at one time proposing to use the PG for cruises to Antarctica or some other heavy seas location ill-suited for the design of the ship.

 

Perhaps it was ill-founded rumor, but my wife and I took it as well-founded information. I would want some better source than a reservations clerk before reaching a conclusion. Perhaps someone could email Mark Conroy or Gair O'Neill.

 

I had no intention of passing on bad information; I have nothing but fond memories of my two cruises on the PG (well, except maybe the bad weather) and would love to go back for the Cook Islands cruise. Unfortunately, I have to "settle" for the Baltics on the Voyager in June. I'm very content with RSSC's product and service and hate to see the turmoil that seems to be affecting the company.

 

CMI

[Dolebludger]

Ishmael:

 

I never thought you or lizf were knowingly passing on bad information. Just wanted to get any more details you could give to try to sort out this confusing matter. I guess only time will tell.

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[lizf]

Hey, I wasn't calling anyone anything. I just called RSSC to express concern about booking if all this was going on and the guy, who seemed very well connected, said what he said. I passed it on as another bit of information. Not that it was correct or that Ishmael wasn't correct. I never considered that aspect when I posted.

We have decided that we would go ahead and go on the PG and if there are a few changes, we won't know the difference because we haven't been before and we really want to go someplace warm in December, plus it will be over my b'day. :p

RSSC assured me that all of their ships are run the same way and the basic package would be the same. I guess that was my concern. So thanks for all of your help and maybe RSSC will at least own up to what is going on or squelch the rumor. :confused: We just need to keep all of us informed as we go along. That's what this is all about to me. Liz

[Dolebludger]

Ishmael and lizf:

 

I know neither of you was disputing the truthfulness of the other. I also know from posting on this board for over four years whether a post is truthful (to the poster's best information), or is a flame or falsehood. In this case, I asked for further info KNOWING that both of you are sincere and TRUTHFUL about the information you received from highly placed Radisson people. The problem again is only with Radisson's inability to put out consistant info. I don't know how many lines have this problem (probably all do), but Radisson sure has it! I've seen this before.That's the problem. Not you two. Let's all be friends!

 

As I said, I have until the end of May to cancel without penalty. I'll just watch the boards and ask questions of folks I know who are going on the PG between now and then, and report back.

 

Thanks,

Richard:) :) :)

[Call me Ishmael]

I took no offense at what anyone said. I only wanted to make it clear that I had no axe to grind. I agree that the whole point is to help people stay informed as to what might be happening.

 

I find quite interesting this portion of the GCT press release announcing their acquisition of the PG:

 

"For 2005, Radisson Seven Seas, the ship’s current operator, will continue to manage the Paul Gauguin, which will continue to sail in French Polynesia through the end of the year. The ship will serve Radisson Seven Seas customers, as well as customers of both Grand Circle Travel and Vantage Deluxe World Travel.

 

The Paul Gauguin will be repositioned in 2006 to offer cruises, based on the season, throughout South America, the Mediterranean, the Baltics, and Antarctica. The ship will be marketed, operated, and staffed by Grand Circle Corporation and Vantage Deluxe World..." [Emhasis added]

http://www.gct.com/gcc/general/default.aspx?oid=97611

 

Although I recall seeing comments here that GCT now intended to keep the PG in the So. Pacific, I don't see any 2006 cruises for the PG on the revamped RSSC website. Did the reservation person say anything about '06?

 

I assume things will be fine in Dec. '05 since Radisson will still be running at least the hotel portion of the cruise. I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time.

 

CMI

[Leejnd4]

Well, given all that I've learned here on these boards about GCT, I will NEVER go on any vacation on which they are in charge, and since I can't go on another cruise until 2006 (I'm going on my big 2005 cruise in a few weeks), I guess this means I will never get to experience the PG. Bummer...I would really have loved to experience that.

 

What I'm wondering is, according to GCT's announcement, THEY will be the sole owners/operators of the PG...so are they now going to become an actual cruise line? Will the ship be called the GCT Paul Gauguin?

 

LeeAnne

[lizf]

The gentleman I spoke with said that they had a contract, I believe was the word he used, which ran through 2006. Of course, again I found him at the number you call to book with RSSC. That's the only phone number I found to call. No one was really upset about anything, he was just kind of miffed that what I had heard wasn't something they were prepared to respond to. I didn't intend it to be anything but a conversation I relayed for whatever its worth. I too, didn't intend to be pointing fingers. Just not my style. I haven't let it deter me from taking the cruise and I will not falter in this unless I see something confirmed that the situation is dire and then after confirming it, I will act accordingly. (Isn't that about as non-commital as it gets?) :D Thanks again all.

[Guest Jancruz]

Belive me Liz,

 

The lower staff that you would talk to at RSSC would be the LAST to know what is going on at RSSC..as with every other cruise line the truth gets to the bottom last..

Jan:)

*****