Skip to main content

Thank You 500,000 readers

Luxurious discovery in French Polynesia with PAUL GAUGUIN

The impressionist Paul Gauguin gave the inspiration to name the luxurious cruise vessel PAUL GAUGUIN.
by Earl of Cruise
At the turn of the century, impressionist Paul Gauguin (* 7. Juni 1848 in Paris; † 8. Mai 1903 in Atuona on Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia / GER) traveled to the tropical shores of French Polynesia (EN) to create some of his now most renowned masterpieces. In his days a scandal what and how he had painted. Today, the PAUL GAUGUIN, transports discerning guests to the same romantic Tahitian vacation paradise - to explore, experience, discover and escape.
PAUL GAUGUIN at Bora Bora - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
PAUL GAUGUIN at Bora Bora - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES is committed to providing an extraordinary luxury cruise experience uniquely tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, the Maquesas, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific. The company’s numerous “World's Best” awards demonstrate a dedication to guest satisfaction, excellence, quality and value.
PAUL GAUGUIN was built in 1996 at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France, for the French Services et Transport. The 332 guest PAUL GAUGUIN was designed specifically sailing into the French Polynesian lagoons and allowing the guests the freedom to discover the exotic ports of the South Pacific without limitation. Further to enhence tourism in French Polynesia.
PAUL GAUGUIN at Motu Mahana - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
In 1997 PAUL GAUGUIN sailed to French Polynesia and had been chartered to RADISSON SEVEN SEAS CRUISES. As of the guidelines of financing, with state fonds, the vessel was restricted to the French Overseas Department (POM). RADISSON changed ownership and became REGENT. But for 2010 the charter contract was not repeated.
The PACIFICBEACHCOMBER, S.C., a luxury hotel group situated in Papeete, French Polynesia, bought the PAUL GAUGUIN. On January 6, 2010, the luxurious ship sailed its first voyage as a member of the Pacific Beachcomber portfolio.
PAUL GAUGUIN balcony stateroom -  PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES
PAUL GAUGUIN balcony stateroom - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
PAUL GAUGIN hosts voyages ranging from 7 to 17 night itineraries, featuring such exquisite and idyllic destinations as Tahiti and the Society Islands, Tuamotus, the Cook Islands, Marquesas, Tonga and Fiji. Each of these exclusive voyages highlights the utter beauty that defines the South Seas, le jardin d´Eden since de Bougainville´s circumnavigation. Stunning islands, white-sand beaches, blue lagoons and the vibrant Polynesian culture of this region combine to provide a welcome tropical escape for guests yearning for the ultimate getaway.
In January 2012, the PAUL GAUGUIN completed the largest renovations in the ship’s 14 year history. Taking place during the ship’s 10 night crossing from Tahiti to Brisbane and 11 night drydock in Brisbane, the $7 million renovation featured extensive enhancements to both the interiors and the exteriors of the ship.
PAUL GAUGUIN at Bora Bora - PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES
PAUL GAUGUIN at Bora Bora - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
All suites and staterooms received new flooring, refinished furniture with new fabrics, and more. Renovations throughout the ships salons included new flooring, elegant new furniture, new window treatments and decorative wall panels, and new signage, providing a lighter, brighter feel. The renovations also included updates and additions to the ship’s dining venues – La Veranda, Le Grill and L’Etoile – as well as a new built-in banquette and expanded casino in Le Casino. 
PAUL GAUGUIN’s previous renovation, totaling $6 million, was completed in January 2009 to provide updated and more spacious accommodations highlighting the ship’s unique Euro-Polynesian flair. The upgrades included converting 26 oceanview staterooms to balcony staterooms – increasing the number of suites and staterooms featuring private balconies to nearly 70 percent of the ship (previous 50%). Le Grill casual poolside dining experience was significantly upgraded, and La Veranda restaurant’s al fresco dining space was expanded. The Internet and Fitness Centers were improved, watersports activities were enhanced with new sport boats, and all public areas received extensive refurbishments to reflect the luxurious standard that is characteristic of PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES.
PAUL GAUGUIN deck plans with stateroooms and suites - PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES
PAUL GAUGUIN deck plans with stateroooms and suites - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
As the longest continually operating luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, PAUL GAUGUIN is one of the most highly awarded luxury cruise ships in the world, regularly receiving top honors for superb luxury, quality, service, itineraries and value. PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES was honored on Condé Nast Traveler’s 2016 Gold List, recognized as the "N°2 Top Small Ship Cruise Line" in Condé Nast Traveler´s 2015 Readers´ Choice Awards,  and received "N°2 Ocean Small-Ship Ocean Cruise Line" in Travel + Leisure’s 2015 World´s Best Awards. Paul Gauguin Cruises was also voted "N°1 Small-Ship Cruise Line" and "N°1 Small-Ship Cruise Line for Families" in Travel + Leisure’s 2014 World’s Best Awards, and has earned accolades for dining, entertainment, fitness, shore excursions, value and best overall in the Small Ship Category in the annual Cruise Critic´s Cruisers´ Choice Awards.
courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
No other luxury vessel in history has offered this level of single-destination focus and expertise on a year-round basis for such an extended period of time. 
Paul Gauguin Cruises is known for exceptional service that is distinguished by Polynesian hospitality and by one of the highest crew-to-guest ratios at sea.
PAUL GAUGIN offers spacious oceanview accommodations including balconies in select stateroom categories, gourmet dining inspired by one of the top chefs in Paris, a lavish spa with signature treatments, expansive deck space and pool, a fitness center, a boutique, and a lounge with live entertainment. PAUL GAUGUIN also offers a watersports marina for kayaking, windsurfing, paddleboarding, and PADI SCUBA diving programs.  Exclusive to PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES, is the private beach retreats off the coast of Taha’a (Motu Mahana) and in Bora Bora. You should discover this extraordinary value in luxury cruising and Polynesian Mana.
Motu Mahona - Paul Gauguin Cruises
PAUL GAUGUIN at Motu Mahona - courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
You will be spoilt by the small ship as service is so much more personal (~300 passengers) and definitely no queueing at the buffet for breakfast and trying to find a spare table! We went to La Veranda for breakfast each morning where we You are greeted at the entrance of each restaurant and shown to a table then you order for coffee or tea, any other order is taken, or you make your way over to the buffet - all very civilized, never too many people.
courtesy of PAUL GAUGAIN CRUISES ©
Embarkation is very quick and smooth and on the last day (disembarkation) you are able to stay in your stateroom until 09.30am and then use the public rooms until 10.00am. There is no being rushed off the ship at 08.00am after a hasty breakfast. The ship is to start embarkation for the next trip at 03.00pm (15:00)!
BRT/GT
18,799 / 19,170 since 2010
Length
156,50m
Width
021,60m
Draught
005,15m
Power
Diesel Electric
Speed
19kts
Passengers
304 (332 max, 28 passenger accomodations have a tipple occupancy if needed)
Crew
217 since 2010
Pax/Crew Ratio
1,53 (332 guests) / 1,4 (304 guests)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

