Cruise Day #29 - Mystery Island, Vanuatu

Last night was a formal night—and actually the first one where we got all decked out in our finest threads! 👗🤵 Now that we are officially on our second Seabourn voyage, we were invited to the Seabourn Club party in the Grand Salon. Since it was our first one, we attended… and it will probably be the last one we attend 😂. It’s Seabourn’s version of Princess’ Captain’s Circle Party. The ship’s officers lined the entrance as you walked in, and servers circulated with canapés and drinks.

Two guests were recognized for surpassing 1,000 sea days with Seabourn. One of them was our new Australian friend, Mr. C 🇦🇺. The most traveled guests were also recognized, having logged an impressive 1,450 sea days—wow! 😲

Afterward, we made our way to the Observation Bar, where we sat next to a very nice couple from New York City 🗽 and had a really interesting conversation. It has truly been enjoyable meeting so many intriguing and personable fellow guests, all with such varied life experiences.

We then enjoyed a very nice dinner in The Restaurant, followed by the show in the Grand Salon. 

The performer had an outstanding voice, but his set consisted entirely of Broadway numbers—not really our thing. 

Oh well, a little culture never hurts every once in a while 😉.

This morning found us in Anelghowhat, Anaton, Vanuatu (quite the mouthful!), and more specifically, the tiny uninhabited Mystery Island 🏝️. 

After a light breakfast in the Colonnade ☕🥐, we were among the first on the water shuttles to the island. 

Quite a few locals from nearby Aneityum were there, selling tours and handcrafted goods 🛍️.

We walked through the center of the island 🌴 to a cluster of cabanas, which were available to rent for $50 USD 💵.

Side note: Even though we brought along foreign currency from home, we’ve had no issues at all using U.S. dollars. Today, we were even given change in USD.

We rented one of the cabanas and had an amazing time swimming and lounging 🏊‍♀️😎. It wasn’t quite as private as our last beach day, but it came pretty darn close! Only two other couples were using the cabanas 👍. 

After about three hours, some rather nasty-looking clouds began rolling in ☁️🌧️, and it was clear rain was coming—and likely for a while. We gathered our things and hightailed it back to the pier, about a 10-minute walk. As we waited for the water shuttle, the rain started 🌧️. Perfect timing—we made it back onboard just in time! 

All in all, it was a fantastic day 🌺😊.

Cruise Day #28 - Sea Day

After our great beach day yesterday, we were a bit tired heading into the evening. Still, we managed to rally and make it to the Observation Bar a little earlier than our usual time to celebrate Engen’s (Head Bartender) birthday. Sean, the ship’s Bar Manager, gave a lovely speech, and then we all sang Happy Birthday! 🎂🎶

Sunset from outside the Observation Bar...

Not being very hungry (thanks to a huge lunch at the Colonnade), we opted for a light dinner… again at the Colonnade. After that, a movie while lying in bed sounded absolutely perfect.

I have to say, we are very impressed with the massive library of movies on Seabourn’s on-demand system. There are literally hundreds of options—far more than we’ve ever seen on Princess voyages.

Since today is a sea day, we were able to have breakfast in The Restaurant. We’re still puzzled by how few passengers come there in the mornings. Most seem to prefer the Colonnade buffet instead. 🤷‍♂️

After breakfast, we secured our poolside loungers for the day. I now wait until around 10:00 to head to the Fitness Center, which seems to be the sweet spot for finding it fairly empty—and both of my preferred ellipticals available.

It’s a sad state of affairs when you’re discussing your next meal right after breakfast… but that’s exactly what we did! Veggie burgers at the Patio are the lunch plan. 🍔

If anything exciting happens during the day, I’ll update today’s blog. If not, see you mañana!

Tomorrow we will be in Vanuatu!

Cruise Day #27 - Savusavu, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji

Our ship anchored at Savusavu, known as Fiji's Hidden Paradise. 

Yesterday afternoon by the pool was wonderfully relaxing—even with three or four torrential downpours! We stayed nice and dry in our protected loungers, and thankfully the lack of wind made all the difference.

We had another early evening in the Observation Bar with great music from Charlie. 

His set included Cat Stevens, America, Christopher Cross, James Taylor, Bill Withers, and even a little Frank Sinatra—fantastic from start to finish!

Dinner followed in The Restaurant with Italian dishes that were absolutely delicious. Afterward, it was a quick trip up the stairs to the Grand Salon on Deck 6, where the Seabourn Singers and dancers performed a Latin-based show. Once again, it was extremely professional and entertaining. These dancers are technically excellent and have true entertainer flair!

Our Cruise Director, Ross, with the Seabourn Singers and Dancers. 

After saying good night to several friends, we rushed back to our stateroom to watch the Men’s Final at the Australian Open. What a match!

The seas were very calm overnight, and we didn’t have far to travel—about 150 miles—to Savusavu. It was shaping up to be a very hot and humid day.

Following breakfast in the Colonnade, we took a water shuttle into town.

The scenery was lush, green, and absolutely breathtaking.

Once off the pier, we walked a bit away from the tour hawkers and taxis selling their services—something we tend to do in most ports. That’s when we were fortunate enough to meet Livia from Maze Tours. What a pleasant woman! We told her we were looking for a quiet beach where we could swim for a few hours. She suggested Blue Lagoon Beach, about 30 minutes away. We agreed on a very fair price, and her husband, Michael, drove us to the beach and promised to return three hours later.

The beach was completely empty—no other humans in sight! Due to low tide, we had to walk out about 100 yards to reach the water, but once there, it was incredibly warm and calm. For the next three hours, we were in tropical heaven. We swam, searched for shells, and relaxed on the sand. It was very hard to leave! 

A Pacific Kingfisher spying on us! Those of you that know us well, know about my bird obsession!

Right on cue, just before our time was up, we heard Michael’s car making its way down the jungle road to pick us up.

Some views on our way back to town...

He dropped us off back where we started, and we spent some time meandering around town while Debbie did a bit of shopping. 

Eventually, we returned to the ship and enjoyed lunch in the Colonnade.

As we were heading back on the water shuttle, I noticed a platform open at the waterline at the rear of the ship. One of our fellow passengers explained that when permitted by local authorities, Seabourn puts out water toys—kayaks, paddle boats, and even banana boats and rafts pulled by speedboats. How cool is that! 😎

We are not sure what we are doing for dinner tonight. Check tomorrow's blog for our decision!