Info from the PG

[Guest Jancruz]

Our daughter and her family (3 cabins) are on the PG and I have just heard from her..Service is OK..(not great) as is the food just OK..truthfully, at the prices she paid, I am sorry to hear it it is just ok..I would expect it to be wonderful...

Jan:(

[tane]

oh man, this is worrisome news. We are approaching final payment time and have been following the postings regarding the decline of food and service quality for several months. Ours is the 2 week cruise in Nov and am ready to reasses our options for our 25th anniversary. DW will not be pleased if we drop alot of $$ on the PG instead of doing another venue. I have remained steadfast for the PG because we like the South Pacific but she will not be happy if things do not measure up to our previous cruise several years ago. :(

[smilin jack]

Take a look at the Mariner sailing from Auckland to LA on Nov. 21st. We are booked on it...

Jack

[Kathy Z]

Maybe I am just extremely happy to be served meals that I do not have to prepare myself, but on our 10 day PG June 11 embarkation we found the meals to be wonderful (although prepared with more salt than we are used to). I must admit that the service was spotty. Sometimes there was more attention than you could wish for and other times the busyness of the staff caring for a full load (315 passengers on our trip) was evident.

 

We did know from experience that by making special requests in advance you can have just about anything you can imagine and it really seemed to please the staff to be able to make you happy by meeting your special requests. I truly wish I had Franco (maitre d) to take care of me at home with Daniel as our personal chef. Manfred always took great care of us in La Veranda also. I don't remember the names at Le Grill but the main people there were the same as when we traveled last year and they also remembered us and saw to it that service was excellent (they were never as busy at the times we were up there as in L'Etoile).

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Kathy, having been on two weeks before you, I agree that the service, although mostly wonderful, was spotty at times. One dinner we had to sit with empty wine glasses for at least 10 minutes before they were refilled :p , something that never would have happened five years ago. Our first dinner at Apicius, we were served a glass of champagne, then left to own devices for about 20 minutes--they obviously had a service glitch that night, because the two other times we did Apicius the service was impeccable.

 

The food too, although mostly great, had its dips, a little less wonderful than last time. But I'm with you, being waited on and being served this good food, I was quite satisfied almost always. (And I agree about the salt--we've been reducing salt in our household for about a year, and I really noticed it.)

[Tahitian Princess]

We have friends that have been to Tahiti twice on the PG and once on the TP. They said the PG is going downhill and the service and food is not what it use to be. They are planning a trip for next year on the TP again, you can't beat the value for a 10 day cruise with a balcony. Our friends said, they will be saving a couple thousand dollars going on the TP for 10 days, then going on the PG for 7 days. The service on the TP and the food were just fine. We've been a few times ourselves and love the TP. I myself can't compare it to the PG. If the service has gone down on the PG, why would anyone want to spend more money for less days? Check out the Tahitian Princess, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

[sita]

We found our recent 10 day cruise equal to our previous 4 weeks on Paul Gauguin in both service and quality of food. We were told there were 324 passengers (some rooms accomodate 3 people) and there was no indication that the ship was full in either space or service.

[macbest]

I did a quick look at the numbers for a 10 day on PG vs TP for next year (july). The difference is $638 for a balcony cabin for two (including the respective cruiseline airfares).

 

Having been on PG twice, here is what I remember about what you get for the $638 for two:

 

Free wine at dinners (worth nothing if you don't drink, easily $400 for 10 days if you do);

 

In suite bar setup, free water, sodas, etc: easily $150 for a 10 day.

 

Private Motu day: truly can not put a price on this perfect day. But there is free drinks there also. Same with "private" beach day in Bora Bora.

 

325 persons for PG vs I believe 700 for the TP.

 

Food may not be comparable and service similar (hope not since I plan on going next year!) but even the above is enough to justify the difference.

 

My two cents

[Terry&Elizabeth]

We have to agree with you Macbest. The intangibles like Motu Mahana, for instance, are priceless and not subject to bean counter mentality. That being said, Tahitimama sounds thrilled about the Tahitian Princess and should stay with her as a solid bang for her buck. We're sure that both the PG and TP provide an enjoyable vacation. We know for a fact that the PG does.

 

We also know that many of our friends have recently sailed the PG and report very positively about her. They are multiple PG sailors and very seasoned cruisers.

 

We are booked for November 5th and, of course will make comparisons with our past sailings and call it like it is. We just can't imagine cruising past Motu Mahana if we were aboard the TP. I'm positive that we would realize the huge mistake that we made.

 

I know it sounds like we are making a bid deal about Monday on Motu Mahana. That's because it IS A BIG DEAL! You simply can't put a price tag on it.

 

If the food is now oversalted, we'll live with it and ask our waiters to request no salt on subsequent orders. If our bubbly glasses go empty for a half hour, we'll get some attention by chatting with the Maitre D on the way to the restroom. If the first tender to Motu Mahana leaves at 9:30AM, we'll be queing up at 8:30 armed with our snorkeling equipment and stale dinner rolls for the fish.

 

Finally, we've done Bora-Bora and simply look forward to the PG private beach there. We take our $2.99 air mattresses and have a ball. Just another reason to repeat and stay loyal to the PG IOO.

[Tahitian Princess]

Terry&Elizabeth, As I said in my post I haven't been on the PG so of course I can only go by what our friends told us. Yes, it's nice to(as you say get a bang for my buck). Actually, my intent for my post was to let the original poster know there are other options. As some posters have mentioned, the PG is not what it use to be, so I thought I'd let the OP know, you can still get a great cruise for alot less, for a longer time. Motu Mahana sounds wonderful! We also spent a day on a private motu in Bora Bora(it was absolutely amazing) and instead of

325 people, there were only 4 people. My main reason in going to the South Pacific is to be on the islands as long as possible, that's my main reason for choosing the TP. Some people use to compare the PG to the TP as apples to oranges. It doesn't sound as if the PG is as it once was. My friends are saving over $2000.00 in a better cabin on the TP, for 3 extra days. They can compare because they've been on both cruises.

I hope your trip back on the PG, is all you anticipate it to be!

By the way on the TP, yes you do have to pay for your wine and other drinks, we never had to wait for our glasses to be filled and our food was never too salty. We had very attentive waiters and room stewards. We had shipboard credit which covered our drinks and some other charges. If you have a good travel agent they can save you alot over the published rates plus give you shipboard credit.

Your comment about the bean counter mentality was really uncalled for, I was just trying to help other people that might be on a budget or just don't want to spend the money on a cruise that isn't all that it use to be! At any rate enjoy your cruise, I'm sure you will have a great time, after all you'll be in paradise.

[tane]

What we want to know is WHY the service is so spotty and WHY wine glasses go unfilled. Sure, the ownership has changed but Radisson still has a reputation to preserve (UPHOLD!?). We went to Motu Mahana on our last cruise and thought it was a fun experience but not the motivating reason to do a repeat cruise. We are going again because we enjoyTahiti and honeymooned there so thought that we would do our 25th renewal there. The $17+k we are spending is a chunk of change that could be spent on another venue but the chance of seeing the remote Marquesas is the other draw. I'll go back to the $17+k's though and say that we are not bean counters but expect bangs for our bucks, not mass market cruising (however, I am guilty of liking my food salted). I hope Radisson hears the messages here and spiffs things up to their previously well-earned and respected reputation. We'll continue to do watchful waitng before making the full-on committment.