This was Disney’s inaugural cruise to the South Pacific. The Wonder, therefore, got assigned the lousy ports where shipping containers are offloaded and stacked at not only Pago Pago, Suva, and Noumea but also at Sydney. There’s a pecking order for cruise lines, and those that have been cruising in the area for some time apparently get priority for the nicer ports. At Suva, someone did say that the nicer port is located on the other side of the Island but is too shallow for the Wonder. I remember seeing a lot of mud being stirred up as we approached the port there.
We, however, did love the stop at Pago Pago except the humidity was unbelievable. The Samoan’s were very nice and so happy to see us. Apparently, the Wonder is the biggest cruise ship to ever dock there. I do recommend visiting the National Park Office there. It's located about 1/2 mile from the port and is not only interesting, but it has AC.
Suva on the other hand is noted to be the “Capitol of the Third World” and it sure seemed like it. We didn’t enjoy our time there at all. We both felt very uncomfortable while walking around there on our own. We even thought we were about to be mugged a couple of times. As mentioned previously, we disembarked there on a Sunday and almost everything was closed. I was told by a friend in the know that the nicer areas in Fiji are on the smaller surrounding islands.
Noumea is a modern city popular with Australians for vacations. We did the wine and cheese tasting excursion, which was just okay. It was a somewhat disappointing experience for the
DCL price. It involved a very-short bus ride to a tiny wine shop/bar where we were given three small samples of wine and cheese with a couple of crackers/bread slices. The wines were all imported from France, which one would expect since New Caledonia is a French Territory. We were then taken to a WWII memorial located atop an overlook. It includes a couple of large artillery pieces that were used to protect the harbor. Then rather than being let out near the port to be able to investigate the nearby shopping area, the bus returned to the ship. Also mentioned previously you could take a free bus back to the area and I did that to try to do a little shopping. But I felt very rushed because of having to be back on the Wonder by the required time.
Sydney by far was our favorite place to be, but like Honolulu and Waikiki Beach it is so crowded. We spent five days there and tried to see as much as possible. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is located very close to the Town Hall Complex and a couple of blocks from the QVB and the Tram. The Tram is wonderful and traverses the center of the city going from near the domestic airport all the way to Circular Quay where the nice port and main tourist area is located along with the Opera House and Sydney bridge. After finding our bearings we visited the QVB more than once (it's a beautiful 4-story mall), Darling Harbour, and Circular Quay a number of times. We also spent a lot of time in the huge Royal Botanical Gardens and at The Rocks. The outdoor art/food market at the Rocks on the weekend is especially great. On one day we also took a Harbour Cruise to the Taronga Zoo, which I highly recommend (make sure you bring a sun hat and water).
On our way home we stayed on Oahu at Disney’s Aulani Resort for five nights. While there we visited some gorgeous beaches but, unfortunately, the edge of some of them along the highway is filled with homeless -- living in either tents or homemade shacks. We were surprised to see that. We were also overwhelmed by the crowding and traffic on the island. There is no rush hour that we could discern. It was unbelievable whenever we drove anywhere, including to the North Shore.
We arrived home exhausted and sick due to not being able to sleep on a plane and crossing the numerous time zones -- including the International Date Line twice. Having night flights was bad because we were up all day before arriving at our next destination in the morning and being up all of that day.
All in all, we're seasoned travelers. We've been to 29 countries so far, and this trip was an interesting experience. But one I would not want to repeat. And if I ever go back to Hawaii, I'd go to either Kaui or back to the Big Island (we've been there twice in the past) where things are not so hectic. Aulani is a beautiful resort but unless you enjoy just using the water facilities all day, it's terribly crowded like the rest of the Island and the food prices there are outrageous. We ate elsewhere, usually at Eggs & Things and Monkeypod which are located right across the street.
