Well, we’ve returned from our 13-27 March Back to Back cruise on the Paul Gauguin. I’ll try to focus on items that I haven’t seen covered much in the past. Cruise Critics on the Cruise included Nick and Joan the first week; Wahine 1776, Last Look and Cruz_Fan the second week.
The Crew:
• Mimi (Myriam) said to say, “Hello” to all her Cruise Critic friends.
• Michael Shapiro is back as the Cruise Director until June. After that he will be off for 4 months then back for two. This will give him a chance to better pursue his acting career. Boy does he put on a nice show! These are his current plans and subject to change; but, I thought I’d pass it along.
• Repeta is back from two months of Vacation on the Les Gauguins.
• Marek (of Portofino on Navigator) is the Head Waiter in Apicius/La Veranda.
• Laurie Powell (from Navigator and Voyager) is on-board as Cruise Consultant.
Our observations:
• First and foremost, we had a great time. Best overall cruise we’ve ever experienced.
The Ship:
• Someone on this board several months ago commented on how they had been “spoiled” by the suites on the Mariner and Voyager. Gretchen and I share that view. Our first reaction to 735 was that it was “small” and had very little closet space (Remember we’ve been spoiled by the 50% larger suites on the Navigator and her walk-in closets). Ultimately we had plenty of room and the plastic hanging bag to go over the closet door (as suggested previously on CC) was a real plus. The suite was excellent but not as nice as the Navigator.
The Flight:
• ATN, even in the economy section I was able to comfortably accommodate my generous rear end. Lumbar support was nice touch.
Service:
• We were visited at breakfast the Taha'a morning by a senior staff member. In the course of the conversation he asked how we thought PG compared to other RSSC experiences we’d had. I made a couple of comments comparing Paul Gauguin to Navigator (Gretchen chastised me for my lack of coolness immediately afterward). As if to re-enforce Gretchen’s comments; by the time we finished breakfast and returned to our room our Stewardess and her assistant met us at our door and she was nearly in tears. She apologized for everything I had mentioned not 15 minutes earlier. Things were much better after that but I felt a little embarrassed and dumb for not realizing that RSSC staff might react so swiftly.
• We discovered that on the Navigator Room Stewards had to handle a maximum of 21 suites while here on the PG the loads start at 27. I know that, in general, the suites here are smaller than on Navigator but it may help explain the previous observation.
• Room service had no problem at all meeting our daily request for “two pots of Café Au Lait and “lots of pineapple” each morning for our “wakeup call.” As an aside, the pineapple here is the best I’ve ever had. Even the cores are soft and sweet and are wonderful.
• I’d thought we received memorable service from Christian (Sommelier). Tess, who tended bar at both Motus and Antonio a wait person in L’Etoile. Franco at L’Etoile, Stephane and Marek at La Veranda/Apicius really made us feel at home and like special people.
Food:
• I’ll tally in with the minority on Apicius. I liked it a lot! I had the Lamb Loin both times and it was fantastic. That said, I think everyone else in our group preferred L'Etoile.
• Neither Gretchen nor I were enamored with the Pacific Grill, but it was OK.
• Ngaire, I had Lamb Chops about 6 mornings over the two week period.Yummm!
• At dinner there are two wines poured (one red and one white) but the complimentary wines “list” is very limited (unlike our experiences on other RSSC ships where a complimentary wines list of perhaps 20-30 wines is available in case you don’t care for the wines poured that evening).
• The Francis Copolla (sp?) Cabernet has been replaced with a Charles Krug 2000 Cab. We thought it was very good but, neither of us purports to be wine connoisseurs. So, some of you with more experience with wine will have to let us know what you think.
American Express:
• AMEX did host a cocktail party each week for Platinum members. That and the shipboard credit were the perks for AMEX Platinum members. We did receive a note in our suite the first night confirming our shipboard credit; a reassuring touch.
Excursions and Extras:
• The Discover Taha’a Tour that went to the Vanilla Farm was one of the best we’ve ever been on though it does cause you to not arrive at the Motu until about 1230 or so (one of the advantages of BTB is that we were able to do the tour one week and a full day at the Motu the next).
• The Wave Runners at Bora Bora were MUCH more fun than I expected. John was our guide and he really made the experience. This was confirmed the second week by Wahine 1776 and LastLook who also had John for a guide our second week.
• The snorkeling at the Taha’a Motu was (IMHO) a bit better than on the “front side” of the Bora Bora Motu. However the “Lagoon Side” of the Bora Bora Motu (about 100 meters out) was pretty good. The current was a bit strong but doable for confident swimmers.
• We arranged a 4x4 Off Road Experience on our own on Bora Bora and it was great. There is a little tourist office right where the tender docks where this and other tours can be arranged. Saved $28/pp and had a 41/2 hour tour. When we asked the driver if she could stop at Bloody Mary’s so we could do that tourist thing she said “No problem.”
• Mark Eddowe’s(sp?) lectures on the Ancient Polynesians and “What Really Happened to the Bounty” were great as were Dr. Bill Kohlan’s presentations.
Random Thoughts and Humble Opinions:
• The morning sail from Raiatea to Taha’a (about 90 minutes) is really worth getting up to see. This was the single biggest benefit of our starboard side balcony.
• Normand’s port lectures are NOT to be missed. Informative and humorous.
• Laurie’s presentation on the cruises RSSC has planned was very enjoyable and enlightening. Don’t miss this.
• Myriam was a wonderful Social Hostess and Mike’s French alter ego during announcements. Her “Walk a Mile with Myriam” and French 101 and 102 Classes were great fun. On our one rainy day when a couple of excursions were cancelled she even taught needle point.
• Mike was pretty quick scheduling additional on-board activities on our “rain day.” Nice job!
• Martin, the Hotel Director seemed to be everywhere and quick to greet and chat with folks all the time.
• We had a group of Korean women the second week and SIGLO took the time to learn several Korean songs to add to their repertoire.
• Did I say SIGLO was great?
• Todd, you made a hit with Gretchen. She had her first Cosmo at the Captain’s Cocktail party the first night and really enjoyed it.
• Between the Sail Away parties, two “all hands” cocktail parties, two Motu days, an AMEX party and a Seven Seas Society party (all with open bars, not just the champagne they give you on the way in) it’s hard to buy a drink!
• SSS and AMEX parties had Caviar and Large chilled shrimp. Heard a comment from another passenger about the absence of chilled shrimp at any of the buffets.
• The Staff and destination made this cruise for us more than the ship or food. But remember, our experiences on Mariner and Navigator set a really high bar.
Greg
