I awoke early on Tues. morning, anxious to feel solid ground under my feet. I left DS and DH in bed and went up to deck 10 to see if we were in port; it was 6:15 am or so, and we werent supposed to be in st. maarten till 7 am. However, we were docked and it was beautiful; it was still dark, but sun was just coming up and all the lights were very nice looking out over the town. In the distance, I saw 4 or more cruise ships spread out over the sea, heading to port, all lit up. It was quite a sight, so I called DH on phone from lobby of deck 10 and told him to come up and watch. DS and DH made it up to see several of the ships pull into port and the sun rise. The port seemed more beautiful than I recall from before; last time we were there was 2001, not too long after a hurricane. I don't think I remember this beautiful, new port facility.
We then went to topsiders for breakfast, back to the room to dress for our excursion, and went to preludes at 7:50 for our lagoon kayaking excursion. We signed up for this at home, but we noticed when onboard that there are several additional excursions, not listed in the brochure they mail to you in advance; they are on the brochure you get at the excursion desk. We did the golden eagle catamarran the last time and loved it, but wanted to try something different this time. We started kayaking this summer, so decided to go with that. Guide was from ireland, but has lived in st. maarten for 13 yrs. Took us out to bus where she narrated tour to hotel, formerly sheraton, (beautiful tropical hotel overlooking simpson bay lagoon) and the lovely harbor. Many nice sailboats although most were gone for new year's celebration at st. barts. Saw a lot of goats and dogs wandering through st. maarten on our bus ride. We also saw some people under a tree hacking some meat (??) in the hot sun on a picnic table-- we wondered what kind of meat it was.
At hotel, we had brief kayaking lesson and got kayaks. we were a bit disappointed as brochure said one person kayaks and they showed a sea kayak in picture; but these were sit upon ocean kayaks and most were tandems also known as "divorce boats." Luckily, after a bit of searching, they got DH and I single kayaks; DS was already launched in his in the water. Most people received pfd's like the ones on the safety drill on ship, but DH and I didnt get any; and nobody was required to wear them; we did get bottles of water. Simpson bay is 11 square miles. There didnt seem to be a lot of speed limits on the highways or on the waterways. we are used to 6 mph in a harbor, but there were jet skis flying all over the place between the approx. 30 of us kayaking and stretched across this bay. there were a couple of guides; phillipe and erick and maybe another, but they were not necessarily in the lead. It sure took a lot of upper body strength to cross that bay with winds, rough water. it was sunny and in the 80's- a beautiful day. We kayaked about 6 miles i think they said. We crossed into the french side and stopped at explorer island for a break and to swim. the water was pleasant, not cold. not as warm as bath water like in the summer, but nice. While we swam, the guides drew an elaborate map on the sand complete with little plastic animals. Then they showed us where we were on the map and how to get where we were heading and a little history. After we launched and headed on our way, one double kayak capsized and nobody seemed too concerned; DH and I headed in that direction, until the people appeared from under their boat and a guide finally went over to them. There wasnt a lot of concern for safety. We then kayaked along some mangroves and saw jelly fish and sea cucumbers. One of the guides picked up a sea cucumber, also known as donkey dung, and squeezed it; it squirted water out like a plastic pickle. (quite unique) We headed back to the beach at the hotel around 11:30 or 12 noon. They sold st. maarten kayaking t-shirts (2 for $30) and DS and DH each got one (assorted colors). It was time to board the bus and return to the ship. We thought about staying to shop as we had wanted on french side, but were wet and messy and decided to do that later in afternoon.
Back at ship, we ate lunch at topsiders (south of the border buffet) with custom made tacos, etc. and a great mexican pizza-- probably the best thing on the buffet. We went back to the room, cleaned up and headed out to the port. We easily found a taxi -- the walkway pillars are all marked with different destinations and we picked the french capital, "marigot." A mini van taxi was ready to go and for $5 each, took us to the french capital; i heard it was as close a french village or town as you could get. On the way we went through the back streets of st.
