Cruising to Fiji - Travel Diary

Cruising was an experience I had never really considered before. I kind of just associated it with rich /old people, and the Caribbean. After living in Southampton for 3 years, I also associated it with gridlock traffic.

On the very 'unlike-me' occasion that I actually clicked on one of my GrabOne emails (Basically Groupon but not Groupon), I spotted what appeared to be an incredible bargain. An 8-night cruise to Fiji, departing from Auckland. The price for the whole trip, was cheaper than a flight alone would have been, so I Grabbed-One haha - sorry.

The process of getting onto the ship on departure day was a lot simpler than imagined. We picked the afternoon check-in, and there was pretty much no queuing or waiting around involved. Suitcases were dropped off at the entrance and delivered straight to the cabin. Whilst searching for our room, we were almost instantly greeted by our cabin steward when we reached the correct corridor. She already knew our names - impressive (although we were both called Megan, so I feel like that's like 50% easier).  We had the same cabin stewards throughout the cruise, and they were pretty awesome. They put towel animals in our room most days and left chocolate on our bed. I was impressed with the size of the cabin. It was no different than a hotel room, and there was plenty of wardrobe/storage space (obviously never actually unpacked though). We had an inside cabin - so no window. But they still put up curtains so you can pretend you have a window. I had no issue with no window - if anything it made my daily afternoon naps easier.

The first 2 days were sea days. Each evening, a newsletter was delivered to show all the events for the following day. There was plenty going on - exercise classes, quizzes, parties, movie nights (we got to watch The Greatest Showman on the big screen outside which was pretty cool), shows etc. The daytime activities were not really my kinda thing - I preferred sitting on a sun lounger reading ...with sunglasses on and my eyes closed. I did, however, absolutely love the evening shows, and I did fall in love with one of the dancers - I mean, ok, he didn't actually know I existed, but maybe one day we will be reunited for our fairytale ending.

One of my favourite parts of the cruise was the food.

All.You.Can.Eat.

There were a few different choices. The main restaurant was The Pantry - pretty much a big food court. My only comment was that I felt the choices were a little peculiar. You'd think food delights such a pizza and pasta would be an obvious cheap go-to, but it was more fish and chips/salad/Mexican/Asian food. Potentially not the most child-friendly. Maybe not all children are as fussy as I was? However, as a 26-year-old with the tendency to overeat on a daily basis, I was in heaven. The dessert counter was also incredible, even if I did feel a little bit judged asking for '1 of everything please' every meal time.

On the occasions that we managed to get out of bed in time, the breakfasts were an easy winner - every breakfast food you could imagine. French toast and berry compote was a particular go-to for me.

Yes, it could be very busy and sometimes difficult to find a table, but after a couple of days, we worked out the off-peak times so it became a more pleasant experience.

As well as some other restaurants that you had to pay for (we didn't go to them) there was also another free option to go to, 'The Waterfront' restaurant, which was a much fancier, 3 course, table service kinda thing. Pre-booking essential - we only went once. We may have also on occasion, paid for room service because we were too lazy tired to walk to the restaurant - but I feel like I potentially shouldn't admit that.

On the first full day, most people on board got pretty seasick as we sailed through a storm. I didn't, because I'm the kind of weirdo that can read in the car and is completely not affected by motion (don't worry I did end up with a chest infection that lasted a month, so I didn't get away completely scot-free). The ship was very...bouncy, and it was difficult to walk in a straight line - It was incredible that the dancers that still managed a brilliant show without falling over.
Unfortunately, this was also the day we had chosen to go to the above-mentioned Waterfront restaurant - and I can't say I overly enjoyed my pasta dish with a side smell of vomit from the table opposite. Thankfully the rest of the trip was a lot smoother, and I did not end up a lone-traveller following Megan's (other one) declaration that she was on the first flight back to Auckland once we arrived in Fiji.