HISTORY - SPIRIT OF PROGRESS the Australian luxury day express train

The Australian luxury day express train SPIRIT OF PROGRESS was the most important express train of VICTORIAN RAILWAYS , a state corporation of Victoria , and one of the most important trains in Down Under. The train is a masterpiece of ART DÉCO design from Down Under. The widely unknown train was in service from 1937 till 1986. First the SPIRIT OF PROGRESS did run from Melbourne to Albury , because of the broad gauge of VICTORIA RAILWAYS (1,600 mm). At the boarder between Victoria and New South Wales the passengers had to leave the SPIRIT OF PROGRESS and go on with their trip to Sidney on the standard gauged (1, 435 mm) train of the New South Wales Railway system. In 1962 the SPIRIT OF PROGRESS could run straight to Sydney. But was withdrawn in 1986, caused by the lack of paying passengers. by Earl of Cruise VICTORIAN RAILWAYS S Class steam locomotive 302 EDWARD HENTY trajecting the SPIRIT OF PROGRESS - courtesy © Weston Langford The late 1930's saw a new era in ...

Review - An Aegean dream mediated onboard OLYMPIC VOAYGER

OLYMPIC VOYAGER took me for a cruise that became an Aegean dream to me.  A historic review from an experience in 2001 ... OLYMPIC VOYAGER, formerly named OLYMPIA VOYAGER, renamed as the Olympic Comittee arrogantly "wished", was built in Hamburg by BLOHM+VOSS . The hull design is based on the BUNDESMARINE MEKO frigates which had been developed by the shipbuilder. Originally the two vessels, the sister is OLYMPIC EXPLORER, should have become fast ferries for a SUN LINES subsidiary. But the design was totally altered to fast cruise vessels, when the two rivalling families (Keusoglou and Potamianos) did overcome their differences. ROYAL OLYMPIC CRUISES, a merger from EPIROTIKI LINES and SUN LINES, intended with the two speed cruisers a 7 day/night 3 continent cruises experience - a novelty. Athina (Athens) Αθήνα [ aˈθina ]- Istambul - Alexandria. by Earl of Cruise OLYMPIC VOYAGER at speed - promotional picture of defunct ROYAL OLYMPIC CRUISES It did not ha...

