When we told our friends and family that we were heading to French Polynesia to sail with
Paul Gauguin Cruises, we were peppered with questions. It seems many people share the same misconceptions about the islands and this relatively new cruise line operating a ship—the m/s
Paul Gauguin—that’s actually an old favorite in the southern hemisphere.
Dispelling a Few French Polynesian Vacation Myths- No. The flight to Tahiti from New York is not unbearable. It lasts just one movie longer than the flying time to Hawaii.
- Yes. It does get pretty hot in the Society Islands, but there’s always a breeze. Find a shady spot on the beach and grab a drink in a coconut and you’ll be fine!
- No. There’s no reason to worry about the new ownership of Paul Gauguin. Pacific Beachcomber—an expert in French Polynesia and manager of several InterContinental and Mai Tai properties in the islands—operates Paul Gauguin Cruises. The condition of the ship is good, service is even, and meals are consistently delicious.
- Yes. The beach day at Motu Mahana really is as special as people say it is. It’s one of the best beach BBQs you’ll ever attend.
- No. A French Polynesia vacation doesn’t necessarily break the bank; the all-inclusive cruise fares (and occasional specials that include airfare from Los Angeles) actually make a Paul Gauguin cruise the best value in luxury cruising today.
- Yes. Paul Gauguin Cruises is a luxury line albeit a more casual player in the market than say Crystal or Silversea. For example, PGC has traded in formal night for a Tahitian fete where men are encouraged to wear tropical shirts and women are asked to don a pareo.
- Yes. The individuals managing Paul Gauguin Cruises—and all the officers and crew—are passionate about sharing the best of French Polynesia with you. PGC president Richard Bailey lives in French Poly and his enthusiasm for sharing the islands with visitors is greatly appreciated. He and his team have brought a new air of excitement to m/s Paul Gauguin and the company is winning over new, loyal visitors each and every day.
So forget about all the myths and focus on the reality: there’s probably never been a better time to cruise French Polynesia. The 332-passenger m/s
Paul Gauguin has sailed the region since 1997, but up until 2010 was owned by Grand Circle Travel and managed by Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Many passengers returned year after year to sail aboard the
PG and were worried that their favorite cruise experience would change with a new owner at the helm. The experience
has changed—but only for the better.
Before Our CruisePaul Gauguin Cruises hosted an interactive webinar about six weeks before our voyage and that really helped us get to know the ship and all of the shore excursion and entertainment options that would be available. Sign up for PGC’s email newsletter and you’ll receive advance notice of similar webinars or go online now to watch a
webinar hosted by Paul Gauguin Cruises president, Richard Bailey.
We received our cruise docs a few weeks prior to our embarkation date. The shore excursion booklet, along with the message boards at
Luxury Cruise Talk and
Cruise Critic, gave us enough information to create a tentative day-by-day plan for our seven-night itinerary calling on Tahiti, Raiatea, Taha’a, Bora Bora, and Moorea. (Note: our cruise was in 2010. Huahine has replaced Raiatea on seven-night itineraries in 2011.)
Flying to Tahiti from the East Coast of the United States meant that we were in for a long trip. However as I mentioned earlier, the flight’s not nearly as grueling as you’d expect. We flew coach on Air Tahiti Nui, but Air France is also an option. Upon check-in at LAX, the agent at Air Tahiti Nui did offer us an upgrade to business class but at around $800 each, it just didn’t seem worth it to us. The 8.5-hour flight went by quickly and we were soon waiting at passport control at Faa’a Airport in Papeete, Tahiti.
Arriving in Tahiti & the InterContinental Tahiti ResortFaa’a Airport isn’t as bad as you’ve heard, but it’s not terrific either. Unless you’re one of the first few people off the plane when it lands in Tahiti, you’ll be waiting in line for a while at Customs. It will likely be hot and humid so plan ahead and wear something with short sleeves.
Once we got through Customs (about 25 minutes), we waited a few more minutes for our luggage and then took a cab to our pre-cruise hotel, the 258-room
InterContinental Tahiti Resort. (This resort is managed by Pacific Beachcomber, the same company that owns Paul Gauguin Cruises.)
We’re members of the
InterContinental Ambassador loyalty program, so we were upgraded to the Lotus section of overwater lagoon bungalows. These 15 bungalows are the most private accommodations on property since they are located at the far end of the property (furthest away from the airport). There are also 16 centrally located OWBs situated near the main “Tiare” pool and around a motu that’s just off shore. For those who prefer traditional hotel room accommodations, there is a series of long houses that offer standard, garden view, lagoon view, and panoramic view rooms.
Our Overwater Lagoon Bungalow was lovely and spacious. The room itself consisted of a king-size bed and sitting room with sofa, desk (Internet access is available in-room), chair, coffeemaker, and (empty) fridge. The bathroom was gorgeous with his-and-hers sinks, a large whirlpool tub, and separate shower. A 129-square-foot deck with a staircase leading into the water was the crowning touch. We could have sat out on the terrace for days!
If you don’t already have elite status with InterContinental, you can buy into their Ambassador program. You’re guaranteed one-category room upgrades, free Internet access, fresh fruit and mineral water in your room, late check-out, a free weekend night certificate, and 5,000 Priority Club points. I highly recommend joining this program before your book your stay at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort. It’s definitely worth the $200/year fee, especially if you plan to stay at more than one InterContinental property during the next year.
For us, the IC Tahiti was ideal for our short but sweet pre-cruise stay.
