Guam to Chile – Blog Post 1
September 4, 2024
Today is the first step on our Guam to Chile expedition cruise on Seabourn Pursuit, the newer sister ship to Seabourn Venture, the ship on which we took the maiden voyage to the Arctic in August 2022. The voyage will be 40 days, but with leaving early and staying a few days longer in Chile, the total trip will last until October 20. We are fortunate to have a house watch program while we are gone.
Our alarms were set to 0330 for a 0430 pickup for the trip to SEA airport.
We were worried about the flight since we had fog at the house. Our bags were packed and locked, and the two bags we shipped were already in Guam. The car and driver were early by a few minutes, so even with closed on-ramps to the freeway we arrived at the airport before 0500. The fog was not interfering with flight operations, but SEA was still operating in “limp along” mode from the cyber attack last week that took down the computer systems. There were no flight information displays or baggage information. A very helpful curbside porter arranged the wheelchair for Miriam, and Patrick’s sister Julie was already there, checked in waiting for us on the curb. Julie is making this trip with us, and it is her first ocean cruise. The porter even took our bags and made sure they were checked through to the correct destination. Fortunately, the bags did make it to the plane on time, confirmed by both our AirTags and the United Airlines baggage tracking app.
Security was a breeze, there was literally no one else in the TSA Precheck lane, but as usual, Miriam was subjected to the manual physical inspection and checked for explosives due to being in the wheelchair. Even so, the process took just a few minutes and we headed to the United Club on the “A” concourse for a quick bite to eat, since the flight to SFO has no food service. We spent nearly one hour in the lounge, with a good selection of hot and cold breakfast items and the all-important coffee.
All too soon, it was time to leave the lounge and head to the gate for pre-boarding. The 850 nautical mile flight on a Boeing 737-800 departed early and arrived early into SFO, but at a different gate than we expected, at the opposite end of the the United Airlines terminal from our international departure gate. The walk with the wheelchair, which was waiting at the airplane door, took about 25 minutes. Even with the early arrival, the walk took so long we had only a brief stop in the Polaris Club before boarding our flight to Narita. The Polaris Club was nice, large, airy, lots of seating choices, with plenty of food and drink choices, including a sit-down dining area with served meals. We were not hungry and did not have time anyway. Our departure gate was another 10-minute walk from the Polaris Club, at the very end of the international concourse.
The boarding process for the Narita flight was smooth, with photos taken at the gate for facial recognition, and Miriam was the first passenger to board. The business class Polaris suites on the Boeing 777ER are extremely comfortable, with lay flat beds and 78 inches of length. We settled in for the 10-hour, 5231 nautical mile flight to Narita.
The captain announced before we departed that we would encounter significant turbulence about 90 minutes into the flight and therefore the meal service would be modified. Rather than separate courses, the meal was served all at once except for dessert. Patrick and Julie had the beef short ribs and Miriam had the butternut squash ravioli. The meal was quite good, with a choice of shrimp or burrata appetizer, a nice salad, garlic and focaccia bread, along with the entrée. Dessert was a choice of ice cream, apple pie, or a cheese plate. There was the usual selection of decent wines and several types of cordials to accompany the dessert choice.
As predicted, shortly after the meal ended, we encountered moderate turbulence, with even the flight attendants being asked to be seated and checking in with the flight deck.
By four hours into the flight, conditions improved and we were able to get some sleep in the lay flat suites that included two types of pillows, blankets, etc.
Shortly before landing we were served breakfast, with a choice of scrambled eggs or cod in miso sauce. Not great, but not too bad.
We landed a few minutes early, and after a lengthy taxi, pulled into our gate at Terminal 1 South at Narita. For transit passengers there were no security checks, we just went to the United Club with the wheelchair, checked in and spent about 75 minutes before the short walk to our final gate and our Boeing 737-800 flight to Guam.
The flight left on time, sort of, and the captain informed us there would be moderate turbulence later in the flight, so the meal service was very quick. All three of us had the miso salmon, which while not gourmet, was still edible, accompanied by a Chianti wine. The service was very good.
As the sun gradually set in the west, giving us a spectacular sunset, as the plane threaded its way though some massive thunderheads. We trusted the pilots could see them in the dark.
The flight time was predicted to be 3:27, from wheels up to touchdown, so we will arrive in Guam about 2200 local time.
Our actual arrival was a few minutes early, and the US CBP Immigration and Customs process was quick. Our luggage showed up quickly, within five minutes and our transportation to the hotel was waiting for us as we exited Customs. The trip to the hotel took about 20 minutes, the rooms were ready for us, and we were ready for some rest after more than 24 hours in transit.
