I had never sailed PG before so I can't compare it to the past. However, I can compare to the other RSSC ships.

I had been pre-warned that the PG was not like the other ships; and the warnings were right.

First the good. The ship is in wonderful shape. Once you figure out the rear stairs and rear elevator, you can get anywhere without going on the weather decks. Given all the time that we were walking in wet reef shoes spreading sand everywhere, I don't know how they kept it so clean and avoided mildew.

Top to bottom, I think we had the best dining room staff for all meals on PG. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner service were all excellent. Sommelliers were also great. No problem getting anything we wanted to drink at dinner.

Now the negative differences. No champagne in our cabin on checkin. Of course, they gave us a wonderful box of Godiva Chocolate truffles that I am sure cost more than the bottle of champagne. No filet (or any steak) on simplicity menu. On one night, where nothing sounded interesting, I asked for the filet. The waiter said there wasn't one on the menu but he would check. Laurent [sp], a headwaiter who had been on both Navigator and Mariner with us, came over and said he would find one for me. I think he got the steak from the Grill as it was same size as we had previous night. It sure would have been nice to have been able to get steak each night without it being a hassle.

From the Captain on down, the crew kept their distance. Besides Amy in reception, no one addressed me by name until Laurent did on last night. I think this is due to the fact that all passengers change over every seven days. The Captain didn't seem to have any interest in getting to know the passengers; neither did most of the crew. I am not saying they weren't professional, just distant.

The passengers are also different. I was surprised how few past RSSC passengers there were. Suzanne's 79 nights was the least number of days that I had ever seen anyone win the award for most nights. And the passengers thought of themselves as sailing the Paul Gauguin, not Radisson Seven Seas. Even the Captain at the farewell party, said that he looked forward to seeing us on a "future Paul Gauguin cruise" versus "future Radisson cruise" as has been said every time in past. I think this leads to more aloofness by passengers, too. Groups didn't mingle.

There is a problem with having only one lounge at night. After 2330, it becomes a disco. At least we convinced the DJ that rap music wasn't what we were looking for. As the cruise progressed, his choices were better. However, one thing I really like about the larger ships is having more than one option for dancing music late night.

Only other complaints were that it took a while to get our in room liquor (others have complained about this from time to time on all ships), the cabin was a little warm at times, and drink prices had risen.

All in all, I think PG certainly matches the standards of the rest of the Radisson ships. I just think the cruise experience is very different.