Day 127: Suva, Fiji

We refused to spend another day in Suva taking the free shuttle to the mall. There is nothing we need to buy, and cellular internet today was fast enough to check on things at home. Instead we started the day with a long, leisurely breakfast on the Open Deck Behind the World Fresh Marketplace. It was warm again, but the breeze kept it from being too hot.  And this was our view as we ate and interneted:

Fiji is comprised of over 300 islands. Suva is located on the most populated one, but there are several others within view. 

The reef is clearly visible from the ship

Finally we decided that we needed to get some exercise, so we left our phones in our cabin so we wouldn’t be tempted to simply find and use WiFi and set out walking from the port. Our first stop was the Suva Market, right across the street. It was highly pungent, with lots of seafood for sale. We crossed back to the water’s edge and walked along the water as far as you can see in this photo. Everyone we met was very friendly and greeted us with Bula! (hello in Fujian) and wished us a nice day. Several people were even chattier, and asked where we were from and if it was our first visit to Suva. If this was our only experience in Suva, I’d feel most comfortable here, but, as I’ve said in the past, there is a darker, less welcoming element in the city. Luckily, we didn’t encounter it today. 

Part of the reason we wanted to walk along the waterfront is that the bridge (below) was under construction when we were here two years ago, and the entire area was closed off. The bridge is a gift from China, and is called the Fiji-China Friendship Bridge. China has made a lot of investment in Fiji in the past ten years. 

The Fiji-China Friendship Bridge

Finally, the heat chased us back on the ship, and we shared a pizza at Alfredos before settling into loungers around the Hollywood Pool. Lunch was also served in the Concerto Dining Room today, and this was the menu:

Day 9 lunch menu, page 1

Day 9 lunch menu, page 2

Not especially hungry, we went to dinner at 5:30pm. I limited myself to just an entree. Headwaiter Francesco himself prepared my grilled founder fillet with just olive oil and lemon and it was delish. 

Day 9 dinner menu, page 1

Day 9 dinner menu, page 2

Day 9 dessert menu

Sunset with Viti Levu (the island on which Suva is located) on the left

We got to the 6:30pm Princess Theater performance of violinist Chris Watkins a little late, but discovered there is a section of seats at the very back of the theater in Deck 7, probably for mobility impaired passengers. There were two seats still available there, and since we have seen this show at least four times already this season, that was close enough for us. We are currently resting in cabin with the intention of heading out shortly for the Hot Latin Nights Deck Party. The weather couldn’t be better for this party tonight, and with the production show singers and dancers also performing, it should be highly entertaining. 

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 52: Suva, Fiji

We had an easy, laid-back day today in Suva, the capital of Fiji. This was our fourth or fifth visit to Suva, and it’s a tough city for repeat visits. We loved our first couple of visits, and did the usual Fijian things:  visited a village, participated in a kava ceremony, watched a fire dance demonstration, jumped off and swam in waterfalls, and, frankly, there’s only so much highly watered-down kava that I need to drink. Our recent visits have been more like how we spent our day today: a free shuttle to the Tappoo Mall (small, but four stories tall) to stock up on a couple of needed items and use the high-speed WiFi there and then return to the ship.

I’m not a huge fan of the city itself, though the people we met seemed very friendly. But it’s a tough place to be. Headwaiter Mehai is undertaking some rescue training this cruise, and we’ve watched as he practiced driving both a tender boat and a life boat in recent ports. Today, several of them were taken to a large pool in Suva where they practiced inflating and working with the inflatable boats that are stored in those barrels on the Promenade Deck.  Once that was completed, they stopped by a bar remembered by one of their group from a prior visit. They purchased their beers, sat down, and were approached by very burly locals who asked for protection money. I guess beers don’t go down quite as well after that; they left immediately. And that’s just the way Suva seems to me.  Scratch just below the smiley surface and friendly Bulas (hellos) and there’s a lot of dark underbelly there. 

This was the first time the Ruby Princess has ever visited Suva, and the ship was greeted by a marching band on the pier this morning. I seem to remember something like this on our visits in 2004 and 2006 so I can’t say for certain whether it was a special welcome or just the usual welcome. I was slow to get moving after my busy day yesterday and didn’t wake up until 8am (therefore, once again I have no breakfast menu to post). I went to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast and G found me there when he finished his DaVinci Dining Room breakfast. 

We walked off the ship about 9:30am and caught the free shuttle offered to the Tappoo Mall.  It’s probably only a 15 minute walk or so from the port, but the traffic is heavy and the sidewalks sketchy at best. We recently firmed up our end of season plans and extended our season a bit, so we needed to buy a few items to see us through. We’ve been very reluctant to spend turnaround days in Sydney shopping, and were happy a pharmacy in the mall today offered what we needed. 

We were back at the port by 1pm or so, but I stopped to have a 30 minute foot massage offered on the pier for about US $14. That felt sooooo nice after yesterday's hill climb. By 2pm I was joining G in the Horizon Court Buffet for lunch.  We rested a little this afternoon (frankly, I had felt groggy all day) and then were in the Elite Lounge at 4:30pm. Friend Virginia was very happy to see us since we had missed stopping in there yesterday, and she wanted to know all about our day on Dravuni Island. She is a bit mobility impaired and didn’t leave the ship yesterday or today. 

