South Pacific - Tahiti Cruise Reviews

The Tahitian Princess is a nice ship, reminding me of a boutique style hotel in its furnishings. At under 700 passengers, it does give that intimate feel and is nicely laid out. It was quite a change from the larger ships that I was used to, but one that I grew to enjoy.The fact that it was a Renaissance ship prior to Princess, accounted for the large number of balconies available and the only way to go on a tahitian cruise. I will say that I enjoyed the diversity of the staff and found them to be accomodating and efficient. I was somewhat disappointed in the food, finding it to be good, but nothing that truly excited me.The entertainment staff was young, but worked very hard, as those with the energy do, to give quality shows.

Since PG has been acquired by Ponant, this line has suffered greatly. There is no customer service, other than the crew on board. Be very careful if you make reservations and be sure to get their 'promises' in writing.

We found French Polynesia absolutely beautiful with some of the friendliest people on earth. The local cuisine on the islands was so fresh and delicious. Oceania did try to make the best of a potentially bad situation. I commend their guidelines for sanitizing and prevention measures. I wish we could have gone to Bora Bora but the circumstances were understandable.

This was a very nice older ship. Not much to do and very little shopping available. Bring whatever you need because you won't find it on this ship. They kept it very clean. Buffet was excellent. Ports were beautiful. Water was very warm. Stays around 85 degrees all year round according to a local. People on the islands were nice. Most speak English. If you go to a market, there usually will be an English interpreter around somewhere.

Saved up for this one and well worth it. Met people that had done this cruise line 15 and 30 times. That is a bit extreme as it is a big world. But, we do want to return and take one of the longer cruises. It was noted that the islands are like Hawaii was 50 years ago. Relaxing and tropical.

WindStar and the Wind Spirit are the best in overall small-ship cruising in my opinion. The crew of which some were with us on the Wind Surf two years ago, remembered us and we renewed old friendships, they all made this trip very special. We met several couples from all over the world who made the trip relaxing and enjoyable. French Polynesia is truly paradise and I highly recommend that everyone put it on your "bucket list.'

Great ports of call. The actual cruise is pricey. Announcements were in French and English.

So, this cruise was highly recommended by our travel agent and so we listened and booked it. So right from the get-go after final payment we received the airline reservations for a flight out of LAX that would not arrive until 10:30PM in Papeete and then they would transfer you to the ship. I am saying why? So, we'll board at Midnight? Yes. Well there goes your boarding experience and no dinner for that evening. Meeting at the airport and transfers to the ship were great, waiting and standing in the rain to board not so much fun. Day 1 of cruise gone! Cabin was great, luggage was already there waiting. The ship is quite old, but clean. I have no real complaints about the ship. Dining experiences were awesome all credit goes to the staff. The menus at the 2 restaurants that you must make reservations for have the same menu every night (bad idea). Earliest you can eat dinner is 6:30PM Food was very good though. All entertainment starts at 9:30PM and that just does not work for us, we did manage to stay up for the Beatles from the Philippines but ended up leaving early, they tried, but sorry out of sync and out of tune. It was the only show we went to. Other activities were going on throughout the days and evenings and the ones we did go to were good. But it should be mentioned that a lot of these activities start at 6:30PM so we did not get to meet the Captain as we had dinner reservations, we did not get to make a Tahitian flower crown for the wife as we had dinner reservations. The fitness center is very small and very crowded and most time we had to wait for a machine to workout. The Public rooms, Bars we awesome and we had a good time. Service throughout the ship was excellent as well as the staff, enough cannot be said about the wonderful staff. The shore excursions we took were average and nothing to get excited about. So let's talk about the Islands...first one we go to is Huahine and I have to say why? Why the heck do they go there? Tender from the ship to the opposite side of the Island and take the shuttle to town 30 minutes away and two stores were open, gezzz what a waste of time. Second one is their private Island Taha'a and it was great and had a good time there until it rained, and everyone scrambles to get back to the ship via tender. Third stop Bora Bora for two days. Toured the Island and went shopping, second day went on the glass bottom boat, it was OK but overcrowded. Next stop Moorea for two days, day one it rained the whole time of our tour around the town and the shops we went to, OK but missed all photo opportunities due to the clouds. Second day we went shopping until it started raining again and again a battle for the tender back. I believe Moorea would have been by far the best Island, but rain prevented most of the great experiences. So finally, back to Papeete and we get there at 7:00PM and receive our Dis-Embarkation instructions, I thought embarkation was bad this was really bad. Must be out of cabin by 9:00AM and can't leave the ship until 12:30PM Breakfast does not start till 9:00AM so 3 hours of sitting or waiting, what to do? They do allow you to walk into town, which we did and went shopping and were back by 11:00AM just in time for lunch. Then we wait till 12:30PM to get off and found out the bus was going to take us on a 2.5-hour tour "to waste time" as the guide said because the Hotel they were taking us to was not ready for us. The tour was OK, and the Hotel was very nice but all you get is a room for 4 hours to kill before you have to check out and wait in the lobby for another 1.5 hours before the bus takes you to the airport for your Midnight flight back home. After loading the bus and luggage in a van we get to the airport at 9:15PM and wait another 2.5 hours before boarding. The flight back to LAX is 8 hours and I can’t sleep on a plane, never could sleep in an upright position. So, from 6:00AM in Tahiti to 1:00PM home 33 hours later is not how I would have planned it. We did get about 2-3 hours sleep in the Hotel in Tahiti and wife slept on the plane home. My advice, don’t book your travel plans through Paul Gauguin, book your own flight and get your own Hotel if you need one and get there 1 day before because the earliest flights all seem to get there after 6:30PM and boarding starts at 3:00PM. Also, the earliest flight home starts at 8:40PM so again I would get a Hotel going home (even though you may not spend the night), some place to go and relax before going to the airport.

