I was in an elevator last night, on the way to dinner, when a young family got on – a mother, and two of her children.

They started talking about whether they would even get off the ship today, when we dock in Noumea.

“So where are we tomorrow, mum?” asked one – “Can we stay on the ship?”

“I suppose so,” said mum .. “We are going to be in Noumea.”

“What’s Noumea?” asked the younger child.

“Umm – I’m not sure .. I think it’s an island…”

I didn’t bother to correct her (Noumea is, of course a city. The island is Grand Terre, the country is New Caledonia).

But I did wonder a bit – what will that woman (and more importantly, her children) take from this trip?

Now, not everyone is obsessive about researching their holiday destinations.

Not everyone goes to Trip Advisor, and Lonely Planet, and World Nomads, and Wikipedia, to find out what’s on offer where they are going.

Some people rely on the information given by destination guides on board ship, or their tour guides, or whatever.

But to even consider staying on board a cruise ship on a port day, without knowing what the port has to offer?

Lets just say that’s not me 🙂

Now, I’ll be honest .. if you WERE going to stay on board and miss a port in the South Pacific, Noumea would be a reasonable choice .. its not the most exciting destination I’ve ever been to.

But that’s not the point.

I would at least have made an informed decision.

Still, I guess it backs up an observation someone made to me recently .. for many cruisers, the destination really doesn’t matter – as long as the weather is fine, the cruise is the attraction.

And with 270 children on board for this trip, maybe a port-day on board is a good idea for some .. at least the pools will be less crowded 🙂