Pacific Star - Tropical Tonic. First Timers....

Hello!:D

I've been reading the P & O Threads and have found them very helpful! Thank-you for sharing!

I have a few questions but first, a bit of backround - Hubby and I are taking our honeymoon (7 years and 2 children after being married!) We are mid 30's and leaving the kids with "Gran". Looking for a romantic but fun time. We're booked on the Pacific Star in August. Ports we're visiting are Noumea, Isle of Pines, Yasawa-I-Rara,Suva & Vila. Would love any tips on ports and ship! We're on the Baha deck outside room. Oh...:rolleyes: and I LOVE bargain shopping!!

Whats with "Theme Nights?" should I be looking for extra clothing or costumes?:confused:

Thank's!

Mel :)

PS - Have started a Roll call for this cruise :) (you may be able to tell - I'm not excited at all.....)

sorry mel, just typed long reply to you and now it seems to have gone missing . Hate it whn that white screen comes up.

have to go now so cant reply again, just wanted to say a big welcome from me

karon

will post later unless others have replied to you

Hello!:D

I've been reading the P & O Threads and have found them very helpful! Thank-you for sharing!

I have a few questions but first, a bit of backround - Hubby and I are taking our honeymoon (7 years and 2 children after being married!) We are mid 30's and leaving the kids with "Gran". Looking for a romantic but fun time. We're booked on the Pacific Star in August. Ports we're visiting are Noumea, Isle of Pines, Yasawa-I-Rara,Suva & Vila. Would love any tips on ports and ship! We're on the Baha deck outside room. Oh...:rolleyes: and I LOVE bargain shopping!!

 

Whats with "Theme Nights?" should I be looking for extra clothing or costumes?:confused:

 

Thank's!

Mel :)

 

PS - Have started a Roll call for this cruise :) (you may be able to tell - I'm not excited at all.....)

Mel, you'll enjoy that cruise, it's basically the same one we did in March, except we had an extra day and and extra port - Pentecoste.

The ports;

Noumea - don't plan on too much for Noumea, cruises out of Brisbane only spend the afternoon & evening in Noumea, but have tendancy to be late causing shore tours to be cancelled. If your shore tours go ahead - Le Petit train is a good one for such a short stay - and a walk around Cocconut square at dusk is a must do.

Suva - DEFINETLY do a shore tour and preferably an all day one that takes you out of the city, which is noisy, dirty and no fun at all. My parents did a 1/2 day tour to the Cultural village with the fire walking display which they said was good.

Isle of Pines & Yasawa-I-Rara - just relax and enjoy. There's no shore tours at these ports, but lovely beaches, plenty of walking and swimming.

Vila - good for shopping - don't buy your duty free alcohol on board until you have checked out the shops in Vila first. But unless you are really keen, don't do just shopping in Vila - take on of the 1/2 day tours to experience the place a bit more and meet some of the locals.

The Ship;

Bahia deck's a good deck to be on, two decks above the restuarant, one deck about the pursers desk, one deck below the show lounge and 2 decks below the promenade deck (casino, bars, etc). You'll find the ship easy to get around. There'll be plenty of places to go and have some quiet time. If you want a quiet romantic dinner away from the main restaurant treat yourselves to dinner at Club Bahia steakhouse on the promenade deck one evening. $15 surcharge, but I hear it's worth it (unfortunately we didn't make it there ourselves).

Theme nights;

They don't seem to make a big thing about theme nights on Star - the only one that really got any involvement was Island Night - so take your tropiccal shirts and skirts and things. Other nights we had on our cruise, but which weren't really promoted too much were Country & Western, Rock & Roll, and the pjama part. Of coure there'll be 2 formal nights, so pull out your finest for those.

Kym

Hi Mel

We are also booked on this cruise, there will be my husband, 2 friends & myself as well as over 100 rock n rollers on board & we intend to have a great time.

Welcome to the boards everyone here has a wealth of information to help you prepare for your holiday, I have little piles of things stored all ready to pack, each week they seem to grow & my husband just shakes his head at me but as he walks away his grin is as wide as mine.

Not long now and we're away

Helen

Mel

The tour that I mentioned in Suva was the Pacific Harbour Cultural Extravaganza - described in the P&O Shore tours book thus;

Approx time 4hrs

What you'll see;

Your destination is the exciting, world renowned, Arts Village of Fiji at Pacific Harbour. Your arrival is heralded by the sound of a hollow drum beaten by a Fijian warrior, whilst the blowing of a conch shell and the tune of island seranaders welcomes you. Hostesses are on hand with a complimentary cool drink before you are led to the Centre's Ampitheatre to witness a spectacular performance by the Fijian Firewalkers and the enthralling group from the Arts Village of Fiji.

Watch the famed Fijian Firewalkers show their mysterious power over flame. As elders chant, young men remove the burning logs from a smoking pit to reveal the whitehot stones siganling the start of their ancient ceremony. Withnss the dancers and teh re-enactment of legend and history. Afer the show, you can stroll around the exotic and tropical gardens set with cool fern trees and shady palms. Listen to the music of the island seranaders or join your guide for a walking tour around the Arts Village complex. Talk to the villagers and see other handicraft demonstrations.

Cool refreshing drinks are served at the Cultural Centre

Shopping time is allowed at the Cultural Centre shopping complex.

One of more stops will be made on the one hour transfer en route to Pacific Harbour from the wharf for taking photos.

On the drive by non-airconditioned bus to Pacific Harbour you will see Fijian villages, tropical rainforested mountains, Suva's industrial area and flat pasture land.

THANK-YOU!! I really appreciate your help!

:)