Cruise 03: Back to Fiji

Monday, August 04, 2025
Port: Savusavu, Fiji

Our second to last stop on the cruise was in Savusavu in Fiji. The day was grey and overcast, masking much of the natural beauty of the island. I could see rolling hills across the water which I could imagine being stunning in the sun. I worried that it may rain during the day, but the forecast didn’t call for any precipitation.

Taking the tender boat across to the port, I was caught off guard by how far east the tender dock was in the small town. I’d expected us to dock closer to the ship, which would have allowed me to walk to a nearby resort that supposedly had a beach. When I got to town, I spent a few minutes walking around the center and checking out the various stores. I didn’t see many restaurants where I could grab lunch, so I decided to head out of town for a walk. Along the way, I stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks (peanuts and a drink).

I decided to walk over to the resort that I’d found on Google Maps. It was about a 40-minute walk from town and the route followed along the waterfront the entire time. Thankfully the road had clear views of the water without any buildings or fences getting in the way. There wasn’t much of a beach to be seen anywhere though. There were some small, narrow bands of dark sand, interspersed between large boulders making up a barrier along the water.

When I reached the ‘resort’ I was disappointed to discover that it was that in name only. It looked like a decent place to stay, but the ‘beachfront’ was laughable. It was the largest stretch of sand that I’d come across, but about the size of a school bus. However, it was not an appealing stretch of sand. It was quite clear that the best or even just the nice beaches were monopolized by the expense resorts throughout the South Pacific. Indeed, many of them brought in the sand to create man-made beaches, which are deceiving people around the world that the entire island is a paradise.

I considered walking further along the road, but nothing ahead offered anything different from what I’d already seen. Turning around, I made the walk back to town. There was a restaurant at the dock where the tender had dropped me off earlier, but it was packed by the time I got back and there was a queue building up. I didn’t feel like waiting, so I hopped on the next tender back to the ship.

Predictably, my afternoon was spent at the atrium, sipping coffee and reading. I had been planning potential trips over the course of the next year as well, which I always find captivating. We set sail in the late afternoon, just as I was heading up to have dinner. For the first time, there were several Asian-themed dishes for dinner tonight! I got fried rice, with stir-fry pork, and General Tsao chicken. … I should have known better. There was zero flavor to any of the food. I’m not sure how one can make a flavorless fried rice, but they accomplished that feat! I ended up not finishing my plate because it was so off-putting. I ended up having my usual salad and pasta. I crawled into bed around 22:00, happily knowing that we were sailing to the final port – this awful cruise was almost over!

 
Tuesday, August 05, 2025 – Wednesday, August 06, 2025
Port: Lautoka, Fiji

The last port of the cruise was in Lautoka, Fiji, located about 45 minutes from where I had stayed in Nadi a couple weeks ago. While Nadi had island charm to it as I drove through to my hotel, Lautoka lacked anything of interest. From the deck of the ship I looked out at the port and was immensely disappointed by what I saw. The port was heavily industrialized – by far the most industrial port we’d called at during the cruise – and there was nothing nearby that offered any interest.

Of course, the cruise offered excursions for passengers, including a day at a nearby Hilton resort… for $200 per person. It was a glorified shuttle to the resort and paid an admission fee. I could not – and would not – justify spending that kind of money to sit around a resort. The other excursions were not eye-catching either. A search on Google Maps showed that there was nothing in or around Lautoka worth seeing or doing. This drab port was the fitting end to this extraordinarily bad cruise.

I spent the morning on board the ship until lunch time, when I decided to head out for a little walk. If nothing else, it would get me out and about rather than just sitting around all day. Walking through the port to reach the main street wasn’t interesting – rows of shipping containers and trucks. When I reached the road, I went in the direction of town. It was an unpleasant walk, with nothing pretty nearby to offer any respite to the dreariness of the industrial area. I came across a McDonald’s where I unashamedly stopped for lunch. Aside from the meal at the café on Samoa, it was the best meal I’d had since the cruise began back in Tahiti.

I soon returned to the ship where I spent the rest of the afternoon in the atrium. It was interesting to people watch as many people were dressed up for the farewell dinners around the ship. The buffet restaurant was serving pork ribs and I decided to give them a try. They were alright, but I soon went back for my usual salad and pasta. I was so happy that this was my final dinner onboard the Norwegian Sun.

This evenings entertainment included a ventriloquist performing in the theater. I had not gone to any of the nightly shows during the cruise and I seriously considered heading out to see the one tonight. Then I remembered how cringe the shows were on the previous cruise. They had been so uncomfortable sitting through that I knew going to a show on the Sun would elicit similar feelings. In the end, I spent the evening in my cabin watching TV before bed.

I was up early the next morning so I could get my small bags packed before breakfast. Today was disembarkation day – finally! I just had a small carry-on sized suitcase and my backpack, so it took no time for me to get everything together. As I headed out for breakfast at the buffet, I marveled at the size of the bags of other passengers that had been left in the hallways. Seeing their bags, one would think that they were traveling for months on end.

Breakfast was so-so, but I was glad to have something to eat before leaving. They began calling groups for this allotted disembarkation time. Mine was scheduled for 08:15, but it was delayed by nearly an hour. The stairwell leading down to the exit was backlogged for unknown reasons. When I finally got off the ship, I made my way over to the airport transfer area so I could take the bus arranged by the cruise ship. It was damnably difficult to locate the bus because there were no signs or people to ask for help. So many taxis and private shuttles were in the area, with drivers trying to attract customers. I ended up following another passengers and together we found the airport bus.

At 10:00 we arrived at the airport and my long wait began. My flight to Singapore wasn’t until 23:00, so I had 13 hours to wait around the airport. I ended up going to the Burger King, where I spent must of the time writing and watching NetFlix. I also went to the café next door later in the afternoon. It sounds awful, but I had enough to help me pass the time.

I finally boarded my flight at 22:00 for the ten hour flight to Singapore. I had an aisle seat and I managed to sleep for the majority of the flight. I was so tired after the long day sitting around at the airport.

I was so excited to be heading home. If I had to do it all over again, I would have skipped this cruise entirely and visited the islands on my own. However, the logistics of flying to and from these islands isn’t simple, especially with remote places like the Cook Islands (which is what attracted me to the cruise). I’ve determined that cruises are just not my thing – at least not doing them solo. There are two, maybe three, more cruises that I will take to help me visit some additional countries as they offer the easiest, and sometimes safest, ways to visit. I will endeavor to find someone to go with me on those cruises though – hopefully Thinh will be able to take time off from work to join me. He would have come with me on this cruise, but since he’d just started a new job and we have a trip coming up in six months, he had to stay home.

Now I was eagerly flying home to Hanoi – and my husband! This summer’s trip had some ups and downs along the way. Overall it was not the experience that I’d hoped it would be, but I had some interesting adventures. Now I’m solely focused on relaxing back at home and spending quality time with Thinh.