Precisely correct.

The connection from the BlueGiga WT32i board to the Arduino is merely four wires:

- 5v regulated power, the same power rail that is powering the Arduino (and/or the Arduino's 5v power)
- Ground.
- TX pin on the BlueGiga connected to RX2 pin on the Arduino.
- RX pin on the BlueGiga connected to TX2 pin on the Arduino.

The RS-232 shield (which I tossed out and now I'm rolling my own with a MAX232 chip and some caps) was only to connect the Arduino's RX1/TX1 output to the empeg serial port.

In other words, the BlueGiga board is UART-level, not RS-232 level. It can connect to another UART but not to an actual RS-232 port without a MAX232 in between.