Month: March 2026

Leaving Vanuatu we saw steam arising from an active volcano on one of the many islands making up Vanuatu. Since sunset was approaching before we were out of the area, the captain told us we might see the orange glow from one of the other more recent volcanoes. We went out on deck at the appropriate time and despite being out for about half an hour, we didn’t see the glow she had told us to watch for. Without active cellular or wifi connection, we were unable to know when we were passing the actual volcano location.

We now had one day at sea before arriving at Suva, Fiji. Suva is the capital of Fiji. The island had more elevation than we had in Luganville. We hadn’t booked any side trips here but opted to walk around town a bit instead since it was close to where we were berthed.

There is a huge covered market building as we got off the ship. We walked though it, but found it was mostly a produce market. Locals were in to buy their fresh fruits and vegetables. Since we had been warned not to consume anything we couldn’t peel or wasn’t hot, we bypassed the market and headed to the main street.

You had to watch your step here, since it tended to have a lot of uneven places. We had heard from one of the other English passengers that he had tripped in Vanuatu and broken both bones in his lower arm. While they were able to look after him on the boat, it was a good reminder to watch our step. The day was hot and humid and most stores have no air conditioning. Finally we came to a four storey department building and headed inside to a look. Other than a couple of tiny souvenirs, we didn’t buy anything, we just browsed through. One thing I noticed in the women’s clothing area was one part was all saris, to meet the needs of the Indian women on the island. Soon we headed back to the ship for a shower and some lunch. The humidity was just too uncomfortable to stay outside.

Back on board we had a 6 day journey at sea before we reached our next port, Honolulu. See the next post for some of the highlights at sea.

Tuesday we headed to our ship. After trying to decide between an Uber and a Taxi, we chose wrong. The hotel suggested we’d probably be about even but during rush hour, Uber puts their prices up and the cab is a fixed amount based on distance and how long it takes, regardless of the time of day.

Uber was showing about $20 from our hotel. The taxi charged us $47! There were streets closed and it was rush hour taking longer to get there, but really?!? Lesson learned….

We managed to get on board ahead of schedule and then began to unpack. It’s wonderful to not have to live out of a suitcase for the next month! We also did laundry right after supper.

We have the early seating which starts at 5:30. We have our own table; a bit disappointing. The meals are great, but don’t head to the dining room wearing shorts as Paul found out. Back to the room for long pants….

Our evening show was enjoyable. We’ll have opportunity to hear the group again later this week.

It took us until Saturday to arrive in Vanuatu. They ended up changing the port due to storm damage at the planned pier. It would have meant we could still go there but tender in from the ship, so they changed to Luganville so everyone could go ashore if they wanted.

Next stop Fiji!