Papeete to Sydney 2021 Sojourn World Cruise

[galeforce9]

Has anyone been to these ports?  Probably  Fletcher!!  What did you think?  I like the sound of the itinerary for its apparent remoteness but l don’t know much about the region.  

 

Thanks 

 

[MWillow]

We've been to all but 4 of them.  We love to snorkel so enjoyed them a lot.  Conflict Islands is the best snorkeling we've ever done.  There was caviar in the surf at Tivanipupu.  A BBQ lunch was provided that day but it was put on by the resort, not Seabourn. 

[alidor]

How did you find this itinerary?   I looked at Seabourn.com and could not find it.   Really like the itinerary!

[MWillow]

It’s not been released publicly yet.  We got it in an email directly from Seabourn.  The world cruise starts in Miami and ends in Barcelona.  En route it overnights in Ecuador, Peru, Easter Island, Papeete, Melbourne, Bali, Mombasa & Namibia.  

[Fletcher]

11 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

Has anyone been to these ports?  Probably  Fletcher!!  What did you think?  I like the sound of the itinerary for its apparent remoteness but l don’t know much about the region.  

 

Thanks 

 

 Yes, you're right.  I've done this sort of trans-Pacific thrash three times on expedition ships (Orion/Clipper Odyssey/Caledonian Sky) with 100 passengers.  I seriously think the Sojourn is a bit big for some of these ports but it will presumably have zodiacs and operate a bit like the Quest in Antarctica.  

 

This is my favourite part of the world - the incredible expanse of ocean will give you marvellous photos.  Although French Polynesia has the most dramatic scenery, my favourite island group is the Solomons - so remote, so relatively unknown and with all that WWII history.  

 

If you start in Papeete, you need to stay maybe three nights and rent a car - drive the island and also take the ferry across to Moorea.  Papeete itself has a raffish, cosmopolitan vibe.  The food trucks around the harbour are a dining essential, like a Singapore street market. Bora Bora is stunning though nowadays compromised by admittedly low-level tourism and environmentally disastrous row upon row of overwater bungalows at the overpriced resorts. Drop in on BB for one day, see the lagoon and drive the mainland, is by far the best option here.  I first went there in the 1980s - it was truly paradise then.

 

Aitutaki in the Cook Islands is almost as spectacular as Bora Bora.  A lagoon trip is the thing to do here. Rarotonga - we did a hotel-based trip here, rented a car and drove around the island.  Vavau has fabulous snorkelling and a chain of tiny islands not unlike Palau or Raja Ampat in PNG.  The little town is grubby and authentic.  The main island has the Royal Palace of course and a neolithic monument.  We rented a car and found a fabulous beach at the far end of the island.  

 

Most people seem to dislike Suva, the capital of Fiji, and try in vain to find a nice beach and snorkelling.  It doesn't really exist around here.  I actually like the town - it has the South Pacific's finest museum, some colonial era architecture, a big market and a lot of street life.  At times you could be in India.

 

Port Vila in Vanuatu is hot and dusty, though February is the wet season right across the region.  I've been to Vila three times - stayed there for two weeks at a nearby resort - and never really warmed to the place.  Tours from here aren't very interesting.  Luganville on Santo has a lot of WWII wreckage but the beach is grotty and there's also a tacky cultural village.  Cruises rarely do Vanuatu justice.  North from Luganville you get to some amazing beaches - Lonodoc and Champagne - and also the original beach where James Michener looked over the water at Bali Hai.  The ruins of the US marines hospital are still there.

 

Honiara, capital of the Solomons, is fabulous and very mildly threatening.  You simply must see the US war memorial and also take a WWII tour along Bloody Ridge and other places that makes Guadalcanal a name with so much dread.   My favourite places in the Solomons are the tiny islands which are too far off the map for the Sojourn.  

 

Alotau in PNG has more WWII stuff but on my last visit there all shore excursions were cancelled because of security concerns.  Big towns in PNG are plagued by crime and violence.  The little island groups like the Conflict Islands are stunningly pretty and often have great beaches and thriving coral reefs.

 

Overall your trip looks excellent - it misses out on both Samoas, the extraordinary French possession Wallis and Futuna and also New Caledonia and the Isle of Pines which I regard as the most beautiful island in the world.  But once you have done one trip out there you'll go back.

 

My photo is in the backwaters of the Solomons -

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by Fletcher

[markham]

Fletcher,

 

Your information and personal insights about these ports is much appreciated!

 

We will be joining the Miami to Sydney segments and are very excited. About 3.5 years ago we enjoyed Ody’s 77 day LA-LA Pacific cruise. This 2021 cruise will allow us to see new places such as Easter Island and revisit others where we will see what’s changed. Also, we like the always westward direction.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[SKP946]

14 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

Has anyone been to these ports?  Probably  Fletcher!!  What did you think?  I like the sound of the itinerary for its apparent remoteness but l don’t know much about the region.  

 

Thanks 

 

 

 

 -galeforce9  I agree with all Fletcher’s comments, its also my favorite part of the world,, although I’m biased as it’s my backyard.

There are so many places to see and things to do.

I  traveled extensively through the South Pacific when I was younger, although now my travels are largely on Seabourn.

My family raised cattle (5,000 head Brahman cross) an hours drive from Port Vila for over 30 years.

With my dad (WW2 pilot) I spent a month traveling around New Guinea on a coastal steamer in 1956 as a 10 year (when Rabaul Harbour still had Landing Craft crowding the beach.)

 

Efate, the island where Port Vila is located, can be driven around in  3 hours on the coral road that hugs the shoreline most of the way (constructed by US troops during the war.)

