Rain, rain go away.

After we left the Marshall Islands we had two sea days before we reached Chuuk , Micronesia.  One of those nights we had the Black and Silver Ball.  The dining room was decked out with silk streamers and hanging silver crystal ball. It was very pretty.

We arrived in Chuuk and were happy to be seeing land again. Unfortunately, as we have been getting closer to the East we have been closing in on cyclones which have been causing flooding throughout South East Asia. Though warm, it was a complete downpour as we were released to leave the ship.  We trekked out anyway to see what we could see.  We had planned to take a taxi to the Blue Lagoon Resort and do some snorkeling, as these islands are known to be some of the best dive sites in the world. Because of the weather, the snorkeling would not have been clear so we decided to walk around the dock area.  Due in part because of the rains keeping craft stalls away and the flooding on the already bad roads, there was not much for us to see.  Disappointed and soaked, we headed back onto the ship about an hour later. 

After getting changed into dry clothes and settling in to watch a movie the fire alarm sounded.  An announcement was made that it was not a drill and smoke is coming from the evaporator room, great, at least we were docked.  We sat in our room for about a half hour waiting for further instruction.  Finally we were told that it was from a chemical leak, which could be fixed and all was fine.  I was grateful that this happened while we were docked and which Ty and I were together but was still a bit unnerving.

Leaving Chuuk, we again had a sea day with Mongolian BBQ pool party on deck. It continued to rain as we were getting sandwiched between two cyclones, on to the north and on to the south. The great thing about the MS Amsterdam is that the lido pool has a retractable roof so during times like this the roof is closed and pool parties carry on.  Seas picked up a bit with the storms, but honestly they were still not bad.

Last night we had a theme night.  It was “Flower Power 60’s”.  Ty dressed up and completely looked like he could have walked out of Woodstock.  He got many compliments for his costume. 

Today we arrived in Guam. It is still raining and areas of Guam show signs of flooding.  As we left the ship the rain let up and the weather was overcast and warm with occasional sprinkles.  Not bad. The ship provided a shuttle to the local mall. Guam reminded me of Hawaii; great infrastructure, some tall office buildings, beautiful ocean views, nice people.  Due to the government shutdown, many of the parks and museums here were closed, so we hit the mall and did some shopping.  We then walked down the street to the Chamorro village market to check out the local crafts and foods and then walked back to catch the shuttle to the ship.  Long day already…nap time.  We had a great day in Guam despite the weather and government closures. I do wish we would have been able to go to some of the National areas which we were not able to today to see some of the history and more beautiful area here, maybe next time.

 

 

From here we are arriving in Saipan, Northern Mariana Island tomorrow.  We have an eco-tour planned, including cave trekking, jungle hiking, beach BBQ and snorkeling.  I’m sure we will come back exhausted.

Towel animal fun...