At the beginning of September, all three of us headed into Sydney to board the Carnival Spirit! We booked this cruise because a) it visited several of the South Pacific islands we wanted to see; b) it fit into our schedule; and c) the ship still had balcony staterooms available.
This cruise was to be our last true vacation before our move home to Canada. We have been fortunate enough to see all of the major sights in both Australia and New Zealand, but still had a desire to see a bit more of the South Pacific. We figured a cruise would make the best use of our time.
We were a bit skeptical when deciding to book a cruise as we've never been on one before. We were also a bit skeptical choosing a Carnival cruise given its reputation,
but it was our only choice since we were booking at the
last minute (4 months ahead of time is considered last minute in
Australia -- many of the cruises book up more than a year in advance
here).
So what did we think? We LOVED it! Carnival actually surprised us. The cruise was well planned out, there was lots to do, and we were treated like royalty. Honestly, we were quite surprised! The food was very good (and there was LOTS of it!), but it was the staff that made the cruise for us. They did everything they could in their power to make this trip enjoyable and relaxing. The fact that they all LOVED Matty was just icing on the cake! ;-)
The cruise itself was 10 nights long. It had three full days at sea upon departing Sydney before arriving at our first stop -- Port Vila, Vanuatu. From there it headed to Mystery Island (Vanuatu), then to Lifou (New Caledonia), and then finally to Noumea (New Caledonia). The islands themselves were ok (nothing compared to the Caribbean), but we still had a nice relaxing time. I think our favorite stop was Mystery Island because we were craving a simple beach day. Its hot temps, blue water, and soft sand did not disappoint!
What did we learn?
- We loved being rocked to sleep each night by the waves.
- A balcony stateroom is fantastic....and mandatory. ;)
- You can gain a lot of weight if you truly take advantage of all there is on offer!
Here are a few pics from our cruise! :-)
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| Drink with a view - to start the cruise off right! |
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| Central elevator area |
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| Atrium |
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| Splashpark that Matty played at |
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| Fastest water slide at sea! |
Pictures from the islands:
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| Port Vila |
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| Mystery Island |
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| Mystery Island |
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| Mystery Island - Where cannibalism was prev. practiced |
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| Lifou, New Caledonia |
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| Lifou, New Caledonia |
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| Lifou, New Caledonia |
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| Yes, we took a train tour of Noumea :o |
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| l'Anse Vate, Noumea |
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| Noumea's fantastic coastline |
