The cruise was a 10 day one departing from Auckland visiting the Pacific islands of The Isle of Pines, Mystery Island, Port Villa, Noumea and Lifou.
The ship was the Pacific Pearl and was jolly big with 14 decks and around 1800 passengers and included numerous restaurants, bars, swimming pools and shops along with a casino, a theatre and a gym. It is a big boat and despite the number of people rarely felt too crowded.
On the boat.
Heading out of Auckland.
Most food and drink on board is included in the price with only “speciality” items such as booze and lattes and the like costing extra, so overall was spectacular value.
We spent the first two days cruising North with the weather becoming progressively warmer until eventually reaching the Isle of Pines.
There was no port there so we were ferried over to the island on tenders. The island was just lovely and certainly my idea of a tropical paradise. We spent most of the day there snorkelling in amongst the coral reefs or lounging around on the wonderfully sandy beaches. Despite its tropical location there are numerous pine trees scattered around and while they look rather incongruous give the place a unique character.
On the tender to The Isle of Pines.
On The Isle of Pines
Mare Island was very pleasant, but not as nice as the Isle of Pines.
The next port of call was Port Villa. This area had also suffered extensive cyclone damage and we were the first cruise ship to call in since the storm. The Pacific Pearl delivered tonnes of relief supplies to the islanders. The best way we could contribute was to boost the local economy by spending money at the various local bars and shops, which we duly did.
I can’t say that Port Villa itself, cyclone damage aside, is that great a destination as the town is full of rather samey shops selling pretty much the same things. My tip, is if you do find yourself in this part of the world, is to book onto one the local tours to check out the various sights on offer. We originally intended to go on a tour to Turtle Island which came highly recommended, but was alas sold out.
At Port Villa.
We were due to sail to Noumea next, but trouble was brewing in the shape of yet another cyclone, namely Cyclone Solo. The storm was tracking straight towards us, so the ship was forced to detour several hundred miles further North to safer waters, which put paid to Noumea and Lifou.
Instead we had a stop at the rather stunning Champagne Bay in Vanuatu. The beach here was superb though despite there being lots of coral, the snorkelling wasn’t that great. Close to the shore much of the coral was dead or dying with consequently fewer fish on view. I am not sure of the reasons behind this but have a horrible feeling, that at least in part, it could be due to the sheer numbers of tourists the cruise liners bring in. A case in point; we were warned numerous times that the coral is very delicate as well as very sharp, but witnessed a number of idiots walking on the coral. Other than that grumble, Champagne Bay was a fine way to end the island hopping part of our cruise.
Champagne Bay.
As a consequence of the cyclone we were further North than planned and had a long three day sail back to Auckland.
On board.
This section of the cruise was not without incident, as due to the storm, we had swells of 6m and more for much of the trip back. I can’t say this bothered me too much as I have endured much worse on the Cook Straight ferry over to the South Island, but there were plenty of people who were disappearing to the loos at a rate of knots, if you excuse the pun.
Arriving back in Auckland.
All in all the cruise was much better than expected. I can’t say that the experience grabbed me the way it did other people, but I would happily go again, not least as we have unfinished business with Mystery Island, Noumea and Lifou.
