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Any news from recent cruises?

MrRandal

By MrRandal,
in Paul Gauguin Cruises

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MrRandal

MrRandal

Posted
Posted

Has anyone cruised on the PG in the past 6-8 weeks or so that can give us a first hand report on how things are going? I know one of the most vocal individuals on this board was scheduled to take the Dec 4th eleven day Society/Tuamotus cruise, and I had expected a glowing review of the newly renovated ship, and all of the new flight and cruise protocols. I'm pretty certain this was his first cruise since his ill fated, cut short at the beginning of the pandemic March 2020 cruise. However, nothing but crickets.Taking into consideration his 2000+ posts on this Paul Gauguin board, I find his silence a little ominous. I hope he is well.

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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

Posted
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I do a 60 minute livestream show every Sunday night @ 6 pm Pacific time and I went through everything in great detail. Bottom line .... everything went wonderfully, had a wonderful time and the ship looks fantastic. I had a wedding to shoot 2 days after returning and I just completed the edit. This week I'm doing appraisal work (my 2nd job) .... We took over 2500 pictures and 100's of video ... just have only so much time to do things so I focus the free time I have on my livestream show and posting new pictures and videos every day on my page. 

 

Click on the pictures to enlarge and enjoy 😉

 

Taken from the secret balcony - iPhone SE

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Part of our group enjoying champagne @ the Blue Lagoon on Fakarava - iPhone SE 

Blue Lagoon on Fakarava.jpg

 

Part of our group at the Green Lagoon on Fakarava

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The drift snorkel location on Tahaa

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Our private excursion BBQ lunch stop on Rangiroa

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Of course  .... Motu Mahana

DJI_0369-Edit.jpg

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, MrRandal said:

Glad to hear you are just busy, and your trip went well, and as always, love your pictures. I see you took a drone this trip, is that allowed now?

 

 

Drones are not allowed  ... 

 

You my email me if you need more info: tahitianbigkahuna@gmail.com

Edited by Tahitianbigkahuna
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tdl60

tdl60

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Posted
2 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Drones are not allowed  ... 

 

You my email me if you need more info: tahitianbigkahuna@gmail.com

Thanks for the pictures.  We are supposed to be going Feb 19/22.  Fingers crossed that Omicrom does not stop us from getting to Tahiti.  Do you have any pictures of the renovations done to the ship?

 

Thanks...

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Tahitianbigkahuna

Tahitianbigkahuna

Posted
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4 minutes ago, tdl60 said:

Thanks for the pictures.  We are supposed to be going Feb 19/22.  Fingers crossed that Omicrom does not stop us from getting to Tahiti.  Do you have any pictures of the renovations done to the ship?

 

Thanks...

 

Not that I can easily share  .... would need to go through a bunch of pictures  ... no time right now. The ship does look very nice ... best I've seen it over the last decade. 

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  • 2 months later...
nancyonmaui

nancyonmaui

Posted
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Wondering if anyone who has cruised with PG in February willing to share their feedback and impressions on how life on board is right now.   Odd there's nothing posted anywhere that I can find.   Would love to book a trip but hesitant to do so when all there is are crickets on here ?     Help please !

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Wendy The Wanderer

Wendy The Wanderer

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20 hours ago, babydoc2 said:

We are on for one week May 7. Our first PG cruise. Also very excited. Any excursions a first timer shouldn't miss? 

I always say that getting up to the top of the Belvedere in Moorea is a must, since the view is so spectacular.  Many land excursions there include it.

 

Some kind of water excursion in Bora Bora I would recommend, not knowing your itinerary.

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witt's end

witt's end

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I was looking into excursions yesterday. I go the the South Pacific for the water so we will choose snorkelling and water excursions and, spend time daily off the swim grid when it is open - great fun!

This is what I have selected for the days that your 7 day cruise overlap with our itinerary:

Huahine - we are doing the Motu picnic PFHUH54

Bora Bora - Lagoonarium and Catamaran Sail if both can be done in a day. PFBOB55 and PFB0B67

Taha'a - PG Motu party is great and included.

