We did a repositioning cruise in 2013 from Honolulu to Sydney.
Carnival was moving the ship to Australia as it's new permanent port. The cruise itself was 17 days. We flew to Honolulu and stayed 3 days in Waikiki to do all the Hi. tourist stuff. All our prior trips to Hi. were to Kauai or Maui and we avoided Waikiki. So this trip we did all the tourist stuff and loved it.
Once on board it was 12 days to Fiji. We stopped in Moorea, Bora Bora, Tahiti and.... I am forgetting one. 5 South Pacific Islands altogether before arriving on day 17 into Sydney.
We flew up to Port Douglas and spent a few days on the Great Barrier Reef, then flew back to Sydney to explore the city for a few days before flying out.
It was a fabulous trip!
The 1 way air fare from Sydney to Salt Lake City was a bit $$ painful, but we were able to trade in some FF miles and get first class flat bed sleeper seats. So much better for a 17 hr flight!!
The cruise ended up being the cheapest part of the trip. I bought "Early Saver" tickets through Carnival directly and with each price drop we received more on board credit.
When the final payment date came, there were lots of people who, for one reason or another, did not make their final payment and cancelled out. When that happened we were offered a corner balcony cabin with 40 ft of balcony and a walk in closet, jetted tub, separate living room. It was over the top! We jumped on that and had enough on board credit to cash it out and pay for all of our expenses in ports and in Australia.
You have to watch for the price drops and call to request the credits. But we ended up with the trip of a lifetime for a very very reasonable cost.
Makes me want to go again!!!!
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