South Pacific for 50s couple with a balcony....suggestions please

We did 14 nights around NZ on Voyager of the Seas in Feb this year as our first cruise and now have the cruise bug. We would like to do the South Pacific now. We were thinking a similar length cruise 12 - 14 nights. What's everyone's suggestions?

Are there any must see places or things to do? I am just thinking relax and swim at beaches, although I always wanted to swim through a waterfall.

What's the best time of year to do this area? I have heard our summer is the wet/cyclone season up there. We are from Adelaide.

Who are the best line to cruise this area with being childless? Im not anti children, we just dont have to worry about that aspect and I dont want to be over run with them....hence we usually holiday outside school holidays.

I have heard that the Australian lines dont have tipping & gratuities, which is something I had trouble getting my head around on Voyager.

So many questions but that will do for starters.

thanks in advance

Karen

Try Celebrity. You can pre pay your tips or have them added daily .

Not every cruise line goes there, but if you can swing an itinerary that includes Champagne Bay, Vanuatu - I highly recommend. Beautiful beach with white sand and crystal clear water. Also, if you go to Noumea, give consideration to doing a day trip to Amedee Lighthouse Island - expensive but a great day out at a beautiful location. Beach is gorgeous, buffet is delicious, beautiful spot.

Have a look at princess, they have a 14 night fiji and south pacific island cruise which is fantastic we have been on this cruise twice and loved it so much we have booked it again for this September. The itinerary is Dravuni island, savu savu, suva , port denarau, vila, noumea and lifou, this is a non tipping cruise and there was only a small number of children on our previous cruises. We went in February last time and it was very humid , September should be milder. We are also from also from Adelaide and this cruise was advertised in the escape section of yesterdays sunday mail .

Try Celebrity. You can pre pay your tips or have them added daily .

Thanks, yes thats what we did on Voyager, (pre paid) it didnt really work as some tipped cash with no added grattuaties and got better service. Not coming from a tipping society I felt very awkwark not doing it but we had prepaid

Have a look at princess, they have a 14 night fiji and south pacific island cruise which is fantastic we have been on this cruise twice and loved it so much we have booked it again for this September. The itinerary is Dravuni island, savu savu, suva , port denarau, vila, noumea and lifou, this is a non tipping cruise and there was only a small number of children on our previous cruises. We went in February last time and it was very humid , September should be milder. We are also from also from Adelaide and this cruise was advertised in the escape section of yesterdays sunday mail .

This sounds like the sort of thing we are looking for, but we are looking to 2015 coz we are just back (Feb 27 2014) and dont get leave for another 12 months. I thought booking early might get some sort of early bird discount rates.

Not every cruise line goes there, but if you can swing an itinerary that includes Champagne Bay, Vanuatu - I highly recommend. Beautiful beach with white sand and crystal clear water. Also, if you go to Noumea, give consideration to doing a day trip to Amedee Lighthouse Island - expensive but a great day out at a beautiful location. Beach is gorgeous, buffet is delicious, beautiful spot.

Sounds delightful. Thanks, I'll keep them in mind.:)

I booked our upcoming Christmas cruise back in January at a supposed early-bird rate. Last week I noticed that Princess Cruises had an Easter sale on and our balcony cabin category was over $600pp cheaper. Luckily my online TA was able to cancel our original booking and rebook us in the same cabin at the cheaper rate. The prices went up again next day. Phew!

I don't know if this is typical as this will be our first cruise, but it may pay to monitor the prices closely on your preferred cruise over a few months but still well in advance of the final payment date. We were very lucky that I just happened to notice the price change.

I second taking a Celebrity cruise. They have a 12 night cruise to Fiji in March 2015 on Solstice. The Solstice is a beautiful ship and if you book before the end of April you can choose to have a beverage package included, your tips prepaid, $300 OBC or $600 towards airfare.

Thanks, yes thats what we did on Voyager, (pre paid) it didnt really work as some tipped cash with no added grattuaties and got better service. Not coming from a tipping society I felt very awkwark not doing it but we had prepaid

 

I used four different cruise lines last year and the food and service were the best on Celebrity. I pre paid our tips and did not tip any extra even though the ship was mostly filled with American passengers but you could not ask for better service from the wonderful crew.

