Day 4 - St. Maarten

Land as we neared St. Maarten

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013

Today started like the rest - getting up and showered.  Out on our deck, we were still heading toward St. Maarten.  As I got out there, Dawn said she could see an island, and upon looking, we could see some ships and a piece of land.  The water had changed colour and was now a lighter blue.  Then the ship started turning, and as we turned more, we could see land behind us, as well.  Apparently, we were in the harbour of Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, where all ships (passenger and freighter) dock.  We kept turning, and then some ships started to come into view.  There were 4 other ships there and we were docking between them, backing in to the pier.  What an amazing jobs these pilots do.

Finally we were moored, and passengers were given the okay to disembark.  Our tour wasn't until 2:30, although I kept mixing this tour with the one tomorrow at St. Thomas, that takes place at 12:10.

We went for breakfast, and then it was time to get ready to go.  Once we were back in our cabin and almost ready, I pulled out the tour tickets and then realized that we had quite a bit of time due to not having to leave until 2:30.  So, we went up on the "laying around" deck and enjoyed the view of the harbour.

View of the Beach in Front of a Hotel

This did look like a paradise.  The water was blue, the temperature was good (about 80 degrees), and there was a fresh breeze blowing that made it feel cooler.  We took many pictures of the activity in the harbour - yachts, sea-doos, water taxis, and lots of people leaving the 5 ships moored there and heading in various directions.

Some of the Yachts in the Harbour

Karen and Lloyd found us, sitting at the stern of the ship, and we talked for a while.  Karen had lost her camera yesterday, and was going to try the purser's office one more time to see if anyone had turned it in.  We agreed to meet off the ship at about 1:45 (again, I had the times wrong, just not as bad this time).

Our Tour Bus

Once we finally got together, we gathered for our tour of the island.  This was the tour that we were wait listed for, and clearly they found another bus and driver to take us around to see the various features of the island.  We went from the Dutch part of the island, looking at the great beaches and hotels of the harbour, along the only highway to the French part of the island.

Shopping at the Market

In Marigot (the French city), we stopped at a market for about 45 minutes.  We walked around, looking at some of the vendor's fare, and purchased a couple things.  We also made a few purchases at the Duty Free shop that offered an exchange rate of 1 Euro to 1 US Dollar.  By then we were getting tired of walking around, so Dawn and I went over to where the bus was parked and sat down waiting for everyone to return.  Karen and Lloyd also joined us, and we waited together.

Some of the Ships at the Pier

Once loaded, we headed back toward the bay where our ship was moored.  The highway was very narrow and winding, with many steep hills.  We passed through a few small towns.  Lots of poverty mixed in with the very rich places on the mountains, and the huge yachts in the bays.  There were lots of cars, and everyone seemed to drive pretty fast.

Shopping at the Pier

We made it back to our ship, safe and sound, and after a few minutes at the gates to the pier, we went back to the ship.  It was supper time, so we agreed to go dinner a few minutes after getting back to our cabins.  Tonight seemed to be a German theme, with lots of German foods on the menu.  Very tasty.

After dinner, Dawn and I decided to go to the theatre for the show - Dance to the Music.  It was song and dance by the Princess Dance Theatre group, and turned out to be a pretty good show - lots of dancing and singing of popular songs.

Then it was back to our cabin as I wanted to be there in time to watch Loopers on the TV.  We had some time before it started, so spent some time on our deck.  We could see the Norwegian ship that had left St. Maarten before us, off to the starboard side.  St. Maarten was still visible in the distance behind us, and it was quite dark, but not too rough, compared to how it had been earlier.  I guess the wind was behind us, rather than coming from the front.

Well, that is about it for today.  Tomorrow we get into St. Thomas at about 7:00, so that is our next adventure.  Until then...