ALL CRUISES ARE SUSPENDED throughout French Polynesia

[MrRandal]

From Tahiti Tourism: https://tahititourisme.com/en-us/covid-19/

 

• As of Monday August 23 until Monday September 6 2021, travel will be restricted to compealing reasons only (work, family, health and essential goods purchase). These measures may be renewed depending on the evolution of the sanitary situation.

 

I guess this is TBK's "2 week lockdown" to "nip covid in the bud". Sounds a lot like "2 weeks to stop the spread."

 

On July 19, there were 0 new cases and a 7 day average of 5 cases in French Polynesia, yesterday, one month later, there were 1416 new cases, with a 7 day average of 1244 cases. There have been over 13,000 new cases in the past moth.

 

As I stated in another thread, worst nightmare.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by MrRandal

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

I look at the cup half full again  ... the new protocols will make it much safer for tourist moving forward  ... I know it hard on those that the lockdown will effect but I believe in the long run this is good for tourist.

 

PG appears to be getting the ship ready for cruising  .... I'm staying optimistic 😉 

[FlightMedic555]

All speculation but a 2 week pause is not going to fix anything.  I would bet this turns into a 2 month + pause.  Not only is the current covid 19 current variant super easy to spread but the vaccination rate of the citizens is still quite low.

 

TBK, gotta love your positive spin.

[MrRandal]

I totally agree FlightMedic555, two weeks will have very little impact. From what I have read, the new variant is supposed to peak sometime in late October, so this pause may well stretch through the end of the year. Last I checked, less than 30% of the population of French Polynesia has been vaccinated, and it remains a U.S. State Department Level 4 Covid Zone (Do Not Travel). 

 

People need to proceed with caution, for both their health as well as their wallets.

[newbiecruiser34]

Does anyone have a sense of the likelihood that the 9/11 cruise will also be cancelled? We are booked on it and are just trying to get prepared in the event our trip doesn't happen. @MrRandal and @FlightMedic555, do you think the ban on cruises will be extended?

[FlightMedic555]

Nobody knows for sure but I find it improbable to think that a 2 week pause will lead to reopening.  It may lead to a re-education in cases which will simply be the rationale to extend the pause.

 

If at all possible my recommendation would be to cancel or reschedule for next year.  We were supposed to be on the ship this past June and it was cancelled about 2 months prior. We still went but stayed in resorts.  We were fortunate to visit during the “lull” in covid and we had a great time without any restrictions. We did reschedule the cruise to a June 2022 

[newbiecruiser34]

@FlightMedic555 thanks for your insight. We've already tried to cancel, but PG is telling us we'll have to forfeit all $12,000 we paid for the cruise because we're within 30 days of departure, and the 9/11 cruise is still on. At this point we don't feel comfortable going, so it's just a question of how we don't lose that money.

[MrRandal]

new

5 minutes ago, newbiecruiser34 said:

@FlightMedic555 thanks for your insight. We've already tried to cancel, but PG is telling us we'll have to forfeit all $12,000 we paid for the cruise because we're within 30 days of departure, and the 9/11 cruise is still on. At this point we don't feel comfortable going, so it's just a question of how we don't lose that money.

 

Unfortunately you are within the 30 day window where you are not allowed to cancel without forfeiting your entire payment. However, if French Polynesia extends their shutdown, and the cruise is cancelled, Paul Gauguin is required to issue you a Future Cruise Credit for the amount you paid. You are in a difficult situation, you need to prepare to take the cruise, and wait and see what happens on the 6th. You didn't say anything about your airline or possible hotel situation, you may want to check cancellation policies on those as well.

[newbiecruiser34]

57 minutes ago, MrRandal said:

new

 

Unfortunately you are within the 30 day window where you are not allowed to cancel without forfeiting your entire payment. However, if French Polynesia extends their shutdown, and the cruise is cancelled, Paul Gauguin is required to issue you a Future Cruise Credit for the amount you paid. You are in a difficult situation, you need to prepare to take the cruise, and wait and see what happens on the 6th. You didn't say anything about your airline or possible hotel situation, you may want to check cancellation policies on those as well.

Is PG not legally required to offer a refund if the cruise is cancelled?

[MrRandal]

38 minutes ago, newbiecruiser34 said:

Is PG not legally required to offer a refund if the cruise is cancelled?

 

Paul Gauguin and their parent company, Ponant, have a very bad track record in that regard.

 

You might want to read through some of the threads on here pertaining to cancelled Paul Gauguin/Ponant cruises and the fight for refunds.

[newbiecruiser34]

1 minute ago, MrRandal said:

 

Paul Gauguin and their parent company, Ponant, have a very bad track record in that regard.

 

You might want to read through some of the threads on here pertaining to cancelled Paul Gauguin/Ponant cruises and the fight for refunds.

Yes, I did read through them, and it sounds like a terrible disaster. I feel deeply for those people. But it appears some were successful in recovering the money via a chargeback? I'm just trying to understand my legal rights if our cruise does, in fact, get cancelled--and no surprise, I couldn't find any information on either PG or Ponant's website!

[MrRandal]

I don't know when you booked your cruise, but your cruise contract should explain your "legal rights" if the cruise is cancelled by Paul Gauguin. The previous problems arose when Paul Gauguin was "legally" required to refund money when they had cancelled cruises, yet decided to ignore the terms of their contracts and only offer Future Cruise Credit.

[SWFLAOK]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Why do people continue to book the PG in this environment? With their horrible refund policy why not cruise with Windstar or oceania if you really want to cruise in Tahiti?

Because we were only able to get a future cruise credit rather than a refund, when our April 2020 cruise was cancelled (which we paid for in 2019). I'm sure there are many others booking and rebooking trying to use the FCC which was all that was offered.

And after 3 cruises on Paul Gauguin, we still would prefer that ship to Windstar or Oceania. We've looked at both of those cruise lines, and they weren't what we were looking for in a cruise.

We weren't interested in the Windstar sailing ships, nor the older Windstar non-sailing ships that we encountered while cruising the Caribbean on Sea Dream, and while enjoying many land based vacations in the Caribbean and French Polynesia where we encountered Windstar ships anchored near ports. Maybe the upgraded and expanded Windstar motor yachts might be better.

We have sailed Regent quite a few times now and have always enjoyed it. Their parent company owns Oceania so we get their advertisements on a regular basis. I've looked at them, and have never been tempted to try them. We like to have everything included, and we like smaller ships.

In this environment, if I had no money already spent that I can't get back, I would not book a cruise or a land based trip to Tahiti. Until the pandemic ends, you are taking a chance that you will not be able to go, and you will lose money for something (air fare, car rentals, hotels pre and post your trip, since most of those things are non refundable in cash).

[Pengawin3]

We were booked on the 8/28 cruise, but I canceled in July, b4 I reached 30 days out, and got a refund. Granted, we were only in for around $4500.

I just "KNEW" they weren't sailing, but after 3 rescheduled trips, wasn't interested in, 1: being their expensive guinea pig,  and 2: ending up with a useless cruise credit. 

I love the ship, itineraries and crew, but Ponant has made a mess of this. I watched it crumble on the Tahiti to Fiji trip in 2019. Once the Ponant rep boarded on Aitutaki, it all changed. And not for the better. ☹