South Pacific Cruise Reviews

If you want to go to Tahiti. Don’t take the cruise. 4 days at sea. They cancelled a promised island of Moorehea and gave another day at sea again. Not enough time to even tour the islands. Disappointed

Overall this was a great experience. I don't know if I will go again because of what a wrote about the onboard activities. I might have changed my mind otherwise; but we still have a lot to visit and experience before we do so.

This was an Okay cruise. We have not taken a Princess cruise for quite a while and we were not impressed. We mainly went because of the itinerary and then Princess chopped that up as Bora Bora and Pago Pago got dropped which changed the cruise immensely.

The 29 day cruise was originally going to have two other ports of call. This got changed over time. Too many days at sea with same & more of same things to do. Will not do a long cruise with so many days at sea. Lastly it was our first Princess cruise ( our 29th overall cruise) and this ship and tour is in the bottom 20% of all cruises taken

Overall experience on Holland America was very good and would consider booking another cruise with them.

Best cruise we’ve ever taken. This is an exceptional way to experience the Society Islands in French Polynesia. The cruise atmospher is casual but classy. The service is first class. The excursions are amazing.

Our second time on PG, the first since they were bought by Ponant. The staff (except at the Excursion Desk) was fantastic, the food was great, the ship re-design is beautiful. Excellent ports. The ship is quiet without a lot to do (which l love) so bring a good book and be ready to chill and look at pretty mountains and the ocean. The embarkation and excursions were an absolute mess - their logistics are just shot to hell. After our first time on PG we planned to come back every few years, but I am on vacation to relax, not to scramble to find my luggage and re-book excursions (well outside the "some changes may occur" expectation - the excursions were messed up one after another after another). Given that, I'll most likely try a different ship next time. Or maybe just stay on Moorea in a hotel.

this was their 2nd time out most workers were being trained, food was not up to Norwegian's standards, airline tickets were sent to us 3 weeks before not allowing changes or upgrades we had asked for 2 days in tahiti & we were booked to returned the same night the ship docked we arrived at 8 pm had a flight a 11 with no changes not allowing us to see tahiti and we were a group of 6 people one was 80 she will NEVER get another chance to see tahiti

The islands we visited, especially in the first leg of the trip were breathtaking. We ended up having to be at sea for 5 full days on our way to Hawaii because the waves were high and the Captain could not go as fast as was intended. After Hawaii we had another 5 days at sea which we knew about but were not really prepared for. Not much to do onboard as far as entertainment. Covid-19 was pretty prevalent by the time we docked in LA and inconsistent information given to passengers that had tested positive as far as disembarkation.

This was an excellent cruise and the best I have been on so far. I will definitely book more Windstar Cruises in the future and I recommend them without reservation.

nice sampler of French Polynesia. People in the region are very friendly and helpful. The waters are clear and inviting, the snorkeling is fantastic.

Would cruise again. Looking at Bali to Fiji option.

I have planned for 16 years to go on this cruise and it was everything I expected and more. Totally perfect! I will recommend it to everyone for the rest of my life. The Covid stuff was the only downside, but that not the cruise line fault and we have no case on the trip at all! Haley was great to work with for over a year, the few days before the cruise were very relaxing, the tour group was a bit under par, but they were new and it all worked out in the end.

A wonderful scuba diving trip with 5 star service and facilities.

Paul Gauguin is upscale but lesser in quality than Regent, Silver Seas, Crystal and other upper end cruise lines. The ship really is too small and too old. It is a great way to visit some of the outlying Tahitian islands, but is grossly overpriced. Would not recommend this cruise unless one could book a balcony cabin for about 1/3 less (i..e., $3-4k/person). It simply isn't worth more.

We loved everything about this cruise and Seabourn Encore is now at the top of our favorite cruise ship list. The crew onboard was fantastic we met a lot of great travelers onboard some of which have become great friends. We only wished that we had more time in a couple of ports, but other than that, everything was exceptional. The coronavirus was just starting to spread to the US and Europe while we were on the cruise and we were hoping at the end of our cruise we would be quarantined on board as we weren't ready to get off the ship even after 16 days onboard. This was the longest cruise we have done and thought it might too long for us, but because there was so much to do in the ports and the onboard/at sea days were so fun (thanks to the new friends we made), we could have easily stayed on for another 7-14 days. Sadly they made us get off the ship! The memories made on this vacation are ones that I will truly cherish. The new friends made, the stories shared and the overall experience of this trip is beyond words. We were so glad that we opted to cruise on a smaller ship like Encore as the personalized service and more intimate experience was exactly what we had hoped for with this vacation. This was truly a trip of a lifetime for us and I highly recommend to anyone that will stand still long enough to hear about it. My husband and I both agreed that we could easily live in New Zealand or Australia and it would be hard to decide between the two given the opportunity.

Our overall experience was fantastic. The attendants were all superior, rooms were clean and public areas were also. The ship is going into the renovation and should update some of the older looking areas of the ship. We really enjoyed the ports of call and the tendering operations were well run. We our loyal Celebrity customers and this cruise just added to our continued loyalty. We have already signed up for our next cruise in 2021.

Embarkation took way to long, what takes so long to get rooms ready waiting to 3:pm is just not right. You ask how many cruises I have been on well that was #55.

It want to specifically thank Chris Festerman, our cruise rep., for giving us great advice on this specific cruise, especially on the warning of rough waters when crossing the Tasman sea. Also, his recommendation on taking the Jewel surely paid off. The cruise was great!

Our cruise began as an overnight in Sydney NSW, leaving later the next evening. Then, we spent a day at sea before landing at Burney, Tasmania. From there, we stopped at Melbourne, Victoria, where we overnighted until the following afternoon. The next two days were spent sailing in the Tasman Sea toward New Zealand. On the following day, we entered Milford Sound, followed by Doubtful Sound and finally Dusky Sound. Upon exiting Dusky Sound the ship entered the Pacific Ocean, sailing to Port Chalmers, the gateway to the city of Dunedin. On the following day, we Anchored off the coast of Akaroa, which is about an hour and a half from Christchurch. The next day was a visit to Wellington. From there, we spent two days at sea before returning to Sydney. This was a nice relaxing cruise.