Travel Blog: More Sea Days, and a Port At Last: Fiji

We left Raiatea, expecting one sea day and then stop in Raratonga. As mentioned in our last post, we were looking forward to seeing something of the island we had last visited 14 years ago. We had also asked a few of our fellow guests to report back on Pa, as he was still listed as the guide for the Nature Walk tour.

We arrived to a very nice, bright day – something of a change from the Polynesian ports – but a bit of wind that was apparently coming from the opposite direction than usual. There was some early activity around the tender platform, but the captain announced at 7:30 that we would not be able to stay. The wind was whipping up a swell that was breaking over the platform, and he could not maneuver the ship to eliminate the problem. Another ship was nearby and faced the same issue, so no-one went to Raratonga that day.

Rarotonga - Hello and Goodbye!

So now we had another sea day to add to those we were looking forward to before the next port of Nuku’Alofa, Tonga. So this stretch became 4 sea days, and the Entertainment Department was scrambling again to arrange lecturers and other programs for the day. So once again, we settled into our sea day routine, for not one, but two sea days, plus the next two that were planned. Or so we thought! Also thrown into the equation was crossing the International Date Line the night of Sunday, February 9. When you cross the IDL, you lose a day and today becomes the day after tomorrow. On a ship this has the effect, for us this time, of going to bed Sunday night and waking up Tuesday morning! The ship schedule for Monday, March 10 said simply “Day Does Not Exist”, a very effective way of dealing with the Monday Blues!!

One of the specialty drinks at the Sunset Bar

Some of the sunsets have been beautiful

Day Does Not Exist!

So after four days at sea, we arrived February 12 off the coast on Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, except that when we looked out the windows, and then turned on the Bridge View on the TV, there was no land in sight. Anywhere!! Apparently the government of Tonga advised the ship at 5:30 AM that due to the Corona Virus situation we were Personas Non Grata in Tonga that day, along with another cruise ship, the Columbus. So, once again the Entertainment Department swung into action! Larry mentioned to Rick, the Cruise Director, that he might want to start unplugging his phone at night so as not to get these phone calls from the Captain. He said that by the time he got to his office at 6:15 AM the word had gotten out and all of the lecturers on board were waiting for him to offer their services! At his 9:00 AM update the Captain advised that they had requested the government of Fiji allow us to arrive a day early and have an overnight, and that request had been granted, so once again he cranked up the hamsters for a 24 hour speed run to Fiji. This is now five consecutive sea days for those counting at home, and yes, some people, those that had boarded in Pape’ete and had only seen one port of call, were getting just a bit antsy!!

We sailed a good distance around Fiji from the
channel through the reef to the port of Lautoka

It was steamy hot and humid all day, so of course we
had an afternoon rain - more than just a shower - but
a beautiful rainbow showed up afterward.

Sunset from Lautoka

Even though we were happy to be near land, there wasn’t much to see in the town of Lautoka, so we stayed on board for the first day. We had a tour scheduled for the original port day, and waited for that before we ventured out. It turned out to be a good idea. It was very hot and humid, and according to people who did go into town, there wasn’t much there to see, not even much in the way of souvenir shopping!

The next morning was nice and hot, just like the day before, and it felt like it would rain at some time, just like every other port day we’d had since Los Angeles. We were going on the Schooner Island Escape tour, which would take us to a boat, which took us to an island for swimming, snorkeling and lunch, and then reverse the process to return to the ship. All packed up and with beach towels in hand, our group was divided into two – one small van for those who couldn’t deal with getting in and out of the bus, and a regular highway bus for the rest of us.

Fiji is quite a large island, as we had discovered the day before, with a more developed infrastructure and economy than most of those we had seen previously. Our guide seemed highly intent to make sure we understood all of this on the way to Denerau Island, where we would meet the boat. In fact, it seemed that he barely stopped to take a breath for the whole hour it took to get there.

We got a break once we boarded the ‘Whales Tale’, our schooner, when we split up and were seated all around the outer deck of the boat for the 90-minute ride to the island.

Schooner Island, our destination

Once we got on the island, using a smaller aluminum boat – that doubled as the glass-bottom boat for the tour of the coral reef – we discovered that it was really just a little too small for the size of the group. Anyone who didn’t get on the first lift from the schooner didn’t have too much choice of lounges or chairs for relaxing if they weren’t in the water. The snorkeling was fairly good, but nowhere near those pictures in the travel brochures. Here are a few photos:

Lunch was provided on the tour, and was actually quite good. There was plenty of choice: chicken, fish – which was apparently marlin, and quite tasty, beef and sausages along with salads and fruit for dessert.

After lunch, the leftover sausages were used as bait to attract the black-tipped sharks that hang around the island. It was quite amazing how quickly they showed up. The guides explained that they are just young sharks, and would not try to bite because we are bigger than they are. Once they grow to a larger size, they just head for deeper water and their normal prey.

Yes, that's how close they were. Monica got the above
photos standing in ankle-deep water with the camera on.

We had a little more time to wander around the island before we were ready to return to the schooner.

Looking toward another small island not far away

It was raining near the ship - and heading right for us!!

Our return trip was similar to the outbound journey in all respects, including the incessant narrative by our guide. He may have been giving us some useful information, but it was getting harder and harder to listen to him and to take it in. We were all very glad to get back to the ship and relative peace and quiet.

It was also Valentine’s Day, which was being celebrated with an evening of before and after dinner dancing in the Crystal Cove. There is usually a ‘White Nights’ party during every segment, so it was combined to the ‘Red and White Nights Party’, with the necessary decoration:

The drink of the day even kept with the theme, and, of course, the photographers also got in on the act:

Before reaching our next port, Bay of Islands in New Zealand, there were also the last couple of sea days to get through. The Grand Gala Buffet and a formal night, as well as a trip to Prego for us.