Paul Gauguin Ship Tour 2012

Without a doubt, Paul Gauguin (PG) was one of the most intimate and romantic ships we have ever sailed. It is small, holding just 332 passengers, and able to tuck into the shallowest harbors inside the delicate coral reefs that surround most of the islands in the South Pacific. In addition to having been recently refurbished with brand new modern soft goods when we sailed in 2012, the PG has always been well connected to the South Pacific (SP), both in it's decor and with it's specialized staff of Gauguinnes with food, entertainment and activities geared specifically to the culture of FP. The PG was not only beautiful, but it also served as a full cultural immersion to the places it sails! Like most small ships we've sailed, everything is conveniently located and easy to access, even though there are a limited number of dining and lounge areas.

Ship Photos

The PG at it's embarkation port of Papeete Tahiti

At Raiatea with the sports platform closed up, a view of the L'Etoile dining room on deck 5 (glass windows), La Verandah dining room on deck 6 with outdoor aft seating, aft cabins on deck 7, and La Palette Lounge on deck 8.

Our tour of this ship will start on the lowest passenger decks and go to the upper decks and from the aft of the ship to the bow. There are passenger cabins on decks 3-8. If you look at the photo directly above of the exterior of the PG, you can see what the windows and balconies look like for cabins on each deck.

Cabins on decks 3 have small port holes, (Deck 3 is the deck where the officer in white is standing on the tender platform in this photo) cabins on deck 4 are just below the first blue stripe and have a double window. (There are no passenger cabins on deck 5, so skip that row of windows between the blue stripes) Deck 6 cabins have a balcony, the first set of balconies above the blue stripe in the photo above. Deck 7 has a mix of suites and cabins and have larger balconies, and deck 8 are the largest cabins, many are suites with larger balconies

Cabin 621

We can start with a tour of our own cabin on Deck 6. We found this to be a great place to stay. It provided the most cost effective balcony option, was centrally located, vertically, to most venues on the ship and had cabins above and below to buffer any sounds from public areas.