Which cruise line/itinerary visits the most Pacific Island COUNTRIES?

[Ctravelwriter]

Hello!

Hope this is in the right place.

 

My head is about to explode, trying to research this. I'm trying to find out which cruise(s) visit as many as possible of the 11 actual countries of the Pacific Islands (not counting Aus and NZ). So, the actual countries being the Marshall Islands/Solomon Islands/Palau/Tuvalu/Vanuatu/Kiribati/ Micronesia/Samoa/Tonga/Nauru (yes, I know I missed off Fiji!).

 

For the purposes of this query, the specific islands or ports visited within those countries is irrelevant. I'm just after finding out which cruise/itinerary visits the most Oceania countries!

Thanks in advance for all help. :-)

 

Caroline

[Kamloops50]

Hello!

Hope this is in the right place.

 

My head is about to explode, trying to research this. I'm trying to find out which cruise(s) visit as many as possible of the 11 actual countries of the Pacific Islands (not counting Aus and NZ). So, the actual countries being the Marshall Islands/Solomon Islands/Palau/Tuvalu/Vanuatu/Kiribati/ Micronesia/Samoa/Tonga/Nauru (yes, I know I missed off Fiji!).

 

For the purposes of this query, the specific islands or ports visited within those countries is irrelevant. I'm just after finding out which cruise/itinerary visits the most Oceania countries!

Thanks in advance for all help. :-)

 

Caroline

a lot of those countries don't get visited very often because there is no tourist infrastructure . Fuji and Tahiti are the most visited countries in Oceania area . Some of the others are visited by HAL when they do there 30 day South Pacific cruise from San Diego ( twice a year).

[bronte2]

Princess Australian based ships frequently visit Vanuatu and so do P&O Australia.

Princess also visit the Solomons but only about once per year.

Carnival, HAL, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity also have ships based in Australia over our summer and do make calls to South Pacific but mainly the closer islands such as Vanuatu, Fiji and Noumea and of course NZ.

 

Princess also run a cruise return from Sydney that usually includes Vanuatu, Noumea, Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa & Fiji.

 

A number of lines cross the Pacific as part of their World Cruise including P&O UK, HAL, Princess, Oceania and Princess, HAL and Royal Caribbean include some of these ports in their repositioning cruises each year.

 

I've never heard of a cruise ship visiting Nauru (at least not in recent years). Tonga I believe is updating it's facilities so perhaps it will get back on itineraries.

I know HAL is visiting Tonga in 2015 as part of the World Cruise however is not calling at any of the other ports in your list.

Kiribati, Pulau, Tuvalu are rarely visited by any of the major lines.

 

I can well understand your head being about to explode:D

[Ctravelwriter]

THANK YOU for all the info guys! It is much appreciated. :D

 

It gets confusing when dealing with so many islands - and islands such as Tahiti that aren't actually countries - but you've been really helpful. :-)

 

Any other info still gratefully received, of course, if anyone else has anything to add!

[Tikiintahiti]

The Paul Gauguin will visit;

 

Society Islands of French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Soloman Islands, Papa New Guinea & Australia over 24 days

[Fletcher]

Ctravelwriter - I'm in the Solomon Islands right now, aboard the Caledonian Sky. Today is the Morovo Lagoon and then we head up to Rabaul.

 

Forget the big ship/cruise lines. Look at Expedition Cruising - that's the only way to go for many of these places. I don't think anyone visits Nauru but the others are all approachable. Silversea's ship Silver Discoverer (formerly Clipper Odyssey) has a stunning trip in Oct 2015 from Tahiti to Honiara via places like Tokelau and Tuvalu.

[pcur]

HAL's 28 day South Pacific crossing this April leaves from Sydney, goes to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, American Samoa, and the Hawaiian Islands. 12 ports, and ends up in Port Angeles and Seattle, WA.

 

I always count Sydney as a port, because it's such a cool place to visit.

 

What you are missing here is French Polynesia. I'd try to do that as a back-to-back out of Sydney, and then do the Trans-Pacific.

[Floridiana]

Ctravelwriter,

 

Are you a collector of countries? We were on a plane to Niue once and one passenger got off, stepped outside the small airport and reboarded. He had now "been to Niue".

[robinsandiego]

I have been researching the same thing. The best I have found is this: Holland America's 51-night Tales of the South Pacific. It sails from San Diego, California on Oct. 28 2019 and returns there on Dec. 18, 2019. Holland America seems to offer this long cruise only about once every 3 years. Here's a link to it's itinerary:

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/fromsandiegocalifornia-28oct2019.html

Be aware it spends about 3 1/2 weeks of it's 7 1/2 week itinerary at sea. This cruise covers ports in:

- Hawaiian Islands

- Kiribati

- American Samoa

- Samoa

- Fiji

- Vanuatu

- Tonga

- Niue

- Cook Islands

- French Polynesia

 

I have been trying to find a cruise (or two) that cover the same islands but spends a lot less time at sea So far, I haven't found any, regardless of the port it leaves from.

 

By the way, CruiseTimetables.com ( https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#home ) is an excellent web-site to research something like this. It lists cruises by their departure ports, ports of call, and cruise ships. Pick an obscure place in the ports of call list (all categorized by country) and then you can find what cruise itineraries will be going there. It cover about the next 2-3 years of cruises, so you can plan well ahead.

Edited January 4, 2019 by robinsandiego

[Fletcher]

On 1/4/2019 at 9:58 PM, robinsandiego said:

 

By the way, CruiseTimetables.com ( https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#home ) is an excellent web-site to research something like this. It lists cruises by their departure ports, ports of call, and cruise ships. Pick an obscure place in the ports of call list (all categorized by country) and then you can find what cruise itineraries will be going there. It cover about the next 2-3 years of cruises, so you can plan well ahead.

 

The problem with this otherwise sensible recommendation is that the Cruise Timetables website does not list expedition vessels.  It only lists major cruise vessels with more than, say, 500 passengers - ships like the Seabourn and Silversea fleet.   Big ships like HAL etc will never visit the more remote island groups such as FSM, Marshalls, Tuvalu etc.

 

Currently I know of no cruise ship visiting all these places.  Silversea has a trip next April from Rabaul to Guam via FSM.  Ponant has some unusual routes as well - I think one goes to FSM and the Marshalls.  People keen to clock up many of these places might be advised to use United Airlines island hopper from Hawaii to Manila.  A friend of mine recently managed to visit Tokelau by using the (sort of) regular cargo vessel from Samoa.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Fletcher

[debshomespun]

Another option is to hire out a small vessel with a captain and set your own course. Which ever way you go, sailing to see as many SP Islands will have many sea Days as there is many, many sea miles between them.

 

OR, to save time from sea days, fly to each one for an overnight or 2 on the Islands you want to visit. 

Edited January 15, 2019 by debshomespun