Trip review - Australia to Fiji - 12 day cruise August 2014

[dontdiwundrin]

Well, that’s a bit of classic understatement. I thought maybe get your feet wet….ha, depending on one’s height of course, the water came up to your shins, knees or thighs!!!

Some on our tender saw the landing option and and returned to the ship. Some were dressed in rather smart gear suitable for a promenade not a “wet landing”.

We were ok with swimsuits, shorts, water shoes to protect feet from coral etc. We got to the shore and asked Pia where the best snorkel spot was, - she airily waved her hand in the general direction of the resort and said “ask the staff at the resort”.

Apparently, the “resort” Beqa Island had a pool, services and looked charmingly rustic. We noted (later) from the daily newsletter there were no facilities on the beach, but we could use the resort if we had money with us as we had to pay. (Guess who forgot to bring a few dollars).

I wasn’t remotely expecting the same as we got on Motu Mahana, (in French Polynesia) - as logistically it’s impossible, but it would have been up to the usual Paul Gauguin experience if the “team” knew more about what guests could see and experience at this type of beach.

A helpful welcome, smile and advice would have been more useful and appropriate.

I was not alone in my impression – as there were a few glum faces and we wondered what we were doing here! Some disappeared and apparently walked to where there might be a village, - we went ashore just to set foot on dry land for a while.

Many who came on the tender with us returned on the next one. Some who stayed ventured into the chilly water and went out to snorkel. The coral was a long way out from the beach. I was hoping it would be close in shore as we “thought’ we had seen in photos.

Those who ventured out 100 metres or so did say the coral they saw was great. Those of us who are not great swimmers saw the distance from shore as a barrier. Maybe later in the day, as the tide receded this “offshore reef” would have been more accessible.

I did read that Beqa lagoon had brilliant coral, and some close in shore – maybe just not where we were moored.

Back to the ship and think about packing, we had wet swimsuits and shoes. Return the ships fins to the Marina, collect passports later in the evening. Ah, it all comes to an end.

More to follow

[dontdiwundrin]

We began to pack as all luggage had to be outside our cabin 9.30-11.30pm tonight. Deciding what to keep out for dinner, and to wear to the airport and flight home tomorrow, - not packing toiletries yet…oh the stress.

Better go and have a cup of afternoon tea and attend the farewell party on the Pool Deck for a little light relief. …

Disregarding the proffered cocktails (oh, how I fancied one or three) today’s was Beachcomber a refreshing mixture of Vodka, Peach Schnapps orange and Grenadine (or so it says in the book (!).

It is always lovely to see all staff and crew at the end of a cruise and say thank you and farewell.

On that topic, something I thought about earlier was that we can be very blasé about sea journeys at times and take for granted our safety on board ship.

We tend to focus on staterooms, food, entertainment and the “visible” parts of a cruise with seldom a thought for the fact that we are a very small object in a very big Ocean!!

I would like to thank the Captain and Officers for taking care of us on this voyage and getting us to our distant and very remote destinations and back to the more familiar areas safely.

All the Officers, staff and crew we encountered on board were polite, affable and easy to talk to. We were invariably greeted with a smile, and those staff that knew our name used it on every occasion we met!

A last look around at daylight on the Pool Deck, a wave to Elmo, and Ray, the Pool deck barman, and a special thanks for all the cappuccinos he made us in the mornings.

I liked his taste in music – he used to sing, I warbled tunelessly, (my husband put his hands over his ears as usual to drown my voice).

We went back to our cabin, and began the packing drama again. Easy for my husband to occupy himself with a book or TV whilst I wrestled with clothes and shoes that didn’t want to be put back in the cases they came out of.

Eventually I prevailed, and remembering to keep clothes out for tomorrow, the cases were locked – and on pain of black looks and mumbled oaths were not to be unzipped until we got back to Sydney.

In fact here I confess, (- a week later) there is a still a case with items at home that haven’t been re-united with their hangers yet. Been too busy writing this is my excuse (!).

