This was our 34th cruise, second to Tahiti, but first on Paul Gauguin as we have mostly sailed with Princess, Carnival, Celebrity and Norwegian. We drove to LAX and arrived much too early and had to hang around this most boring of airports. After security the seating at the gate was very crowded, standing room only with many international flights leaving at the ungodly hour of 11pm. The Air Tahiti Nui flight left on time and we sat in economy class in row 16. The seats are on the small size but foot room with generous. They served a cold light meal shortly after takeoff and a hot breakfast shortly before landing. The plane cabin itself was cold with long pants and a sweater and my husband in jeans and a sweatshirt. off. Similarly, the flight back from Tahiti after our cruise was cold as well. The flight landed on time in Papeete slightly after 6 am. in the dark. Be prepared to climb down the stairs.

Once we arrived in Tahiti, there were three lines through passport control. Once we cleared passport control, we picked up our bags and made our way to the Paul Gauguin Cruises transfer bus. Our bags were loaded onto a separate van and the bus left for the short trip, 10 minutes or so, to the Intercontinental for the included day room .

Check in at the Intercontinental was organized. They have a table set up with everyone's room keys. You just have to provide a credit card for incidentals. Breakfast was served 6:30 am to 10:30 am and was complimentary as part of the day room package. Bags had to be placed back outside the room for pickup at 12:30 pm and we were asked to vacate the room at 1:00 pm. We enjoyed the lovely pool and beach and also took the hotel's shuttle to town to Le Marche. We caught a cab back. It was pleasant to have a shower and a bed. Read more