Cruise Description
11 Night Pacific Islands Cruise departing roundtrip from Sydney onboard Carnival Spirit.
You’re gonna need more fingers (and toes) to count all the things to do on board
Carnival Spirit can be summed up in one word: amazing. Well, maybe two words: amazing and exciting. Okay, make it two words plus one hyphenated word: amazing, exciting and jaw-dropping.
Highlights of this cruise include:
Port Villa
It may be oceans away, but the welcome will make you feel right at home. From the moment you arrive you’re greeted with a big ol’ smile. And to make you feel extra special, the locals set up their markets at the port just for you. So get your pirate persona out and hunt for some treasures me hearties.
And the cheer continues as you venture further into the city. Even though Port Vila is Vanuatu’s busiest harbour, the people are famed for their ‘good mornings!’ And of course there’s the hearty traditional food to warm your belly. You’ll even find some (not so traditional) Aussie meat pies.
Yep, the people of Port Vila go to great lengths to make you feel right at home. It kinda feels like a big Vanuatu group hug.
Santo
Can you smell that? Smells like fun. Smells like adventure. Smells like. your cup of tea. Go on, take a deep breath. Breathe in that aroma. Kinda smells like coconuts too. That’s because Santo’s quayside is lined with sheds packed with coconut kernels all ready to be made into oil. How tropical.
Surrounded by all that coconutty goodness, it’s hard to believe that Santo was used as a military base during WWII. Yep. It is even home to the famous ‘President Coollidge’ shipwreck that sank after hitting a mine during the war. Makes for an awesome scuba diving site. But if swimming amongst shipwrecks isn’t your bag, there’s plenty of tropical fishies to look at too.
See, we told you Santo was your cup of tea. That is if you like your tea with a side order of fun.
Wala
No mobile phones, no roads. Sounds like no worries to me. And who can say ‘no’ to that? But if you need some help to get in the laid-back island mood, a local band playing some sweet island tunes on your arrival should do the trick. How South Pacificy. But wait, it gets even better.
Wala is so remote and undeveloped that the locals get around on foot or by dugout canoes. Pretty cool huh? There are even dugouts available for hire if you’d like to play captain. And to complete your South Pacific dream, there are plenty of friendly, smiling locals to chat to, pristine beaches to lie on, and lots of fishies to snorkel amongst.
Aah Wala, it may just steal your heart with its uncomplicated charm.
Mystery Island
Look at that white powdery sand. Kinda makes you want to make a sand angel, doesn’t it? Go ahead, there’s plenty of room. The whole island is yours for the day. That’s right, it’s uninhabited and the only people who visit are cruise passengers. So it’s all yours. And it’s the perfect size to explore the whole thing.
Because the island is just 200m wide and barely a kilometre long, you can take your time wandering around. Start with the stalls of trinkets set up by locals from neighbouring islands – hello souvenirs. Then who’s up for some hair braiding? Talk about the perfect island hairdo. Oh, and there’s the airstrip built by US soldiers during WWII. Bet you didn’t know it had one of those.
Yep, Mystery Island is full of surprises and unexpected twists. Guess that’s why they call it Mystery Island.
Isle Of Pines
Also known as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific’. Ooh, sounds pretty. Sounds sparkly. Sounds pretty spot on. With its white talcum-like sands and crystal blue waters, you’ll totally see why the Isle of Pines earned this title. It really is a unique little gem.
The name Isle of Pines on the other hand obviously comes from the narrow pine trees planted all over the island. While the trees aren’t exactly built for climbing you can certainly catch some shade under their branches. And do you wanna hear something really cool? The island was actually named by Captain Cook yonks ago when he was sailing by one day. Interesting stuff.
And that’s the Isle of Pines in a nutshell. A beautiful, shiny, one-of-a-kind type of nutshell.
Cruise Itinerary
| Date | Activity | Arrive | Depart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/05 | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 06:30 PM | |
| 09/05 | At sea | – | – |
| 10/05 | At sea | – | – |
| 11/05 | Isle of Pines, New Caledonia | 08:00 AM | 04:00 PM |
| 12/05 | Mystery Island, Vanuatu | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| 13/05 | Espiritu Santo Island Vanuatu | 08:00 AM | 05:00 PM |
| 14/05 | Wala, Vanuatu | 08:00 AM | 05:00 PM |
| 15/05 | Vila, Vanuatu | 08:00 AM | 05:00 PM |
| 16/05 | At sea | – | – |
| 17/05 | At sea | – | – |
| 18/05 | At sea | – | – |
| 19/05 | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 06:30 AM |
Itinerary may vary by sailing date and itineraries may be changed at the cruise lines discretion. Please check itinerary details at time of booking and before booking other travel services such as airline tickets.