Off to dinner in La Veranda tonight, thank you Ivan. A superb maître d’hôtel, and his talented and attentive wait staff. Dinner with friends we met on the ship.

There was a farewell Variety show in the Grand Salon this evening. We didn’t make that one – far too tired.

The ship set sail from Beqa about 5pm or so I think and several hours later we were in Lautoka, Fiji. Our final destination.

More to follow:

[dontdiwundrin]

Saturday 30th August --- Bon Voyage - The cruise is over!

Breakfast in La Veranda, vacate the stateroom by 9.30am and off the ship by 10am. Say farewell to our lovely Raehlynn who looked after our cabin.

I gave her my perfume as she really like it! And all those we met on board and left our key cards and descended the stairs.

Decided to get a taxi to the airport, that was really easy, taxis were just right at the dock and very inexpensive $15USD. (Plus a $2 tip) It took around 20/30 mins to drive and then we only had a 6 hour wait for our flight!

For information, Fiji airport does have air-con, I think, but it’s very hot in there, wear cool clothes if possible. It was very, very busy – maybe it was because it was a Saturday

. And the 6hrs took a long time to go by….. We saw many other guests from the ship all on their way to various locations, all agreed that the airport and the waiting for flights is always an awful way to end a cruise!

In conclusion, this has been my personal recollection and review of the time spent on the Paul Gauguin and obviously by its very nature is subjective.

 

Would I cruise with PG again? – Yes, but we would check more carefully what shore time and accessibility to “time in the water” was available.

Did I enjoy the cruise? – Yes – it, afforded my husband and I the opportunity to visit remote locations that we had only read about. I learnt much from the enrichment lectures, not least immense sympathy for the people of West Papua.

However, I was quite disappointed there was so little time in Samarai Island, and for me personally too much time in Port Moresby.

This change may have forced on PG because of necessary refuelling (the original itinerary when we booked had Rabaul as the first port in PNG) and understand that prompt and efficient refuelling in a rarely visited location must be a challenge.

But 7am until 10pm (in fact it was 1.30am the following day we eventually sailed) seemed far too long in a town that was not fully suitable for tourists.

If PG decide to undertake this itinerary again I would encourage more detailed explanation of the areas to be visited and to set realistic expectations.

We didn’t see many easily accessible areas of coral that were expected (without undertaking excursions), which was really our only disappointment.

I believe this is a fair and reasonable view of the trip from a couple with reasonable expectations.

We suspected this itinerary would not be as efficiently managed by PG and would encourage them not to give up in taking passengers on “adventure cruises”.

We would only ask for factual recent detail on the ports in the daily programme, and for them to try to ensure their booking agents understand when PG is sailing outside their normal well-rehearsed destinations in French Polynesia what can and will be achieved.

Set expectations lower and exceed, rather than set them too high and not deliver.

If relatively expensive excursions are sold– they need to deliver the value, not just the experience. Some guests said they didn’t mind paying over $200 USD for an excursion as long as they felt it gave value to them.

My feeling on leaving the ship was not the ecstatic “we must do this again soon” that we felt in Tahiti. That surprised and disappointed me, as I so much wanted to feel that.

Probably because there was a degree of undercurrent of dissatisfaction that surfaced when talking to other guests about excursions, time at sea, remote destinations, general (non-specific) grumbles etc.

Nonetheless, we were pleased to have been on the cruise and enjoyed the experience. We learnt something more about the area of the Earth we live in and the life of other people here.

There would be no other opportunity to visit Kieta, Bougainville or Samarai Island in Papua New Guinea I imagine, and I am very unlikely to meet many people in my life again that have ever been there!

Well, apart from everyone on this cruise!

Saturday 30th August --- Bon Voyage - The cruise is over!

Breakfast in La Veranda, vacate the stateroom by 9.30am and off the ship by 10am. Say farewell to our lovely Raehlynn who looked after our cabin.

I gave her my perfume as she really like it! And all those we met on board and left our key cards and descended the stairs.