Moorea - I LOVE Moorea! - BBQ on Motu and snorkelling. PFM0074

 

I hope that helps.

We have cruised a lot so we don't need to do village overview tours, ATV, another Pearl farm.

I do suggest that you include a Pearl farm if that interests you though.

You can get Black Pearls that are stunning. This post reminded me to make sure that I pack mine for the trip so I am not tempted to buy more!

 

On our first trip to Tahiti we went on a tour with a Canadian who was doing research on the spinner dolphin that was really interesting.

 

The scenery is magnificent, the water an amazing clear blue and the people are delightful. ENJOY!

 

Please ask questions, particularly when we are onboard - April 11-23.

 

 

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FlightMedic555

FlightMedic555

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You will find "privately" arranged excursions to commonly be some combination of less expensive, longer duration, and with fewer participants.  On Huahine I would recommend Huahine Nautique for a snorkel and lunch on the motu excursion (sometimes referred to as Marc's tour).  On Bora Bora I would suggest a half day snorkel with Pure Snorkeling by Reef Discovery.  6-8 passengers on a super fast boat with stops at 4 locations for snorkeling.  If you prefer a motu lunch than their sister company, Lagoon Services is a great choice.  IMHO I would not do the private tours with these companies as they are super expensive but their "group" tours are fantastic.

 

https://www.huahinenautique.com/

 

https://reefdiscovery.com/

 

https://lagoonservice.com/

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Wendy The Wanderer

Wendy The Wanderer

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7 hours ago, witt's end said:

Thank you for all of this input, especially the ‘zoo’. What appealed to me was shore access for snorkeling but I know we will find that elsewhere.

The lagoon atrium is off my radar now!!

If you have a list of current snorkelling excursions for Bora Bora, perhaps you could post them for comment.  I did a wonderful drift snorkel once with the same marine biologist, but it certainly wasn't from the shore.  The shark and ray feeding is fun, and you're mostly in chest-deep water, although there is some time doing snorkeling over coral heads, which is a bit more challenging, with no foot on the bottom.  There may be a motu snorkel adventure available as well, and that might provide what you want.

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Northern Swan

Northern Swan

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We just finished a PG cruise on Wednesday and did a number of excursions.  Even though I was nervous about this, don’t miss the opportunity to swim with sharks and rays - it really is an experience you will never forget!  
 

In my opinion, the Belvedere lookout on Moorea was a bit of a disappointment … yes, the view is spectacular but there are many many tourists trying to get the same pictures as you and the tour operators need to get you in and out to keep the traffic moving.

 

PG offers a few ATV tours and we did one on Moorea.  It’s a great way to see some farmland and back country, but know that you will have limited opportunity for taking photos or learning about anything you are seeing.  Also, when the tour description says the tour is not suitable for people with mobility issues, heed the warning.  The beginning and ending of our tour was on paved roads,  but the majority of the time was spent on rough back roads.  
 

If you want some adventure on the water and to see some spectacular scenery and blue-green water, be sure to take a tour to the Blue Lagoon with Ato on Fakarava.  This is not a luxurious slow paced pontoon boat ride, but you will see the unspoiled non-commercial side of French Polynesia and water so beautiful it is indescribable.

 

We also did a private excursion on Bora Bora where we rented a pontoon boat with a guide for the day.  He took us snorkelling and we had champagne while standing in the ocean and then lunch in an over-water hut on a private island.   This was one of the most relaxing tours we did! The company we booked with is LaPlage Bora Bora.

 

One tour I wish we would have done is the cultural one offered by PG on Taha’a. We realized after the fact that this is the best place to learn about - and purchase - vanilla. 
 

We also did a private tour that included a stop at a pearl farm which was quite interesting.  Even if you are not into pearls, it’s good to learn about the process for developing the cultured pearls.

 

One thing to keep in mind when deciding between ship excursions and private ones is that if there is a change in itinerary you won’t have to figure out how to get in touch with the private tour operator while you are at sea.  Internet access is spotty at best, and I was very happy we had not booked a private excursion when we realized a minor itinerary change was made part way through the cruise.

 

I would say don’t stress about which excursions to take as anything you book will be amazing!

 

 

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