Hello from the Paul Gauguin,

It is Wednesday night and we are sailing from Bora Bora to Moorea, after two fabulous days in Bora Bora. We are having a great time! We are really enjoying the small size of the ship, the wonderful and friendly staff, and the nice passengers we are cruising with. Had a blast on the 4x4 excursion today - lots of laughs and some great views.

It is the rainy season in French Polynesia, and we knew that when we booked this trip. We have had a fair amount of rain, but we have been pretty lucky in that it's been mostly raining at the end of the day or at night. The rain hasn't stopped us from doing anything we wanted to do. On Monday, about 4 pm, a downpour hit as we were at Motu Mahana. Everyone ran for the next tender but we decided to wait it out. After about 15 minutes, the rain let up and we had the nicest conditions of the day! We were the last passengers back - the only ones on the final tender at 5:00 except for a few staff members. Today we had a few showers while at the Bora Bora motu, but again we waited them out and nice weather followed. Last night was our night to eat dinner at the Pacific Grill, which is the open-air location on the pool deck. Well, soon after we placed our orders, a major downpour occurred which ended up lasting about 90 minutes. The Grill is covered by a canvas cover and there is a wall of plexiglass (or glass?) right behind where the tables are set up, but the rain was so heavy that we ended up getting a little wet while enjoying our dinner. The good-natured staff worked very hard to move people around the leaks, and we along with most of the guests had a lot of fun with it. We were all calling it the "floating restaurant". (By the way, we thought the Pacific Grill food was very good.)

Speaking of food, we have been very impressed with it so far. We have no past trips on the PG for comparison, but we have had no complaints where food is concerned. I've found the food to be well-seasoned with good flavor (not bland) and beautifully presented. Lots of good choices, too, at each meal. Tonight we had an excellent dinner in La Verandah, which is the alternative French restaurant.

Will write more when we get home but after not cruising for about 13 years, we feel like we made an excellent choice for this vacation!

Dena

Dena,
Thanks for your post. So glad you are enjoying your wonderful cruise. Too bad about the rain on your Pacific Grill dinner, but it sounds as if you were able to take it in stride. Enjoy.....enjoy!!!

Betty

Dena, how nice to hear from you! We agree with your comment about the food. Whatever problems people were having with it certainly seem to be resolved. We thought it was excellent and that the pastry chef in particular should be sainted.

Have you seen Amy Abler's show yet? We had the pleasure of sharing some meals with her but we were never able to stay up late enough to see her perform. We thought she was just darling though.

Dena,
Thanks for keeping us updated on your adventures. We are leaving for FP on Dec 27th.

This may be a silly question but here goes: When these downpours hit and you are on excursions, etc, do you just carry an umbrella or do you have a light rain poncho? I will be taking an umbrella for the sun anyway but didn't know if you needed more rain protection.

Hope you continue to have a wonderful time and a safe trip back home!
Miriam

Dena, your cruise sounds wonderful. And, what's a little rain when you are in such a beautiful place? Looking forward to more seamail from you.

Hi Dena and Grant! How wonderful to hear that you are having such a great time and taking the intermittent showers in your stride. How great that Radisson met (and most likely exceeded) your expectations. Alan and I hope you continue to enjoy yourselves. Will want to hear all about it in more detail when we see you next month for dinner/"700 Sundays".

Take care and have a safe trip back to Tustin!

Will want to hear all about it in more detail when we see you next month for dinner/"700 Sundays".

OK so you all meet once a month??? Joanna

We're going to dinner and to see 700 Sundays (Billy Crystal's play) next month.

After MIMOSA I don't know if we would have the stamina for once a month rip-roaring get togethers. Not to mention, the Health Dept. has flagged and is monitoring our flu-ridden group :D

Miriam,
The ship provides umbrellas in your suite. It never hurts to take a light rain slicker, but I would make sure it is light weight. It is quite warm and humid when raining about 85 so you don't want anything with weight.

Thanks, Susan. I don't mind the rain and fully realize it is rainy season. I am just trying to finalize my packing list. Appreciate your suggestions!
Miriam

We are back at home now and were back at work today :( . I will post a report later, but the highlight of the week for me was Dr. Poole's Dolphin Watch excursion. We saw 60+ dolphins who showed off nearly all of their different behaviors (flips, spins, etc.). We learned a lot from Dr. Poole and I really enjoyed his passion for the work he does. I also enjoyed Mark Eddowes' presentations and his walking tour. We felt fortunate to have access to both of these experts in their fields.

We did not see Amy Abler's show - actually we did not make it to many of the shows - something about the sun, fresh air, and being in the water (and maybe the wine??) made me very sleepy at night! We did have dinner one night with Debbie Boily, the other guest performer for the week, who was very nice and shared some interesting stories about her experiences as a performer.

Miriam - about the rain - I agree with Susan. A light weight jacket would be good. I actually didn't take anything, and I was fine. If there's a downpour, you can usually take cover and wait it out. At times there would be sort of a drizzle, but it was warm so I really didn't mind getting a little wet. Also, at other times you are in the water anyway, such as when we were at the Bora Bora motu and it rained - you're wet anyway so it doesn't matter. So between the umbrellas that the ship provides and a light weight rain jacket, you will be fine. Actually the only time we were really in danger of getting soaked when we weren't in our swimsuits was when we tried to leave the Pacific Grill that night. It rained buckets for at least 1 1/2 hours, but the staff rounded up a bunch of umbrellas so it wasn't a problem. I know you will have a great time! Enjoy! Be sure to book a reservation for La Verandah one night, that was definitely the best dinner we had.

Dena

Welcome home, Dena! I know what you mean about being too tuckered to go to the shows. But it sounds like you had a great time. The dolphin excursion sounds like it was really spectacular.

Welcome home Dena! So happy you had such a great anniversary cruise!!

Welcome back, Dena! Enjoyed your sea mail. Excited to finally go and experience FP and the PG. Have a great holiday!

I have been out with Dr. Poole about five times and I always seem to be on the wrong trip. If they see them in the morning I am on the afternoon trip of visa versa. I have seen them everytime but not in big groups or doing the spinning. That must have been thrilling. He is such a nice man I always enjoy being around him.

Thanks for posting and welcome home.

Dena, welcome home! Glad you had a great time and didn't let the drizzles/rain get in your way. Weather just is what it is, no sense letting it get in the way of a good time, or you will surely be disappointed from time to time!

Welcome back! I'll definitely have to go on Dr. Poole's trip when we make it back to Tahiti. Thanks for all the sea stories and happy anniversary. Cheers, Anne