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| Welcome to St. Maarten |
The ship arrived to the port of Philipsburg, St. Maarten early this morning. This is one unique island in that it is the smallest land mass that is divided between two governments......French and Dutch. The French govern 21 square miles of it, while the Dutch rule over 16 square miles. It was the Dutch who prevailed in the end, because they established the first duty free port, Philipsburg, the capital and main port of St.Maarten.
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Amsterdam docked
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The total population of people is 69,000, who speak French, Dutch, and also English. Compared to the last three islands we visited, St. Maarten is not the most volcanic, but it sure is pretty with its beaches, sailboats, yachts, quaint shops, and scores of good restaurants. And that is just the Dutch side we saw today. There is another French side that is equally as nice, perhaps more famous for their cuisine and "clothes-optional" beaches. We can guarantee that the 1.7 million cruise passengers went home happy from this beautiful island in 2012. We know that we did today. By the way, later in the day, we heard that there were six or more ships in port yesterday, with a combined total of over 25,000 tourists on the island. Wow, sure glad we missed that zoo.
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| Pier shopping |
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| Small pier house |
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| Harbour Point Village Shopping |
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| The start of many shops |
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| Little Switzerland |
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| Cruise and Cargo Facility |
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| Dense palms - great for shade |
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| Great Bay of Philipsburg |
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| Small boat harbor |
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| Needlenose fish |
We have been to St. Maarten twice, once in the 1980's and again within the last 10 years. What was here over 30 years ago, was not what we were seeing today. Back then, we may have had to tender ashore. Today we were docked, but not in the center of town. There were three ways to get to town. One was to take a local ferry for $7. each that took you to a pier in the center of downtown. But that same $7. ticket would work all day, so not a bad deal. The next way would be to take a taxi or van for the mile long ride. Or do what we did.....walk. It only took us about 15 minutes walking slowly to reach the beginning of the Boardwalk where the beach started and the shops began.
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| The Candy Shop |
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| Old cannon |
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| Some much needed shade |
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| Colorful clothing |
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| Speedy? |
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| Decorative balcony of a hotel |
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| Typical market |
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| School in town |
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The Oranje School (Dutch)
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The Boardwalk is almost 50 feet wide, and is flanked by the Great Bay on one side, and lined with bars and restaurants on the other side. It has to be over a mile long. Behind this string of buildings are narrow streets filled with all of the highend jewelry stores, clothing stalls, boutiques, and souveniers shops. It is a shopper's paradise.
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| Lots of food, drinks, and souveniers |
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| Really? |
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| Many happy vendors today |
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| Narrow streets of downtown |
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Too many shops, not enough time
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| Police station right across from the HRC |
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| Wathey Square Courthouse (1793) - home to Commander John Philips |
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| Perfect for the beach |
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| Different type of palms |
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| Internet...the favorite passtime of the crew |
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| Mass was in progress |
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| Front Street cafes |
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| Funky clothes |
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| Very pink bouganvillas |
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| The Pirate ship |
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| Entrance to a nice hotel |
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| Taloula Mango's |
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| The ice cream store |
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| Hats, anyone? |
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| The Casino |
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The Candy Store on the way back
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We took our time checking out the sights from the Captain Hodge Pier, where the ferry brought many passengers from our ship to town. Three gorgeous sailboats were traveling across the bay, possibly one of the many water activities the shore excursion office offered today.
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| Three sailboats in Great Bay |
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Way to go......
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| Which one would you choose? |
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| We like these |
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Beautiful
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| Pirate ship |
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| Miles of beach and sand |
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| Lots of cafes to choose from |
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| Going to be a busy day |
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| Carib, the local beer of the Caribbean |
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| Wonder what curried goat tastes like? |
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| Good place for cooling off |
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| Probably have good burgers |
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| Cozy up to the bar, please |
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| Dutch friends like this place...they serve Heineken |
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| Captain Hodge Pier |
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| Great place for swimming |
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| They think so |
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| Boardwalk businesses |
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| Bill on the beach |
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Mostly clear waters
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| Kind of overloaded boat on right |
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Sailboat getting ready to ship out
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The color of the ocean was as turquoise as one can imagine, and the white sandy beach was free of any broken coral, which usually makes it difficult to walk. As far as we could see, there were padded lounges with umbrellas ready to give shade to those who came to sunbathe and swim. Of course, there was a nominal fee, which at some places was the price of drinks and food. Another good deal.
