Trusted Travel staff and participants were pumped at the thought of spending nine nights cruising the South Pacific. Its was good bye to cold winter chills as we looked forward to sunny warm days. With the stunning backdrop of the world’s most beautiful harbour, we got to know each other ,while partying and sailing past spectacular icons like the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
At Sea
Our first, few days of travel, before our first port of call, were jam packed with a wide array of onboard fun available. Carnival Cruise Lines certainly don’t skimp on the onboard entertainment. Playlist Productions takes tunes you know and puts them live on stage, transforming them into full blown musical productions featuring pro singers and dancers rocking the house.
Then of course there was the comedy at the Punchline Comedy Club. We were laughing-so-hard-you-can-barely-breathe funny. Trusted Travel became regulars at the late-night comedy shows which had us in stitches.
Noumea
Before we knew it, we were in Noumea! Noumea is the capital city of New Caledonia and is one of the largest industrial ports in the South Pacific. As such it offers a uniquely authentic insight into the way people live in South Pacific cities.
We explored the area aboard the famous Tchou Tchou train and experienced ”a la francaise” atmosphere as we headed down the tree-lined boulevard to Lemon Bay Beach where we dipped our toes in the sparkling waters. After a yummy lunch at Guinche Des Citrons we ventured to the Aquarium which is filled with stunning marine life, rare fluorescent corals and mind-blowing colourful fish
Lifou
On arrival, we tried the freshest coconut which literally fell off the palm trees and was served up by the local Melanesian people who live on the Island.
While on the Island some of our Trusty travelers went for a hike through the ancient forest, which made its way down to a secret grotto. We jumped straight into a freshwater water hole – but the catch was that it’s pitch black! The cave itself has a glimmer of sunlight seeping in, but the jump into the pitch-black hole provides a thrill like no other.
Mystery Island
The next day we awoke to views of true tropical splendour. Mystery Island is part of Vanuatu, and is a remote, uninhabited island only visited by cruise ships.
The small island came to fame when Queen Elizabeth II visited in the 1970s, and since then has been a great place for people to get away from it all. We spent the whole day swimming in crystal clear waters, exploring the island on foot, and reveling in the culture of the local people – who came from the neighbouring Island.
Karaoke Royalty
The cruise home to Sydney was an opportunity to enjoy more cruise life and also contemplate how lucky we were to have such an experience in tropical paradise. There was no shortage of song and dance, comedy, movies and lovely meals with our new friends. Ohhh and karaoke! We can’t forget karaoke! We had a few of our participants named the Spendor’s Karaoke King and Queen with their outstanding talent. Our Karaoke King and Queen, convinced our whole group of Trusted Travellers, to get on stage and do a song together. We made it extra special as we learnt and performed the song “Celebrate” in Auslan (Australian sign language) for the crowd, in the Red Frog Bar ! We were stars!
At the end of our incredible Cruise in Paradise, we were sad to say Goodbye to the amazing staff on board , but beyond happy that we had made new friends, who we hope to see again on another Trusted Travel adventure.