Voyage of the M/S Gauguin - March 2007

Our 14 day cruise to French Polynesia is chronicled here. The route and ports visited are shown on the Voyage Map. On the map, the red lines are the outbound leg starting in Tahiti and the white lines show the return from the Marquesas. Clicking any island on the map will take to the pictures for that portion of the trip. Additional pictures and a day by day report can be found on the Weblog.

M/S Paul Gauguin

All things considered this was the finest ship we have been on. The ship is nine years old but looks like it is on its maiden voyage. There wasn't much closet space, but then there was no need to dress for dinner so not much space was required. The food was outstanding and beautifully presented. Top quality wines were served at lunch and dinner. Designed for this service, the ship has a shallow draft so can access many ports that other cruise ships can't get near. Tenders were required everywhere except Papeete and some of the rides were exciting.

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This is the view of Papeete harbor from our stateroom just before departure.

The M/S Paul Gauguin at anchor in the Marquesas.

Big swells in Hua Uka made the ride on the tendering vessel a thrill.

Viewing the sunset from the back deck bar was very relaxing.

Pat took a haku lei making class and fashioned this piece for the tiki in our cabin.

Tahiti

We arrived in Papeete a day and a half before our cruise ship departed so we arranged to spend the day at the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti. Good decision. The hotel was very nice and featured a "lagoonarium" which was filled with clear water and a colorful variety of local marine life. On our second morning at the hotel a crew from CBS New York was filming a segment for the morning show with a TV star named Dave Price. Some New Yorkers staying at the hotel told us the he is big in the Big Apple. He seemed pretty funny.

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Every room in the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti either has a view of the ocean or is on stilts in the water.

This is part of the lagoon in front of the hotel. As you can see the water is crystal clear.

An attendant feeds the fish twice a day. This sting ray looks like he is begging for food.

This is one of the colorful reef fish that can be seen from above the water.

This is an early morning view of Moorea as seen from our patio. It is close enough that many people live in Moorea and commute by ferry to work in Papeete.

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Room service breakfast is like nowhere else in the world.

New York newsman Dave Price had a little trouble getting into the outrigger canoe.

The Tahiti team always does well in the Hawaii canoe races. Here is a crew out for an early morning practice session.

Downtown Papeete is pretty downtrodden. This is the central market which has a lot of overpriced stuff. We sampled some fruit and it was tasty.

The fish department in the central market has a colorful variety including parrot fish. I think you need to be real hungry to eat one of these.

Next stop...Bora Bora