Tuesday— December 8
I’ve been chased off the veranda by the crew that is power-washing the Sunrise Deck above us. With three days at sea ahead of us, I guess it’s time to get rid of all the sand that’s been tracked in off the islands. Since I can’t enjoy being outside, I might as well put this time to good use and write about our day visiting Sint Maarten / Saint Martin, the world’s smallest landmass owned by two countries.
Google Earth image of the island nation that lives peacefully under two flags.
We were already on the open deck above the bridge when Mercury came into Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side of the island — Sint Maarten. For once, we weren’t first in port; we docked behind “Mein Schiff” (my ship). The paint scheme screamed “party ship,” but there were enough clues to easily identify it as a former Celebrity ship — the Galaxy — sister ship to Mercury, which we sailed out of Baltimore in 2003 ... great memories.
P&O’s Artemis (left) and TUI's Mein Schiff in Sint Maarten.
We’re told that they are dredging the bay so that Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas can call on Sint Maarten.
Our first time in Sint Maarten was in 2003 when we visited the island at the end of a TransAtlantic cruise on Celebrity’s Millennium. Mom was with us on that trip. We wandered around downtown Philipsburg; went on a private tour that included the French side of the island; trekked up 90-steps to Fort Louis; and had lunch at Kakao Beach (Orient Bay). It was a very busy day.
A “mom and I visited Fort Louis” photo op.
(flashback to our 2003 port call on Celebrity’s Millennium)
We had different plans for today. They didn’t work out exactly as expected, but we had a great day nonetheless.
We’d reserved a rental car, but decided at the last moment that we weren’t in the mood to tackle either the island’s narrow, curvy roads or the work-day traffic. Instead, we walked into downtown Philipsburg to get the day rolling.
It was nice to see all the infrastructure improvements since 2003. Back then, we’d walked along a trash-strewn road leading out from the port and somehow found our way downtown via Great Bay Beach. If there was a boardwalk, we didn’t notice it. This time, we followed a sidewalk leading from the port towards downtown and cut through a quaint shopping village that brought us to the waterfront boardwalk next to the beach. Very nice indeed.
Scene from the Boardwalk in Philipsburg.
Great Bay Beach fronts the Boardwalk.
Once we reached downtown proper, we took a cab to Grand Case in Saint Martin, the French side of the island. Our plan was to spend the day at the beach and grab a bite to eat at a LoLo (locally owned/locally operated seafood shack). That plan failed miserably. The cabbie either played dumb — not sure what he got out of it, if that was the case — or was just plain clueless. The Grand Case beach he took us to was not a place where we would have wanted to spend the day. The entire town seemed deserted and left us feeling a bit uncomfortable, so we went to Plan B and asked the cabbie to drive us to Orient Bay — a safe bet for sure. Soon we were walking on a beautiful, white-sand beach with the surf washing our feet.
A beautiful day in Orient Bay.
We strolled first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, trying to pick a beach bar/restaurant for our day of fun in the sun and surf. In the end, we decided on Kakao Beach — yes, the same one we visited in 2003.
Welcome back to Kakao Beach.
As the hour was early we had no problems finding a pair of front row chaise lounges. Heeding the proprietor’s warning to leave the umbrella angled the way he had set it up so that it wouldn't blow away, we arranged our chairs and settled down to enjoy the beach. The surf was strong, the breeze constant, the scenery beautiful.
A picture perfect day at Orient Bay.
We relaxed; we laughed; we chatted. We watched people strolling up and down the length of the beach, some in bathing suits, others in their birthday suits!!! (We weren’t bothered by the topless women who strolled by occasionally, nor by the men who flaunted their cheeks and sometimes a bit more!!!) We watched the kite-surfers perform their acrobatics, amazed by their agility and daring. We played in the surf (can’t call it swimming) when the mood struck us. When the noon hour came around, we sated our growling tummies with grilled shrimp and a couple of paninis (turned out to be so big that we could have easily shared one!!!) served on the beach by our waiter from Australia; and we washed it all down with ice cold local brews. A perfect beach day, wouldn't you agree?
Around 2:00p, we called it a day. As luck would have it, there was another couple going back to the ship, so we shared a taxi with them, paying only $7/person for the return fare. After a quick peek in the duty-free store and a few minutes watching a costumed group dancing in the courtyard, we embarked the ship. No need to tell you where we spent the afternoon! Some wine; some snacks — before we knew it our scheduled departure time was at hand.
We watch as fuel is bunkered for the return leg of our cruise.
Although Mercury was scheduled to depart first, we were nearly 30 minutes late in casting off our lines. In fact, we’ve been a bit late leaving each port; not that we're complaining. Yesterday, we were delayed because we were waiting on late-arriving passengers (maybe crew or entertainment staff). It turns out that today we were waiting on an ambulance to transport an ailing passenger. The patient was ambulatory; we hope it wasn’t a serious ailment.
Eventually, we left Sint Maarten behind and sailed into the sunset.
Another beautiful sunset sees us off from our last port call.
Today was our first completely rain free day in port since we left St Thomas five days ago. We have 1,496 nautical miles (~1,721 miles/2,771 km) and three blissful days at sea before we reach Baltimore. I wonder what kind of weather is ahead of us? Cold temps eventually, but hopefully we won’t have any wet stuff — rain or otherwise.
Next Up: From Hot to Cold — Three Days at Sea
