Today's port of call was Guam, an unincorporated US territory, located in the Southern Mariana Islands of Micronesia. The capital is Hagatna and the population is over 163,000 people. The indigenous language is Chamorro, but most speak English. The US has a military base and Anderson Air Force base with a population of 22,000. Guam is Micronesia's most populous and largest island that is filled with World War II history, but also a place of tropical waterfalls, beautiful beaches, and parks.
Everyone has heard of Spam, but have you ever heard of Guam Spam? Hormel actually makes a hot and spicy tabasco-flavored Spam just for this island. We believe this canned meat is popular throughout all of the South Pacific. We have seen it on shelves in Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, and Tonga to name a few. Even spotted on Christmas Island. As kids, we enjoyed fried Spam sandwiches on occasion….not so much these days.
The Zuiderdam arrived early to Apra Harbor, but once docked, we had to wait for the customs and immigrations folks to arrive. The plan was to have the guests and crew members do a face to passport check beginning at 8am, but that did not happen. More than once, Kimberly had to announce politely for the people that were lining up early to enter the upper dining room, to please go and have coffee somewhere until they were called. The officials had to set up their tables and could not do that if the hallway was clogged.
We were in no hurry to get off, so it was breakfast as normal in the Pinnacle Grill. Our deck was scheduled in the middle, so after we ate, we wandered outside on the promenade deck to watch the first of the guests getting off of the gangway. Of course, the first off were the tour groups. There was one excursion today and it was the highlights of Guam for 3 ½ hours for $150. One hundred and fifty passengers took the morning tour, and the same amount went in the afternoon. Every guest was given a tiny seashell necklace, just like the ones we used to get in Hilo Hatties. A group of local ladies handed them out.
Since we have visited all of the WWII historical sights in 2017, we were on our own today. Leaving the ship around 10am, we joined a waiting bus for the free ride to downtown. Specifically, we had a 30 minute ride to the Dusit Thani Guam Resort in downtown Tumon. We did remember the ride along the scenic coastline, but this time we went to the high rent district of resorts and the most extravagant stores. There were the big names of hotels such as the Hyatt Regency, Outrigger Resort, Guam Reef Hotel, the Westin and our destination - the Dusit Thani Guam Resort. A Thai-themed property, it was beautiful inside and out. Surrounding the hotels were stores like Gucci, Prada, Chanel, etc. There were dozens of eateries from fancy to popular such as California Pizza Kitchen, Tony Romas, IHOP, TGI Fridays, and more. But the best discovery was finding the Hard Rock Café right next to the resort. It would not open until after 11am, so we took a long walk in most of the air-conditioned malls that opened earlier.
By the way, it was very hot and humid today. The skies were clear and blue early on, but suddenly clouds appeared and by 9:15am, it was raining. A big passing cloud, but enough to bring the umbrellas just in case. Never did need them. The temperature had to be in the high 80's, but the humidity had to be in the 90% range. Running into Christel, she showed us where the reasonable shopping was located like Macy's and Ross, but with the heat we decided not to try it. And besides, it was mostly uphill.
By noontime, we back-tracked to the attached mall of the Dusit Thani Resort, and walked through all of the shops on two levels. We just happened to find the inside entrance to the Hard Rock Café, and decided it was time for those ice cold beers. It took some time before the draft beers arrived…like 20 minutes. The restaurant filled up quickly and they appeared to be short-staffed. Kimberly had mentioned in her talk that Guam is similar to Hawaii….they do things at their own speed, which is much slower than us. And we had plenty of time to get back to the ship before 4:30pm. We enjoyed a haystack salad with Tupelo fried chicken. This favorite of ours has been eliminated from most menus, and we were pleased to find it here today. By the time we left after 1pm, there was a line of folks waiting for tables.
Their shop was located downstairs on the street level. We noticed that they were selling Saipan t-shirts as well as the Guam t's. The shop girl said that the Saipan HRC had closed permanently, and all of their clothing was 40% off. Well that saves time tomorrow looking for a t-shirt in Saipan, which we never would have found if they are closed.
Back to the shuttle, the ride was 30 minutes even with traffic. We did have to show our room keys and ID's before we left the bus. Then our bags were searched. Getting on the ship, we still went through the xray like always. It was wonderful getting back to the room where we worked on photos and reports.
The Captain took the ship out of the harbor a bit later than expected. The Coast Guard promised to accompany us out of the harbor, but they showed up late. With the help of two tugs, and the small gun boat, we sailed into the Philippine Sea, turned north, and headed towards our next port of Saipan tomorrow.
Dinner had a nice appetizer of Shanghai ribs. Adding salads, we ordered one sweet and sour duck with noodles, and one flat iron steak. The rolls still are coming hard as rocks, and we are surprised no other guests have commented about it. Or perhaps they are not eating them. Our waiter suggested getting brioche bread tomorrow. That might work. Desserts were one strawberry tart and a peach crisp with a small scoop of ice cream.
The entertainment tonight was a repeat of this afternoon's movie, Rogue Agent. Some might call this dark night without a live show. This seems to be the pattern so far this cruise.
Bill & Mary Ann
