Busy day at sea

Today was a busy sea day. This morning I attended a port tips discussion for Osaka and Hiroshima. I then met with my fellow independent tourist to discuss our agenda. Luckily in-between I scored an Asia, World Cruise t-shirt from Princess. When I next stopped by the sales desk they were practically all gone. In the afternoon I attended the lecture "The Story of the Buddha and Reflections on Buddhism". I thought it was nicely done. There was then an "Oscars" auction of memorabilia donated by one of the lecturers. Before the auction was over it was time for our cruise critic get together discussing our plans for Asia.

In the middle of all this I thought it would be better to switch to a Princess tour. Luckily the one I liked was sold out, so I am still independent. My decision had been based on erroneous info. on the length of the train ride. I did some Internet research tonight and it appears independent is probably the best way to go so I'm glad to still be independent. It appears we will be visiting Nijo Castle, Heian Shrine, Kyoto Handicraft centre, Kiyomizudera Temple and the Gion area. Then it will be a race back to the ship with any time left over spent shopping in the area near the ship in Osaka.

A wild card is the time we can get off the ship. We have a finger printing and immigration process that is scheduled for 8:45 and we have been told to show up only during our assigned time. This could cause us to get a much later start on the day than we had planned as the ship's tours are all scheduled to go ahead of us independents. Another potential wrench in the works is that we need to be back on board at 7:30 at the latest. This could put us in the middle of rush hour trying to get back. Of course getting left here isn't so bad as the next port is Hiroshima which is pretty close.

Ans. to Ques.

David,

For Osaka, a group of us are going to catch the train to Kyoto. We have instructions but no one in the group has done it before so wish us well. At least two members of the group also have blogs and they may be the ones you know of. We would love to hire a guide but I don't think we had any responses to the inquiries so we are likely on our own.

Thanks for the tips on what to see. I'm pretty sure Nijo and the Golden Temple are on our list but not sure about the Silver Temple. I'll check tomorrow during our organizational meeting.

For Hiroshima I'm doing the ship's "Walking Tour of Hiroshima". Today was the last day to cancel so I'm locked in. We visit Itsukushima Shrine and Miyajima Island. I'm hoping we have a good guide otherwise this will be a waste of money as I think I could have done this on my own to just see it but I would like to hear the narration.

The middle of the World Cruise

Today we had the middle of the World Cruise Captain's cocktail party. Otherwise it was a normal day at sea. I got my laundry done, played a game of my new card game, pinochle, which I and my partner won. WooHoo! Did my water exercises. You know the routine. It was also a formal night, our 5th one.

8 weeks left in the cruise

Today the gym had a sign out letting us know that there are only 8 weeks left in the cruise and it wanted to know if we had met our fitness goals. What do you suppose they are getting at?

Today we had a lecture on Japanese bathrooms. We have 2 more sea days before we get to Japan. I think today was maybe one sea day too many, when this is the sort of lecture offered. With all the topics they could offer for Japan a lecture on the bathrooms was not on the top of my list. I just need to know whether to bring my own TP (I always do when traveling) and do I need money to get into them. That is about it.

I really needed Guam to be a longer port day to get enough exercise to hold me over for 3 straight sea days. Sea days are only good if the ship is stable enough for me to do stuff. If it is rough, I cut out activities. Today was not particularly rough but not calm enough for me to do much. Thankfully I have alot of great ports to look forward to.

With the tongue-in-cheek comments above I don't want to give the impression I'm having a bad time. On the contrary I had a very pleasant day. The food was good, the weather was fine, I learned to play a card game and I started a new book.

Guam beach day

I had decided ahead of time that Guam would be a beach day for me. It was a good decision. I had a fabulous day. The weather was fine as we caught site of Guam (pic. 1). The pilot was dropped off (pic. 2 is of the boat). We sighted what appeared to be a US Navy boat in port (pic. 3).

Free bus to town

After clearing immigration I boarded the free bus to town. It was financed by a shopping area so we were dropped off there (pic. 1). I went through the outrigger hotel (pic. 2) to the beach (pic. 3).

Fine soft sand and turquoise water

This was a fabulous beach! The sand was fine and soft, the water was a bright turquoise color. There was a reef blocking the surf so the snorkeling was easy. Despite being ringed in hotels it was not crowded. The clientele appeared to be all Japanese as it is an easy flight from Japan. Later as I walked down the beach a wedding party came out of a chapel for pictures. It is a popular wedding spot.

Snorkeling in Guam

Here are some fish pictures. The first is of some clear fish that were just below the surface. There were some very large clear fish at the bottom but I couldn't get a picture of them as they swam off whenever I pointed my camera at them. Pic. 2 is of a group of fish. Pic. 3 is of a very defensive fish. This one kept swimming right at my camera and when I turned to swim away he attacked my leg. Wasn't the biting kind but he was determined that I should go.

Walk on the beach

After my snorkeled I took a relaxing walk on the beach where I saw these beautiful flowers (pic. 1). I then retired to my rented chair and umbrella to relax. Pic. 2 is the view from my rented chair. They also had lockers for rent so I didn't need to worry about my gear while I walked.

On my way back to the shuttle bus I stopped at a few stores and got my souvenir t-shirt. Unfortunately we only had about about 5 hours in port. I could have easily used a few more. I missed the folkloric show as it was 2 hours before sailing time and I did not want to give up 2 hours in port.

For those following on the Royal Princess the Princess tour participants were very disappointed and highly recommend you not take a tour. Apparently the tours were a drive on a bus with no narration. There is a K-Mart and post office so that is what many people did who took the free bus into town. The free bus didn't stop at either but you could catch a taxi or bus from the drop off for the free bus.

Semi rough day at sea

Today we had rough water again. Deck 5 was closed.

I attended a Show and Tell for items bought in port. It was interesting to see the treasures people have bought along the way. I brought along my volcano head, alpaca sweater and some of the port commemorative jewelry that I have picked up.

We also had a Guam port tips talk. Guam is a popular vacation spot for the Japanese because it is only 3 hours away by plane and it is considered part of the USA due to being a US territory. I'm going to catch the free bus into town and then head to a hotel for a beach day.