Dining on PG

[TimATL]

If I'm planning on six dinners aboard the PG (one at Bloody Mary's) what is the distribution of restuarants that everyone would recommend between L'Etoile, La Veranda and Le Grill for those six nights? Is Le Grill worth it for dinner, or is it primarily just for breakfast and lunch? How long does a meal take? Are reservations at La Veranda hard to come by for 2 or 4 people? Is there typically a wait to be seated at L'Etoile?

 

Thanks!

[HonTri]

Hi We sailed on the PG 3/1/08 reservations at La Veranda were easy to get on our cruise (three times) we went to Le Grill once the food was great at all of them! Meals take as long as you want! You could ask for a table for 2,4, or 8.

We did not go to Bloody Mary's. We heard commints of so-so food!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yeah, search the boards for comments on Bloody Mary's. We just had a drink there one afternoon, and that was enough. Can't comment on the food, but I've never been able to tear myself away from the PG cuisine! Once at Le Grill is probably enough, unless you find it romantic eating outside (it is, very romantic), but the food, however nice, is not up to the other restaurants, in my experience.

[Jim B]

I think you will hear a lot of comments that eating at Bloddy Mary's is very $$$$$ and just so so.

Because of that we also just went there in the afternoon and had a cocktail

(or two) just so we could say we had been there. That was not cheap either!!

[Cruisedreamer1]

You will have no problems with seating during the dinner hour especially if you are willing to sit with 6 at your table. We enjoyed meeting such interesting and chatty people that we made it a point to ask for such a table. Le Grill at night, at least during our 12/07 cruise was not worth the effort. I hope they remake the menu. Also, if you book early in the evening to dine you will have no wait for a table of 2 or 4.Enjoy!

[RachelG]

Never had any trouble getting a table for 3 anytime we went to dinner. Le Grille I would skip--very windy and food not that good. Loved La Veranda and ate there twice with no problem getting reservations.

I would skip Bloody Mary's too--big tourist trap, food very expensive and not that good. Ship's food is just way better.

[TimATL]

Do they serve dinner at L'Etoile that first night on the boat before it departs Papeete at 10pm? Reservations weren't an option at either La Veranda or Le Grill that night. Have reservations always been required at Le Grill? I thought it was only La Veranda.

[hockey13]

we had lunch at the Bora Bora hotel..pricey but very good..also went to the St. Regents ...we rented those open buggy/go carts and toured the island and then had luch at the Intercontinental and went to the beach there..

[Island Cruiser]

Dinner is, indeed, served in L'Etoile on Saturday night. No reservations required. In our experience, it was the weakest night. We were dining at a table of friends for eight. The menu was so "so-so" most of us ordered the steak. It was a cheap tenderized cut of meat. If you ordered this in a local moderately priced (not five star) steak house in your community you wouldn't go back. Since we were beginning the cruise, nobody wanted to complain and didn't. But I remember one person at the table offering the opinion "I hope it gets better than this." It did, some of the time. But rarely to the five star level. There are many many things to recommend the PG cruise and I do, but not the dining experience if you are expecting five star quality.

[2manyplaces]

Just a different opinion on Bloody Mary's--We went there on our 9/05 PG cruise. There was a complimentary tender from the ship to the Bloody Mary dock. We went with a group of 5 people and had a very fun time. There was no menu--you went up to a big tray of ice with all the fresh catch displayed on it and chose what you wanted, and they prepared it (mostly grilled). We all had Bloody Marys, of course, and enjoyed the atmosphere (sand floor) and special decor in the restrooms! It was one of our most enjoyable evenings.

[mythologist]

I would concur with 2manyplaces about Bloody Mary's. We wanted to do everything on Bora Bora and it appeared to us that most people that were neutral hadn't even been there! It's not a chic place, but the Bloody Mary's were great and our food was actually pretty decent. And a fun environment! Loved the t-shirt shop, as well.

[wishIweretravelling]

Dinner is, indeed, served in L'Etoile on Saturday night. No reservations required. In our experience, it was the weakest night. We were dining at a table of friends for eight. The menu was so "so-so" most of us ordered the steak. It was a cheap tenderized cut of meat. If you ordered this in a local moderately priced (not five star) steak house in your community you wouldn't go back. Since we were beginning the cruise, nobody wanted to complain and didn't. But I remember one person at the table offering the opinion "I hope it gets better than this." It did, some of the time. But rarely to the five star level. There are many many things to recommend the PG cruise and I do, but not the dining experience if you are expecting five star quality.

 

The PG is in French Polynesia year-round, so keep in mind when ordering what will be fresh and good from that area. You don't see a lot a cattle farms in FP. Thus, the beef needs to be brought in and frozen. On the other hand, the fish is going to be fresh. I've been on all the RSSC ships, and felt that the best dining of all was on the PG. But I had fish pretty much every night. If you like fish, you'll love PG dining. If you don't, you might not be terribly happy with the food.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I'm with you, Crys. Although when I was on last time with Island Cruiser, the fish had gone downhill. I'm hoping this was temporary, we went during a "bad spot" when the management of the ship was in disarray. I can't wait to have my poisson crue and fresh mahi mahi again!

[Island Cruiser]

A very high level Regent professional told us provisioning the PG is, at times, difficult (graft comes into play) and costly. I presume that is the chief reason for the differences some of us perceive in the food quality on the PG versus the other Regent ships. But the meat on all Regent ships is flown in frozen from the U.S. in most parts of the world. I think cost factors are involved and also, at one point, Mad Cow Disease worries were a consideration. Patrick

[RachelG]

The beef we had on the PG was all very good; however, my husband had some "lamb" that was just downright nasty. Probably an old piece of mutton. But I only ordered steak in La Veranda--it was actually so good I had it both nights we dined there.

[egret]

We ate at Bloody Mary's back in 2003, trip #2 on the PG. I feel the food is comparable with the food available at the resorts in French Polynesia. By that I mean expensive and average. Bloody Mary's is about the atmosphere and cachet.

I ordered a martini and got a glass of vermouth, too, which also probably put me off on the place. Everyone should go there once for a drink or meal, in my opinion.

Not to start an argument about the food on the PG, but we just got back and once again I thought the dinners in L'Etiole were good. We only ate dinners there because my wife likes to meet people at dinner so we always ask to join a table. First night we asked for Creme Brulee, not on the menu, and the head waiter made it happen. I didn't hear any complaints about the beef.

Having said all that, I suppose Regent, at least the PG and Mariner, don't compare favoarably with the better restaurants here in Louisiana but we don't have tourquoise lagoons and tradewinds in Louisiana.