Blue Lagoon offers discount on July ‘Historical & Cultural Dateline Cruise’ departure

Blue Lagoon Cruises is offering a 30 per cent discount to all passengers booking space on its 16 July ‘Historical & Cultural Dateline Cruise’ before 14 July 2007.

The seven-day/six-night ‘Gold Club standard’ cruise offers an unique and very limited opportunity to join international anthropologists visiting the largely uncharted reaches comprising Fiji ’s remote north-eastern tip.

The visit by the boutique island cruise specialist’s MV Fiji Princess will in fact be only the fifth time a commercial vessel has visited the region in the last two years.

Per person prices start from $1949* twin share which includes all meals, all onboard entertainment, cultural activities and shore excursions.

Aside from its remoteness, the area is unique in the fact that it is the only place on earth where travellers can see all three of the Pacific Ocean ’s distinct cultural groupings – Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian – living together.

Itinerary highlights include Kioa Island , home to some 300 Polynesian Elice Islanders who migrated into the region in the 1940’s.

The cruise will also visit the 4,000 Micronesian Banabans who have inhabited Rabi Island since 1941.

Rabi remains virtually the same since the Banabans first arrived from Kiribati to escape the ravages phosphate mining had dealt to their home islands.

The cruise schedule also includes visits to Fiji ’s original capital city, Levuka, on Ovalua island and Nananu-I-Ra Island , the home of the Fijian Serpent God Degei who according to local legend created the Fijian archipelago.

Hands-on cruise activities include the opportunity to visit these islanders in their villages and participate in several of their ancient ceremonies.

These include ‘Yaqona root’ (Kava) drinking, lashings of traditional entertainment and a trip to the 180th Meridian and International Dateline at Taveuni and Rabi where passengers can stand with one foot in each of two different days.

The cruise also includes a walking tour of Levuka, a guided tour of Taveuni, including the Bouma Eco Park and waterfall, and a tour of colonial Fiji (Savusavu) including morning tea at the famous Hot Springs Hotel.

A high spot of the overall cruise is the greeting by Kioa islanders, resplendent in traditional war dress, paddling out to the MV Fiji Princess in outrigger canoes to ferry passengers ashore for a traditional welcome.

As in previous visits, the cruises will be led by internationally-acclaimed cultural experts from both the University of the South Pacific and the Institute of Fijian Language and Culture in Suva .

This rare cruise opportunity comes complete with all meals, all onboard entertainment, shore excursions and free access to a whole host of onboard sports equipment.

Cruise activities include daily shore excursions and cultural experiences including village visits, bush and beach walks.

Cultural experiences also include a ‘Lovo’ feast, Kava ceremonies and a day spent at Blue Lagoon Cruises’ private island of Nanuya Lailai . 

A full ‘Historical & Cultural Dateline Cruise’ itinerary and other information relating to Blue Lagoon Cruises can be viewed at www.bluelagooncruises.com.

Report by The Mole