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Blue Lagoon Cruises - Mystique Princess
Fiji has long rated highly as an ideal destination for the average Aussie or Kiwi family looking for a friendly and relaxing holiday. A few hours' flight from Sydney or Auckland and you're unwinding under a palm tree, sipping a tropical cocktail while the children play in the resort pool. Most Fijian family holidays are spent this way - a week or two at one of the numerous resorts located on one of the many islands that make up this South Pacific nation.
A different approach is to spend your Fiji holiday aboard a floating resort in the form of a 'mini' cruise ship. Many families might not have considered a cruise holiday, but a Fijian cruise is very definitely a family friendly affair. Together with my wife Melinda and our 10-month-old daughter Suzie, I recently embarked on a four-day/three-night luxury cruise aboard the Mystique Princess, the 56-metre flagship of Fiji-based Blue Lagoon Cruises. For a couple with a young child, this proved an outstanding holiday choice. Fijians seem to have a love of children, as we discovered during the cruise.
Departing from the port of Lautoka, 30 minutes from the airport hub city of Nadi on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, Mystique Princess headed north, up along the Yasawa Islands, a 90-kilometre-long chain of tropical islets, coral reefs and deep blue channels. The 'Gold Club Cruise' we were on is one of six itineraries Blue Lagoon offers aboard its five boutique cruise ships.
We set sail at 3pm, and had cocktails on the sky deck as the sun went down behind the Mamanuca Islands. The crew - a bunch of the friendliest, most laidback blokes you'll ever find - were playing guitars and ukuleles and singing as we cruised over the flat, calm sea. We parked Suzie in her stroller in front of them and she went to sleep, lulled by the tuneful voices of her new Fijian friends. Over the ensuing days and nights the crew excelled at looking after, playing with and generally spoiling the hell out of Suzie. She loved it and her Mum and Dad certainly found the free baby-minding services of the crew to be a boon!
Suzie was the only youngster aboard this Blue Lagoon trip, though it would be suited to families with children of almost any age. Other guests included young honeymooners from the US, and middle-aged couples from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the UK and Mexico.
Activities are based on enjoying the laidback Fiji lifestyle. Full buffet breakfasts set you up for a big day of solid relaxation. Plenty of fresh tropical fruits and various hot meals are served every morning and I took advantage of the superb omelette-making skills of the friendly cooks who manned tiny gas stoves at the end of the breakfast table.
The waters around the Yasawas are studded with coral reefs and cays, with the ship cruising calm seas along the lee shore. All cabins have windows looking out over the water and the various decks have large windows and outdoor areas from which to view the spectacular coves, reefs and mountains.
The first day was spent swimming and snorkelling at a deserted beach about halfway up the Yaswas. It was then back to the ship for lunch - again a vast spread of expertly prepared food to cater for all tastes - while the captain steered us towards another island, where we visited a traditional Fijian village for a yaqona (kava) ceremony.
I was elected ratu, or chief, of the passengers and had the responsibility of drinking kava with the village elders. With lips numbed from the intoxicating, muddy-tasting brew, I sat back under the shade of the palm trees and watched the villagers do their welcoming dances. The local kids were captivated by Suzie and she by them. Towards the end of the visit they were kissing and hugging her like she was one of their own. That night myself and a few of the other male passengers fished with the Blue Lagoon crew off the back of the boat. They do this every night. The captain, Vara, has a hand line over the side whenever he can.
The final day came around far too quickly. We spent the day on Blue Lagoon's private beach at the island of Nanuya Lai Lai, where, believe it or not, the Mystique Princess is actually tied up to a palm tree on the beach, meaning you can leap off the wide back deck into 10-metre-deep crystal-clear water, swirling with brightly coloured tropical fish. After playing with the fishes, it's a lazy swim to the pure white sandy beach where a smiling barman and a shady hammock await. A buffet barbecue lunch is served under the palm trees.
After you've had a rest, digested lunch and tried to finish your novel, you can spend the afternoon swimming, snorkelling, fishing, playing volleyball or just wandering along the beach. Sitting under a palm tree in the late afternoon sun with the vast white bulk of a cruise ship anchored up just metres away in calm blue waters, with tropical islands dotting the horizon like green jewels, is almost surreal in its picture-postcard perfection. This is exactly what you imagine a tropical holiday to be like.
That night the Blue Lagoon chefs prepared a Fijian lovo, a feast cooked in underground ovens. Vast quantities of fish, pork and vegetables were laid out on tables and we ate with the tide lapping at our feet. Scads and small trevally fed on plankton, which were attracted to the back of the ship by the lights, the sky was blanketed with stars and the captain and crew strummed their guitars, sang and drank kava. Everyone was happy and having a good time. The Fijians really know how life should be lived and joining this cruise helped us to share part of that.
Written by Jim Harnwell - Issue 27, Autumn 2007