ducklite
<font color=teal>Take the Poly, it's fabulous!<br>
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2000
- Messages
- 33,487
I woke up as we were docking in St. Maarten. Jim had tried to run on Deck 4, and was none to happy when he couldn't as they had closed it off in preparation for docking. He and a couple of others had then gone to Deck 9, but found it too crowded. Of course the Health Club wasn't open yet, so there would be no running that day.
I went out to wake the lump, and check on his wrist. It was bruised and a bit swollen, but he had minimal pain when he moved it, so we determined that in the future he needed to be more careful on the stairs, and he would be fine.
I took orders from the guys and called room service for breakfast. This was to be the first time that they would actually see the Lump awake
I went out on to the verandah. My neighbor in the Walt Suite was out on his as well, having his morning cigarette. Luckily the ashtray was on the opposite end of his quadruple wide verandah from where my verandah began, and I never smelled it. We waved good morning, and watched the docking process. St. Maarten was much more arid than I expected. From the port side, there wasn't much to look at in St. Maarten, other than a fuel depot and small commercial port.
We all showered and ate breakfast, and before long it was time to leave for our shore excursion. We had chosen the "Under Two Flags" excursion as a way to get a feel for both sides of the island. We reported to Rockin Bar D at the prescribed time, and were thoroughly entertained by John for a few moments while waiting for stragglers. Soon enough it was time to depart. We had brought some bottled water with us, and they were also selling it at the doorway as you disembark the ship. We decided to purchase another bottle for each of us, and a couple hours later we were very glad we had.
We walked down the beautiful pier towards waiting busses. There are a couple of wonderful photo opportunities as you head down the pier, but we decided to wait until we came back from the tour, as there were quite a few people lined up to take photo's of their family in front of the "Welcome to St. Maarten" sign. We boarded our bus, and set off on our journey. The bus was reasonably clean and comfortable, and had air conditioning.
We started on the Dutch side, in the Dutch capital of Phillipsburg, which is where the Magic docks. Our driver gave us quite a bit of history on the island, which is the smallest landmass to be peacefully occupied by two countries for over two hundred years. After the tour Jim determined that nobody fights over it, because no one in their right mind would want to live there. This is a poor island, although not the poorest by any means. But it is d-r-y. They have no fresh water supply, and all drinking water must be desalinated or brought in. They have no agriculture save guavaberries. They have no livestock except a few sheep and goats that seem to wander at will. There were cactus growing here and there.
We got a few breathtaking views as we headed over to the French side of the island. We stopped in the French capital of Marigot. Marigot is much prettier than Phillipsburg, and cleaner. We were given 45 minutes to shop. The main street has a variety of shops with jewelry and haute coutre, but we skipped over that in favor of the flea market. Most of the vendors were selling a variety of clothing, including tropical shirts and t-shirts. We purchased shirts for the guys, and a dress for me. I also purchased two framed prints, one of each of St. Maarten's capital cities. We did run into a few vendors a the flea market that spoke limited English, luckily I speak some French, and between their knowledge of English, and mine of French, we made it work. I didn't try to haggle at the flea market, I thought the prices were fair enough, and a dollar or two to me won't even be missed, but it seemed that to the vendors there it could mean fresh milk for their children that night at dinner.
Jim had gotten bored with the shopping and had told us he'd meet us at the bus in a bit. As Mark and I were heading to the bus we ran into him, he was walking away from one of the open air bars where the lure of $.99 Heinekens had been too much to resist We got back on the bus and our driver took us back over to the Dutch side, again giving us more history along the way. When we arrived in Phillipsburg we were given the choice of getting off in the downtown shopping district and making our own way back, or staying on the bus and going back to the port. We went back to the port.
We tipped the driver on our way off the bus, and stopped for some photo's, then got back on the ship. We headed up to Topsiders for lunch, as we were all hungry, then Mark went to Common Grounds. Jim and I decided to go back to Phillipsburg and shop for awhile. We debated walking, but decided to take the water taxi, which was convenient.
