7-Day Society Islands

This was the 7-day trip to the Society Islands plus the Tuamotus.

This was our second trip on the Paul Gauguin.  We did the 10-day cruise last August specifically to snorkel at the two atolls, Fakarava and Rangiroa, in the Tuomotus.  We never got there because an engine problem kept us five days in Bora Bora (they had to fly in an engineer with a part from France!).  They provided us with some compensation, so we decided to book the seven day version of the same cruise (only one day in both Bora Bora and Moorea instead of the 10-day trip that schedules two days at these two islands).  We knew we were taking a chance going in the rainy season and we sure did run into a lot of rain.

Two of the days, because of bad weather and rough seas our excursions were cancelled, including Moorea and once again Rangiroa!  We did the pinnacle snorkel in Fakarava, but only got to snorkel near the beautiful coral and schools of fish about 20 minutes.  We enjoyed our excursions on Huahine, and Tahaa'a.  But the best day of the trip for us was on Bora Bora.  We had arranged an independent snorkeling tour with four stops.  Even though it was raining when the trip began, with only one other couple aboard.  We had a fantastic stop watching giant manta rays gliding below us, then a stop with many fish, then a great stop at a beautiful coral gardens, and finally a last stop to watch a couple of eagle rays swim by at a distance.

The trip was still very good, and the staff were excellent as was the food.

Now for a few minor criticisms.

Paul Gauguin had us fly on Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles on the late afternoon flight.  Flying into Papeete and getting to the ship after midnight had some negatives: we missed the first days activities and dinner, and also the first port talk on the first three ports we were visiting.  They should be able to just videotape this kind of presentation as other cruise ships do and repeat it on the cabin television.

I thought they could have done something classy on Valentine's Day, like give the women flowers when they came for breakfast.

The majority of people going into the dining rooms never use the hand sanitizer that were placed there to prevent illness.  On the big cruise ship a staff person is positioned there to make sure people do clean their hands.

We still had a good time and recommend this cruise to all.  As my boss where I work said, better being in the rain in Bora Bora than being in the snow in Minnesota Minnesota!