Beyond Fiji: Cruise ships branch out to new Pacific destinations

One of the world’s most beautiful cruise destinations lies within easy reach of Australia’s east coast, and many of us would say we’re familiar with it.

For such a fabulous destination, South Pacific islands don’t get that many cruise-ship visitors. In pre-pandemic 2019, it was a relatively modest 750,000 spread over a huge area, and numbers have yet to fully recover.

Busu Island canoe, Solomon Islands.

There ought to be plenty of room for growth considering overall cruise numbers have bounced back and are growing, and that nearby Australia ranks among the world’s most prominent cruise markets.

Indeed, things may be changing. Carnival Cruise Line has been expanding its South Pacific itineraries and next year Celebrity Cruises will return to Luganville in Vanuatu for the first time since 2019.

To judge from recent passenger surveys, Royal Caribbean appears to be considering new ports such as Lenakel in Vanuatu, Mare in New Caledonia, Raiatea in French Polynesia and Vavau in Tonga.

Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Oceania are among other cruise lines that have also increased their presence in the South Pacific. Silversea’s Silver Nova sailed the South Pacific for the first time last season.

Among reasons cruise companies are looking to alternative ports is that ship arrivals into Port Vila in Vanuatu have been suspended since earthquakes in late 2024.

Companies are nervous about another staple port, Noumea in New Caledonia. Although cruise ships have returned since 2024 civil unrest, the situation remains volatile.

Tonga is looking to attract more ships … Vava’u, Tonga.iStock

Cruise lines may also be worried that their repeat passengers are getting bored, since itineraries return to the same small handful of ports in Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu year after year.

Some tourism authorities are keen to seize the advantage. Fiji is looking to attract small ships and send them to smaller islands rather than its mainstream ports.

Up-and-coming cruise destination Tonga wants to attract more ships and is particularly focused on encouraging expedition ships to more remote islands. Last year 25,000 cruise passengers visited the island nation.

In 2026, Windstar Cruises will sail beyond French Polynesia on expanded itineraries that take in Tonga, Fiji and the Cook Islands.

Wind Spirit, Bora Bora, in French Polynesia.

Other ports that are seeing more cruise-ship passengers include Pago Pago in American Samoa and Apia in Samoa. In February Cunard’s Queen Anne (which carried 2998 guests) became the largest ship to dock in Apia. Twenty-six cruise ships visited Apia in 2024.

Other destinations luring in the cruise ships include Micronesia, Guam and the Marshall Islands, which are being visited by increasingly larger ships and more expedition ships.

Coral Expeditions’ 2026 program features three voyages that take in remote islands in Micronesia, Vanuatu, the Solomons and New Guinea on Coral Adventurer.

Meanwhile, Aranui Cruises has begun visiting the remote Austral Islands. Its new 2027 ship Aranoa will focus its itineraries on the remote French Polynesian archipelago, tempting us with another corner of the South Pacific so far little explored.

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