Decided to get a taxi to the airport, that was really easy, taxis were just right at the dock and very inexpensive $15USD. (Plus a $2 tip) It took around 20/30 mins to drive and then we only had a 6 hour wait for our flight!

For information, Fiji airport does have air-con, I think, but it’s very hot in there, wear cool clothes if possible. It was very, very busy – maybe it was because it was a Saturday

. And the 6hrs took a long time to go by….. We saw many other guests from the ship all on their way to various locations, all agreed that the airport and the waiting for flights is always an awful way to end a cruise!

In conclusion, this has been my personal recollection and review of the time spent on the Paul Gauguin and obviously by its very nature is subjective.

Would I cruise with PG again? – Yes, but we would check more carefully what shore time and accessibility to “time in the water” was available.

Did I enjoy the cruise? – Yes – it, afforded my husband and I the opportunity to visit remote locations that we had only read about. I learnt much from the enrichment lectures, not least immense sympathy for the people of West Papua.

However, I was quite disappointed there was so little time in Samarai Island, and for me personally too much time in Port Moresby.

This change may have forced on PG because of necessary refuelling (the original itinerary when we booked had Rabaul as the first port in PNG) and understand that prompt and efficient refuelling in a rarely visited location must be a challenge.

But 7am until 10pm (in fact it was 1.30am the following day we eventually sailed) seemed far too long in a town that was not fully suitable for tourists.

If PG decide to undertake this itinerary again I would encourage more detailed explanation of the areas to be visited and to set realistic expectations.

We didn’t see many easily accessible areas of coral that were expected (without undertaking excursions), which was really our only disappointment.

I believe this is a fair and reasonable view of the trip from a couple with reasonable expectations.

We suspected this itinerary would not be as efficiently managed by PG and would encourage them not to give up in taking passengers on “adventure cruises”.

We would only ask for factual recent detail on the ports in the daily programme, and for them to try to ensure their booking agents understand when PG is sailing outside their normal well-rehearsed destinations in French Polynesia what can and will be achieved.

Set expectations lower and exceed, rather than set them too high and not deliver.

If relatively expensive excursions are sold– they need to deliver the value, not just the experience. Some guests said they didn’t mind paying over $200 USD for an excursion as long as they felt it gave value to them.

My feeling on leaving the ship was not the ecstatic “we must do this again soon” that we felt in Tahiti. That surprised and disappointed me, as I so much wanted to feel that.

Probably because there was a degree of undercurrent of dissatisfaction that surfaced when talking to other guests about excursions, time at sea, remote destinations, general (non-specific) grumbles etc.

Nonetheless, we were pleased to have been on the cruise and enjoyed the experience. We learnt something more about the area of the Earth we live in and the life of other people here.

There would be no other opportunity to visit Kieta, Bougainville or Samarai Island in Papua New Guinea I imagine, and I am very unlikely to meet many people in my life again that have ever been there!

Well, apart from everyone on this cruise!

Saturday 30th August --- Bon Voyage - The cruise is over!

Breakfast in La Veranda, vacate the stateroom by 9.30am and off the ship by 10am. Say farewell to our lovely Raehlynn who looked after our cabin.

I gave her my perfume as she really likes it! And farewell to all those we met on board. We left our key cards and descended the stairs.

Decided to get a taxi to the airport, that was really easy, taxis were just right at the dock and very inexpensive $15USD. (Plus a $2 tip)

It took around 20/30 mins to drive and then we only had a 6 hour wait for our flight!

For information, Fiji airport does have air-con, I think, but it’s very hot in there, wear cool clothes if possible. It was very, very busy – maybe it was because it was a Saturday.

. And the 6hrs took a long time to go by….. We saw many other guests from the ship on their way to various locations, all agreed that the airport and the waiting for flights is always an awful way to end a cruise!

In conclusion, this has been my personal recollection and review of the time spent on the Paul Gauguin and obviously by its very nature is subjective.

Would I cruise with PG again? – Yes, but we would check more carefully what shore time and accessibility to “time in the water” was available.

