Queen Victoria - Hawaii & South Pacific Crossing: Los Angeles to Sydney

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 13 sea days over 18 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Los Angeles, CA

   United StatesDepart

   Ships berth at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, under the green span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge and ringed by container cranes. This is a working port rather than a waterfront to stroll, and it is overwhelmingly a turnaround terminal for Mexican Riviera and Hawaii runs. Los Angeles proper starts about 25 miles inland, so most passengers meet a freeway before they meet a beach.

   • Tour the battleship USS Iowa, moored a short walk up the channel from the terminal
   • Point Fermin Lighthouse and the collapsed bluffs of Sunken City on the San Pedro headland
   • Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the tide pools below it
   • Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier if you are willing to spend the day in traffic

   Getting ashore

   Docks at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro; there is no walkable city here, and downtown, Hollywood or Santa Monica each mean 45-75 minutes by road.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Nov clearest; May-Jun often overcast on the coast)

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

   Hilo

   United StatesPort

   Hilo is the wet, green, unpolished side of the Big Island - it takes well over 100 inches of rain a year and looks nothing like the resort coast. The pier is an industrial one a few miles from a downtown of old plantation-era storefronts. Nearly everyone uses the day to get to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is roughly 45 minutes inland and the reason ships call here at all.

   • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea's caldera rim and the Thurston lava tube
   • Rainbow Falls and Akaka Falls, both short stops close to town
   • Liliuokalani Gardens and the Pacific Tsunami Museum in downtown Hilo
   • Mauna Kea visitor station on the slope of the mountain

   Getting ashore

   Docks at a commercial pier a few miles from downtown Hilo; shuttles or taxis are needed, and the volcano park is a separate 45-minute drive.

   Best months

   Year-round (Apr-Sep drier; volcanic activity varies and can change what is open in the park)

8. Day 8

   Honolulu

   United StatesPort

   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)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11 · At sea

12. Day 12 · At sea

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14

    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)

15. Day 15 · At sea

16. Day 16

    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)

17. Day 17 · At sea

18. Day 18 · At sea

19. Day 19

    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)