You're about to discover everything you need to know about Paul Gauguin Cruises.
What's good. Who it's really for and important
watch outs. I'm Gary Bembridge and this is another of my tips for travellers.
I'm currently, as I record this, on board the Paul Gauguin and I want to share with
you everything that I've learned about Paul Gauguin that you need to know.
Paul Gauguin is a small ship luxury cruise line. It's a one ship cruise line, and
they cruise around the French Polynesian islands. They focus on 7 to 14 day
round trips out of Papeete. They've been in business for over 25 years, so real
experts in the region.
What do Paul
Gauguin do that's unique, different or better in my view? There are five things
that they do incredibly well. First of all, small ship luxury cruising. The ship
only has 332 guests and 217 crew, so a very high crew to passenger ratio. They have
quite a wide range of cabins, which range from very large owners suites down to
porthole cabins. I was actually cruising in the most common on board, which is a
balcony cabin, and because it's so beautiful it's great to have a balcony
if you're cruising through French Polynesia. The ship has quite a lot of
choice. There are three dining venues onboard, all of which are included within
the fare. The main dining room is called L'Etoile. They also have the
Veranda, which is a buffet for breakfast and lunch and the evening turns into an
up-market French restaurant. They have the Grill, which is up on
deck, and again it's a buffet breakfast and lunch and in the evening it becomes
a specialty dining venue. The ship also has the kind of usual things that you
would expect despite being a small ship. It has a theatre, it has a small
casino, a couple of bars, a pool deck, spa and a fitness centre.
The ship also has a water sports platform which opens at the rear of
the ship. It's a small ship and it's a pretty luxurious ship. It's
fitted out in a luxurious way and the service, attention to detail and
the quality of the food is very high. The company has been operating for over 25
years within French Polynesia, so their
understanding and relationship with all of the islands and people
is very strong. They really know and understand the islands and have
incredible connections. The Paul Gauguin itself has been designed to cruise
around the French Polynesian islands, not only is it small but also it has a
very shallow draught and that's important because it can call on a lot
of the islands that other ships can't get to. On board they have what is known
as the Les Gauguins. These are billed as Tahitian ambassadors and also Polynesian
entertainers. They provide much of the entertainment and many of the
activities are run by the Les Gauguins. They do dance, singing and
provide demonstrations on how to make local crafts. The Les Gauguins are a
key part of the whole Polynesian experience that is created on board the
ship. There's also an enrichment speaker who gives talks about the
region. They have a big Polynesian night, normally held in Moorea, where they
bring on board local entertainers, have a Polynesian buffet with Polynesian
food. I think one of the key things they do is bring alive the whole
connection and the Polynesian experience. The third thing which I think
is really good is the fares are largely all-inclusive, and pretty much everything is
included. Of course, your accommodation is included, your Dining
including eating at the specialty dining restaurants, all your
gratuities, your drinks like wine, beer, spirits and soft
drinks, use of the water sports platform and they also provide your
snorkeling equipment, also time at their private beach in Bora Bora and also
access and the day on their private island Mota Muhana and all
the entertainment on the onboard and enrichment activities. What's not
included? Excursions are not included. Wi-Fi
is not included, and you can buy various packages of Wi-Fi. For example, on the
cruise that I was on it was around US$29
a day for unlimited Wi-Fi ,and the Wi-Fi was pretty good.
Another thing which I think is something they do incredibly well is some of the
access to their private facilities. They have a little private island called
Mota Muhana which is in the island of Faaa, and this is a beautiful day out
where the whole ship heads across and they have entertainment, watersports and
a fantastic and huge barbecue. In Bora Bora they have a
private beach and they shuttle people to and from the beach. I think
that's a phenomenal thing. These private facilities are really
top-notch and they're absolutely beautiful, and they included within the
fare. Another thing that I thought was a phenomenal thing they did were the
excursions. There was an enormous range of excursions, particularly considering
it is quite a small ship with just over 300 passengers. They had scuba diving,
snorkeling in every port, WaveRunner activities in every port,
catamarans, simple gentle sighting, glass-bottom boats, days out at very
premium prestigious resorts which was one of my big favourites. You had
access to the beach, pool and lunch included. They had
more active excursions like ATVs and 4x4 drives,
cultural and archaeological activities as well. On top of that you could
also then go on helicopters and float planes to get view over the islands.