Did I enjoy the cruise? – Yes – it, afforded my husband and I the opportunity to visit remote locations that we had only read about.

I learnt much from the enrichment lectures, not least immense sympathy for the people of West Papua, and sadly only a superficial understanding of life in these remote places, - Papua New Guinea, Bouganville, and Solomon Islands.

However, I was quite disappointed there was so little time in Samarai Island, and for me personally too much time in Port Moresby.

This change may have forced on PG because of necessary refuelling (the original itinerary when we booked had Rabaul as the first port in PNG) and understand that prompt and efficient refuelling in a rarely visited location must be a challenge.

But 7am until 10pm (in fact it was 1.30am the following day we eventually sailed) seemed far too long in a town that was not fully suitable for tourists.

If PG decide to undertake this itinerary again I would encourage more detailed explanation of the areas to be visited and to set realistic expectations.

We didn’t see many easily accessible areas of coral that were expected (without undertaking excursions), which was really our only disappointment.

I believe this is a fair and reasonable view of the trip from a couple with reasonable expectations.

We suspected this itinerary would not be as efficiently managed by PG and would encourage them not to give up in taking passengers on “adventure cruises”.

We would only ask for factual recent detail on the ports in the daily programme.

Also for them to try to ensure their booking agents understand when PG is sailing outside their normal well-rehearsed destinations in French Polynesia what can and will be achieved.

Set expectations lower and exceed, rather than set them too high and not deliver.

If relatively expensive excursions are sold– they need to deliver the value, not just the experience. Some guests said they didn’t mind paying over $200 USD per person for an excursion as long as they felt it gave value to them.

Nonetheless, we were pleased to have been on the cruise and really enjoyed the experience. We learnt something more about the area of the Earth we live in and the life of other people here.

There would be no other opportunity to visit Kieta, Bougainville or Samarai Island in Papua New Guinea I imagine, and I am very unlikely to meet many people in my life again that have ever been there!

Well, apart from everyone on this cruise!

The end.:)

[dontdiwundrin]

:o seems like the word document just got copied and pasted more than once.

 

that's me finished !! more than 6300 words ..... enough, already!

 

Thanks for reading. I'll try and delete the last entry or two.

[Familygoboston]

Enjoyed your report! Were you able to post any photos? I would love to see some of these remote places!

I can relate to your conundrum about going remote places and the expectations of how the tourism infrastructure will be. We are taking an Eastern European river cruise in 2 weeks. We keep reading about how it's not as "picturesque" or "developed" for tourism as the Western part of the Danube. But that is PRECISELY why we want to see it now, before if becomes like all the rest of Europe. We are also interested in the more recent history of the fall of communism which is 25 years old and conflict in the Balkans, which is only 15-20 years removed. IMO it's so critical to understand culturally exactly where one is headed and what to expect and how to behave. It absolutely impacts ones experience in a positive way when you better understand a place before you go there!:D

 

I'd love to see some photos of the places you went- sounds like a wonderful experience.

[dontdiwundrin]

photo attempt on the list ....fingers crossed!:) I haven't got many, there was a camera/operator malfunction.....(me).

 

Thanks for your comments, I'm pleased you liked reading it.

Yours was pretty spectacular, I recall reading it and acknowledging soon as you posted it.

 

I hope you will do similar on your upcoming river cruise, - something I haven't been on yet.

[Emdee]

Thanks, Tess. A fair and rational review.

As you say there are certain things the PG does well and it has the tried and tested experience.

 

A weak point has always been the excursions. There has been a blasé attitude on some of their parts. Not Sandy, though. She is so helpful.

 

A few days before we board. We are enjoying a lovely day in Tahiti today.

Miriam

[Familygoboston]

photo attempt on the list ....fingers crossed!:) I haven't got many, there was a camera/operator malfunction.....(me).

 

Thanks for your comments, I'm pleased you liked reading it.

Yours was pretty spectacular, I recall reading it and acknowledging soon as you posted it.

 

I hope you will do similar on your upcoming river cruise, - something I haven't been on yet.