Marigot is much, much, much nicer than Phillipsburg. Phillipsburg was dirty beyond belief. I found myself looking at the ground to avoid broken glass in a few areas. We also felt very leery about going to any shops in the alleyways, almost as if we would get mugged if we went there. We walked down New Street, stopping in to a few stores. I refused to go into an stores with a hawker outside. My feeling is that if they need to beg you to come in, they are not reputable. I also avoided any place that offered 3 for $10 t-shirts in the same store as "The best jewelry values on the island". I checked out the prices at the Liz Claiborne store, and found them to be actually more expensive than at home! We stopped into a souvenir shop and purchased a few magnets as gifts, and a perfume shop where I did find my fragrance at about half the cost stateside. In that shop I also found a discontinued cosmetic item that I can no longer purchase. We kept walking for another block or two (we had probably walked about ten blocks past the beginning of the street) and Jim wanted another of those $.99 Heinekens. When we entered the shop we also found a bottle of the rum DH likes for about 1/3 of the price at home, as well as a bottle of Dom Perignon for $62.
We cut over to Old Street, as we heard there were more shops there, but I wouldn't ever suggest anyone go there. There is virtually no sidewalk--where there is one it is crumbling and not safe to walk on, the street is in decay, crowded, and there are very few shops. Those that are there are more geared to the locals, with inferior quality merchandise.
We decided that we had done enough shopping, and took the water taxi back to the pier. We stopped at the Duty Free shop at the end of the pier, and found that it was very expensive compared to the places in town. The same bottle of Dom Perignon was selling for around $90 there. I've found it for as low as $102 at home, so not a tremendous amount of savings.
Waiting in our stateroom today was a plate of cookies from the concierge staff. I was starting to feel like they were trying to fatten me up Jim headed off to find out what time they would be closing Deck 4 the next day for docking while I sat on the verandah and read. Then slowly we started to pull out of port.
Soon enough it was time to get dressed for dinner it was tropical night. The guys put on their new (REALLY OBNOXIOUS) tropical shirts yes, they had purposely chosen the most garish, obnoxious shirts they could find. I put on my dress, and we headed down for the nightly routine of photos before dinner. We got a great shot with Minnie that night
We were all laughing as practically the entire restaurant got up and formed a conga line at the beginning of dinner to get the mood going. The servers all looked great in their brightly colored shirts.
After dinner, Mark headed back to Common Grounds while Jim and I went up to the deck party. We got tired watching Ian (is he an Energizer Bunny in disguise??) and soon enough headed back to our cabin. Sompop had made a funny towel animal that night, it was a snake and my sunglasses were sitting on it's head. I took one look at it and completely started to crack up! We sat on the verandah watching the sea for a few minutes before heading off to sleep.
More to come...
I went out to wake the lump, and check on his wrist. It was bruised and a bit swollen, but he had minimal pain when he moved it, so we determined that in the future he needed to be more careful on the stairs, and he would be fine.
I took orders from the guys and called room service for breakfast. This was to be the first time that they would actually see the Lump awake
I went out on to the verandah. My neighbor in the Walt Suite was out on his as well, having his morning cigarette. Luckily the ashtray was on the opposite end of his quadruple wide verandah from where my verandah began, and I never smelled it. We waved good morning, and watched the docking process. St. Maarten was much more arid than I expected. From the port side, there wasn't much to look at in St. Maarten, other than a fuel depot and small commercial port.
We all showered and ate breakfast, and before long it was time to leave for our shore excursion. We had chosen the "Under Two Flags" excursion as a way to get a feel for both sides of the island. We reported to Rockin Bar D at the prescribed time, and were thoroughly entertained by John for a few moments while waiting for stragglers. Soon enough it was time to depart. We had brought some bottled water with us, and they were also selling it at the doorway as you disembark the ship. We decided to purchase another bottle for each of us, and a couple hours later we were very glad we had.
We walked down the beautiful pier towards waiting busses. There are a couple of wonderful photo opportunities as you head down the pier, but we decided to wait until we came back from the tour, as there were quite a few people lined up to take photo's of their family in front of the "Welcome to St. Maarten" sign. We boarded our bus, and set off on our journey. The bus was reasonably clean and comfortable, and had air conditioning.
We started on the Dutch side, in the Dutch capital of Phillipsburg, which is where the Magic docks. Our driver gave us quite a bit of history on the island, which is the smallest landmass to be peacefully occupied by two countries for over two hundred years. After the tour Jim determined that nobody fights over it, because no one in their right mind would want to live there. This is a poor island, although not the poorest by any means. But it is d-r-y. They have no fresh water supply, and all drinking water must be desalinated or brought in. They have no agriculture save guavaberries. They have no livestock except a few sheep and goats that seem to wander at will. There were cactus growing here and there.