There is a 12 night Sth Pacific itinerary on Celebrity Solstice in March 2015. I had such a great trip on her sister ship the Reflection that I have booked an NZ cruise on Solstice in Dec 2014. Celebrity also is geared toward the more mature traveller. If you book now you can also get a choice of free gratuities, $300 OBC or the unlimited drinks package. If you like a few drinks, coffees etc it saves a lot of money. Normally costs around $50 each a day. It does limit the $$ amount for each drink but still allows a decent range of beer, cocktails, spirits, wine, soft drinks, coffees (the free stuff is not the best), freshly squeezed juice etc.

I second taking a Celebrity cruise. They have a 12 night cruise to Fiji in March 2015 on Solstice. The Solstice is a beautiful ship and if you book before the end of April you can choose to have a beverage package included, your tips prepaid, $300 OBC or $600 towards airfare.

I was writing my reply at the exact time you posted. As you can see from the post above I concur completely.

I used four different cruise lines last year and the food and service were the best on Celebrity. I pre paid our tips and did not tip any extra even though the ship was mostly filled with American passengers but you could not ask for better service from the wonderful crew.

 

There is a 12 night Sth Pacific itinerary on Celebrity Solstice in March 2015. I had such a great trip on her sister ship the Reflection that I have booked an NZ cruise on Solstice in Dec 2014. Celebrity also is geared toward the more mature traveller. If you book now you can also get a choice of free gratuities, $300 OBC or the unlimited drinks package. If you like a few drinks, coffees etc it saves a lot of money. Normally costs around $50 each a day. It does limit the $$ amount for each drink but still allows a decent range of beer, cocktails, spirits, wine, soft drinks, coffees (the free stuff is not the best), freshly squeezed juice etc.

Sounds great but March is a busy time at work and I wouldnt be able to get time off then. We get quieter mid year, but alas not many lines sail then.:(

I was writing my reply at the exact time you posted. As you can see from the post above I concur completely.

Great minds think alike. 😊

Sounds great but March is a busy time at work and I wouldnt be able to get time off then. We get quieter mid year, but alas not many lines sail then.:(

Anything after mid April then its PO Australia, Carnival or Princess.

Sounds great but March is a busy time at work and I wouldnt be able to get time off then. We get quieter mid year, but alas not many lines sail then.:(

Celebrity Solstice South Pacific later in 2015

12 night Sth Pacific and Fiji - 21 Oct 2015 (We did this one last year and found it very enjoyable - not many kids at all)

8 night Sth Pacific - 26 Nov 2015

8 night Sth Pacific - 28 Dec 2015

Why not look at a repo cruise. With all the ships coming here for our summer look out for one that does Hawaii, Tahiti and the Islands on the way through to Sydney.You could fly to Hawaii , have a few days pre cruise , then relax as you cruise back home .

We have just booked the Celebrity Solstice 12 nighter for 2015 :) ( after much deliberation and much help from fellow Cruise Critic members ). Now the dreaded wait !

...thats what we did on Voyager, (pre paid) it didnt really work as some tipped cash with no added grattuaties and got better service.

How did you measure the better service? We have always pre-paid and tipped extra at the end and always have got exemplerary service. Or did you mean that the cash tippers did it progressively and hence got better service each time?

Happy cruising

How did you measure the better service? We have always pre-paid and tipped extra at the end and always have got exemplerary service. Or did you mean that the cash tippers did it progressively and hence got better service each time?

 

Happy cruising

I am referring to the people that I saw give the barman cash at the start of the cruise. They always got special attention when they came into the bar, almost to the detriment of other customers. We prepaid gratuities but didnt get that sort of service.

Prepaid tips and gratuities have nothing to do with bar service people. The T&G's for drinks are added directly to your account each time you purchase a drink. I guess it's posssible that giving a tip at the start of the cruise may get better service, but we have never given more than the included 15% tip with each drink purchase and have had great service.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

we have booked a 12 night cruise on Carnival Spirit for June 2015 to the South Pacific. We have an extended balcony mid ship on Deck 7.

Anyone have any tips?