Bellamariya

Hi,

We are doing a 10 night South Pacific Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas departing in December. We stop at Isle of Pines & Noumea (New Caladonia), Mystery Island & Vila (Vanuatu) and Lifou (Loyalty Islands). We are travelling with our children, ages 2, 5 & 7. Does anyone have any suggestions on fabulous shore excursions that they have done in any of these islands?

Thanks

:)

Isle of Pines, Mystery Island and Lifou there is great snorkelling and small markets but not much else to do. Love all 3 of them but can't recommend anything that would be great for a younger child.

On Mystery Island you can throw the kids in the Cannibal Pot and take some cute pictures with the locals pretending to cook them ;)

Noumea has the Tchou Tchou train, a nice way to see some of the sights.

Port Vila I would recommend the Ekasup Cultural Village, it's a great family tour.

Hi All,

 

I have been asked a question that I cannot answer.There is a group of 22 of us sailing on Rhapsody next week....some are reqular cruisers some first timers.I was asked that if you purchase any electrical appliances in Vila what power source they use.....can they be played in Australia using our power supply of 240 volts.

 

Having never purchased anything electrical in Vila I could not answer the question.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Kind regards

Col:)

Here in Vila we have the same powerpoints as in Australia and power is 240 volts.

However, the type of plug that comes with appliances that are bought here will either be Australian or Chinese, depending on the shop you buy from. All items with a Chinese plug come with the plug converter for free.

They had a get together for newlyweds where they served cake and champange free of charge, they don't do that now.

In June this year on Mariner they did exactly that. We received the invitation on the first night and it was for lunch the following day. Some ships still do it :)

You can also arrange for a driver to take you to Hideaway and then return to collect you at an agreed time. We do this as it's cheaper since the driver can go off and earn some more money in the meantime.

We only pay after we have been picked up so no risk of being stranded at all :)

I contacted one of the agencies recommended here as well and asked for a quote. Never got the quote but they were quick to put me on their mailing list and start spamming me.

Maybe you didn't speak to our taxi driver then.

Haha probably!

I was talking to a local a few weeks ago though that said the same thing, when I asked 'who' was putting the prices up she told me of one woman that used to own a business in town and did that, somehow that seems to have become 'everyone' does it!

There has been a very big turnover of business owners in the last 3 years so maybe the new owners have more business sense than to do this :)

Some interesting comments :)

I agree the best of Vila is not in town, it's in the water and out in the undeveloped areas. Doing a round island drive takes you through some spectacular scenery and the beaches on the other side of the island are stunning, as is the Blue Lagoon.

Obviously I am a water and beaches person and love snorkelling and scuba diving :)

Restaurants here have changed a fair bit, my first long holiday here in 2007 I wasn't impressed, these days there is a technical college that turns out some pretty talented chefs and pastry chefs and the Salon Culinaire competition is held every year now and has really raised the bar when it comes to creativity.

Personally I have not yet found a place that raises it's prices when cruise ships come in and I can tell you that Cascades certainly doesn't. It charges 2000vt or $AU25 no matter what.

Nice to know he's still there :)

What do I love?

Of course the people.

It's warm most of the year :)

The water temp is normally above 25 so I can dive all year.

Fresh air and organic food, eating seasonally and feeling healthy.

Hideaway, Cascades Waterfall, Lelepa Island, The Coongoola, The Goldwing, St Pauls Rock, Blue Lagoon, seeing the dugong surface in the harbour...this list will give me typers cramp if I keep going ;)

I actually do live on Devil's Point but at the beginning, at Blacksands Beach, and the sound of the surf sends me off to sleep every night.

I have been reading some reviews on the South Pacific and have noticed that many people either love or hate Port Vila and there isn't much in between.

I first saw Port Vila on a cruise and loved it so much that when I got home I booked a holiday to come back for a longer visit. 5 1/2 years and a few visits later I moved here!

So what do you think of Port Vila and why?

Wala has some of the best snorkelling I have ever done (and I live in Port Vila!). When you get off the boat walk to the right, it's past most of the people offering village tours and last time I was there an older gentleman had a bathtub full of baby turtles and other sea creatures that people would pet. There seemed to be a lot of people on that cruise that knew where to go and I just followed.

I snorkelled until the cramps in my thighs forced me out of the water, so many different corals, lots of clown fish colonies and a beautiful dropoff.

Well worth the walk!

Remember that the language in New Caledonia and Vanuatu is French so most locals speak only a little English. Australian dollars are pretty much taken everywhere particularly on the street/markets but not so much in towns/shops.

 

Roger

I think the information above is correct for New Caledonia. I live in Vanuatu and the official languages here are Bislama, English and French. If a local here has poor English it is more likely to be because they speak their native Bislama rather than because they speak French.

Also, all the shops in town that I know of accept AUD and USD as do the restaurants and cafes.

Please remember though that coins are worth much less than notes. Current exchange rate is about 85vt/$AU1 for notes and 60vt/$AU1 for gold coins. Silver coins are worthless as they cannot be exchanged anywhere. For this reason you may find locals approaching you to exchange their coins for notes.

Thanks to all those of you that I have not replied to individually. I am so glad you enjoyed my review, and that any parts of my trip either gave you the answers to any questions you may have had, or inspired you to go and do this trip yourself.

Thanks for your review :)

We just came home from our cruise on the Mariner, Singapore to Shanghai in June. We had previously only cruised out of Australia and we loved the land/cruise extended holiday experience so much we decided that we would start planning an Alaskan cruise. I was just tossing up between ships but your review has convinced me we should go on Radiance.

The whole trip looked stunning and I love the positive attitude you showed throughout the whole review :)

We will be on Mariner of the Seas, June 8th-18th, Singapore to Shanghai. Was hoping to see it already on the list.

Have joined the roll call and registered for m&m but would love to chat to any others that will be on this cruise as well :)