Your favourite South Pacific itinerary?

[tobymurph]

Having never cruised the South Pacific, Id like to hear about your experiences to help me decide which itinerary to book. What was your starting and end point, which cruise line, and which islands did you enjoy the most?  I have no set time line or budget at this time so please pass on all your tips/ suggestions and recommendations. Thank you!

[ceeceeDee]

We have cruised from Brisbane several times with P&O (whose ships will be sailing under the Carnival banner from early next year). As you are probably aware, at present New Caledonia is a 'no go' destination due to civil unrest. Frankly, it is no great loss in my opinion. Vanuatu is one of our favourites and the duty free shop at Port Vila has great prices. Lots of water based activities such as snorkeling,  glass bottom boat, also horse riding through the rain forest, cultural excursions to villages, etc. We did a scenic helicopter flight over Port Denaru Fiji which was quite spectacular. Even 'buzzed' the ship 😄 Very interesting to see our cruise ship from the air.

[pacificlover]

There is one being advertised by Holland America which I would love to do.  January 2026.  It covers most islands but is long.  From Sydney for 42 days round trip,

or 28 days ending in Auckland.  Pricey but on my bucket list.  Circle Pacific/PNG areas on Nordam.  If time constraints I would suggest any cruise that includes Vanuatu and Fiji if stopping at Suva.

[SinbadThePorter]

Best snorkeling island - Conflict Islands

Most like Gilligan's Island - Mystery Island

Island to build billionaire house on - Dravuni Island

Most scenic islands - Bay of Islands

Best ferry trip to island - Waiheke Island

Hardest to reach by cruise ship island - Norfolk Island

Must see island that cruise ships never go to - Lord Howe Island

[Mycruiseobsession]

My favourite cruises have been Fiji 12 days and Mutiny on the Bounty 16 days both on P&O  brisbane return/sydney return.

 

Word of warning - ports are never guaranteed and it explicitly states that in all cruises terms and conditions. So if you have your heart set on a destination and would be livid if the cruiseline cancelled a port right up to literally the expected day of arrival I would not book a cruise and fly there instead. I am saying this with no assumptions of your personal experience- just my personal observations of people ranting in the media 😂

 

South Pacific cruises can miss many ports due to weather events etc especially if they are tender only. Mother nature has complete power over the Captain.

 

Tell us a bit more about what you're  looking for? In comparison to what you have experienced in the past.

 

I can guarantee you that there will be many differences as to what people like compared to yourself.

 

For example Port Vila Vanuatu is a personal favourite, but not for reasons others may have.

 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:57 AM by Mycruiseobsession
Typos

[OzKiwiJJ]

My favourite South Pacific itinerary is ... At Sea! Although I've enjoyed all of the South Pacific ports I've been to (probably most of them by now) I would be just as happy to head off into the ocean and up to where it is perfectly warm - not too hot but not too cool, then go around in circles for a couple of weeks. Although for that length of time the ship would have to visit at least one port for bunkering. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

My favourite cruises have been Fiji 12 days and Mutiny on the Bounty 16 days both on P&O  brisbane return/sydney return.

 

The Bounty cruises are no longer.

[Mycruiseobsession]

7 minutes ago, arxcards said:

The Bounty cruises are no longer.

You never know... they may make a come back on Carnival. OP has no set timeline ☺️

[arxcards]

The Pacific is a big space, with lots of Islands, including French Polynesia and Hawaii. Typically, the vast majority of cruises that depart Australia only visit islands in New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. We have enjoyed a few different itineraries, but our cruise lines are largely lacking in imagination at present, so at a personal level I am finding them a bit repetitive.

 

Currently New Caledonia & Loyalty Islands are closed to cruise ships due to civil unrest. This is making a mess of our shorter itineraries, so I would suggest looking for itineraries that mostly have Vanuatu & Fijian ports. 

 

There is another current thread that refers to an NCL cruise that has legs from Cairns to Vancouver that looks exotic. Princess and HAL will offer summer cruises to Fiji.

[arxcards]

1 minute ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

You never know... they may make a come back on Carnival. OP has no set timeline ☺️

Carnival is "simplifying" itineraries to count their pennies. It is disappointing, as I have a family connection to the Bounty, but I can't see them adding exotic itineraries any time soon. 

[Mycruiseobsession]

6 minutes ago, arxcards said:

but I can't see them adding exotic itineraries any time soon

 

If the "new" P&O  Carnival AU purchase another ship, my OBC's on them running one of the ships like Dora  and potentially those seasonal home ports and "exotic" itineraries make a comeback.

