Our port of call today was the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin. Why the two names? St. Maarten is Dutch, while St. Martin is French. It is the only island that is shared by two countries. The island consists of 37 square miles, with Philipsburg the capital of the Dutch side, and Marigot the capital of the French side. There are 77,000 residents that speak Dutch, French, and English.
Locals say that the Dutch side has the best shopping, while the French are famous for their cuisine. It has been estimated that the salt trade began 4000 years ago here, but today, with as many as seven ships in port in one day, tourism has far exceeded the salt trade. There are 37 beaches and loads of resorts and hotels. One of the big events here occurs in late February, is the Heineken Regatta, where 300 sailboats compete from around the world.
Most of the activities revolve around the water. Ship excursions were beach and lunch 65., cruise & island drive 70., catamaran/swim tour 100., the Flying Dutchman zipline 140., circle the island drive 85., and a chef's table for 150.
We could not remember when we were here last, but we found this port on the back of a 2014 world cruise t-shirt. We also could not remember too many details about this stop. Many years ago, we took an island drive, probably with a swimming stop. The N. Statendam was not alone. A Club Med 2, a 5 masted computerized stay sail schooner, was across from us. Then the Star Flyer, was docked a pier over. The Wind Surf and the Star Legend were here, as well as the Seabourn Odyssey. Later in the morning, the RCI Explorer of the Seas docked here. Yep, that made seven ships, but we bet most of them were at half capacity.
Despite the forecast of rain in St. Maarten, it was just the opposite. It was warm and sunny, with a few drifting clouds and no rain in sight. The ship was docked with our room facing east, so the veranda was so hot, we could not sit out there. We left the ship around 10:30am, with the understanding we might not be able to leave the port area. This had been announced yesterday, but was not printed in the When & Where today.
It wasn't a long walk to the pier complex, but it did take a while for us to remember the set-up. All of the usual high end stores were here, plus more. Somehow we missed the Info Center, and did not have a map of the town. This is something worth mentioning regarding maps. We are so used to having ship-printed maps in every port while on the world cruise, but now, with the "going green" policy, nothing is printed. And for those that don't use cell phones, it would be a great idea to print your own maps before leaving home. So far, only about half of the ports had their info kiosks open. And while we are on the subject of hints, one of us has discovered that by sewing a few stitches on the elastic bands of the masks, they will not break apart. This has happened more than once to both us, so a few minutes of sewing prevents that.
We made one stop at a small shop, and talked at length to the owner. She told us all about the virus hitting the island, and how hard it has been on the community without tourists. We did end up purchasing an island t-shirt with a complete map of the Caribbean islands. It is better than the tiny map we brought with us from home. The price was right at $5.
So we walked out through the security gate with no problem. Well almost no problem, because we ran into a bunch of persistent taxi drivers. No thanks worked OK. The hike to downtown Philipsburg took 15 minutes, although we could have taken the 5 minute water taxi for $7 per person round trip. We needed the exercise, so that's why we walked. Now it was falling into place that we had been here. Making our way towards the beach, we followed the Boardwalk for the entire stretch of Great Bay. This boardwalk was chock full of shops, cafes, and bars with a few hotels scattered between them. Souvenir stalls filled in the gaps, but they really had good prices on island clothing and beach stuff. To rent 2 lounges, one umbrella, and 5 drinks, it ran $25 for the day.
We found the Hard Rock Café where we had eaten lunch 8 years ago. It was shut down tight, and the property was for sale. Sad to see, this has happened elsewhere in different parts of the world. Just to be on the safe side, we did not eat out or even stop for beers. Most everyone we saw wore masks, but not all of them. We did go inside a few shops, but they all required that you wear a mask and use Purell. No one took our temperature like they did in Jamaica. Seeing a turquoise visor, we bought it for $5.
When the sandy beach stopped, we turned around and headed back. There wasn't much of a breeze blowing, so we made no more stops. However, along the roadside, we came across two young ladies, who sounded Jamaican. They were taking pictures with their cell phones of something in the trees and brush across the road. We asked what they saw, and they said "moonkeys". Took us a few seconds before we realized they were saying monkeys. Really? Yep, there they were, right in the center of the dense bushes. Eventually, we spotted several of them dashing in back of the smaller one. Too quick to get photos of the big ones, the young one did not run. Where in the world did they come from? Barb will not believe this when we tell her we saw moonkeys. When we did get onboard, we researched these monkeys, and found they had been pets of the locals. When they could not take care of them, they were let loose. Now there is a troupe of them, running through these hillsides. They are called green monkeys, and are not aggressive. They seemed to be masters of hiding.
Going through the security gate was easy, then we went in search of the info kiosk. Somehow we had passed by it on the way out. We did find some island info in a real magazine as well as a nice island and city map. We will save it for our next visit, as it had a lot of good info on it.
Lunch was in the Grand Dutch Café with ham & cheese sandwiches with shared fries. For dessert, we had one slice of the apple pie, one almond cookie, and one chocolate muffin. I remarked that one day, we will split a bocce ball?sp, a huge chocolate eclair filled with whipped cream. Well, having mentioned that, the bartender brought over the huge pastry, saying why wait? So we shared it, and took the muffin home.
All aboard was at 3:30pm, and we watched the ship leave from our veranda by 4pm. The other ships were scheduled to leave as late as 11pm. The boobies followed us for miles, diving and fishing along the way. We did pass some more of the islands as we headed in a south-easterly direction towards St. Lucia.
It was time for another dinner with Barb. We all had the same entrée of beef short ribs, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Desserts were a chocolate cheesecake, a crème brule, and a fruit plate.
Tomorrow will be St. Lucia, another island we have visited several times.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Report #29 Philipsburg, St. Maarten Saturday - January 15, 2022 Sunny & 80 degrees
