The ship tied up to the docks at 7:00am...right along side three other ships.... Disney Fantasy, Liberty of the Sea, and Norwegian Epic. Our ship was the smallest of all...it sort of looked like the baby ship next to the Liberty of the Sea. When we walked off, we just kept looking back and saying...We took that little ship across the great big Atlantic Ocean! Amazing!
St. Maarten is a shopper's paradise! We walked into the town of Phillipsburg...about a mile along groomed sidewalk with tall palm trees. We arrived into the town along with a bunch of other folks from the other ships. We walked down Front Street, a mile long stretch that was a mixture of bars, hotels, shops and the beach front with lots of well groomed beach front on the Great Bay.
St Maarten had crystal clear aqua blue waters and white sandy beaches with a background of green mountains. Not a bad place to relax and enjoy the day!
Back in the 17th century, Dutch settlers started harvesting salt from the Great Salt Pond (directly behind the city) and sending it back to Europe, making the island known as the "Land of Salt." St. Maarten is the smallest island in the world inhabited by two nationalities. The island is split in to with the Dutch in the south and the French in the north. Interestingly, the French call the island " Saint Martin".
We went down a block from the beach and walked the mile of shopping on Back Street....Of course we had to stop and shop! It was too much of a temptation. This was one of the better island that we have ever visited. It was clean, smelled great everywhere, and all the buildings appeared to be freshly painted and modern.
After taking lots of pictures we went into the local McDonald's to send some emails and check the phone messages....as well as recoup from the heat that was outside. By 1:00 we started heading back to the ship to enjoy some quiet time before the ship set sail at 5:30. It is an enjoyable time to have the ship to yourself in the afternoons when docked in port.
We were the first ship to set sail out of the dock in the evening. Travelers on the other ships were out on their decks and on top looking down on us.
The ships all had a farewell horn blowing contest and all the passengers were waving good by. It was fun and exciting to be outside on top of our ship as we pulled out of the harbor. The sun was setting making it the end of another remarkable day.
St. Maarten was a great destination. We enjoyed the people, the scenery and our time off the ship.
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