Voyager - Shore excursions (Newbie)

[kazzam]

Hi all

 

I'm new to cruising and due to go on the Voyager in February.

I've always felt that cruising doesn't give you enough time in each location but I'm going to give it a try! I want to make the most of each location, so my question is:

 

What is the must do/definitely don't do shore excursions for these locations:

(Note - we are into beaches and activities, not really the villages etc)

 

• Lautoka, Fiji
  
• Suva, Fiji
  
• Mystery Island, Vanuatu
  
• Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
  
• Noumea, New Caledonia
  

 

The ship excursions are extremely expensive so I wanted to ask other's their experience of booking when they get off of the ship in these locations? Can I get the same tours/activities? Will I get the same amount of time? etc etc.

Given how expensive these tours are, I don't want to pay for one of these only to be disappointed, so I would be most grateful to hear your tips!

 

Thanks in advance

Karen

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic Karen.

 

I would take a look at the info in the Port of Call forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104

 

You may also want to re-post your question there.

[cb at sea]

A guidebook on the Pacific Islands is what you need. Head to your library and check one out, if you don't want to buy one. Beaches seldom need "excursions".

[Koalacash]

Hi Karen,

 

We are going on the Feb 21st departure. From what I have been reading, Mystery Isl. is very small. You can walk around it in 15 minutes and snorkel and lay on the beach so no tour needed. People have said that Ille de Pines is so beautiful you can also just go to the beach and hang out. When we get to Noumea we are taking the HOHO around town with a stop at the Aquarium. Normally I wouldn't go to an Aquarium but I am intrigued that they release all the fish every 6 months and catch new ones. I love that. I'm sort of bummed that Suva and Loutaka are industrial ports and not the Fiji I've dreamed about. We are in Suva on a Sunday which is supposed to be pretty dead so we are going to take the local bus $2 to Colo-i-Suva Park where there are some swimming holes and trails with local jungle plants and birds. Or we might look for a couple off the ship to split a taxi with but sometimes experiencing a local bus is more fun. I've seen some tours on Viator.com that are interesting for Suva and Lautoka and less pricey than the ship. In my experience there are always vendors right when you get off the ship with tours. Often at ports we hook up with other people when you get off the ship and hire a driver to give us a tour for instance in Saigon 7 of us got together and bargained a taxi to take us into Saigon, a several hour drive and the CuChi tunnels for $30 each. The cruise prices were something crazy like $350 a person. The most important thing is leaving lots of time to get back to the ship or it WILL leave without you. Time for a flat tire etc. Diane

Edited January 10, 2017 by Koalacash

[kazzam]

Thanks for your replies so far :)

 

We would like to spend a day at one of the islands just relaxing and snorkelling, but we are quite interested in the activities such as zip lining, kayaking etc too.

Given there are two zip-lining tours available, I was wondering which one is better?

There are also many snorkelling trips available to various islands. Which ones weren't so crash hot and which ones were?

Can I book these sorts of activities once off of the ship? I want to book actual tours, not just drivers etc.

I guess what I am trying to avoid (if possible) is getting off of the ship only to find that we aren't keen on anything available and wish we had booked a ship tour.

 

Karen

[Koalacash]

"Better" is subjective, only you can answer that. The large ports usually have tour stands but it sounds like you want a sure thing which is the ships tour. I almost always find similar tours as the ships, ziplining, snorkeling etc. on Viator.com and through TripAdvisor "Things to Do." Or you can check fijitourism.com. At the top of the Cruise Critic page, look under the heading "Review" and scroll down to "Excursion Reviews" and then type in the port you will be visiting to view peoples reviews of the actual excursions. Good luck.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Koalacash

[lucymorgan]

Thanks for your suggestions koalacash! We are on the 21 Feb cruise as well - more for escaping from the hot dry summer than the ports, but your suggestions sound great.