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

HISTORY - AUSTRO AMERICANA the Austro-Hungary shipping line into the new world

Not many know about the Austro-Hungary shipping line, AUSTRO AMERICANA , which sailed out of Trieste to the Americas. Austro-Hungary and shipping? You may ask ... you may have heard about Vienna Walz, coffe house culture, Hotel Sacher and its famous chocolate cake, the Prater, chateau Schönbrunn, the Fiakers - the famous horse carriages and such things. But passenger shipping lines? There has been AUSTRO AMERICANA and ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD , renamed in LLOYD TRIESTINO after 1918 and after purchased by EVERGREEN renamed in Italia Marittima. The actual company ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD is a new formed management company situated in Austria.   by Earl of Cruise KAISER FRANZ JOSEH I. the biggest liner of AUSTRO AMERICANA - own collextion Parts of my family lived for a long time in the Austro-Hungary empire, which can be qualified as a "United Nations of the Balkan". Having traces into Austria-Hungay, the realm of Hungary in special, it is a pleasure for me making thes...

Germany and HAPAG - A Journey through History

HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHEPACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT - HAPAG or HAMBURG AMERICA LINE is reflecting, as Germany, the LLOYD of Bremen, two times of rsing and two times of devasting downfall and a third rise. BORUSSIA , 1856, First Day Cover 1956 of Deutsche Bundespost - own collection Once Germany´s biggest shipping line HAPAG / HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHE PACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT-LLOYD, merged with it former old Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD in 1970, to now HAPAG-LLOYD, had its peaks and downs, but rose each time on its own to new hights, without any state subsidies. As German mail subsidiaries did never cover the costs for purchasing or mainting the vessels ordered for the specific German mail lines.   by Earl of Cruise In this article I used most German Wikipedia links, as they proved to be mostly of better research quality, and surprisinf to me, some English lines and liners have only German written articles, for the others, English Wiki links are to ...

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - ts / ss BREMEN and ts / ss EUROPA

Germany’s two luxury liners, BREMEN and EUROPA , have not only played an important part in their country’s mercantile revival, but have added also an immortal chapter to the history of transatlantic travel. Copy from Shipping Wonders of the World   From part 6 , published 17 March 1936 editing by Earl of Cruise ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: Shipping Wonders of the World/Bundespresse Archiv The PRIDE OF A NATION - the NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD quadruple-screw turbine express liner BREMEN . The keel of this ship was laid in June 1927. Her launch took place in August, 1928. In less than a year later, the Bremen made her first voyage to America, when she crossed the Atlantic from Cherbourg to New York in four days seventeen hours forty-two minutes, thus setting up a new record and gaining the coveted “Blue Riband”. During the passage the Bremen attained an average speed of 27.83 knots. ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: W ikipedia For the pop...

ss NORMANDIE 1935-1942 X

NORMANDIE -   Whom the gods love, they punishment them NORMANDIE was loved by many and hated by only some, NORMANDIE was the peak of chic, which some could never accept, NORMANDIE was the man made Deesse de la Mer. February 9th 2017 while writing I taste and smell the smoke over Manhattan which coloured the sky brown 75 years ago. by Earl of Cruise After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December  22nd 1941, NORMANDIE  was seized and transferred to the US Navy Department, under the name of USS  LAFAYETTE , listed as AP53. To all who knew NORMANDIE , however, NORMANDIE would always be NORMANDIE  nothing more, nothing less! NORMANDIE burning, like a fanal - own collection And being historian, the name should have been correct spelling with LA FAYETTE, as the ship was renamed after Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette ... a French general, politician and member of the intellectual movement of the Lumières. A man acco...

Panama Papers - Caribbean Billions And a German yard group

The Panama Papers focus again dubios Caribbean Billions by Earl of Cruise The new GENTING purchase NORDIC YARDS, source wikipedia Panama Papers and a German Shipbuilder Not since the publication of the Panama Papers, a German yard group got dubios money transfers - the WADAN YARDS and his former owner the Russian Billionaire Andrei Burlakow got into sight of the German tax police. Burlakow, with connections to the Russian Maffia died by the bullets of a hitman. Prior to his shooting Bulakow sold his German entity, the WADAN GROUP, in 2009 to Igor Yusufov - his investment company FLC West.  Vitaly Yusufov, courtsey from ex NORDIC YARDS Jussufow is an e x minister and GASPROM board member. WADAN became NORDIC YARDS and would be run by the son Vitaly Yusufov . It had been haggled, money shifted and cashed ... employees had the dead end - unemploy ment. in June 2015, the HypoVereinsbank reported in a money laundering display flashy money flows in favor of NORDIC...