LIVE South Pacific (Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga) - Eclipse, twelve nights 14 January

[mahdnc]

20 hours ago, Redking said:

It seems the jockey has gone awal on the home straight of this Live review! I had fully intended to finish the review and do a wrap up when I got home.

 

Best laid plans and all, I've arrived home with a departure gift. After 3 years of dodging the Rona, Fin and I have finally succumbed. At least we didn't come down with it during the cruise and let's face it we could have got it at the airport or on the plane. At least we haven't been flooded like the poor folks in Auckland.

 

I hope to come back in the next couple of days to complete the review and answer any outstanding questions. In the meantime, another sleep might be in order. Stay tuned.

 

Sorry to read this.  Get well!

[Redking]

12 hours ago, chemmo said:

Just read your review, a wonderful start to a cold day in England. 
 

Sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thank you @chemmo you were very much in my thoughts whilst on the cruise. 

 

I hope you are travelling well through the waters that lie ahead for you. Looking forward to read of your return to cruising.

 

Take care.

[Redking]

4 hours ago, Teewells said:

Hello.  We were B2B and tested on turnaround day January 14th.  My partner tested positive and I negative, but I followed as positive when re-tested on January 15th.  First time for both of us, I suppose it was inevitable.

So sorry to hear this.

 

Whilst we all know and accept the risks, it's not much fun when it disrupts your cruise, especially when you've travelled a long distance. I hope you weren't too sick? A rough calc tells me you would have been "free" after Fiji? In my view that was the least appealing part of the itinerary, so hopefully you were well enough to enjoy the remaining ports?

 

Where are you now? Not stuck in Auckland?

[Teewells]

11 minutes ago, Redking said:

So sorry to hear this.

 

Whilst we all know and accept the risks, it's not much fun when it disrupts your cruise, especially when you've travelled a long distance. I hope you weren't too sick? A rough calc tells me you would have been "free" after Fiji? In my view that was the least appealing part of the itinerary, so hopefully you were well enough to enjoy the remaining ports?

 

Where are you now? Not stuck in Auckland?

We had the symptoms of a cold, the only thing hanging on is a bit of a cough, which I undertand can trail on for weeks.  I am asthmatic, so maybe a little longer for me. My partner was feeling well enough to workout on the balcony days 4 & 5, but then would relapse a bit, respiratory wise; it's a weird malady.

 

We both missed Fiji completely and I missed our excursion in Samoa by about 2 hours; I sent my better half solo.  Once cleared to move about I did disembark in Apia but just walked around a bit in town; kind of needed a planned event to make that port count, in my opinion.  We kept our plans for American Samoa & Tonga without issue and did enjoy them.

 

We were scheduled to fly out of Auckland on January 26th and departed as planned, managing to miss the atmospheric river disaster completely.  Thoughts to those who were not so lucky.

 

Hope you two are feeling not too badly, having also experienced the bug.

[Redking]

2 minutes ago, Teewells said:

We had the symptoms of a cold, the only thing hanging on is a bit of a cough, which I undertand can trail on for weeks.  I am asthmatic, so maybe a little longer for me. My partner was feeling well enough to workout on the balcony days 4 & 5, but then would relapse a bit, respiratory wise; it's a weird malady.

 

We both missed Fiji completely and I missed our excursion in Samoa by about 2 hours; I sent my better half solo.  Once cleared to move about I did disembark in Apia but just walked around a bit in town; kind of needed a planned event to make that port count, in my opinion.  We kept our plans for American Samoa & Tonga without issue and did enjoy them.

 

We were scheduled to fly out of Auckland on January 26th and departed as planned, managing to miss the atmospheric river disaster completely.  Thoughts to those who were not so lucky.

 

Hope you two are feeling not too badly, having also experienced the bug.

Thank goodness you made it out of Auckland. That would really have made it a holiday to remember. So good to hear that you were able to enjoy American Samoa and Tonga.