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| Lone palm |
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| Lounges and umbrellas |
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| Hot sands |
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| Lazy Lizard Beach Bar & Grill |
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| Sunbathers |
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| Hillside abodes |
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| Amsterdam in one of three berths |
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| This is the life...... |
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| Bishop St. Martin of Tours |
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| One nice hotel on the Boardwalk |
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| Small boat harbor |
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| Beautiful and clean beach |
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| Safe to swim |
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Many hotels
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As usual, we were searching for that best pizza we could find and ice cold beers. What we did not expect to see was a Hard Rock Cafe in the center of the Boardwalk. Forget the pizza today, we decided to try their generous portion of cheese nachos with Piton beers. The restaurant was on the top floor of the store, where we first bought a city t-shirt. Finding the best seats with the coolest breeze, we cooled off and enjoyed every bite of the nachos. Our waiter was also the bartender with a great personality. When he brought our bill, he added that the last two beers were "on the house". That has got to be the first time ever that this happened in a Hard Rock Cafe. Pretty nice.
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| Oh boy, a Hard Rock Cafe |
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| View from the HRC balcony |
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Really cool up here
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| Fine dining |
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| Carib Beer |
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Cheese nachos to share
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Making our way back towards the pier, we picked up a few souveniers, and also a hunk of Holland gouda cheese. There's nothing better than gouda, and to find it here was a surprise. It should last us for another two weeks or more. Even better than the cheese, was the treat of ice cream, which we found at a small gelateria on the Boardwalk. With a scoop of nutella and one of mint chip, we sat down in the shade of many palm trees to eat it.
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| Nutella-vanilla & mint chip |
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Phoebe, the local dog
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We weren't there for more than 10 minutes, when a cute little dog arrived at our feet. Remember Eddie from Frazier Show? Well this dog was his twin, except for the name on the dog tag was Phoebe, a girl. There was some melted ice cream left in the cup, so we gave it to Phoebe, who licked the cup clean as a whistle in a matter of seconds. She would have followed us back to the ship if we had more.
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| Bridge back to the pier |
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| Connects to the Boardwalk Strip |
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| Local boats |
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| Very nice buildings here |
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| Home with a view |
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| Roadside landscaping |
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| Back to the duty free Harbour Point Village Shopping |
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Amsterdam docked until sailaway at 5pm
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We needed to be back onboard by 4pm for the complimentary Grand Farewell Sail Away Party held in the Lido Pool, midship. Champagne, wine, beer, and soft drinks were served to all who came. And that was just about every guest on the ship. Caribbean-style appetizers were served while listening to the tunes of the Casa Blanca Steel Orchestra. The only downside to this affair, was the heat, humidity, and the crowded spaces in the Lido Pool area.
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| Hi Barb |
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| Are we having fun yet? |
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John & Yvonne at the sailaway
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The smart ones gathered their drinks, then headed out back to really watch the sailaway from port. A few kind waiters, Firman for instance, followed us out there with his tray of hors d'oeuvres to snack on. One of the nice bartenders kept us all with fresh beers and wine as we all enjoyed the breezes from the moving ship. Slowly, many more folks joined us.
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| Many flags flying in the breeze |
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| Cliffhangers |
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| Our favorite waiter, Firman |
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| Yvonne happy with her new camera |
That's when things got interesting. Perhaps because the cruise is coming to an abrupt end, or more so, because the folks were imbibing more than usual (free drinks), some guests ended up in the aft pool, clothes and all. The first to go was Cheryl, pushed in by her thoughtful husband. He did expect the same from her, but she couldn't catch him. Right after that, four more people got pushed in. It was so hot anyway, we are sure it felt good. As six of us wisely moved away from the pool's edge, an elderly lady was dumped from a rattan chair into the water. OK, now this is getting bizzare. This continued until almost sunset, believe it or not. Fun to watch for sure.
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| Cooling off two ways......beer, wine, and the pool |
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| Rum Punch Tou |
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| Birds on the hunt |
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| Leaving the pier |
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| Looks like rain maybe....never happened |
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| Nice day in St.Maarten |
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This suits us
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We needed to add three suitcases to our shipped luggage count, so that was accomplished within minutes with Sarah, the Fed Ex rep who joined the ship in Barbados. We inrend to walk off the ship in San Diego with only our hand carrys for the airplane. The luggage always arrives within a week or less, so shipping everything is well worth it. Besides, we still have shipboard credit to use or lose, and this is one good way to use it.
