Sydney to Seattle via Fiji, Samoa and Hawaii: the South Pacific cruise that has food lovers very excited

I have a theory about the best kind of travel, and it is this: the destinations should be extraordinary, the ship should be comfortable, and the food should give you something to look forward to every single day. This cruise ticks all three boxes rather convincingly.

Holland America Line’s MS Noordam departs Sydney on March 28,  2027 on a 29-day trans-Pacific voyage that ends, improbably and wonderfully, in Seattle. In between, it calls at Brisbane, Noumea, the island of Lifou, three ports in Fiji, American Samoa, Honolulu, Kauai, Kona and – just to make the journey feel properly epic – crosses both the International Dateline and the Equator along the way.

This is not a cruise for people who want to rush. It is a cruise for people who understand that the best journeys take their time.

The destinations, for food lovers in particular

Noumea arrives on day six and it matters. New Caledonia sits in a curious and delicious space between French culinary tradition and Pacific ingredient lists, and the result is one of the more interesting food cultures in the South Pacific. Boulangeries, espresso, fresh seafood and the particular pleasure of a decent French cheese board in a tropical setting. Lifou, the smaller island that follows, is quieter and more pristine – the kind of place where the seafood comes straight from the water around you and the pace drops to something approaching perfect.