 

Aww, very kind of you! Yes, I do plan to post my river cruise review- similar style, but it will take a while before DH has all those photos ready;)

 

I do hope to see yours!

 

Thanks, Tess. A fair and rational review.

As you say there are certain things the PG does well and it has the tried and tested experience.

 

A weak point has always been the excursions. There has been a blasé attitude on some of their parts. Not Sandy, though. She is so helpful.

 

A few days before we board. We are enjoying a lovely day in Tahiti today.

Miriam

Miriam, so you are awaiting boarding! :D Can't wait for your review!

 

As for excursions; there is only one problem, repeatedly reported here, and on board, it's been a problem for a long time, and the longer it goes on, the longer it begs the question exactly what kinds of skills the woman brings to her job, and who is responsible for evaluating them.

[dontdiwundrin]

Miriam, glad you thought my review was fair and balanced, I hoped it was.

 

I tried to include details of daily events as well as my personal impressions of the destinations, the attitude of staff and crew, and some of the reactions/feedback from other guests I spoke with on the cruise.

 

I really hope you and all the other Repeaters have a fantastic time on the PG on this cruise in a few days, and you have great weather too. I am sure everyone is getting very excited!

 

Delighted that the weather is good in Tahiti.

 

 

Sadly we could not make this voyage, it was too close to getting back from this one last week.!

 

We will try for the next Repeaters in FP.:) Please advise me when you know a date.

 

Anyway, Bon Voyage to all, and I look forward to hearing about it.

Tess

[dontdiwundrin]

Aww, very kind of you! Yes, I do plan to post my river cruise review- similar style, but it will take a while before DH has all those photos ready;)

 

I do hope to see yours!

 

 

Miriam, so you are awaiting boarding! :D Can't wait for your review!

 

As for excursions; there is only one problem, repeatedly reported here, and on board, it's been a problem for a long time, and the longer it goes on, the longer it begs the question exactly what kinds of skills the woman brings to her job, and who is responsible for evaluating them.

 

I note your comments, perhaps a broader question is "who puts the excursions together, - is this a land-based or ship-based task"?

 

 

It may be that we are critical of the implementer (who possibly could be more helpful on occasions) - Or is PG Marketing Dept. delivering to the ship-based staff an inadequately researched and untried set of excursions?

 

It is a great shame that this aspect of PG's offering is repeatedly criticised, and seemingly without anyone taking any remedial action.

 

I think they would gain so much if they had satisfied customers in this area of their product.

 

Just imagine - how good it would be for PG, - if every guest went on every excursion and came back really happy and satisfied!!

[ducklite]

Ironically the tours and lectures with Dr. Poole and Mark Eddowes were the things we liked best about the entire PG experience. Add in the way they handled our vow renewal and Motu Mahana. Otherwise, as another poster recently stated it felt more like a mass market cruise than a luxury cruise on a small ship

Edited September 8, 2014 by ducklite

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoyed your review.

[KBS1607]

Really enjoyed your review, Tess.

 

Thanks,

Kim

[dontdiwundrin]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Thanks for reading it!:)

[dontdiwundrin]

Really enjoyed your review, Tess.

 

Thanks,

Kim

 

pleased you found it enjoyable, Kim. I certainly learnt a lot on this trip.

 

I must say thanks to all those who have commented favourably on my review - that makes all the typing worthwhile!! :)

 

 

Tess

[clairesmom]

WOW! Sounds like your trip was MUCH different from our last one huh? What an amazing way to see some of those places though! So glad you did your review, I loved it!

[dontdiwundrin]

WOW! Sounds like your trip was MUCH different from our last one huh? What an amazing way to see some of those places though! So glad you did your review, I loved it!

 

Yes, it was quite a change from our 10 day French Polynesian cruise. I am delighted that you read my review and enjoyed it.

 

I really appreciate it when people take the time to post their opinions - good or bad on the experience in the PG, - makes for "interesting " conversations, doesn't' it??? :confused:

 

(You know the thread I mean!)...