 We're feeling better today. I have respiratory issues though not asthmatic. Using my preventative inhaler has really helped. What I hadn't anticipated was a flare up of my Psoriasis, I look like the elephant man - promise, no photos of that!

 

Be well and happy future cruising!

[Buckcruise]

On 1/16/2023 at 10:37 PM, Redking said:

Lautoka 

 

We had nothing booked for this port. A chance conversation with another couple at breakfast in Luminae saw us heading into town on the shuttle, where we picked up a taxi to take us to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant.

 

The Gardens are about a 30 minute drive from Lautoka. It's a beautiful orchid and tropical garden originally owned by William Burr of Perry Mason fame.

 

 

 

 

Our taxi ride was somewhat interesting,  a touch of irony intended there. I'm thinking of starting a thread on the most entertaining and nerve racking transport experiences you've had on shore. Photos to follow will hopefully give you the just.

 

 

 

Raymond Burr! We also went there ( and enjoyed it) on a tour that we picked up at the port, ending up with a short beach stop. Beach wasn’t great, no shade except umbrellas at the bar patio, but the water was like a bathtub!

[Buckcruise]

On 1/18/2023 at 4:34 PM, Redking said:

Day 5 Suva, Fiji.

 

We were welcomed to Suva with a beautiful sunny day.

 

I was quite taken with all the fishing boats standing to attention in the harbour.

 

 

We left the ship at 8.30 to pick up our private tour to the Uprising Resort, a 45 minute drive to Pacific Harbour which is billed as Fiji's action capital. From here you can take tours on the Navua River or head out to Beqa Island. 

 

There was a bit of a glitch with our tour because Celebrity had booked out the resort, so we headed next door to the pearl resort where our $50 day pass included food and drink to the value of $40.

 

We managed to book an amazing back, neck and head massage on the beach front. No need for piped rainforest music when you've got the mesmerising sound of the waves lapping on the beach. 

 

Feeling totally chilled we heading off to pool for cocktails and spot of lunch before the drive back to Suva.

 

 

 

 

 

We also went here to Pearl but on the Celebrity Excursion. We were at the other pool though. Nice food and entertainment. Beautiful beach.

[Buckcruise]

On 1/21/2023 at 6:51 PM, Redking said:

Um that would be Starkist not Sunkist Tuna!

And didn’t it stink? !!!

[Buckcruise]

On 1/21/2023 at 6:46 PM, Redking said:

 

Day 8 Pago Pago, American Samoa

 

This was probably the port that I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint.

 

The most amazing towering peaks rising from the natural harbour of Pago Pago (think Bora Bora, St Lucia and I’ve been told Honduras for points of comparison). We were the first cruise ship to arrive in port since the reopening of the border to cruise ships.

 

 

 

We received another warm Polynesian welcome from the wharf which continued throughout the day on our travels around the island.

 

 

After a quick walk into town and walk around the markets, we hailed one Aiga (local buses).

 

 

 

 

Didn’t realise until after we’d hopped on that the destinations for the bus are displayed on the front, so it pays to know where you want to head to. In our case we were on the Aiga that takes the workers to the Sunkist tuna canning factory! The driver then agreed to take us around the eastern side of the Island. We thought he was going to take us up to Rainmaker Mountain, but alas not. No matter the views were stunning.

 

 

Back in town we planned to find a taxi to take us over to the mountains to the village of Vatia. Whilst we were looking for a taxi, we were approached by a local couple (She was originally from the US and he is Samoan. Against all advice about stranger danger we took a leap of faith and spent an interesting afternoon with them starting with lunch at DDW (Don’t Drink the Water!) before we headed off to see the western side of the island, including flower pot rock.

 

 

 

It was really interesting to hear the local perspective and customs.

 

All too soon it was time to head back to ship for a stunning sail away.

 

From our experience it is very feasible to get around Tutuila island on your own. The Aigas are a great experience and only cost about US$1. I’d probably try for a taxi if you want to head further out of Pago Pago for example Vatia.

