Originally Posted by dbuckho

Status match your Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection status (aka Marriott status) to Ponant’s Yacht Club before your trip and add your number to your reservation. The Ponant status match confirmation will say only valid on future cruises not booked. But good chance Paul Gauguin will honor it and give you the Grand Admiral benefits ($150 onboard credit, discount for onboard purchases). I actually took advantage of the laundry benefit quite a bit. Besides that definitely read through the PGCruises forum on the other site - not a lot of posts but useful information before you sail.

Based on recommendations here I used Pavlus to book our Paul Gauguin cruise this past winter. Will use them again if we book Ponant again though ran an upcoming Celebrity cruise by them and my existing TA’s discount was better vs. their estimated refund.

We had a great time on Paul Gauguin and liked many aspects of the smaller ship - except the ship motion itself! Because of their seasickness my family convinced me to try one of the largest cruise ships next winter with MSC. Was able to status match to them and book direct for the status discount, then have my TA take over the booking and add their onboard credit offer. My first time doing a book and transfer but will be on the lookout for advantageous opportunities going forward.

Have a great time on the Paul Gauguin!

Only other tip is check your Amex/Chase/BofA/Citi offers on all your cards as they often have cash back offers for cruise lines. My TA will let me make an additional partial payment between deposit and final so have often been able to get a couple cash back credits with cruises booked far in advance (I.e spend $500 on Celebrity get $100 came up on our Amex’s twice x 2 cards for an Alaska cruise we booked two years in advance equaled $400 saved).