This cruise is for adventure seekers who want to experience gorgeous water. It is not for shopping and restaurants/bars. You must have an adventurers heart and be physically fit. The hikes are demanding and most of the tours are water sports like snorkel, scuba and swimming. The ship as 56 stairs from the bottom deck to the top with no elevators at all. It is an amazing experience and you go for the gorgeous vistas and unbelievably clear waters.

It was worth the money!!! (that's about sums it up!)

My biggest disappointment with the island experience was that the coral was no longer as colorful as they were only a couple years ago. Warming ocean temperatures have bleached the coral so they are no longer as spectacular as they once were. Consequently, my snorkeling expeditions were not as exciting as I had expected. Moreover, the fish populations are no longer as prolific as they use to be. So on the whole, I found the cruise experience more interesting then the island excursions. I took this cruise at the end of February, which is technically their rainy season, but I really appreciated the partial clouds that hid the direct sun. Even with partial overcast skies it was still very warm (and very humid), but at least we didn't get sunburned. One of the attached photos shows the size comparison between the Wind Spirit with 138 passengers versus and the Paul Gauguin with 3,000. By comparison, the Wind Spirit looks so much more civilized.

We had a wonderful time but the only problems we had was the mini golf something needs to be done with children who are playing most were good but others were dangerous , maybe they need to have an adult with them .

We enjoyed the cruise. Very friendly staff and great atmosphere. I would do it again maybe when my youngest is abit older as he was only 2 and it was hard at times but overall very enjoyable😊😊

The onboard entertainment was very well organised, the staff on the ship were very friendly and helpful, we had a great time

This was the longest cruise we have been on. I was a bit worried we would be bored but this was definitely not the case. We had great weather which makes a big difference too. All staff are exceptional from the lady emptying the hand towel bin in the toilet to the maintenance man painting. This was our wedding anniversary holiday and thank you for the gifts of acknowledgment. We will be back!

Paul Gauguin impresses from the time to begin your vacation with them. Two Paul Gauguin agents greeted us before we checked into the airport at LAX to verify our reservation with them. Itinerary, staff and crew, food, and excursions were exceptional. We will return to Paul Gauguin in the future.

Fabulous trip for our 10 years wedding vow in Bora Bora

We have just returned from an 11 day cruise on MS Paul Gauguin to the Cook and Society islands of French Polynesia. We highly recommend this cruise! The ship is attractive, well- maintained, and well-managed . It has an incredibly well trained, cohesive staff who take pride in their service. Anything that you need is not just available- but anticipated. Our cabin was lovely and sitting on the balcony looking at the amazing blue colors of the water and the surrounding islands was wonderful. The meals in both the main restaurant, L’Etoile, and the two smaller venues (Le Grill and La Verandah) were gourmet- beautifully presented and delicious. We enjoyed all our excursions and felt very welcome on whichever island we were visiting. We extend our thanks to everyone aboard the Gauguin- and especially to Rowena, Marlon, Marvin, Rowell, Flo, and Mike . Special thanks to David Walsh of Avoya who offered wonderful suggestions, selected the perfect cabin, and followed through whenever it was needed.

The ms Zaandam cruised started in San Diego ,next stop San Francisco , good time there cruising under the bridge , next stop Vancouver Canada a beautiful city .

This was a fun get away. The people in SD are so nice! The short cruise was great fun - wish it was longer. The Zaandam is a great ship with great staff.