Noumea.Our final stop yesterday was the island of Grand Terre and the town of noumea, part of New Caledonia. We had to dock at the working port section of the harbour, because our ship is too long to dock at the main cruise terminal. Because we were at a working but there was no wandering around allowed once we got off the ship. We had to get straight onto a shuttle bus which would then drive you to, either the town, or to your tour destination.This port of call...

Sea day!So we have left Fiji and are now heading back toward New Caledonia and the port of noumea. Today has been a restful sea day.... pool, trivia (which we came joint first in again) and drinks at crooners.Our trivia partners, Chris and Dianne, have been great quizzers and we will miss them once we leave the ship.This evening we watched Star Wars movie under the stars on the top deck. Awesome film...Also.... our room steward, Jose, has been having great fun w...

The tiny island of Mare. (Pronounced - Ma ray)Usually, as we approach a port, we can see the land mass either side of the ship. This island is so small that we couldn't even see it on the forwards facing ship web cam until we were right on top of it. Nestled in the South Pacific, Mare is a hidden gem and one of the New Caledonia islands. It was named as such by the explorer. Captain Cook, who reckoned it bore such similarities to the Scottish Caledonia isla...

First day at sea and what a good day we have had. Our day began very early, around five thirty Aussie time, 16:30 UK time. Both Dave and I were wide awake and unable to get back to sleep and so we did what all normal people do at five thirty in the morning, we went to the gym.I'd forgotten just how impressive there gym on board the ship was.... there is everything I need to keep up my weights work, including a smith machine. Obviously, the gym was empty......

Second day at sea.Another really good day on board the gorgeous emerald princess. Today, finally, I asked an Aussie what Pom meant. We get called it all the time but I had no idea what the actual origin of the word was or what it stood for. We got a few different answers but all around the same theme. One suggested Pom was spelt:- POME. And stood for :- "prisoner of mother England". And another couple told us that it was spelt POHM and stood for "prisoner of...