Celebrity Edge - Fiji Transpacific: Honolulu to Sydney

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports and 10 sea days over 17 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Honolulu

   United StatesDepart

   Ships dock at Pier 2 beside the Aloha Tower, which for decades was the tallest building in Hawaii and still marks the edge of downtown Honolulu. You step off into a real working capital city of office towers and Chinatown lunch counters, not a resort strip - Waikiki is a separate place three or four miles east. Most Hawaii itineraries either start here or stay overnight.

   • Pearl Harbor: the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the Bowfin submarine
   • Diamond Head crater hike, which requires an advance reservation for out-of-state visitors
   • Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, with the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned
   • Waikiki Beach and the Honolulu Museum of Art

   Getting ashore

   Docks downtown at Pier 2 by the Aloha Tower; Chinatown and the palace are walkable, Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are not.

   Best months

   Year-round (Apr-Oct driest; Dec-Apr for humpback whales offshore)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Pago Pago

   American SamoaPort

   Pago Pago has one of the deepest natural harbours in the Pacific - a drowned volcanic crater with ridges rising steeply on both sides - and it is genuinely spectacular on the way in. It is also a tuna cannery town and a US territory, so you get American road signs, a US post office and a working industrial waterfront. Ships berth in the harbour within reach of Fagatogo.

   • Open-air aiga bus over Afono Pass to Vatia and the National Park of American Samoa
   • Jean P. Haydon Museum for Samoan artefacts and the WWII exhibits
   • Blunts Point gun emplacements on the ridge above the harbour
   • Fagatogo market and the handicraft centre for tapa and carving

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the main wharf at Fagatogo, effectively in the town centre - downtown is a walk, while the national park needs a bus or taxi over the pass.

   Best months

   May-Sep (drier season)

8. Day 8

   Apia

   SamoaPort

   Apia is a low-rise capital strung along a harbour on Upolu's north coast, with the mountains rising behind it. Ships berth at Matautu Wharf close to town. Samoa is intensely Christian and Sunday genuinely shuts down - if your call lands on one, expect closed shops, full churches and very good singing.

   • Robert Louis Stevenson Museum at Vailima, with the climb to his tomb on Mount Vaea
   • Palolo Deep Marine Reserve at Vaiala, snorkelling within walking distance of town
   • Papase'ea Sliding Rocks, about 15 minutes out
   • To Sua Ocean Trench on the south coast - spectacular, but a long half-day drive

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Matautu Wharf; the town centre is about 1.5km, a flat 20-minute walk west along Beach Road, or an unmetered taxi where you agree the fare first.

   Best months

   May-Oct (dry season)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10

    Suva

    FijiPort

    Suva is Fiji's capital and the largest city in the South Pacific outside Australia and New Zealand - a real working city of government buildings, universities and a busy market, on the wet southeastern side of Viti Levu. Nobody comes here for beaches; there aren't any worth the trip. Ships dock at King's Wharf close to the centre, and it rains a great deal.

    • Fiji Museum in Thurston Gardens, including the rudder of the Bounty
    • Suva Municipal Market, especially the kava section
    • Colo-i-Suva Forest Park and its swimming holes, 20 minutes inland
    • Pacific Harbour, about an hour south, for the Beqa firewalkers and Navua River tubing

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Kings Wharf immediately east of downtown; the centre is 5-10 minutes on foot and no shuttle is needed - but there is no beach in Suva, so anyone wanting sand is looking at an hour's drive.

    Best months

    May-Oct (drier season; Suva is wet year-round)

11. Day 11

    Lautoka

    FijiPort

    Lautoka is Fiji's second city and the sugar port on the dry western side of Viti Levu - cane trains, a mill, and none of the resort gloss. Ships dock at Queens Wharf close to the town grid. Most passengers head straight out, because Nadi, the Sabeto valley and the boats to the Mamanuca islands are all within easy reach.

    • Sri Siva Subramaniya temple in Nadi, the largest Hindu temple in the South Pacific
    • Garden of the Sleeping Giant orchid collection under the Sabeto range
    • Viseisei village, held to be Fiji's oldest settlement
    • Lautoka Municipal Market for kava, produce and handicrafts

    Getting ashore

    Docked at the commercial wharf; town is about a 20-minute walk with a shuttle usually running, and Nadi or Denarau is 25-40 minutes by taxi.

    Best months

    May-Oct (dry season)

12. Day 12 · At sea

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14

    Mystery Island

    VanuatuPort

    Mystery Island is the cruise industry's name for Inyeug, an uninhabited 16-hectare coral islet about a kilometre off Aneityum in southern Vanuatu. Nobody lives there; islanders cross from Aneityum on ship days to set up stalls, run the boats and sing, then go home again. A grass airstrip takes up much of its length, and you can walk the whole perimeter in under an hour.

    • Snorkelling straight off the beach over the fringing reef
    • Craft and shell stalls run by Aneityum villagers, who also bring children to perform
    • Kayak, paddleboard and glass-bottom boat hire on the beach
    • Boat across to Aneityum for the Presbyterian mission ruins at Anelghowhat

    Getting ashore

    Tender onto the beach from an anchorage in Anelcauhat Harbour; there is no wharf, no shop and no shade beyond the palms, and swell cancels the call outright often enough to matter.

    Best months

    May-Oct (dry season; cyclone risk Nov-Apr)

15. Day 15

    Noumea

    New CaledoniaPort

    Noumea is a French city that happens to be in Melanesia - bakeries, boules, French road signs and a nickel industry, on a peninsula in the southwest Pacific. Ships berth at the Gare Maritime right beside the centre, so you walk off into Place des Cocotiers. The beaches are on the far side of the peninsula, a short bus or taxi away.

    • Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Renzo Piano's Kanak cultural complex
    • Anse Vata and Baie des Citrons beaches
    • Boat out to Amedee Island and its 19th-century iron lighthouse
    • Place des Cocotiers, the Fontaine Monumentale and the Petit Train city tour

    Getting ashore

    Docked at the Gare Maritime on the Baie de la Moselle, five minutes' walk from Place des Cocotiers - though only one ship fits, so a second berths at the container terminal with a free shuttle and any others anchor and tender.

    Best months

    Sep-Nov and Apr-May (mild and drier; Jan-Mar is the cyclone season)

16. Day 16 · At sea

17. Day 17 · At sea

18. Day 18

    Sydney

    AustraliaArrive

    Two terminals, and which one you get changes the day completely. The Overseas Passenger Terminal sits on Circular Quay east of the Harbour Bridge, with no air-draft limit and the Opera House directly opposite the gangway. White Bay, out at Rozelle, only takes ships that fit under the bridge, and it has no train, no ferry and no bus at the gate. Berths are assigned by availability, so nobody can promise you one.

    • Sydney Opera House backstage or architectural tour
    • The Bondi to Coogee clifftop walk, or just the Bondi Beach bus
    • BridgeClimb over the Sydney Harbour Bridge
    • Ferry across to Manly or Taronga Zoo for the harbour view back

    Getting ashore

    Docked either at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, five minutes' walk from Circular Quay's trains and ferries, or at White Bay about 6km out, which is taxi or rideshare only - 15-25 minutes to the CBD.

    Best months

    Oct-Apr (southern spring to autumn)