Which South Pacific Islands (and neighbouring countries) are now open for business?

[MMDown Under]

Which South Pacific Islands (and neighbouring countries) are now open for business?

 

• Cook Islands 

[Ozwoody]

38 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Which South Pacific Islands (and neighbouring countries) are now open for business?

 

• Cook Islands 

Evidently, New Caledonia & Vanuatu are cautiously opening.

[MMDown Under]

Just now, Ozwoody said:

Evidently, New Caledonia & Vanuatu are cautiously opening.

I have been waiting for the Cook Islands to open again.  I was so excited, I didn't have time to quote my source.

[Ozwoody]

21 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I have been waiting for the Cook Islands to open again.  I was so excited, I didn't have time to quote my source.

We have never been to the Cook Islands, have you been there?

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, Ozwoody said:

We have never been to the Cook Islands, have you been there?

Oh yes  My favourite place on earth is Aitutaki, which is one of the Cook Islands smaller islands.  It is surrounded by a beautiful turquoise lagoon and a coral reef.  The local people are very friendly and they sing and dance like Angels.  

[arxcards]

Vanuatu opens on 1st December, with P&O having secured 2 x trial visits in November.

 

NZ open

 

Fiji open

 

Not sure of specifics with New Caledonia, but if not already open, it is imminent.

 

Tahiti open

 

Hawaii open

 

PNG, at least partly open. Coral Princess calls at Conflict Islands as the 1st PNG large ship visit on Tuesday.

 

And our western neighbours in WA are just about to open too.

[MMDown Under]

29 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Vanuatu opens on 1st December, with P&O having secured 2 x trial visits in November.

 

NZ open

 

Fiji open

 

Not sure of specifics with New Caledonia, but if not already open, it is imminent.

 

Tahiti open

 

Hawaii open

 

PNG, at least partly open. Coral Princess calls at Conflict Islands as the 1st PNG large ship visit on Tuesday.

 

And our western neighbours in WA are just about to open too.

Thanks for update.

Cheeky last comment!

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

Oh yes  My favourite place on earth is Aitutaki, which is one of the Cook Islands smaller islands.  It is surrounded by a beautiful turquoise lagoon and a coral reef.  The local people are very friendly and they sing and dance like Angels.  

Obviously you didn't just cruise there, you spent time there.

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Obviously you didn't just cruise there, you spent time there.

As part of a flight overseas, I used to stopover in various South Pacific islands en route.

Rarotonga has a bad record of cruise ships being able to land. 

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Vanuatu opens on 1st December, with P&O having secured 2 x trial visits in November.

 

NZ open

 

Fiji open

 

Not sure of specifics with New Caledonia, but if not already open, it is imminent.

 

Tahiti open

 

Hawaii open

 

PNG, at least partly open. Coral Princess calls at Conflict Islands as the 1st PNG large ship visit on Tuesday.

 

And our western neighbours in WA are just about to open too.

I got an email this week from New Caledonian tourism. Definitely open for cruises with no restrictions and revamped cruise terminal.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, resordanis said:

I got an email this week from New Caledonian tourism. Definitely open for cruises with no restrictions and revamped cruise terminal.

Good to hear more opening up, as Australia needs South Pacific Islands.

[Ozwoody]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

As part of a flight overseas, I used to stopover in various South Pacific islands en route.

Rarotonga has a bad record of cruise ships being able to land. 

A bit like Easter Island I assume. 

But I like the idea of breaking a flight across the pacific to have quick holiday on one of the islands.

That does sound enticing.

 

[Chiliburn]

I just read a post on RC blog and another site that Mare and Isle of pines may be closed for the foreseeable future, if not the coming season.

[arxcards]

24 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I just read a post on RC blog and another site that Mare and Isle of pines may be closed for the foreseeable future, if not the coming season.

Mare is closed for the foreseeable future due to a damaged wharf. I am not aware of issues with Isle of Pines, unless they are just being covid cautious.

[Suzbluz]

I received an email from P&O this morning about our April cruise. it says that Mare and Isle of Pines are not able to accept cruise ships for the foreseeable future.  IoP was on our itinerary and has been replaced with Noumea. Oh well.  Isle of Pines is my favourite but seeing as it will be the first cruise for since before Covid, i'm happy with anywhere. 

 

Suzanne

[Chiliburn]

Isle of pines is also one of my favourite.

They had a couple of good wharfs there ,2 if I remember rightly. 
I can’t see that being the problem.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Maybe they're giving the coral a bit more time to recover from being trampled on by idiots.

[Hogbay]

DORA heading for overnight Noumea and Lifou tomorrow 1st Nov .

[ekka49]

7 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

We have never been to the Cook Islands, have you been there?

Yes, on the old Pacific Dawn on a 28-day cruise. Would love to call again.

[arxcards]

22 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

DORA heading for overnight Noumea and Lifou tomorrow 1st Nov .

No, it has just been changed to a double overnight in Noumea - Lifou has been removed.

It seems some of the smaller stops are still reluctant to open to cruise ships.

[Chiliburn]

26 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

DORA heading for overnight Noumea and Lifou tomorrow 1st Nov .

You still didn’t tell me if the food improves on longer cruises 

[Ondine]

Isle of Pines and Mare were the first to shut down well ahead of the others.  They closed around late January/early February 2020 if I remember rightly.  I ended up with a magical mystery tour on Carnival Spirit because of that.  Very cautious.  Probably very little medical assistance available.

[cheznandy]

36 minutes ago, ekka49 said:

Yes, on the old Pacific Dawn on a 28-day cruise. Would love to call again.

I was on that too....June 2008?

Rarotonga was beautiful, we hired a car and lapped the island a couple of times.

Called there again in 2010 on the Dawn Princess, couldn't anchor due to the moving sand so we circled the island for a drive by. We would love to go back some day.

[arxcards]

27 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Isle of Pines and Mare were the first to shut down well ahead of the others.  They closed around late January/early February 2020 if I remember rightly.  I ended up with a magical mystery tour on Carnival Spirit because of that.  Very cautious.  Probably very little medical assistance available.

Good point. We just assume the islands are closed to cruise ships, but it may well be that the ship has done a risk assessment, and decided not to call in the current climate due to such things as limited medical or agency support.

[aussielozzie18]

Ovation departing Sydney on 16 Nov has an overnight at Vila (19/20 Nov) Will Vila be open to Royal by then?