Our escort into Guam harbour
The dock in Guam
Sunday 8th March - We weren‘t scheduled to arrive in Guam ‘til noon, but the captain put his foot to the floor and we docked about 10.30am. Immigration officials came on board, since Guam is US territory and everyone on board had to be cleared before disembarking, we went through the process about 11.30am and went ashore about noon. Before disembarking we said our goodbyes to all of the tradesmen from UK as they were heading back home after finishing their alteration work in the captains quarters, during their 10 days on board, we had got to know them all. A free shuttle was provided by Galleria Mall in the closest town, Hagnata, about a 30 minute journey each way, the mall was very expensive and filled with upper end retailers, Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton etc, so we passed through it quite quickly and stepped out into the street. It was extremely hot and humid so we crossed the road and went into another plaza, bought some beer and pop and had a look around. The beach was very close and several shopping trolleys were available to transport you around the different shopping centres, but as Izzy’s back was bothering her we just made our way back to the shuttle stop and then back to the ship. The town of Hagnata was basically like any other North American town with all the usual franchises except everything was written in Japanese and English, probably because most of their visitors are Japanese, it’s a three hour flight from Japan. Although Princess said there would be taxis available pierside, in fact there were none until you got clear of the main gates, about 30 minutes walk away from the ship.
The ship was deserted when we got back and after having something to eat, we had the whole upper deck and pool to ourselves.
A group of local entertainers (Chamoro indians) came on board and we enjoyed a folk show before the ship departed around 06.30pm.
Bob, Jim and Izzy on deck
We watched the sail away under a beautiful sunset, then sat talking to friends over a few beers before going in to the buffet about 07.30pm. Also leaving us were the guest entertainers while a new set came on board. They were supposed to change in Rabaul, but because of the ash from the volcano, all flights in and out were cancelled. One of the new acts was Tom Fletcher, a comedian, and we went in to his show later in the evening, Izzy lasted three jokes then announced she had heard them before and was taking off for the casino, (shades of Philipino crew show) I stayed to the end and was quite glad as he was funny.
Sunset over Guam harbour
Joggers on track on deck 10 at sunset