So, an enormous range of excursions were offered, and that I thought was a big
plus especially because it's a small ship with not that many passengers.
Who do I think that Paul Gauguin is most suited for? Most of the passengers
are in their 50s and 60s and pretty active. It is a pretty active cruise for a
start all of the stops are tender stops, and you have to be nimble enough to be
able to climb in and out of the tenders. A couple of places, like on the
private beach, there was a wet landing so you had to be active and able enough to get
off the tenders into the water. Most excursions are pretty actively like
snorkelling, ATV drives, wave runners and cycling. So, it's a pretty
active experience. You'll find that the passengers tend to be 50s and 60s
but they are very active. Of course, it is a luxury line so it's relatively
expensive so that does by definition attract the people who are able to have
the time and the money to do it. French Polynesia is quite a long
way to get to, from Europe it's about 21 hours and even from LA it's over 8 hours. There
were, of course, younger people on board because French Polynesia
and a luxury cruise is attractive for honeymooners or people
celebrating some significant birthdays or events. In terms of the mix of people,
quite an interesting mix. It's predominantly American, lots of Canadians
and there was a good representation of people from Asia, because airlines like
Air Tahiti Nui flies from Japan. Quite a lot of
French, because of the strong French connection with French Polynesia.
And as with all cruises wherever you go, you'll always find lots of
Australians and New Zealanders who love cruising! The language onboard is
primarily English, but all the announcements are done in
English and French. The menus are in English and French.
The daily program you can get in either English or French. So, it definitely is
bilingual but it is predominantly English onboard. What about solo
travellers and what about families?There were a couple of solo travelers on board
the cruise that I was on, but it can be a relatively expensive way to cruise.
What's very important is you need to work with your agent, or with Paul
Gauguin, if you are a solo traveller I want to come on their cruises, because they
do have various offers and deals at times of the year. But you can
end up paying, particular in the premium cabins and the Suites, the price of two
people even if there are only one of you. So, work with your
cruise agent or Paul Gauguin and find out which of the cruises
they're offering different discounts and offers with better prices for solo
travellers. For families Paul Gauguin can be a pretty attractive
option if want to come to the region with a family for a couple of
reasons. They are introducing, certainly during the key summer school holidays
and the more significant holidays like Christmas,
incentives for families to come on board. What are
the deals for families? If your child is aged 17 years old or under they sail
free if they're in the same cabin as you. Of course, you have the
various taxes and the flights to get there. They have introduced
a new program which is called the Mona Explorer program. They run the program for
kids on board aged between 7 and 15 with lots of activities really related to the
marine life and ocean conservation. It's really educational but fun at the same
time, and those are run on selected cruises. If you're planning to travel
on Paul Gauguin with your family, work with the line or your agent too ensure
that your cruise has those offers and check if they do have
the Moana Explorer program on board because that's going to make your
child's life on board fantastic. The dress code on board is
relatively relaxed and informal, and it's what is called "country casual" or smart
casual. In the evenings you're asked to dress up a little bit, so you're asked
to wear a collared shirt and ideally no jeans. So, slacks if you're a gent
and the equivalent for ladies. No torn jeans and no shorts. If you're one of
those people that want to get dressed up you can and if you're one of those who
like to cruise in a relatively informal relaxed way
you'll certainly find that on board Paul Gauguin that people did dress relatively
smartly, but not overly. The key thing to think about is collared shirts and slacks is the
most that you need to worry about. The key strength of Paul Gauguin is that
it's a small ship, it's luxurious and they are absolute experts in French
Polynesia. I have loads of videos of tips about all the regions of the world,
including more about French Polynesia, so why don't you watch one of those right
now?