13 Days Luxury South Pacific Cruise - Papeete to Lautoka

Papeete is the dynamic capital of French Polynesia and the hub of the islands' trade, culture, and nightlife. The waterfront market sells fresh tropical produce and artisan crafts, and the city's black-sand beaches and volcanic mountains offer an impressive contrast to the more idyllic outer islands. Tahiti's extraordinary interior, with its waterfalls and dense jungle, is within easy reach.

Raiatea, the Sacred Island of French Polynesia, is the ancestral homeland from which Polynesian voyagers navigated across the Pacific. The Taputapuātea Marae — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — was the spiritual and political centre of ancient Polynesia, and its restored stone platform remains one of the Pacific's most significant archaeological and cultural monuments.

Long considered one of the South Pacific's most romantic destinations, Bora Bora is an island of soapy blue seas and a lagoon whose shades of blue have made it one of the world's most photographed. During the Second World War it served as a US supply base known as Operation Bobcat, with eight 7-inch naval cannons installed around the island. The island was historically known as Vava'u and is believed to have been colonised by Tongans before French annexation in 1888.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and pursue personal interests, whether visiting the gym, the spa, or simply watching for whales from deck. These blue sea days offer an ideal balance to busy days spent exploring ashore.

Part of the Cook Islands, Aitutaki is an island of powder-white sand and warm turquoise water, enclosed by a reef that creates one of the most spectacular snorkelling and diving lagoons in the world. First settled by Polynesians around 900 AD, the island's traditional songs and dances survive alongside the coral-encrusted churches built by European missionaries in the 19th century. Arrival by Zodiac along a narrow channel into the main village brings the drama of a traditional warrior welcome.

Palmerston Atoll is inhabited entirely by descendants of William Marsters, an Englishman who settled here in 1863. Three family branches share the atoll, and the entire community typically turns out to welcome visiting vessels — a rare occurrence. Ashore, the lagoon offers snorkelling among reef fish, rays, and sea turtles in waters of exceptional clarity.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and pursue personal interests, whether visiting the gym, the spa, or simply watching for whales from deck. These blue sea days offer an ideal balance to busy days spent exploring ashore.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and pursue personal interests, whether visiting the gym, the spa, or simply watching for whales from deck. These blue sea days offer an ideal balance to busy days spent exploring ashore.

Crossing the date line from the Western to the Eastern Hemisphere, travelers lose a day, adjusting for time gained crossing time zones westward. For two hours every day, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. GMT, the world simultaneously holds three different dates. The International Date Line is arbitrary, and countries can request to move it.

Neiafu is the capital of Tonga's Vava'u group, a 169-island archipelago set around one of the South Pacific's finest deep-water harbours. Between June and November, humpback whales gather in the surrounding waters to breed and calve, making the area one of the world's most accessible destinations for whale swimming and watching.

Eueiki is a 19-hectare privately owned island in Tonga's Vava'u group, made of limestone laid down by marine life thousands of years ago and later uplifted. The surrounding coral reefs provide excellent snorkelling, and birdlife includes the Tongan Whistler, a Vava'u endemic, Pacific Pigeons, and Tongan Flying Foxes, which are sacred and protected by the King of Tonga. The island has white sand beaches, coconut palms, and a calm turquoise sea.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and pursue personal interests, whether visiting the gym, the spa, or simply watching for whales from deck. These blue sea days offer an ideal balance to busy days spent exploring ashore.

Levuka is Fiji's first colonial capital and the country's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserving an extraordinary example of a late 19th-century Pacific port settlement. Traditional Fijian bure houses nestle alongside Victorian-era buildings, and Sacred Heart Church's blackened gothic bell tower serves as both church steeple and lighthouse. The town relocated Fiji's capital to Suva in 1882 because volcanic cliffs made further expansion virtually impossible.

Leleuvia is a small low-lying island southeast of Ovalau in Fiji, with a length of barely 500 metres. A reef 10 metres off the western beach offers accessible snorkelling among colourful reef fish, and resident sea kraits are often seen resting ashore. The island's forest of tamanu, lantern trees, and beach gardenia hosts Sacred Kingfishers, Orange-breasted Honeyeaters, and Pacific Swallows.

Lautoka is Fiji's second-biggest settlement, known as the Sugar City for its main trade, with botanical gardens showcasing tropical plant life from pearl white lilies to tall orchids. The city's name is said to derive from a battle cry meaning spear hit, called out when a chief was pierced during a duel. The Blue Lagoon offshore offers some of the best tropical beaches in the world.

Itineraries are subject to change.