Cruise: Day 9
Tuesday, November 17
Saint Martin / Sint Maarten
Interesting fact: this island is owned by the French and the Dutch. The French own the top 2/3, the Dutch own the bottom 1/3. A treaty established in the 17th century removed all borders and customs between the two sides of the island, and it is the oldest surviving peace accord in the world. The French side of the island is part of the European Union and technically a part of Europe. We made port on the Dutch side and it's too bad we didn't take any excursions to visit the froggies because we would have been able to add an entire continent to the list.
The dock we arrived at was like a kind of tourist attraction ghost town. Clearly very new buildings, the area attractively paved and sporting interesting decorations and shops, but no one stayed there long. We all got on a water taxi and headed downtown.
These are guys that seem to love their job. They slide up to the dock (usually slamming the boat into the pier), fling a rope at one of the moorings and start hauling people aboard (while the taxi is bobbing and weaving as if trying to escape). When enough people are aboard they loose the moorings and meander in the general direction of the next destination, weaving around obstacles and blasting island music. Ryn and I took the taxi four times. On our final ride, we tipped.
Downtown Philipsburg was attractive, well-laid out and clean. This port is in a completely different league from the rest of the destinations we visited. We were only approached on the street once or twice and both times were because we were walking past a shop and the shopkeeper wanted to attract us in. There were no people begging for taxis or trying to sell bamboo scissors. The experience was very similar to downtown Myrtle Beach.
Saint Martin had the lion's share of the free loot on our list and collecting it kept us busy. We acquired many things that will save us from Christmas shopping this year. Although we visited multiple electronics stores (which presented their goods in such a way as to give the impression it had "fallen off the back of the truck"), we did not see any gadgets that are cheaper in the islands than they are in the States. I suppose those benefits only apply to jewelery and booze. Ryn bought me a bottle of some kind of guavaberry barbeque sauce with a picture of a crazy old man on the front. It will likely be delicious.
When we finished our shopping we had too much baggage and had to deposit it back at the ship for safekeeping before we implemented the beach portion of our plan. We hit the shore right along the port because it looked appealing and we needed to keep track of our time. Although the water was not as clear as some of the other places we visited, Ryn and I both decided that it was the best beach of our cruise. The water was relatively calm and the ocean floor was generally devoid of debris, a problem at some of the other places we had tried along the way.
When we finally got back to the ship (another water taxi ride later), we lounged in the pool and watched the islands float past. Dinner that night was Thai marinated beef, French onion soup/caprese salad and then herb-marinated chicken for both of us.
Saint Martin / Sint Maarten
Interesting fact: this island is owned by the French and the Dutch. The French own the top 2/3, the Dutch own the bottom 1/3. A treaty established in the 17th century removed all borders and customs between the two sides of the island, and it is the oldest surviving peace accord in the world. The French side of the island is part of the European Union and technically a part of Europe. We made port on the Dutch side and it's too bad we didn't take any excursions to visit the froggies because we would have been able to add an entire continent to the list.
The dock we arrived at was like a kind of tourist attraction ghost town. Clearly very new buildings, the area attractively paved and sporting interesting decorations and shops, but no one stayed there long. We all got on a water taxi and headed downtown.
These are guys that seem to love their job. They slide up to the dock (usually slamming the boat into the pier), fling a rope at one of the moorings and start hauling people aboard (while the taxi is bobbing and weaving as if trying to escape). When enough people are aboard they loose the moorings and meander in the general direction of the next destination, weaving around obstacles and blasting island music. Ryn and I took the taxi four times. On our final ride, we tipped.
Downtown Philipsburg was attractive, well-laid out and clean. This port is in a completely different league from the rest of the destinations we visited. We were only approached on the street once or twice and both times were because we were walking past a shop and the shopkeeper wanted to attract us in. There were no people begging for taxis or trying to sell bamboo scissors. The experience was very similar to downtown Myrtle Beach.
Saint Martin had the lion's share of the free loot on our list and collecting it kept us busy. We acquired many things that will save us from Christmas shopping this year. Although we visited multiple electronics stores (which presented their goods in such a way as to give the impression it had "fallen off the back of the truck"), we did not see any gadgets that are cheaper in the islands than they are in the States. I suppose those benefits only apply to jewelery and booze. Ryn bought me a bottle of some kind of guavaberry barbeque sauce with a picture of a crazy old man on the front. It will likely be delicious.
When we finished our shopping we had too much baggage and had to deposit it back at the ship for safekeeping before we implemented the beach portion of our plan. We hit the shore right along the port because it looked appealing and we needed to keep track of our time. Although the water was not as clear as some of the other places we visited, Ryn and I both decided that it was the best beach of our cruise. The water was relatively calm and the ocean floor was generally devoid of debris, a problem at some of the other places we had tried along the way.
When we finally got back to the ship (another water taxi ride later), we lounged in the pool and watched the islands float past. Dinner that night was Thai marinated beef, French onion soup/caprese salad and then herb-marinated chicken for both of us.