 

I am forever the optimist.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

 

If the "new" P&O  Carnival AU purchase another ship, my OBC's on them running one of the ships like Dora  and potentially those seasonal home ports and "exotic" itineraries make a comeback.

 

I am forever the optimist.

I am also an optimist. I also see trends. I can recall the vision when Eden & Aria were added to P&O's fleet, and efforts were made to get homeport cruising going in Melbourne, Cairns & Auckland. For now, that is all being reversed. Dora represents where they are at present, and that means losing a ship in February with no plans of gaining a replacement. Yes, things will cycle around eventually, and I am keeping my eyes peeled for the first signs of green shoots.

[Hogbay]

21 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Best snorkeling island - Conflict Islands

Most like Gilligan's Island - Mystery Island

Island to build billionaire house on - Dravuni Island

Most scenic islands - Bay of Islands

Best ferry trip to island - Waiheke Island

Hardest to reach by cruise ship island - Norfolk Island

Must see island that cruise ships never go to - Lord Howe Island

You don't rate downtown Luganville 🤣🤣🤣

Dive- Million Dollar Point 

Beach- Champagne bay

 

https://vanuatu.com.au/things-to-do/million-dollar-bay-luganville/

 

 

[Muffinz]

We were booked on Celebrity Solstice 1 April 2020 to cruise the pacific

Auckland to Bay of Islands, Lautoka (Fiji), Suva (Fiji), Apia (Samoa), Pago Pago (American Samoa), Nuku'alofa (Tonga) Vava'u (Tonga) and back to Auckland

In February 2020 they changed the itererary as Samoa wasn't accepting cruise ships for the forseeable future.... then in March the NZ Government announced no cruise ships to be allowed into NZ due to the covid pandemic... and that was the end of that.

It took over 6 months to get a refund - but that's another story

 

our ideal cruise would be to do the ports listed above then go to French Polynesia / Bora Bora and onto the Hawaian Islands - but not in the heat of the summer

Edited Tuesday at 11:43 PM by Muffinz
spelling

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Muffinz said:

We were booked on Celebrity Solstice 1 April 2020 to cruise the pacific

Auckland to Bay of Islands, Lautoka (Fiji), Suva (Fiji), Apia (Samoa), Pago Pago (American Samoa), Nuku'alofa (Tonga) Vava'u (Tonga) and back to Auckland

In February 2020 they changed the itererary as Samoa wasn't accepting cruise ships for the forseeable future.... then in March the NZ Government announced no cruise ships to be allowed into NZ due to the covid pandemic... and that was the end of that.

It took over 6 months to get a refund - but that's another story

 

our ideal cruise would be to do the ports listed above then go to French Polynesia / Bora Bora and onto the Hawaian Islands - but not in the heat of the summer

If you want to go to Bora Bora you'll have to choose one of the small luxury lines. Bora Bora no longer allows cruise ships with more than (I think) 1000 passengers. We were so glad we did the Princess Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019 while Sea Princess was still able to visit Bora Bora.

[arxcards]

25 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

If you want to go to Bora Bora you'll have to choose one of the small luxury lines. Bora Bora no longer allows cruise ships with more than (I think) 1000 passengers. We were so glad we did the Princess Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019 while Sea Princess was still able to visit Bora Bora.

Norwegian Sun is much bigger than 1000, and still calls at Bora Bora. If Sea/Sun/Dawn Princess were still about, I believe they would be OK to still visit there. Alas, the commercial lines are obsessed with operating only mega ships.

 

HAL's smallish Zaandam plus classic ships like CMV Vasco de Gama and Artania have Bora Bora on their schedules, but those NCL offerings are really tempting.

14-day Cruise to South Pacific: Fiji & Samoa from Lautoka, Fiji on Norwegian Sun (ncl.com)

Edited yesterday at 01:49 AM by arxcards

[resordanis]

Many, many years ago I did a cruise with my parents on the Orsova. I think it went to Suva, lautoka, Tonga, Pago Pago and back via Auckland. I do think it was 16 nights, but cruise ships go much faster these days and could do it much quicker. Another cruise, on the same ship went scenic cruising Lord Howe, and around Balls Pyramid. I just wish we could have some slightly different itineraries.