Our first stop was Suva, the capital of Fiji. And what an experience that was. Luckily we had been prewarned of the locals that are ready and waiting for you when you step off the ship. Offering taxi's into the city - the city that is approx a 2 minute walk away, henna tattoos, hair braids, carved twigs, etc, etc. It was pretty intense. The actual city itself was not the most pleasant place. I didn't feel hugely safe. We had booked a 'Shore-Tour' for every day of our trip, so before long we were on a nice air-conditioned bus (one of the only ones - we were lucky) and on our 40-minute journey to our resort for the day (or actually about 3 hrs - something we hadn't realised when we booked).  For the journey, we had a tour guide on the bus giving a commentary of the area. He was actually pretty funny - I even took my headphones out to listen. The areas we were going through appeared to be very poor areas. A lot of shed-like houses. It was the glamour that I had always thought Fiji would be. We even drove past a prison, and you could see the prisoners in their jumpsuits outside doing gardening work. 

When we arrived at The Pearl Resort, we were greeted by singing Fijian women and given some juice. We were allowed to use the beach/pool facilities, and relax until lunchtime. There were hammocks, bean bags, loungers - plenty of relaxation. I actually spent most of my time taking photos of paradise because I was in such awe. For lunch, they provided a BBQ style buffet, and some Fijian entertainment - mostly dancers and singers. Afer lunch we were back on the bus and heading back to Suva. We had a little bit of time to pop into the shopping centre (aka add another fridge magnet to my collection) and then it was time to board the ship again.

Day 2 was my favourite day - we were in Port Denarau. It was a lot nicer than Suva, but a lot more 'resort/holiday-like' - there was even a Hard Rock Cafe - still gutted I didn't get a t-shirt. The weather was incredible - it was a 'hide in the shade coz it's too hot' kinda day for me. We boarded a smaller boat and headed to a private island for the day, where were could do activities such as snorkelling, diving, massage etc. I chose to sit on a bean bag all day and relax/people watch because I can barely breathe normally, so the thought of trying to breathe underwater kinda scared me a little. Also, there were baby sharks (doo doo doo doo doo doo  - sorry again) and just no. Again, a BBQ style buffet was available - a little bit more stingy with the food this time - but free Pepsi was available the whole time we were on the island so tha made up for the food. My highlight of lunchtime was watching Megan (other one) wait for ages while they cooked more sausages, and then walk back with her food, only to drop her sausage on the way.

In the evening, we treated ourselves to facials and massages in the onboard spa - oh my god the pain. I think I came out feeling tenser (I didn't think that was a word, but Grammarly is telling me to change it from more tense *shrugging emoji*) because of course, I was far too polite to tell her that I'm a delicate little flower. Day 2 was also the night of the Black and White party and after that ordeal, I definitely needed a drink. It ended up being a night that should probably be forgotten.
In the beginning, I was testing each of the available cocktails on the menu.
In the middle, I was on the main party dancefloor doing the Macarena to 'Wobble' (with a bit more wobble) because I couldn't remember the actual dance, and all the tweens were copying me thinking I had invented some kind of cool new dance.
And it ended with me on the dance floor of the nightclub showing off my Little Mix moves...far too seriously.

As you can probably guess, I had a headache on day 3. Dravuni Island was the stop of the day, and there were no Shore-Tour options, which meant the whole ship was heading over to the same small island. The island locals had set up stalls, and services and the holidaymakers took over. We lasted about an hour and a half before we came to the conclusion that it was too busy, and not only would it still be a nice day on the ship, we would also have more food to eat, so we headed back. But not before I had purchased a coconut! This was also the day I discovered I actually do not like coconut water - probably should have known this as I hate Bounty's and they're basically the same thing right? - so instead I took lots of 'artistic' photos with it and left it for the ants. I'm all heart.

The final two days at sea were a little less fun. The excitement of cruising had worn off a little, and we no longer had paradise to look forward to. Just rainy Auckland. Don't get me wrong, we still had a nice relaxing time, and I continued to love the shows and food. But this was the least exciting part of the cruise. Some highlights from the final days were - dressing up for the Gatsby party, seeing a group of Maori cruisers do the Haka, discovering that Diet Coke was included in my drinks package, and watching an old man get about 10 pairs women's knickers thrown at him during a singing competition.

Overall I enjoyed the cruise and I am really glad we did it - we made some great memories. We did get a ridiculously good bargain and I'm not sure I would ever pay full price. In fact, I don't know if I would do another cruise - mainly because I was so ill after (but that was purely due to my chest condition and the intense room air con/ship of people with coughs and colds - not the ships fault) and I prefer to have a bit more freedom, but it was a great way to see another country. We also met some really nice people along the way and everyone was so friendly. Shout out to #couplegoals if you are reading this!