We got a few breathtaking views as we headed over to the French side of the island. We stopped in the French capital of Marigot. Marigot is much prettier than Phillipsburg, and cleaner. We were given 45 minutes to shop. The main street has a variety of shops with jewelry and haute coutre, but we skipped over that in favor of the flea market. Most of the vendors were selling a variety of clothing, including tropical shirts and t-shirts. We purchased shirts for the guys, and a dress for me. I also purchased two framed prints, one of each of St. Maarten's capital cities. We did run into a few vendors a the flea market that spoke limited English, luckily I speak some French, and between their knowledge of English, and mine of French, we made it work. I didn't try to haggle at the flea market, I thought the prices were fair enough, and a dollar or two to me won't even be missed, but it seemed that to the vendors there it could mean fresh milk for their children that night at dinner.
Jim had gotten bored with the shopping and had told us he'd meet us at the bus in a bit. As Mark and I were heading to the bus we ran into him, he was walking away from one of the open air bars where the lure of $.99 Heinekens had been too much to resist
We got back on the bus and our driver took us back over to the Dutch side, again giving us more history along the way. When we arrived in Phillipsburg we were given the choice of getting off in the downtown shopping district and making our own way back, or staying on the bus and going back to the port. We went back to the port.We tipped the driver on our way off the bus, and stopped for some photo's, then got back on the ship. We headed up to Topsiders for lunch, as we were all hungry, then Mark went to Common Grounds. Jim and I decided to go back to Phillipsburg and shop for awhile. We debated walking, but decided to take the water taxi, which was convenient.
Marigot is much, much, much nicer than Phillipsburg. Phillipsburg was dirty beyond belief. I found myself looking at the ground to avoid broken glass in a few areas. We also felt very leery about going to any shops in the alleyways, almost as if we would get mugged if we went there. We walked down New Street, stopping in to a few stores. I refused to go into an stores with a hawker outside. My feeling is that if they need to beg you to come in, they are not reputable. I also avoided any place that offered 3 for $10 t-shirts in the same store as "The best jewelry values on the island". I checked out the prices at the Liz Claiborne store, and found them to be actually more expensive than at home! We stopped into a souvenir shop and purchased a few magnets as gifts, and a perfume shop where I did find my fragrance at about half the cost stateside. In that shop I also found a discontinued cosmetic item that I can no longer purchase. We kept walking for another block or two (we had probably walked about ten blocks past the beginning of the street) and Jim wanted another of those $.99 Heinekens. When we entered the shop we also found a bottle of the rum DH likes for about 1/3 of the price at home, as well as a bottle of Dom Perignon for $62.
We cut over to Old Street, as we heard there were more shops there, but I wouldn't ever suggest anyone go there. There is virtually no sidewalk--where there is one it is crumbling and not safe to walk on, the street is in decay, crowded, and there are very few shops. Those that are there are more geared to the locals, with inferior quality merchandise.
We decided that we had done enough shopping, and took the water taxi back to the pier. We stopped at the Duty Free shop at the end of the pier, and found that it was very expensive compared to the places in town. The same bottle of Dom Perignon was selling for around $90 there. I've found it for as low as $102 at home, so not a tremendous amount of savings.
Waiting in our stateroom today was a plate of cookies from the concierge staff. I was starting to feel like they were trying to fatten me up Jim headed off to find out what time they would be closing Deck 4 the next day for docking while I sat on the verandah and read. Then slowly we started to pull out of port.
Soon enough it was time to get dressed for dinner it was tropical night. The guys put on their new (REALLY OBNOXIOUS) tropical shirts yes, they had purposely chosen the most garish, obnoxious shirts they could find. I put on my dress, and we headed down for the nightly routine of photos before dinner. We got a great shot with Minnie that night
We were all laughing as practically the entire restaurant got up and formed a conga line at the beginning of dinner to get the mood going. The servers all looked great in their brightly colored shirts.
After dinner, Mark headed back to Common Grounds while Jim and I went up to the deck party. We got tired watching Ian (is he an Energizer Bunny in disguise??) and soon enough headed back to our cabin. Sompop had made a funny towel animal that night, it was a snake and my sunglasses were sitting on it's head. I took one look at it and completely started to crack up! We sat on the verandah watching the sea for a few minutes before heading off to sleep.
More to come...