 

May I suggest that you google the ports and look at what’s on offer, there is so much  to see, especially if you are interested in WW2 history

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by SKP946

[galeforce9]

Thank you all for the detailed and helpful information you have provided. I will now go away and do some studying myself but you have given me a wonderful head start, as ever. Thanks 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

23 hours ago, MWillow said:

It’s not been released publicly yet.  We got it in an email directly from Seabourn.  The world cruise starts in Miami and ends in Barcelona.  En route it overnights in Ecuador, Peru, Easter Island, Papeete, Melbourne, Bali, Mombasa & Namibia.  

 

Anyone know when it will appear on the Seabourn website?

[sunshineocean13]

It's now on the Seabourn website.

[Fletcher]

Just a few things to add to my earlier post - 

 

I've looked up the initial segment of this cruise - Miami to Papeete - and it highlights the drawbacks of a big ship like the Sojourn.  Now I know most of you regard the Sojourn as a small ship but I regard it as a biggie, especially for a region like the South Pacific which is, by the way, utterly different to the Caribbean.  This is demonstrated by the Sojourn's visit to Pitcairn Island, one of the Pacific's bucket-list ports of call.   The Sojourn merely anchors offshore allowing islanders to come aboard to sell souvenirs and tell yarns about my namesake, Fletcher Christian, that mutinous dog.  Expedition ships land passengers for a day or two as well as land passengers on other islands in the Pitcairn group, including World Heritage Site Henderson Island.  There are similar compromises all the way along the Sojourn's route, especially in the Solomons.  You do need to weigh up the comforts and amenities of a ship like the Sojourn against the limitations of the itinerary.  

 

I'd also like to mention another thing that appeals to me about the South Pacific and I write as someone who regards religion as a totally outmoded concept.  I am nevertheless drawn to the churches one always finds in the islands - these range from simple shacks in somewhere like Palmerston Atoll to the massive edifices of Wallis & Futuna and Samoa.  If you are in somewhere like Papeete or Apia or even just a simple little island village on a Sunday then you are in for a treat.

 

Finally, the entire South Pacific and Australasia does not have any kind of degrading tipping culture.  I  like that.  A lot.  

 

Churchgoers in Apia, Samoa -

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by Fletcher

[alidor]

Thanks for posting this cruise.   Just booked it this morning and was told there is very little space left!   Love the itinerary!

[DavidTheWonderer]

On 7/27/2019 at 2:40 AM, Fletcher said:

...

Finally, the entire South Pacific and Australasia does not have any kind of degrading tipping culture.  I  like that.  A lot.  

 

Things have changed somewhat since I first visited in 2000.  Then, I had a refreshing beverage at the hotel bar and left a tip.  The next day, the bartender was really angry, and after considerable prodding told me that I had insulted her by leaving a tip.  The only way I could make it up to her is that after her shift ended, I "allowed" her to buy me and my wife a drink. Now, especially in places like Papeete that attitude is no longer completely present.

[raphael360]

On 7/27/2019 at 11:25 AM, alidor said:

Thanks for posting this cruise.   Just booked it this morning and was told there is very little space left!   Love the itinerary!

Did you book directly with Seabourn?  It's not available to book via their website yet?  (Not even any prices published yet.)

 

[alidor]

I called them.   It was available on line as well.   At least a few days ago.

[florisdekort]

5 hours ago, raphael360 said:

Did you book directly with Seabourn?  It's not available to book via their website yet?  (Not even any prices published yet.)

 

 

It’s been on the website for quite a few days now.

[florisdekort]

On 7/28/2019 at 3:25 AM, alidor said:

Thanks for posting this cruise.   Just booked it this morning and was told there is very little space left!   Love the itinerary!

 

It’s far from sold out.  It’s just that most suites and all premium suites are currently tagged to the full 140 night world cruise, not to the individual segments. 

[raphael360]

On 7/26/2019 at 7:10 PM, sunshineocean13 said:

It's now on the Seabourn website.

It’s been on the website for a while but no pricing or booking options yet. Just now checked again. 

Edited July 31, 2019 by raphael360
Add

[markham]

Not true, at least for me.... The pricing has been showing at the website for a few days now. But if all else fails why not call a TA?

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

[alidor]

Try pulling it up by date - February, 2021, and it does pull up.  

[SKP946]

It’s all there for me in OZ:-

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise.html#{!tag=destinationTag}destinationIds=&{!tag=embarkTag}embarkPortCode=&{!tag=departTag}departDate=2021-01-01T00:00:00Z,2021-02-01T00:00:00Z&{!tag=durationTag}duration=&{!tag=shipsTag}shipId=&{!tag=cruisetypeTag}cruiseType=&{!tag=portsTag}portsOfCall=&soldOut=false&sort=departDate asc,price_AUD_anonymous asc&group.sort=departDate asc,price_AUD_anonymous asc&start=0

[raphael360]

On 7/31/2019 at 1:56 PM, alidor said:

Try pulling it up by date - February, 2021, and it does pull up.  

Found it. Thanks everyone 

[2SailingNomads]

On 7/26/2019 at 1:51 AM, markham said:

Fletcher,

 

Your information and personal insights about these ports is much appreciated!

 

We will be joining the Miami to Sydney segments and are very excited. About 3.5 years ago we enjoyed Ody’s 77 day LA-LA Pacific cruise. This 2021 cruise will allow us to see new places such as Easter Island and revisit others where we will see what’s changed. Also, we like the always westward direction.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Hmm, we did many of these ports also on the Odyssey back in 2012.  Sydney to LA.  

[2SailingNomads]

Also San Diego -> Sydney in 2014 on Sojourn.  Might join on this one, depending on what else they announce - would be good to see you again Markham.

[florisdekort]

So we booked the full 140 night Miami to Barcelona 2021 World Cruise today 🙂 Still can’t believe it. Looking forward to meeting many of you ion board! It sure is an awesome itinerary.