Noumea Cruise Port Information

Arriving in Noumea on a Cruise Ship

Before I arrive in a port when we're cruising, I like to find out as much as I can about what to expect on arrival. Here is another post in a series about cruise port information for the Pacific.
   Noumea in New Caledonia is an easy port of call for cruise ship passengers. Ships dock right on the edge of town at the cruise ship terminal. Passengers are serenaded with songs of welcome by a local band as they disembark. That is always a lovely way to start a visit!
  The cruise terminal is well set out for tourists. It has an information centre with free maps; a small post office selling postcards, stamps and exchanging money; tour operators offering sightseeing trips around the city and countryside; a cafe and a handcraft market. Shore tours organised by the cruise company leave from the terminal car park.
  If there are two cruise ships calling at Noumea on the same day, one will dock at the container terminal. Free buses are provided from there to take passengers to the cruise terminal building.   When we were in Noumea the second time on a cruise, our ship docked at the container wharf and I took this photo from there of another ship arriving minutes after us.
   We didn't miss out on a musical welcome though. Musicians gathered on the wharf to greet us with traditional Kanak music.
  From the cruise terminal it is a flat, five-minute, two block walk to the heart of the city - Coconut Square (place des Cocotiers).

Looking Down over Coconut Square and a Cruise Ship Docked at the Cruise Terminal in Noumea