Jun 12, 2014
Hotel: Sheraton Tokoriki, Fiji (435FJD)
I hadn't had much of a chance to see the real Fiji outside of the resorts. While I was waiting on the port shuttle bus I stood out on the main road watching traffic go by. Open-air buses, minibus share taxis running from Lautoka to Suva and Nadi. Several taxi drivers asked me if I needed a ride. I did ask them how much it would be to go to Lautoka to catch our cruise, most mentioned 60FJD from Nadi or 80-90 from Denarau. Still a bit expensive but we had a fair bit of luggage and taking the bus wouldn't be very practical. The South Seas Cruises shuttle bus showed up just after 8AM for the quick ride to the ferry terminal. Once there I went to the counter to checkin... of course they didn't have my name there either. I ended up paying cash (FJD145) for my ticket, but forgot to get a receipt (in case Sheraton double charged). I asked one of the agents for a receipt, she got it for me, then I mentioned the Sheraton. She was the Sheraton rep and she ended up calling the hotel and sorting it out there. They said the payments should go through Sheraton and I got a refund.
I arrived back at the Tokoriki resort just after 10AM. My wife had dropped miss hauteboy off at the kids club (several families were there with young 3-6yo kids) and she was having great fun playing on the beach and hunting for crabs, etc. My wife and I took the opportunity to snorkel out to the edge of the reef, a few hundred feet off shore. It was shallow enough to wade out most of the way. Saw some blue starfish and lots of other fish. One of the watersports guys from the hotel was hanging out nearby on a jetski in case we got in trouble.
Didn't get up to much the rest of the afternoon other than some exploring of the hotel grounds. The hotel was only 30% complete and still lots of construction going on. We walked up the hill to the helipad to get a view out over the rest of the resort.
Jun 13, 2014
Hotel: Sheraton Fiji; Nadi, Fiji; Cash+Points
We caught the 10AM ferry back to the mainland today. At checkout, they had the wrong rate listed for my stay but luckily had email showing my originally quoted rate, so thast was sorted out OK. I'd hoped to stay an extra night at the Tokoriki as I hadn't really had much time to relax, but the hotel was showing as booked full. Instead I booked a Cash+Points rate at the Sheraton Fiji for our last night before our cruise departed tomorrow. On checkin at the Sheraton Fiji we received an upgrade to a great ocean studio room, right next to the kids playground. We also dropped off our laundry as we had a week plus worth. Kids clothes prices weren't listed, but when I called they said they would be $1 each (though later we found out that was wrong). The staff dropped off yet another bottle of champagne, I appreciate the gesture but I rarely drink so champagne is wasted on me! I'd rather prefer extra dining or laundry discount instead!Again didn't get up to much for the rest of the day, just hanging out at the resort, going for a swim in the pool. The sunset today was gorgeous, everyone was out taking photos. I had received a 50% off coupon for the buffet tonight at checkin so ended up eating at the hotel. They had ite a good spread, Fri+Sat nights they have a seafood buffet.
Sheraton Fiji
Fiji sunset & moonset
Jun 14, 2014
Cruise: Paul Gauguin; Lautoka, Fiji
A gorgeous full moon early this morning, moonset this morning was almost as impressive as sunset. Today was our last day in Fiji, yet hadn't really seen any of it! Our cruise departed this evening at 6PM and checkin in Lautoka port started at 3PM. I asked for a late checkout at the hotel at 2PM. We dropped miss hauteboy off at the kids club this morning for a few hours to get a bit of a break and had a swim in the adult pool area which was much quieter. Got our laundry back to a huge shock... the bill was nearly $280! I don't want to buy the clothes! Called and asked about the kids clothes prices and they were 1/2 price not $1... I said that wasn't what I had been told and they reduced the price, but it was still nearly $180, ouch. Our bill at checkout was scary for it being a cash and points room for only one night. Had the hotel call us a driver to take us to Lautoka, about an hour away. They wanted 80FJD which is similar to other quotes I had heard. In any case, I spent the rest of my Fiji Dollars settling the bill so it couldn't be more.
The drive to Lautoka passed quickly. The driver took a detour around town and up through the airport. The scenery was lush green sugarcane fields. Old cane railway tracks still remained in most places. Miss hauteboy always falls asleep in the car, usually just before we arrive but she managed to get in a half hour nap. Lautoka is the primary port for Fiji, the main sugar mill (and rum distillery) are also located here. We soon arrived at the cruise port, pulling in just after the cruise shuttle bus had arrived. We got our luggage tagged and boarded the Paul Gauguin, heading to the Grand Salon to await checkin along with all the other guests. We were offered a cold towel and a glass of sparkling wine.
The Paul Gauguin is a small ship compared with the modern cruise ship behemoths. Only 332 guests and it normally sails among the islands in French Polynesia. Most of the crew is Filipino but the greeters (Les Gauguines) were from Tahiti. While waiting on our row to be called to checkin, started talking with some other guests. Many of them were repeat customers, as it turned out over half the guests had cruised on the Paul Gauguin before. Finally our row is called, we checkin and get our cruise cards which function as room key, onboard charge card and boarding pass. We had booked a balcony cabin (all that was left) on 7th floor. The cabin was quite nice, definitely larger than my first cruise cabin on QEII! The mirror on one wall made the space feel bigger too. There was a queen-sized bed and single sofa sleeper. Nice sized bathroom with L'Occitane amenities. There was a mini fridge stocked with sodas, water and beer. The balcony had plexiglass wall before the rail so we felt much safer allowing miss hauteboy out there. We unpacked all our bags, nice feeling not to have to repack for the next 12 days! We set off to explore the ship. There were sevel accessible decks, three restaurants, a spa, fitness center, grand salon, library, three bars and the swimming pool on top deck. The reception had a huge list of movies available to borrow.
They were serving afternoon tea in one of the restaurants and we went to check it out. Several flavors of ice cream, scones with cream, etc.. it was going to be hard keeping a diet on this ship! Soon we went back to the cabin to wait for the ship to depart. We ordered room service dinner (all included), cheese pizza for miss hauteboy as it was nearly her bedtime. Mrs hauteboy was also tired and ordered room service. I decided to go out for dinner and check out the restauants. Two of the restauants (Le Veranda and Le Grill) were reservation-only for dinner and already booked out so I went to L'Etoile. Food was overall good but service was a bit slow and my dessert (apple compote) was really dry.
L'Etoile menu
I started talking with the couple next to me, turns out they were hardcore travelers as well and the husband had been to 120 countries. We started swapping stories about places we'd been. He mentioned to his wife 'See I'm not the only crazy one!' for wanting to visit off the beaten track places, heheh.