Paul Gauguin Cruise – Moorea & Tahiti – Disembarking

On our final full day of the cruise around the Society Islands in the French Polynesia aboard the m/s Paul Gauguin, we would be enjoying our second day in Moorea. If you missed our blog featuring our first day in Moorea and swimming with sharks, it can be found here. Today, we did not register for any of the shore excursion as we decided to take a casual approach to the last day of the cruise. The first order of business was to enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the rear deck outdoor veranda of La Veranda restaurant.

We then headed to the small boutique aboard the ship to shop for a Pareo and to see what else may catch our eye. They have a wide selection of shirts, dresses, jewelry (including black pearls), as well as many other items.

After a little shopping we decided to take the Tender Boat to Moorea and do a little exploring around dock. We never got tired of seeing the ship from the Tender Boat with the beautiful backdrop of the French Polynesian Islands.

Once on the island, we explored the small shopping area that was set up near where we were dropped off by the boat. Again, here there were wide selection of clothing and jewelry for us to peruse.

We then decided to go for a walk and explore a little of the island on our own.

As the afternoon approached, we decided to go back to the ship to enjoy lunch at Le Grill and to take part in some of the on-board activities. We returned to the dock to catch the Tender Boat and really appreciated the fact that the Paul Gauguin crew had set up some cold drinks for us to refresh ourselves with while waiting to be picked up (they did this every day, but I fear I may have forgotten to mention it previously).

While enjoying our drinks, we could see our ship in the distance.

At Le Grill, we had a fantastic lunch, the food at Le Grill was always great.

After lunch, Les Gauguines were providing lessons on how to make a textile bracelet in La Palette.

After a quick refresh in our cabin, we headed to the Pool Deck to meet up with some friends as the ship started to depart Moorea to take us back to the main port where we would disembark early tomorrow in Tahiti.

As we made our way to open waters, we were treated to a cocktails as the m/s Paul Gauguin Farewell Party began.

As the party concluded, we watched as the sun disappear behind Moorea in the distance.

During the cruise we had become friends with many of the other passengers on board and we all arranged for a large table at La Veranda to have our own little good-bye party over a great meal.

During dinner we made port in Papeete, Tahiti. After dinner we headed back to our cabin to prepare our bags to be picked up so that they could be unloaded by the staff in the morning. We only kept a small carry-on with the essentials needed for the evening which we would then take with us in the morning. We also arranged through the Paul Gauguin check-out checklist for a taxi to pick us up at the dock to transfer us to the airport

With our packing done we headed to one last show in La Salon: “O Tahiti E” presented by Polynesia’s #1 folkloric dance troupe.

The next morning we had breakfast overlooking Papeete and said our good-byes to the crew and other passengers that we had become close to. We also exchanged some contact details from which we are still in touch with some of our new friends made on board the ship.

Once we were ready to disembark, our bags were ready for us on the dock, and our taxi was waiting.

If you would like to learn more about schedules and different Paul Gauguin Cruises, please visit my Virtuoso page here.

The list of Shore excursions that were available to us on our second day in Moorea were the same as those listed in the post on the first day in Moorea, they can be found at the end of the post on this page.

There was also a shore excursion in Papeete which was “Le Petit Train” – a small, 1 hour train ride through Papeete with recorded commentary.

We had an amazing time aboard the m/s Paul Gauguin and on the 5 different islands we visited. We have created memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

If you would like to receive more information, or book a Paul Gauguin Cruise, you can contact me here.

As a Paul Gauguin Cruises PEARLS Accredited Partner and having experienced the cruise myself, I can provide you with the intimate knowledge to help you get the most out of your Paul Gauguin cruise.