The funnest part of the day was standing on the Promenade Deck just before sail away as we were entertained by a local band on the pier who were fantastic and had us dancing on the deck to Abba and Proud Mary.

This band was great and a lot of fun

We weren’t especially hungry at dinner, having had a late lunch and then hors doerves at the Elite Lounge. I had to try a new entree, and that was probably the only reason we went. G had a creamy cold soup and then jumped right to dessert.

Day 8 dinner menu, page 1

Day 8 dinner menu, page 2

Day 8 dessert menu 

Quinoa vegetable loaf in the back with a few prawns added for good measure

It was delicious. 

We skipped the Princess Theater entertainment tonight (production show One Upon a Dream) to sit on the Terrace Deck. It had rained off and on all day, and there wasn’t really a sunset tonight, but the air temperature was warm and the evening was beautiful. Finally, though, we were chased inside by a light shower and that was our cue to call it a day. 

I keep forgetting to mention that there are three construction projects that were started on the ship this cruise related to the Ocean Medallion program that will go live on the Ruby Princess in January. The bar next to the International Cafe and the seating area there has been drywalled off.  The tables and chairs have been moved into Vines. It already was crowded down there; it’s even worse now and I’ve simply avoided it all cruise long. Two other dry-walled off areas are in the Photo Gallery on Deck 7 and on the starboard side of the Lido Deck between the Neptune and Calypso Pool. We’ve been told all of these changes are related to the Ocean Medallion, but I’m not certain how the new areas will be used. 

Suva Port Guide, page 1

Suva Port Guide, page 2

Suva Port Guide, page 3

Suva Port Guide, page 4

Day 8 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 8 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 8 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 8 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 26: Suva, Fiji

We had been to Suva, the capital of Fiji, twice before, and knew not to expect another Dravuni Island-type experience, but instead one that more resembled Papeete, Tahiti on steroids. Fortunately, on both prior visits we did the typical Fijian excursions, involving village visits and fire dances and kava ceremonies and swimming in waterfalls, so we had decided to make today an easy day in town, with finding WiFi fast enough to book some airline tickets we’ll need in a few weeks and update our financial apps being our highest priority. 

The port of Suva is a dual purpose freight and cruise ship port, and, while some green and verdant hills can be seen surrounding the harbor in the distance, it’s not the prettiest city when viewed from water. Or land. With a population of around 250,000, it is a town with shockingly bad traffic and sidewalks choked with pedestrians and markets. 

I felt a cold coming on last evening and slept very poorly.  In a cruise ship cabin, when one person sleeps fitfully, chances are the other person does too, and we were slow to get moving this morning and lingered over breakfast on the Terrace Deck (the weather was sunny and hot and breezy). 

It was 10:30am or so when we finally left the ship, having first mailed a few cards with the Fiji post office employees that set up a table in the Piazza and sold stamps and post cards. That saved us a stop while in town. We took a free shuttle to a shopping mall (think tall, not wide, as it was small but four stories high) just a few blocks from the ship, and from there walked around Suva a bit, in search of the Botanic Gardens (finally found them), but it was hot and crowded and the sidewalks were covered with mangos (really...it is mango season, and everyone brought the harvest from their trees to sell to other people who were doing the exact same thing, displaying thousands of them on tarps lining the streets). 

Mango selling, Fiji style. 

We returned to the mall where we did find 15 minutes of free WiFi and booked the flights and updated the few apps before the time expired. It was hot and crowded there, too, and though we considered having lunch in the mall’s food court, nothing really appealed. We were back on the ship by 2:30pm.

It was actually a little too warm to have lunch on the Terrace Deck this afternoon, so we ate inside the Horizon Court Buffet and watched all the freight operations happening right next to the ship in the port. I tried to nap a little before dinner, but, unsurprisingly, did not. At 5pm the production show vocalists did a few songs from Motor City in the Piazza (we couldn’t miss that!), and following that we went right into dinner in the Bernini Dining Room (ceviche, fruit kabob and vegetarian curry spicy enough to temporarily open my nasal passages).

Once again, we had two different shows to choose from tonight. We haven’t had this much entertainment variety on a Princess ship in several years and we are really enjoying it. We skipped dessert and made it to the 6:45pm Vista Lounge show by Australian  variety team Pearson and Harvey and then (huge excitement about this one) we were still able to get two seats in the Princess Theater for the 7:45pm performance of Mercury Rising starring Steve Larkins, a tribute to Freddie Mercury and the music of Queen. I loved it. He had Freddie Mercury’s mannerisms and flamboyance (and teeth) mastered, and that music...fantastic!

There are many more things happening around the ship every night, but we aren’t often seeing it. For example, Quest was taking place tonIght, and we’ve loved that on Royal Caribbean (I do think the entertainment is a little racier here in Australia. Certainly the comedians have been). Our plan is that, when the shows start getting repetitious, we’ll spend our evenings listening to the several live bands on board and attending things like Quest, but we’re still enjoying the shows too much. It’s an abundance of entertainment riches, for sure.