 

Cheers

[aussielozzie18]

Hi Karen,

 

Lautoka - ship tour - Oolala to Savala Island. I took this tour because it was highly recommended on this forum and it did not disappoint. Its a small beautiful island, fresh lunch provided, crystal clear water for swimming, stand up paddleboarding, paddling (surf skis) available no additional charge. They also take you out on their boat and you jump into the deep water and snorkel. Honestly, its a fab day out and worth the money.

 

Suva - I couldnt find anything interesting to do here and I didnt feel comfortable walking around the town (its a bit rough) so I booked the Jewel of Fiji Tour. This worked out good value for us. You get taken up river in a longboat,to a stunning waterfall, where you go swimming, followed by a trip to the local village for cava ceremony etc. This may not interest you but if it does I can recommend this tour.

 

Noumea - there are lots of options here. Amadee Lighthouse Island is the most popular. Its a very pricey ship tour but well worth the money. Beautful beach, crystal clear water, delicious lunch, glass bottom boat, trip out to reef (we missed that one) climb the lighthouse for stunning views (hopefully its has reopened) Hire surf skis (you have to pay).

 

On my most recent visit to Noumea I did the hoho bus (there are lots of them) to Noumea Aquarium. This is a fabulous Aquarium well worth a visit. My friend and her group got themselves over to Duck Island to chill on the lounges (you pay for them) and swim. She said it was a fab little island and a great do it yourself option.

 

To answer you question re local tours at the dock, at Noumea you get shuttled the short distance from the container terminal where the ship docks to the passenger terminal. At the passenger terminal there are lots of tours on offer. I cant say what was on offer though as I was already set on doing the hoho bus to the Aquarium.

 

Mystery Island is a gorgeous island for swimming, snorkelling and relaxing.

You can hire surf skis to paddle. There are markets in the centre of the island selling souvenirs (in aud).

 

Isle of Pines - another gorgeous island for swimming. The main beach is white sand and fringed by palm trees. There are locals who run small coach tours. Seemed a popular option. You can snorkel near sacred rock. It was too rough whilst we were there (the main beach was alot calmer) so we didnt snorkel.

 

I think there maybe zipling available through the ship in Lautoka but not 100% sure.

 

Hope this helps.

[aussielozzie18]

Just wanted to add, if the ship is doing a tour, especially one the size of the Voyager, they will book out that day's tour with the company. For example, after we arrived in Auckland, my teens decided they wanted to do the jetboat that was docked near our ship. The voyager had booked out all the sessions for the full day for their port tours.

 

The jewel of fiji tour can usually be done much cheaper independently if you are staying in fiji but when we did it, the Voyager had booked 3 coach loads, so you would have been unable to book independently on the day the ship was in port.

[Koalacash]

@lucymorgan,

 

Same for us. Escaping the weather...except it's rain and snow in Northern California. We are also going to basically relax at the ports.

[Ed342]

If anyone is interested in joining our Meet & Mingle get together, here's the link for registering:

 

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do

 

Join us on the VOS Roll Call.

[kazzam]

Very helpful, thanks everyone!

[markannab]

Hi Karen

 

In addition to all the helpful tips already given, here are some more. We are also going on the same cruise. It will be our ninth cruise (2nd on Voyager) and we've been to four of the five ports before. Thus far, we've only ever paid for one ship-organised tour. This was on Lifou. We usually pre-organise our activities at home, making a written list of things to do, printing off maps to find our way around, etc. Below is what we have done and plan to do this time:

 

Lautoka: First time here. Like most, we can find little to do so will wing it when we arrive. Since we'll have plenty to do at the other ports, we're happy to have a shorter day on land. The ship arrives at lunch time and, being Saturday, most things apparently will close around 1:00pm. May get a bus ride to Nadi.

 

Suva (2nd visit): Last year, we had our first visit. We consider ourselves all educated on "shifty characters". We don't worry about them too much. But as we walked out of the fenced dock, we were met by a long-haired man showing what turned out to be fake council ID and warning us about the "shifty characters". Very clever, since he was one of them. He tried to threaten us that people would get angry if we didn't do this or that. He ruined our day only because we let him in the door at the outset. We're looking forward to going back and will be ready for him or others like him. The solution is simple and no one needs to be rude; just firm: A hand up with a clear, "No, we're all good. Thanks" and KEEP walking. Stopping suggests they've got your interest. If they try and follow you to convince you that you need their help, repeat your blunt statement. They soon realize they won't make money out of you and are better to head back to the dock to try and get someone else. Being a Sunday in Suva, this may not be a problem.

