A Whirlwind Tour through St. Martin
Our First Cruise, Day 5: St. Martin
Happy 10th Anniversary to Us!
The second, and last, port stop of our cruise was the interesting island of St. Martin. This 37 square mile Caribbean island is the smallest land mass in the world belonging to two countries. The southern side, Sint Maarten, belongs to the Dutch; while the northern side, Saint Martin, belongs to the French. It was really exciting to get to experience two different cultures in one stop.
Our ship docked on the Dutch side of the island in Philipsburg. Karl and I took a water taxi from the port to the main shopping area and explored a bit before heading back to port to meet up for our bus tour around the island. A double decker tour bus drove us around the island for three hours with stops in Orient Beach (French Side), Marigot (French Side Capital), and at the Princess Juliana International Airport (an airport famous for it’s runway that begins right next to the beach). The diversity of people, landscape, architecture, and economics was super interesting.
Our day in a list.
- Breakfast in the Windjammer
- Took a water taxi to the center of town
- Operation: Get a pin from Hard Rock Cafe
- Walked down to Old Street and did a bit of shopping
- Double Decker Bus Tour, 12:00 AM
- Orient Beach
- Marigot
- Plane watching at the airport
- Shopping & Snacks in Port, 3:30 PM
- Super yum coconut slushie, ice cream macaroon
- Returned to ship and ordered room service, 4:30 PM
- Dinner at Leonardo’s, 8 PM
- Love and Marriage Game Show, 10:30 PM
Exploring Philipsburg
Water Taxi Ride
After arriving in port we made our way to the water taxi dock to hitch a ride to the main boardwalk and shopping area in Philipsburg. It was $7 each for a round trip wristband. The ride itself was delightful with lovely views of the bay.
Hard Rock Cafe, St. Martin
Karl enjoys collecting pins from Hard Rock Cafe so it was our first destination. It’s conveniently located right next to where the water taxis dock. He got a sweet new t-shirt and a cool pin. Rock on!
Shopping on Front Street & Old Street
We returned to the port area by water taxi and explored the port shopping area before meeting up with our tour group.
Headed back towards the ship to meet up with our tour group.
Double Decker Bus Tour
We booked a St. Martin bus tour two days before while on the ship. The tour bus was packed so I guess we booked it just in time. The excursion description was something along the lines of tour the island of St. Martin on a double-decker tour bus, see the beach, shop in the French town of Marigot, and visit the airport… I was under the impression we’d actually have time to shop and eat, at least in Marigot, but nope. We were informed when we boarded the bus that we would only stop for 15 minutes in each location so that was a bit disappointing.
Despite that disappointment we thoroughly enjoyed our three hour bus tour around St. Martin. We essentially drove around the perimeter of the island touring all the highlights. Our tour guide told us many interesting details and history bits about the Dutch and French sides of the island, relations between the two, and pointed out interesting areas, including many celebrity homes. All the celebrity homes/rich people mansions are secluded in their own valley in St. Martin, separate from the towns and citizens of the island. The landscape was interesting with the many beaches and bays, salt lakes, hills, and buildings in ranges of styles and conditions. It was really cool to see and learn about two cultures in just a few hours.
Beautiful Orient Beach
The first stop of our tour was Orient Beach on the French side. We parked near Kontiki, a hip beach side restaurant and bar with lounge chairs and sofas clustered together around fire pits. It had a lot of neat sculptures, including two giant anatomically-correct tikis at the entrance. We had just enough time to look around and walk out to the beach for a few pictures. The beach stretched on and on in both directions.
Shopping in Marigot
Our second stop was in the bustling center of Marigot, the main town and capital on the French side of the island. We visited Marigot Market where we did some super quick shopping, purchasing a St. Martin Christmas ornament, a sun hat, and some fresh plantain chips in less than 15 minutes. Go us! The atmosphere was really nice with the sounds of the town and the ocean. It would of been nice to linger for awhile.
Plane Watching on the Beach
The last stop of our bus tour was the runway of Princess Juliana International Airport, best known for the very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore. We were dropped off at the beach and had just enough time to watch a small plane land and another take off. A giant jet came in right as we were walking back to our bus. Rotten luck!
Return to Philipsburg
Exploring the Port Shops
We spent about an hour exploring the port shops, trying the islands signature Guavaberry Liqueur, an amazing coconut daiquiri and an ice cream macaroon.
We hadn’t had a chance to eat lunch so we ordered room service when we returned to the ship. We were welcomed back to our room with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a cheese and fruit try, an anniversary gift from the cruise ship. (If you tell Guest Services you’re celebrating an event they’ll surprise you with something.) Pretty cool.
Dinner
Our table mates were a no show this evening so we had the table to ourselves. It was a bit lonely. I’m digging the whole share a table with strangers thing. It gave us a chance to make new friends and have interesting conversations.
- Carol: Chilled Strawberry Bisque, Eggplant Parmigian, Sticky Bread Pudding
- Karl: Roasted Garlic Soup, Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder, Low-Fat Lemon Yogurt Cake
Love & Marriage Game Show
This was a really fun game show where three couples were selected from the audience, a newlywed couple, a couple that’s been married 10-20 years, and the couple that’s been married the longest. Karl and I volunteered for the 10-20 year couple and had to audition along with 7-8 other couples by saying some really cheesy lines and pretending we’re Jane and Tarzan. Needless to say I wanted to sit down as soon as they told us what we’d have to do. We were by far the worst, mostly thanks to me being embarrassed but our table mates kindly cheered for us. I’m so glad there wasn’t a complete lack of applause.
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