I sailed to Papua New Guinea on the P&O Pacific Encounter (now the Carnival Encounter). My ten-day “New Guinea Island Encounter” voyage took me to four ports in PNG with four sea days - a great blend of floating resort and culture.
The Pacific Encounter (now the Carnival Encounter)
Leaving from and returning to Brisbane, the Encounter was largely full of Australians – a lot of excited and happy inter-generational groups which was lovely to see.
One of the “plusses” of a bigger ship (2,900 passengers and 1,100 crew) is the variety of eating options, bars, pools and entertainment options. On my voyage, the weather was warm and humid but there were days of high winds and rain where the pools could not be used. There were still activities galore onboard and plenty of public lounges to spend time in. There was also a great variety of live music across the ship. And a casino if you’re into that.
Food options:
The Pantry is the buffet restaurant and it does a roaring trade. The food is all behind glass and served to you. There are three other included restaurants which all have waterfront views – Waterfront, Angelo’s and Dragon Lady. All three restaurants (and The Pantry) change menu items during the voyage so there is no reason for menu boredom.
Waterfront is a traditional cruise ship restaurant with modern Australian cuisine. Dragon Lady is Asian, moody and decorated with dark panelling. Angelo’s is Italian. Gun metal blue with an Art Deco vibe, it was my favourite of the three.
I dined at famous Australian chef, Luke Mangan’s restaurant, Luke’s Bar & Grill. Smartly decorated, the exceptional food and service were worth the very reasonable additional spend.
Entertainment options:
There was a terrific Enrichment Speaker on board. Dr Seumas Spark, who spent much of his childhood in PNG, taught me much about PNG history.
Highlighting just the cast shows, “Blanc de Blanc” is an additional fee, adults-only show. No spoilers from me but I may still be blushing!!
“Seven”, “One” and “Musicology” were fabulous shows! The dancing and singing were top notch and the staging was excellent with projections at the rear of the stage adding another dimension (literally!) to the stage.
Live performances are one of the highlights of cruising for me. What a treat it is to wander to the Theatre, watch a fabulous show and then wander back to your stateroom or to dinner or a bar.
PNG Ports – history, culture and beauty all rolled into one
PNG is the second largest country after Australia in the South Pacific.
The first port of this cruise was the town of Alotau. I learnt some sobering facts: only 10% of people in Papua New Guinea are gainfully employed, the vast majority of people are subsistence farmers and only 13% of people in PNG have access to electricity. PNG is on Australia’s doorstep but it literally seems a world away.
The next day was spent at the gorgeous Kiriwina Islands. This is a tender port and P&O offers no tours. The beach is dreamy - golden sand and turquoise water.
A tour of the local village, Kaibola, is eye-opening to say the least. I was taken around by a villager, Benson. There is no electricity nor running water (the villagers collect water from a nearby spring). Pigs wander freely, are hand-reared and slaughtered at feast times.
Next port was Rabaul. I chose to do a WWII tour here which took me to Kokopo. Most of the road was bumpy and unsealed, not having been repaired since a 1994 volcanic eruption but the natural scenery along the way is beautiful.
The most moving stop of the tour was at the Bita Paka War Cemetery. This cemetery mainly comprises graves of those lost during WWII. There was a poignant ceremony where one of our group laid a wreath.
The last port was the exquisite Conflict Islands, “Paradise in the Coral Sea.” The blues and greens of the Coral Sea contrasted with the fine, white sand and lush, tropical vegetation was the stuff of postcards.
Unlike Kiriwina Islands, where there were no organised tours or activities, there was plenty for day trippers to do here. It was also cashless whereas Kiriwina is cash only (the local Kina currency being preferred).
A cruise is a great way to sample the destination ports. This cruise to PNG showed me how different my neighbour’s way of life is from mine, it taught me history lessons that I feel I should know and it dazzled me with incredible, natural beauty.
The Writer travelled courtesy of Citro and with the assistance of P&O Cruises (now Carnival Cruises).
Leonie Jarretti, an avid traveller, lives in Melbourne, Australia with her Husband of more than 3 decades, 2 of her 4 adult children and her 2 Golden Retrievers. Follow Leonie here.
