Tahiti Iti and the Society Islands 7 Day Itinerary (Paul Gaugain)

I led a group for a December 2019 sailing of the French Polynesian Islands aboard the Paul Gauguin Cruise Line. This ship is a small ship with only 137 cabins and a capacity of 332 guests, making this one of the smallest luxury ships on the sea. They also have a staff ration of 1:1.5. One of the big reasons we chose this as the option for our group was that the cruise is luxury inclusive. This means all food, all room service, and all drinks are included in your booking price. This is a cruise you 100% want to book with a Travel Designer, especially if you are Canadian, as we are exclusively able to offer Canadians a special rate to help compensate for some of the exchange on the USD pricing.

Our cruise itinerary was the 7 day Tahiti Iti and the Society Islands. on check in day we arrived early as we had to check out of our hotel, so we were pretty close to the front of the check in line. The cruise line has local talent at the check in playing music while you walk onto the ship. Once on the ship you go to registration and that is where you receive your room card and a welcome drink.

In our group we had people who booked port hole, picture window, balcony, and single balcony room categories, which gave us a true scope of the rooms. For the most part all the rooms were the same in size and design making the window/balcony really the only difference. As for the solo, the room was actually laid out different as it was a corner room, it did not have a bathtub, but it had a HUGE shower, and the balcony was on the back of the boat and was on deck 9, so she loved her room!

I stayed in cabin 608, which was a balcony room. Here is a video tour of the room.

Food

Wow, all food except breakfast and lunch are menu based, you can order as much or little as you want, everything is included in the price. We have one teenage boy in our group and he ordered steak and a milkshake twice a day for the entire cruise! Also room service is included in your stay, so you can order unlimited room service. This was a nice option, especially in a balcony room. We had two breakfasts, one lunch, and one dinner in our room on our balcony. I can't say enough about the food and drinks being so nice not worrying about what you can and can't have, you can have it all aboard the ship!

One of the things a person in the group was most excited about was that they had Cider at the bar on the ship! She was so excited as this is something that most places do not carry. Everyone in our group was able to have their drink of choice with no issue. Note there are some up charges on some specialty wines and champagnes.

The first night on the ship they don't leave port until 11pm, so they put on a big party. During the day we enjoyed the small pool on deck and visited. Then that evening the cruise line put on a party and It was so much fun! Everyone in our group danced and laughed and had a wonderful time.

Port 1 Tahiti Iti

One thing you cannot control while travelling is weather! And we knew going that December is one of the rainiest months so there was risks involved. So our first port day the weather was a bit overcast. We got to port and were welcomed with Leis and ukulele music. Once there we chose to rent electric bikes and tour the island. Tahiti Iti is on the tip of the island that Tahiti is on, though it is not explored much. The lush foliage and lack of development make it a beautiful place to visit. While we were on our electric bikes the tropical rain started! It was such an experience! We biked in the warm wonderful rain with the water splashing up from the road and down from the sky. We had so much fun embracing the tropical afternoon shower. Though you never want rain, it was actually quite nice and the temperature was still well above 24 Celsius.

Port 2 Bora Bora

This Port we stayed for 2 days, overnighting on the ship, however you had the option to upgrade to one night in an overwater bungalow. This port offered the option to explore Bora Bora or use the private beach for PG Cruise guests. Day one we started with a Scuba Dive, our first dive since getting to the islands, amazing! I love starting the day diving. Once done our dive we ate and then used the day to explore Bora Bora. We walked around town, looked at shops. It was sunny and HOT this day! We looked a some pearl shops, then went back to the ship, changed into our swimwear and took the tender to the private beach where we snorkelled. That evening we went on a sunset cruise around Bora Bora, it was nice, not too exciting...or so I thought. Near the end of the sailing my boyfriend at the time proposed to me on the boat! So that took this mediocre tour to the next level and will now forever be one of my favorite memories.

Day two we actually got day passes and explored the St. Regis Bora Bora which is located on the other side of the island from where the ship docks. It was an exceptional expereince to look at what the 5 star land experience is like. We snorkelled their large lagoon that helps to protect wildlife, and hung out on their ocean hammock. It was also the day after getting engaged so was really nice to have the day just me and my new fiance.

That evening before dinner I hosted a cocktail party in the captains lounge for those sailing with our group. Here is a picture in the Captains lounge with the Paul Gauguin Representative.

Port 3 Huahine

Also know as the the fertile island/ woman's island due to a mountain range that resembles a pregnant woman. This island is maybe the most lush of all the islands we visited. The day we visited was warm but with showers. We took a tour that day that began with snorkeling. Many didn't get in the water because it was raining, but it was so warm, so in I jumped and snorkelled. There were so many parrot fish, you could hear them crunching on the coral the whole snorkel.

After the snorkel we took a boat tour of the island, and stopped at a black pearl farm and learned how pearls are made. An interesting fact for me was that they cannot be made without human intervention.

We then moved to a river stream where the sacred blue eyed eels swim, there in some mythoology about the eels, but I suggest a visit to learn more from the locals.

We ended the day returning to the ship for dinner and a blackjack tournament at the casino on board.

Port 4 Tahaa

We started the day with a SeaDoo and snorkel tour. The islands here are small and there are not many roads to get around. Our tour took us to the SeaDoos, we ripped around in the ocean goin super fast and me holding onto the back fearing I'd fall every time we hit a wave lol. We then stopped at a wonderful reef system and did some drift snorkeling and saw amazing fish. We then took a long Sea Doo that I did nearly fall and screamed for my Finace to slow down lol.

The ride ended at the small motu owned by Paul Gauguin where they had set up a floating bar, and the beach was all set with a big BBQ and vendors. We spent the entire day here grabbing drinks from the floating bar and eating BBQ.

It was very hot this day but over cast, and that is a bad combo for burning! Oops.

We ended the day with some karaoke at the bar.

Port 5 Moorea

Our last port. We started the morning with a dive again, seeing tons of turtles makes for a great start to a great day. We then took a jeep tour of the island.

The guide showed us around the island, and took us to high points on the island for spectacular views. We visited a pineapple farm, and a Tahitian Vanilla Farm. Everything this day smelled amazing!

We ended our last night with a group dinner together and drinks at the karaokee bar and some cards at the Casino.

This was a true bucket list trip! I would recommend this to anyone in a heartbeat! I look forward to helping you plan this trip!