Recently I have been looking at a lot of options for where to travel. I have not locked in anything for this year as yet and may not get anything worked out in time. But I wanted to share a little look at the next trip that I have booked in. A cruise around the South Pacific Island on the Sun Princess cruise ship.
Overview
The trip is a South Pacific Cruise onboard the Sun Princess. There is a total of five ports and some sea days.
I will get to the ports in a moment, of which I have only previously visited one. There are two aspects of the cruise that interest me.
The first is trying a new cruise line. My previous cruises have been onboard Holland America Line, and while I enjoy their ships, it will be nice to experience something different.
Second will be getting to visit a country that I have not visited before. You will see some islands in Vanuatu on the itinerary. So I am excited to visit these islands and add another country to my count.
Itinerary
The cruise is 11 Days or 10 nights visiting five ports in the South Pacific.
| Cruise Day | Port |
| Day 1 | Brisbane – Embarkation |
| Day 2 | At Sea |
| Day 3 | At Sea |
| Day 4 | Noumea, New Caledonia |
| Day 5 | Mystery Island, Vanuatu (Tender) |
| Day 6 | Vila, Vanuatu |
| Day 7 | Champagne Bay, Vanuatu (Tender) |
| Day 8 | Luganville, Vanuatu |
| Day 9 | At Sea |
| Day 10 | At Sea |
| Day 11 | Brisbane – Disembark |
Sea Days
Although they are not for everyone, sea days for me are some of the best days on a cruise. When you are at sea on a cruise ship, it is in some ways like disconnecting from the world as a whole. You have access to all of the modern facilities, food and activities. But at the same time, you are disconnected from all of the electronic distractions.
There is the ability to connect to the internet, but it is rather expensive so something that you do sparingly. The same as a phone connection, it is available, but at quite a cost. Albeit there are still significant distractions available in the form of activities, entertainment and social encounters. But it is much easier to ignore these if you need to.
New Caledonia
I have previously visited Noumea, on my second cruise from Vancouver to Sydney. Even though I have visited here before, it will still be a great stop with the opportunity to explore the city some more.
One aspect that I will be looking forward to is taking a look for some of the Geocaches in the area. New Caledonia has quite a reasonable number of Geocaches around the islands; I will be focusing near to Noumea itself. Primarily this is based on time and access to transport.
Vanuatu
Visiting four different islands in Vanuatu is going to be great. First as mentioned above it gives me an extra country to my count. Having visited some other islands in the area, this will give me a chance to see some different places. Places that I have not visited before.
Two of the ports here will require a tender to get from the ship to the island. In some ports, this can be a little restrictive and limit your time to do things. In the case of these islands, it is not a big loss. They are both small islands with not a lot to do, but I will still leave the ship and explore in the time that is available.
At this stage, I am still trying to decide on the visits for Vila and Luganville about tours. While I want to maximise the time that I have available, the cost of tours is slightly prohibitive. I still have a little while to decide.
Princess & The Sun Princess
I have previously cruised three times and all have been onboard Holland America Line Ships. So this cruise will be a first time to try Princess and specifically the Sun Princess.
Sun Princess is the oldest ship in the Princess fleet built in 1995. While not the oldest ship that I will have sailed on, it is fairly close.
Either way, I am happy to be trying out a new cruise line and ship.
Countdown & Updates
As of this post, there are 84 days until the cruise sails.
I have had mixed experience with updating while onboard cruise ships in the past. For anyone that has been on a cruise, you will understand the issue with internet connectivity. There is a good chance that I will end up getting a small package for internet access. The cost I am looking at right now is AUD$86 for 120 minutes.
There will be a post for each port, sea day activities and about the ship. However, it will very much depend on the internet connection available as to what I will be able to post from the ship. As a minimum, I hope to share plenty of cruising fun via my Instagram (@joel_travels) so make sure you are following there. My goal will also be to get some of the posts shared, but only time will tell.
Keep watching on the blog or make sure you are following on social media for updates on the cruise. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.