Paul Gauguin Stateroom Options- Owner’s Suites, cabins 701 and 7002 on Deck 7
- Grand Suites, cabins 801 and 802 on Deck 8 (forward)
- A Veranda Suites, 709–712 on Deck 7
- B Veranda Staterooms, 16 cabins on Deck 8 and 1 cabin on Deck 7
- C and D Balcony Staterooms, 63 cabins on Deck 7
- E Window Staterooms, 40 on Deck 4
- F Porthole Staterooms, 14 on Deck 3 (port side only)
- The only wheelchair-accessible cabin is 415, an E Window Stateroom on Deck 4.
Balcony vs. Oceanview—That is the Question!Should you book a balcony or oceanview stateroom? Fierce debates take place every single day about this topic and the answer isn’t so simple. It really depends on you. I personally love balcony staterooms because I enjoy sitting outside in the morning before breakfast, in the afternoon when relaxing after a shore excursion, and in the evening as we enjoy pre-dinner cocktails. Other cruisers, however, feel there’s no particular advantage to having a balcony on the Paul Gauguin since there are so many lovely public outdoor spaces. The decision is really a personal one: will you actually use the balcony and will it increase your enjoyment of the cruise?
These days, all new luxury cruise ships are built with the maximum number of balcony staterooms. That was not the case when the
PG was designed in the late 1990s and started sailing the South Seas in 1997. However, she underwent a $6 million dry dock in 2009 and additional Category D balcony staterooms were added to Deck 6.
We stayed in one of those new Category D Balcony Staterooms and it suited our needs perfectly. The bathroom was a standout among the cruise ships we’ve sailed recently. It was roomy enough that it never felt cramped and the lighting was better than average. The bed was comfortable and the small sitting area next to the sliding glass doors was adequate. My only disappointment was that the balcony wasn’t a bit deeper.
Food and WinePaul Gauguin Cruises offers an all-inclusive experience with three onboard restaurants — L’Etoile, La Veranda, and Le Grill— and three bars/lounges (the Piano Bar, the Pool Bar, and La Palette Lounge).
We’re food snobs and the quality of the cuisine and wine onboard a ship really does affect how we think about that cruise line. PGC purchases excellent provisions, from fresh fruit and vegetables, to just-caught fish, to cheese imported from France. In our opinion, PCG offers higher quality foodstuffs than Regent purveyed when they operated this same ship. Improvements can also be seen in the variety and quality of the complimentary house wines.
Click on the following links to download sample menus (pdfs)...Lectures & Onboard ActivitiesMy husband and I happen to enjoy onboard lectures and Paul Gauguin Cruises exceeds in this category. Renown archaeologist and anthropologist Mark Eddowes is a regular speaker aboard the
PG and his talks are absolutely riveting. He’s an expert on the culture and history of French Poly and in addition to onboard lectures, he offers a fantastic shore excursion in Moorea.
Watersports MarinaOnly a handful of luxury cruise ships offer retractable aft marinas like
PG’s Watersports Marina. On specific days of the cruise, the marina is open and offers windsurfers, kayaks, waterskiing, and Zodiac transportation to optional diving adventures. The ship offers onboard PADI certification for novice divers as well as classes from snorkeling to advanced scuba diving.
Download a list of complimentary
watersports activities and paid
diving excursions.
Shore ExcursionsSome cruisers may opt to spend their days on the beach while others join scuba diving and snorkeling tours, go hiking, or take a spin on an off-road vehicle. Paul Gauguin Cruises offers a well-rounded selection of shore excursions and some are led by true experts in their respective fields (i.e., archaeologist and anthropologist Mark Eddowes and marine biologist Dr. Michael Poole). Dr. Poole’s three-hand-a-half-hour dolphin-watching excursion in Moorea is not to be missed. Dr. Poole has a 95 percent success rate of finding dolphins and he definitely did right by us.
Some tried-and-true excursions include:
- Shark and Ray Watching by Glass-Bottomed Boat (Bora Bora)
- Sting Ray Ballet and Snorkel Safari (Bora Bora)
- ATV Guided Tour (Moorea)
- Trails of the Ancients Trek with Mark Eddowes (Moorea)
- Dolphin Watching Expedition with Dr. Michael Poole (Moorea)
- Coral Garden Drift Snorkeling (Taha’a)
Download a list of shore excursions from Paul Gauguin Cruises.
Extending Your Vacation
Paul Gauguin Cruises offers a number of interesting post-cruise land packages, mostly at Pacific Beachcomber’s InterContinental properties. Of note is the Moorea InterContinental, which completed an extensive renovation in July 2010 that improved overwater, beach, and garden bungalows; redesigned the main public areas of the hotel and installed a new infinity pool; and created a dedicated space for the Moorea Turtle Clinic.
Land packages from PCG include:
I’d also suggest considering:
Level of LuxuryPaul Gauguin Cruises is a luxury experience with a twist. The food and wine go toe to toe with other top cruise lines. The 2009 dry dock and refurbishment included the addition of new Category D balcony cabins on Deck 6. The band Siglo is fantastic and service throughout the ship is personable.
Our one regret was not booking a longer cruise or staying a few extra nights pre and post cruise. There’s a lot to see and do in French Polynesia, but it’s also nice to sit back and do nothing at all except relax under the sun and stars.
What We Liked Best about Paul Gauguin Cruises- Exotic French Polynesian itineraries
- The knowledgeable ship’s officers and crew
- Overnights in the ports of Bora Bora and Moorea
- Onboard lectures and shore excursions with renown archaeologist and anthropologist Mark Eddowes
- The fantastic beach BBQ at Motu Mahana
For More Information- talk with your travel agent
- contact Paul Gauguin Cruises at 1-(800) 848-6172 (from within the United States and Canada) or 1-(425) 440-6171 (international)
- follow Paul Gauguin Cruises on Twitter or Facebook
Slideshow © Leonard Hospidor
Today I'd like to take a moment to tip my hat to the woman who first sparked my interest in cruise travel: my grandmother Marie Andracchio.