 

My wife and I like to wander the streets to see the "real" country we're visiting. It's often been very rewarding (this is quite the opposite of the "visit a resort" type experience). We had some great laughs as we wandered the shops seeing Fiji's answer to "Just Jeans", wandered a beautiful park, etc. This time, if they're open, we want to walk around the massive blue tarp markets near the ship. I wouldn't buy food from there but the experience, the sights and the smells are incredible. A great experience last time - which we'll repeat this time - is going onto the side deck as we pull from dock. Last time, the band was singing "Vanaka" (Thankyou) as we pulled out. Dock workers were waving their hard hats and, in the dimming background was the mayhem of the city: Honking horns, headlights and a full-on Bollywood effect! To top it off, 100m from shore, we could still smell the markets!

 

Mystery Island (4th visit): As previously mentioned, it's small. Massages are great and very low cost. Walk the circuit of the island. Snorkel on the opposite side of the island to where you get out of the tender and lay on the beach. I read recently that glass-bottom canoes are available for hire. We may look into that this time

 

 

Isle of Pines (4th visit): Snorkel around Sacred Rock which is only about 200m from where you get off the tender. The coral isn't much good but there's a lot of fish. There's a tiny market but prices are a bit high. Get a bus which, so far, has always had vacancies (not taken up by pre-arranged tours). One bus takes you to the Queen of Hortense Grotto (lime stone cave). Google it's history before you go. Take around $5 per person as a local entry fee - this seems to not be mentioned when you get on the bus so you could find yourself missing out on the grotto. The tour takes you to a number of other places over about two hours for roughly $25.00. Pic Nga is well worth climbing. It's tough going and around two hours round trip from the dock. My wife and I did it last time and it's on the list again this time at a faster pace.

 

Noumea (4th visit): Noumea gets a bad name but it's all in how you approach it. If you're after luxury, you'll be disappointed. If you visit to see how other people live and experience "whatever comes", you can find it very rewarding. The streets can smell and there's areas where hooded locals can make you feel wary. While some areas would best be avoided (you know them when you come across them), we've found those "hooded locals" to either totally ignore you or smile and say hello - but never a problem. The park in the middle of Noumea is worth a wander. While it was mentioned earlier that you dock at the container yard, this doesn't always happen (though possibly R.C. ships have to due to their size?). P&O ships, by choice, prefer to dock right at the two-storey markets which you get transferred to if you do dock at the container yard. Those markets are great for tours. Be aware that there's a very pushy woman offering hop on/hop off bus tickets. I think she charges $20-$25. When you decline, she suggests you're making a mistake. But walk around the bottom level of the market and you'll find another hop on/hop off for something like $10. We use that service to go straight around to Lemon Bay. There you find beautiful beaches and will often be given 50% discount coupons for drinks at bars that open onto the water. One bar brews wheat beer onsite. Walk onto the next bay to thatched huts over the water.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

 

 

• Lautoka, Fiji
  
• Suva, Fiji
  
• Mystery Island, Vanuatu
  
• Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
  
• Noumea, New Caledonia
  

[lilly4350]

When we get to Noumea we are taking the HOHO around town with a stop at the Aquarium.

 

When we were last in Noumea (October 2016), there were a number of HOHO buses. The shuttle buses that bring you from the ship to the Cruise Terminal were pushing their HOHO deal. Which turned out not to be a deal at all. From memory, they said $20US and $25 AUD but when you went to pay, they wanted to put the charge on your Seapass which means the $AUD price then became more. They would not let us pay cash. We got peeved off and just walked around the town. When we came back, we found out there was a HOHO bus company in the right hand back corner of the building who were only charging $10AUD CASH!!! I know where I will be going next time!