 

We’ve be hopping back and forth across the International Dateline for the past couple of days. Samoa was once on the same side as American Samoa (Eastern or American Side). For commerce reasons and connections with the Asia-Pacific region, Samoa decided to switch to the western side over ten years ago. Our arrival in Pago Pago therefore took us back 24 hours and our departure on 20 January has seen us lose a day – we’ve woken up to Sunday 22 January and lost Saturday!

 

Today is a sea day as we head for Tonga. 

 

 

We also went on an AIGA bus, but on a tour with a private company “Best Tours” .It was very interesting, we went up the hill where the cable car used to be, Rainmaker, Flowerpot Rock, a beach where swimming wasn’t allowed. This was the most organised  of all the ports.

[Buckcruise]

I hope I am not hijacking your report, but thought it may be useful to add my experiences. All in all a good cruise, itinerary not the greatest. We found all stops very similar with similar offerings. Basically the same culture on all islands. Tonga was just different in that it is flat.

we found it most frustrating that there was so little information out there before we set sail. All islands were very new to receiving ships since Covid and in the case of Tonga, the Tsunami. Private tours and taxi availability information was very hard to find, and Cekebrity really messed things up by not allowing anyone to prebook excursions online for both Samoa and American Samoa, as they were both on the same date 20th Jan as they are on either side of the dateline. The post cruise survey even asked about our experiences in the international dateline instead of the port names. 

[Yehootu]

15 hours ago, Buckcruise said:

And didn’t it stink? !!!

I asked @Redking, and hope she's recovering, about the availability of private tours at Pago. My wife and I met at the old Rainmaker Hotel( where you left the lights on in the bathroom at night so the rats wouldn't come up the toilet and eat the soap) and have been to Pago to many times to count. We'd like to hire someone to drive us to some of the old spots we used to visit. We didn't eat Tuna for years due to the downwind cannery aroma. 

   Mahalo

Edited February 7, 2023 by Yehootu

[chemmo]

On 1/30/2023 at 9:09 PM, Redking said:

Thank you @chemmo you were very much in my thoughts whilst on the cruise. 

 

I hope you are travelling well through the waters that lie ahead for you. Looking forward to read of your return to cruising.

 

Take care.

Hi there,

 

Thanks for your reply…Whilst I am not quite up to cruising again yet I am back to reading CC and enjoying some vicarious cruising!

 

Hope you are now fully recovered.

 

Best wishes.

[Buckcruise]

Our experiences Apia.

we did not book anything here, but took the 20min walk into town.

we stopped by the cultural centre as we understood they had a tour there. We paid $10 Tala each, about $5 USD( local currency required)

while waiting for it to start we got caught in the rain, as did many other people. We gathered at the gathering place to make basket woven plates. However, many people joined in at that time who had not purchased tickets, as it was an open shelter. The $10 Tala was well worth it and I sincerely hope those that did not pay made a donation, as they certainly made it a crowded experience. We then headed off to see the cooking fire and food prep, wood carving, and traditional cultural tattoos being done. Then returned to the gathering place for performances of songs, dance, including fire dance and eating the samples of food- fish, breadfruit, taro etc. Overall a great experience!

in the afternoon we went to the Marine Reserve, a 10 min walk in the opposite direction. It was interesting, very rustic. The water was rather murky though and the current strong. The tide was not right to swim out to the Coral Reef. Apparently there was a free beach a bit further along the road too. This had a minimal cost.

[Buckcruise]

Our experiences Tonga.

we booked a Celebrity Excursion to the Blowholes, Flying Fox Colony and lunch. It was a total disaster. The tour company obviously was not ready and staff not trained sufficiently in time for their first cruise ship. We did not go to the flying foxes. The least said the better.

we did see some of the Island which is very different from the other ports as it is totally flat.

The country needs the tourism after Covid and the Tsunami which destroyed a large part of the island.

Despite a lack of info out there, there are taxis and tours to be picked up at the port, but be early!