Paul Gauguin in Tahiti, anybody done this?

[TSandM]

Some friends are trying to encourage us to join them on a Tahitian cruise on the Paul Gauguin. I've never done a big cruise ship, and I'm a little worried, too, about the diving, after reading some accounts of cruise ship diving. So I'm wondering if, in the great Scubaboard database, anybody has been on this ship and can fill us in?

 

[tvictory]

I looked into this a couple years ago and learned that the ship was going to be sold to another line and transferred to a Mediterranean itinerary. Maybe this didn't happen?

I was intrigued with the ship because it is actually very small as cruise ships go (i.e. only a few hundred passengers) and the watersports activities, including snorkeling and scuba, were actually conducted from the ship.

I'd love to hear more if you find anything out.

 

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

I dived 3 different islands in French Polynesia...(Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora) and I saw that ship on every island, but I never saw anyone doing any activities though. It was mostly an older crowd just looking to walk around and shop. I did talk to a few of them and they said the ship was beautiful and the service was excellent though.

 

[Blitz]

This is a Marc point of view, take with a few grains of salt

I am not big on cruise shipe, I like to move around, exercise and dive alot when I go on vacation. Not really that big into gambling, booze that is waaay too expensive and being herded. Again, this is my perception of a cruise vacation. If you are going to dive, I wouldn't go on a cruise unless it was a live aboard trip.

 

[Drewpy]

Lynne- I have not been on the ship....but Tahiti is far too beautiful to spend extended time on a ship IMHO? I spent a week in Bora Bora and 1 in Moorea.It was like being in a postcard-The Tahitians are wonderful people and its truely a paradise! More people
go to Hawaii in a day than go to Tahiti in a year....

The diving is different..lots of hard corals and TONS of sharks,but I also enjoyed many of the topside activities!
I would love to go back someday....but its very $$$$!

Maybe someone will post whose been on the ship...

Cheers,
Drew

 

[TSandM]

Well, Marc, my gut reaction is the same as yours. I don't herd well, and I don't do inactivity very well for long. But our friends have done some cruises with this line and insist that we will enjoy it. BTW, everything is included in the price (except the diving). I just wonder if the diving would be the 30 people to a DM experience that I just read somebody complaining about.

 

[scubawife]

I worked for the cruise industry association for 11 yrs and I am not a big cruise fan, however, I tried to get on the Gauguin for a Tahiti cruise for 4 yrs with no luck. I did get to see the ship when she first joined the RSSC fleet. It is not your typical cruise ship. It's more like an oversized luxury yacht. You are not required to dress up for anything and the 3 (I think it's 3) restaurants are all open seating. There are only 300 passengers and a 1 to 1.5 guest to staff ratio. The watersports marina/platform is a really neat feature too.

If you are looking for a liveaboard type experience with 4-5 dives/day then this won't be for you. If you want to see Tahiti in absolute luxury and do 2 tanks on maybe 4 of the 7 days and also do other things on the islands, then it's a great option. The diving, from what I was told, is done mostly from inflatables and it's small groups. Tanks, compressor, and dive staff are from the ship (if things haven't changed.)

It's not cheap so you won't get a very young crowd. Someone I worked with went on it for her honeymoon. They were in their 30's and had a great time. The average age is 50's.

I still have not gotten to Tahiti, mainly because the travel time and cost is a bit prohibitive. For me it's a place I would probably only get to visit once so I'd be happy with getting a taste of more then one or two islands. Or doing the cruise then spending maybe 4-5 additional days on one island and do more diving.

 

[TSandM]

Average age of 50's would be fine . . . It would beat the average age of 70 to 80 of the last two cruises we've done (aiyee!).

Thank you, scubawife, for the information. The cruise ship company doesn't seem to know very much about their boat or how these things work . . .

 

[Leejnd]

OOH! OOH! I just did this cruise in December! It was one of the best experiences of my life...give me a few minutes to pull my thoughts together and I'll post some info for you...

 

[Leejnd]

Okay, it's late and I'm tired so I'm going to respond to this more fully tomorrow, but after reading the rest of the responses, here are just a few comments:

1. This is NOT like your typical cruise. No formal nights...no boozers sucking 'em down at the bar...barely a casino at all (a couple blackjack tables).

2. You spend far more time on the islands than you do on the ship. It's more like a floating luxury hotel, traveling at night while you sleep so you get to visit more islands than you would otherwise, and you don't have to worry about making travel arrangements, or packing/unpacking.

3. The diving is UNBELIEVABLE! The crew is fantastic. You go in small groups in zodiacs right off the drop-down sports platform off the back of the ship. They do get a lot of beginners and resort divers, but they can tell when they get a diver who knows what they are doing, and they treat you accordingly. No herding, no cattleboats.

4. The price is amazingly reasonable compared to what you would pay for a land-based trip. The fact is that French Polynesia is incredibly expensive, rediculously so. Visiting it on the PG is one of the MOST cost-effective ways to do it.

5. The food is incredible...the service is top-notch. Crowd varies widely in age, depending on the length of the cruise. Shorter cruises (7 days) will have many younger people, especially honeymooners (it IS one of the most romantic places on earth!). Longer cruises will have more older, affluent people. I'm in my mid-forties, went with my Mom on an 11-day cruise...met up with several other people my age who happened to be there with their moms too, so we all hung out together and had an amazing time.

I have lots more to say, but I'll leave you tonight with this: I've been on numerous cruise, and traveled all over the world on land-based trip...this was one of my favorite vacations of all time. DO IT!