Comparing Regent to Paul Gauguin (PG) & Windstar for a Tahiti Cruise

[Jim Avery]

PG was designed and built specifically for Polynesia.  It has a wide flat bottom and reduced draft in order to clear some of the reefs and enter lagoons.  Seems to work for them.

[RELS]

Devil's advocate, here, but you might consider flying from island to island in French Polynesia and staying on land. We did this (years ago) on our honeymoon, and it was wonderful. Sure, we were much younger, but the little thatched roof airports and the overwater bungalows, and the poisson cru at the local dive bars for lunch are some of our best memories. Not to mention two of our most memorable meals ever: Le Belvedere in Papeete (book your table for sunset!) and Bloody Mary's on Bora Bora.

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, RELS said:

Devil's advocate, here, but you might consider flying from island to island in French Polynesia and staying on land. We did this (years ago) on our honeymoon, and it was wonderful. Sure, we were much younger, but the little thatched roof airports and the overwater bungalows, and the poisson cru at the local dive bars for lunch are some of our best memories. Not to mention two of our most memorable meals ever: Le Belvedere in Papeete (book your table for sunset!) and Bloody Mary's on Bora Bora.

That does sound fun.  A bit more effort but sounds worth it.  We loved our visit to Bloody Mary's.🍺 Have had fun with my picture of the pull chain handle in the men's loo.  😳

[Dolebludger]

I have read elsewhere on this board that Bloody Mary’s is closed for a year for maintenance and repairs. Sad.

[poolechick]

2 hours ago, RELS said:

Devil's advocate, here, but you might consider flying from island to island in French Polynesia and staying on land. We did this (years ago) on our honeymoon, and it was wonderful. Sure, we were much younger, but the little thatched roof airports and the overwater bungalows, and the poisson cru at the local dive bars for lunch are some of our best memories. Not to mention two of our most memorable meals ever: Le Belvedere in Papeete (book your table for sunset!) and Bloody Mary's on Bora Bora.

We've done this twice. Otherworldly waking up in a bungalow. Great snorkeling!!

[labonnevie]

9 hours ago, RELS said:

Devil's advocate, here, but you might consider flying from island to island in French Polynesia and staying on land. We did this (years ago) on our honeymoon, and it was wonderful. Sure, we were much younger, but the little thatched roof airports and the overwater bungalows, and the poisson cru at the local dive bars for lunch are some of our best memories. Not to mention two of our most memorable meals ever: Le Belvedere in Papeete (book your table for sunset!) and Bloody Mary's on Bora Bora.

Not mutually exclusive. 
When we took a 12 night PG cruise way back in 2008, it ended in Papeete. We took the ferry to Moorea and stayed three nights in an overwater bungalow. 
Fabulous fun, still remember it was chambre cent six. 

[DavidTheWonderer]

We have something like 50 - 60 nights on the Paul Gauguin, going back to 2000 when Radisson owned her. Radisson, of course, became Regent. After Regent there were various changes in ownership, but the experience remained generally outstanding.
Then Ponant bought her.  During the pandemic, cruises were cancelled but people who had given Ponant money, either as payment or as a deposit, were out of luck: Ponant refused to give refunds.
Despite the fact that the PG remains my favourite ship/destination, I will not consider her as long as Ponant is the owner.
For comparison, we had a world cruise on Regent Mariner booked. When it was cancelled because of the pandemic Regent promptly refunded our rather large deposit.

Incidentally, Splendor is my favourite ship that isn't the PG.

[LouChamp]

15 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

I have read elsewhere on this board that Bloody Mary’s is closed for a year for maintenance and repairs. Sad.

Aloha. Seems this is true.

[papaflamingo]

17 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

That does sound fun.  A bit more effort but sounds worth it.  We loved our visit to Bloody Mary's.🍺 Have had fun with my picture of the pull chain handle in the men's loo.  😳

I've had fun with my pic of the pull handle too.  It's "a thing." 🤣 

But we really enjoyed Bloody Mary's on our stop in Bora Bora in 2018.  

[Jim Avery]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I've had fun with my pic of the pull handle too.  It's "a thing." 🤣 

But we really enjoyed Bloody Mary's on our stop in Bora Bora in 2018.  

Haha, I dare you to post a picture here..😁😱

[jjs217]

On 10/4/2023 at 8:28 AM, Dolebludger said:

jjs, we’re you on a motor yacht or a sailing ship? From what I can determine, there is a real difference in those two categories. And if one is undecided, Regent is always a good choice.

It was one of Seabourn's old "little sisters".  The dining room was nice, but everything else showed it's age.  Also, no balconies - I've got to have my balcony.  I knew this going in but thought I would give it a try.  Lesson learned.

[Dolebludger]

Yes, when I was on Windstar’s site, I couldn’t navigate to any rooms, except those with only windows — and not very large ones at that. Time to return to Regent, where all all suites have balconies — except a few window suites on the Navigator.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Yes, when I was on Windstar’s site, I couldn’t navigate to any rooms, except those with only windows — and not very large ones at that. Time to return to Regent, where all all suites have balconies — except a few window suites on the Navigator.