PS I also like cruising thru the passage once you leave Vanuatu, but most ships do this scenic route at night unfortunately.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Norwegian Sun is much bigger than 1000, and still calls at Bora Bora. If Sea/Sun/Dawn Princess were still about, I believe they would be OK to still visit there. Alas, the commercial lines are obsessed with operating only mega ships.

 

HAL's smallish Zaandam plus classic ships like CMV Vasco de Gama and Artania have Bora Bora on their schedules, but those NCL offerings are really tempting.

14-day Cruise to South Pacific: Fiji & Samoa from Lautoka, Fiji on Norwegian Sun (ncl.com)

Coral Princess is the same size as Sea Princess but none of the Australian-based Coral itineraries included Bora Bora. Maybe my memory is wrong and the restriction is more than 1000 pax but less than 2000 pax.

[SinbadThePorter]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Maybe my memory is wrong and the restriction is more than 1000 pax but less than 2000 pax.

 

I think that the Bora Bora passenger limit is still 1200. For the larger islands it is 3500.

 

It's always an option for cruise ships visiting French Polynesia to not bring a full complement of passengers.

Edited yesterday at 06:17 AM by SinbadThePorter

[bazzaw]

On my deathbed, I will remember only one Pacific Ocean port -- BORA BORA!

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Coral Princess is the same size as Sea Princess but none of the Australian-based Coral itineraries included Bora Bora. Maybe my memory is wrong and the restriction is more than 1000 pax but less than 2000 pax.

Coral Princess is larger than Sea Princess in ship GRT, but yes, with nominally the same passenger count. Neither ship would fit with the daily restriction for Bora Bora, but that depends on how you can think outside the box. The only set ban on the ports in French Polynesia is that ships of 3500 passenger capacity are banned from all ports. Norwegian Sun is around the same physical size as Sea/Sun/Dawn Princess, and nominally carries the same number of passengers.

 

Bora Bora has a restriction of 1200 passengers per day, and is based on the human interaction with the island, not on physical ship size. You could have a 2400 passenger ship, and do an overnighter, with odds & evens on either day. Norwegian Sun isn't doing that, so I suspect you would only get ashore by booking a ship tour with numbers capped at 1200.

[MMDown Under]

If cruise ships don't visit my favourite South Pacific islands, I fly.  I'm visiting the Cook Islands - Aitutaki and Rarotonga for 7 days in May for a special birthday.  The package includes a day cruse on the lagoon at Aitutaki with a visit to One Foot Island.  This was a highlight of our first visit.  

We are flying to Lord Howe Island from the Gold Coast in a small plane in November for another special birthday,  The scenery on this island is spectacular.  

I fell in love with the South Pacific islands when we used to stop over on the islands en route to the USA/UK.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Coral Princess is larger than Sea Princess in ship GRT, but yes, with nominally the same passenger count. Neither ship would fit with the daily restriction for Bora Bora, but that depends on how you can think outside the box. The only set ban on the ports in French Polynesia is that ships of 3500 passenger capacity are banned from all ports. Norwegian Sun is around the same physical size as Sea/Sun/Dawn Princess, and nominally carries the same number of passengers.

 

Bora Bora has a restriction of 1200 passengers per day, and is based on the human interaction with the island, not on physical ship size. You could have a 2400 passenger ship, and do an overnighter, with odds & evens on either day. Norwegian Sun isn't doing that, so I suspect you would only get ashore by booking a ship tour with numbers capped at 1200.

True, passenger count going ashore  seems to be the way many of the ports that have limits now seem to set the limit. Yes, it's the load on limited shore facilities that is the issue. 

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

True, passenger count going ashore  seems to be the way many of the ports that have limits now seem to set the limit. Yes, it's the load on limited shore facilities that is the issue. 

Some NCL itineraries are indeed overnighting in Bora Bora, but the one I was referencing next May does not. How would you feel to book an itinerary that includes Bora Bora, but not be allowed to go ashore - hmm. Zaandam & Vasco de Gama (former Pacific Eden) could sail profitably with a 1200 passenger limit.

[OzKiwiJJ]

54 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Some NCL itineraries are indeed overnighting in Bora Bora, but the one I was referencing next May does not. How would you feel to book an itinerary that includes Bora Bora, but not be allowed to go ashore - hmm. Zaandam & Vasco de Gama (former Pacific Eden) could sail profitably with a 1200 passenger limit.

Hopefully NCL will be upfront about that possibility before the cruise departs otherwise they'll have some seriously peeved passengers!