We did the 13 night cruise from Brisbane to Sydney on 06MAY17 visiting Alotau, Kiriwina Island and Rabaul in PNG and then onto Espiritu Santo, Port Vila in Vanuatu and Noumea on the way home.

PNG - like you would expect, it is quite hot even in "autumn" and as it is a 3rd world country, you have to assume things won't be like home. Always amazes me when people make comments of how "backward and dirty" places like this are, but to me, that is why I want to visit them before the become like everywhere else. Go with a sense of adventure.

In Alotau we did the transfer with Princess to the Alotau Festival which was very enjoyable and you got to see alot of dancing by different tribes and regions. Heaps of handicrafts on sale. Very enjoyable day out. Alternatively you can do the hot walk into town if you don't want to do this and a few different tour operators offer great tours compared to the ripoff on Princess. Read more