I think doing FP on Navigator would be pretty nice. I'd miss the Gauguines, of course.

[chelseabelsea]

We sailed once on one of the Windstar motorized ships about a year after it was acquired from Seabourne- it was probably 2017 or 2018- never, ever again. Poor maintenance, poor ship condition, terrible bed,  unhappy crew,  poor food, everything about the experience was poor. 

[RachelG]

We did our first Tahiti cruise back when PG was a Regent ship.  Wonderful.  Son and daughter-in-law had their honeymoon on it later after it was no longer regent. Still great.

 

that said, we are going back to Tahiti on Navigator in January and the ports are the same as when we did it on PG.  looking forward to the trip.

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Haha, I dare you to post a picture here..😁😱

Hmm...... tempting but would probably get me into "cruise critic jail." 🤣

[makai 7]

We did 17 days in Tahiti this July on the Wind Spirit, and have plenty of experience with Regent.

this ship is leaving Tahiti at the end of the season and they are replacing it with one of the motor ships.

 

We had a fantastic experience.  The entire crew from the captain to the deckhands and cabin stewards were wonderful.  The food was excellent.  And of course the size of the ship (approximately 150 guests) makes for a great experience.  The ship itself was in bad shape, being several years overdue for a complete refurbishment/drydock.  The crew did the best that they could but many areas were in poor condition.

 

We were told by a seasoned Windstar passenger that not all ships have the same vibe, so you need to check the specific ship on the Windstar boards.

[Dolebludger]

Just for the heck of it, I called the Windstar CS number yesterday to ask a few questions about their “motor yachts” relative to cruises out of Tahiti. My first (pleasant) surprise is that, once I got through the voice menu, someone quickly answered the phone! Where I live, if I call a business, it is an unacceptably long wait to get a person on the phone. It seems that on these ships, almost all suites are 277 sq ft inside room (except for the very few premium suites). Now, although some of the regular suites are called “balcony”, they are only “French balconies” which means that they have a large window that tools down from the top. No real balcony. Also, I learned that if one books at the all inclusive fare, everything in the suite fridge is included. Excursions are not included, but they aren’t on the PG either, but are on Regent. I guess it is a matter of getting a good TA to check pricing and “deals” from time to time. But, as (unfortunately) I won’t book anything on the (PG) unless it acquires an owner other than Ponant, if I had to book something in Tahiti right now it would be Regent — if the time factor was right. But the Windstar Star Breeze does have good pricing on the inclusive fare for window (not porthole) suites that are larger than on the PG. I hope this information is useful. Once, the PG was my favorite. But after Ponant refused to refund for cruise it cancelled, i wouldn’t book it again,— unless and until Ponant is out of the picture.

[pappy1022]

I have spoken to people that have in recent years cruised with Windstar, Regent and Paul Gauguin in the French Polynesia and to the person they all had amazing cruises on all of these lines. Most pointed out the Paul Gauguin was their favorite because of the bays and “shallow” areas they could get to because of the size and structure of the ship as well as the vibe on board. They are in that area all year and people felt like there was better immersion into the culture of the area. I am choosing Paul Gauguin for our cruise based on all the research I’ve done, the cost and the vibe with their cruise. I will miss the all inclusiveness of Regent but their prices are 2X-3X more but the Paul Gauguin includes everything but excursions (I prefer private one’s) and airfare (I have points for that). I did give Windstar a hard look but they are bringing in a bigger (stretched) ship and will probably have some growing pains (IMO).

[pappy1022]

I thank everyone for their opinions on this topic. I very much appreciate Regent and I would cruise with Regent most places in the world. I felt this time, the other option made sense. After all, for me it’s all about the destination.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

17 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

But after Ponant refused to refund for cruise it cancelled, i wouldn’t book it again,— unless and until Ponant is out of the picture.

Us to Richard.  Sad, but then not sure we'll cruise again anyway.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

When we sailed the Paul Gauguin it was managed by Grand Circle and managed by Radisson.  The ship was not owned by Radisson or Regent as I recall.

[Pudgesmom]

Here are some random observations:

 

We have been on Regent once (Splendor), and are long time fans of Windstar, especially the sailing ships. We have not been on the PG. 

 

One difference to us was the much greater amount of actual outdoor deck space per passenger on Windstar. Splendor felt much more like a floating hotel, mostly focused towards the inside, including the main pool area. We prefer to sit outside in a common area than alone on a balcony. 

 

I do think they are moving the Wind Spirit out of the area and replacing it with one of the motor yachts. That’s too bad as sailing anywhere on a really small ship in a tropical location is fantastic. However, even the motor yachts have better outdoor spaces than Regent. 
 

Food is more upscale on Regent. If you don’t take a suite, you may or may not get your choice of excursions. We prefer to do our own, so the inclusion is not a benefit for us. Staff on both are equally excellent, and will learn your preferences quickly. Windstar will come in quite a bit lower on the price. The ships are significantly smaller, which we like. Some one pointed out elevators. While Windspirit does not have one, the motor yachts do.

 

YMMV. 🙂