We cruised with Sun Princess from Sydney on 14/4/2015 to Papua New Guinea and Honiara. My husband and I and we took my mother along too. My husband was particularly interested in the Live Volcano, Culture, war museums and just loves the onboard ship life. We have sailed many times but had never been to Papua New Guinea. Princess was also very new at sailing to these destinations. It was the 100 year anniversary of Anzac and we were onboard for Anzac Day. Princess had a Dawn Service on Anzac day which was extremely well attended considering the numbers of seniors for this journey. We enjoyed the indigenous people in the ports who were most welcoming although their poverty is very evident . All the locals sold the same souvenirs of carvings and shells and there were no quality souvenirs until the ship retailer sold tee shirts on the second last day and after we had visited the ports. This was the only option we had to get something with the individual ports highlighted on them.

We took advantage of the ships excursions to see the volcano and various museums and cultural centres. In Honiara we visited a war Museum ( a tour organised by locals) and this was the most enjoyable tour for us. If you were not on tour then there was not much to see or do in some of the ports. The swimming was great in the Island ports. Kirwina Island was one such island but was spoilt by too many locals pedalling the same items and children approaching and basically begging for money.

It was great to visit these new ports and New Guinea , however it is not a place we would return to again and again as we have in the more frequently visited Pacific Islands.