Time between shore tours

Noticed on the sheet it says a minimum of 45 minutes between tours. That brought up this question with us, how do you get from one tour to the other? How do you know where you have to get to for the 2nd tour etc?. Example, in Noumea we want to do the glass bottom boat which is from 3-5, then from 5.15 - 6.15 is the city highlights which we also want to do.....i dont know where one stops and the other one starts? My other concern that if i do these tours in these times ill miss out on the shops being open? Question for people who have been to Noumea....is it easy to spend 3 hours or so just looking at the shops etc? I want to go to the bakeries and things to try all their yummy stuff and maybe go to a pub or something similar before the city highlights tour if i dont do the glass bottom boat. Since ive never been there before i dont know if to give up the glass bottom boat to see the shops.

Sorry for the rambling, we go april 15th so very excited :D!

Thanks all.

Noticed on the sheet it says a minimum of 45 minutes between tours. That brought up this question with us, how do you get from one tour to the other? How do you know where you have to get to for the 2nd tour etc?. Example, in Noumea we want to do the glass bottom boat which is from 3-5, then from 5.15 - 6.15 is the city highlights which we also want to do.....i dont know where one stops and the other one starts? My other concern that if i do these tours in these times ill miss out on the shops being open? Question for people who have been to Noumea....is it easy to spend 3 hours or so just looking at the shops etc? I want to go to the bakeries and things to try all their yummy stuff and maybe go to a pub or something similar before the city highlights tour if i dont do the glass bottom boat. Since ive never been there before i dont know if to give up the glass bottom boat to see the shops.

Sorry for the rambling, we go april 15th so very excited :D!

Thanks all.

I would give the glass bottom boat a miss at Noumea as there are other, nicer places you can go snorkelling to see the coral, fish etc, close up, on your cruise. I must say though, I've never been there before, but from just what I've read. Personally, I wouldn't consider a glass bottom boat tour, opting to go snorkelling as it has a much more personal feel to it.

Trevor

I think most of the tours would take you back to the ship.They pick you up from there as well.In Noumea I did the Petit Train which took you around the city,dropped you back at ship. It is a short walk to shops from ship.Shopping is very expensive there as they put taxes on everything.I would give the glass bottom boat a miss,what other islands are you going too? Most have very easy access to seeing the fish.You can be standing in a few feet of water and put your face in and see heaps.

Noticed on the sheet it says a minimum of 45 minutes between tours. That brought up this question with us, how do you get from one tour to the other? How do you know where you have to get to for the 2nd tour etc?. Example, in Noumea we want to do the glass bottom boat which is from 3-5, then from 5.15 - 6.15 is the city highlights which we also want to do.....i dont know where one stops and the other one starts? My other concern that if i do these tours in these times ill miss out on the shops being open? Question for people who have been to Noumea....is it easy to spend 3 hours or so just looking at the shops etc? I want to go to the bakeries and things to try all their yummy stuff and maybe go to a pub or something similar before the city highlights tour if i dont do the glass bottom boat. Since ive never been there before i dont know if to give up the glass bottom boat to see the shops.

Sorry for the rambling, we go april 15th so very excited :D!

Thanks all.

hate to burst your bubble. Noumea isn't all that nice a place to either shop or buy bread. !!! Have been there a couple of times from 28 or so years ago to earlier this year, not from choice and didn't enjoy it back then and didn't enjoy it this time. Next time were are scheduled there, we are staying on the ship :p I heard that the train ride is very nice also the bike ride but the city itself is not the nicest place to be. Just my opinion :) Mummsie

Thanks for your replies. We are going to Lifou and Vila, am taking my own snorkel so can i just pop in the water at any of these places somewhere to see a little bit of colour and fish? Ok so if i dont do the glass bottom boat in Noumea but just the city lights tour from 5:15-6:15, what is there to occupy myself for a few hours then? Good lil pub or something? Or something closeby to the ship i can get to myself maybe?

Thanks heaps.

P.S for you guys that have been on these things a few times, what do you prefer to do now? Go on as many tours as you can? Or just do your own thing?

Cheers.

I haven't been to Lifou yet but I imagine it would be similar to the other smaller islands that I have been too.Yes I would imagine that within minutes of you stepping into the sea there you will be surrounded by tropical fish.Good move taking own gear. On Vila you could go over to Castaway Is.It is a very short small ferry ride over,takes a few minutes. You can spend many hours snorkelling here.Then pick up your duty free shopping on way back to ship. All the other tours here are good too,depends what you want to see. Most of the other islands are tour free so you can do your own thing.

My husband and I have not been on an excursion on the last 2 cruises. We did the first time when we were younger. These days, we just prefer to do our own thing - besides most excursions are way over priced for what you get. The Americans seem to go crazy over excursions - the ones I have seen, do them all and wear themselves down to a frazzle :-) When we went to Singapore last year we did go on a couple of tours but that was mainly because it was easier to get around and we wanted a few hours sitting down as opposed to walking everywhere. Mummsie

Lifou is fantastic for snorkelling. The beach on the side that the ship anchors off is quite rocky but once you swim out a way we found some great coral and fish.

The other side the best place to go for snorkelling but as we had kids to supervise we didn't get over there. You can walk but from what a gather it is a bit of a climb down to the coral. There is no beach just a jetty or something straight from the cliffs.

When we went to Noumea we went on the city highlights tour in the minibus/van, the tour went for just over an hour and we got to stop at 2 lookouts,it was good. It cost $15 AU per person.

Next time we go to Noumea I want to go on the Amedee lighthouse tour/trip. We spoke to some people who went on it and said it was fantastic. This is the tour-

http://www.pocruises.com.au/html/nou_j.cfm?port=NOUMEA&cruiseID=P534