maarten because driver was dropping off a friend and there was a battle of marching bands and steel bands, along with a barbeque with a festival. Finally, in st. martin, we were dropped off at harbor. As we travelled up and down the hills to marigot, we saw some beautiful harbors and turquoise waters and gorgeous beaches. In marigot, we browsed the shops and new mini mall; saw the family that shared our table at dinner. We also visited the outside straw market and saw them roasting some kind of meat-- (could it be what we saw under a tree?) DH wouldnt let me sample any--- remember we are the dial soap fanatics. We stopped at a french candy shop to buy some gifts and I tried to tell them i wanted 1/2 pound of fruit slices (candy) and there was some miscommunciation because of the metric system and pounds and the language and I ended up paying over $27 and it felt more like 4 lbs. ! They gave me some french coins in change. On the way back to the harbor to catch a cab, DH saw a place selling bottled cokes and bought one for $1.25- paid with $1 and gave them a french coin thinking it was 30 cents and told them to keep the change. Turned out the coin was worth only about 20 cents- so no wonder the lady gave DH such a strange look! A lady cab driver picked us up at the harbor in her lincoln continental and for $6 each, returned us to the ship.
It was now time to dress for the show and our formal dinner in Lumiere's; the show was Hercules which I really like, but the Hades and Hercules characters were not same actors as before-- great show as always, especially the Muses. We then went to a special 7:30 jackpot bingo. We had purchase the internet package for $89 and whenever we wanted to check email or DS wanted to surf web, there was always a computer available. Of course we washed our hands afterwards with that good old dial soap. We had our formal dinner, but neither of our sets of dining companions showed up-- Jamming John was preparing for his show as DJ for the big new year's deck party.
There were bands and celebrations all over the ship. The main deck party had the charles marshall band and Jamming John. The Atrium, sessions, rockin bar d, promenade lounge, offbeat, and sudio sea all had music and parties too. There was the big band sound and dancing by the quiet cove pool. Lots going on. About 11:30 they handed out champagne in black souvenir champagne glasses and non-alcoholic for kids. We brought several glasses home to go with our red, white, and blue ones from the 4th of july cruise. At midnight, the captain wished us happy new year and father time goofy and new year baby donald struck a big gong bell at the deck party. They had this multinational feast being set up on deck 9 with foods from around the world, but we hit the bed as EVERYONE had to be to immigration at 6:30 am to be able to go ashore at st. thomas the next morning. So we set the alarm and went to bed. Just a note that as we left florida and headed east, we had a note slipped under our door I think on Monday to turn our clocks ahead one hour. More later on our new year's day in St. Thomas and St. John.
We then went to topsiders for breakfast, back to the room to dress for our excursion, and went to preludes at 7:50 for our lagoon kayaking excursion. We signed up for this at home, but we noticed when onboard that there are several additional excursions, not listed in the brochure they mail to you in advance; they are on the brochure you get at the excursion desk. We did the golden eagle catamarran the last time and loved it, but wanted to try something different this time. We started kayaking this summer, so decided to go with that. Guide was from ireland, but has lived in st. maarten for 13 yrs. Took us out to bus where she narrated tour to hotel, formerly sheraton, (beautiful tropical hotel overlooking simpson bay lagoon) and the lovely harbor. Many nice sailboats although most were gone for new year's celebration at st. barts. Saw a lot of goats and dogs wandering through st. maarten on our bus ride. We also saw some people under a tree hacking some meat (??) in the hot sun on a picnic table-- we wondered what kind of meat it was.
At hotel, we had brief kayaking lesson and got kayaks. we were a bit disappointed as brochure said one person kayaks and they showed a sea kayak in picture; but these were sit upon ocean kayaks and most were tandems also known as "divorce boats." Luckily, after a bit of searching, they got DH and I single kayaks; DS was already launched in his in the water. Most people received pfd's like the ones on the safety drill on ship, but DH and I didnt get any; and nobody was required to wear them; we did get bottles of water. Simpson bay is 11 square miles. There didnt seem to be a lot of speed limits on the highways or on the waterways. we are used to 6 mph in a harbor, but there were jet skis flying all over the place between the approx. 30 of us kayaking and stretched across this bay. there were a couple of guides; phillipe and erick and maybe another, but they were not necessarily in the lead. It sure took a lot of upper body strength to cross that bay with winds, rough water. it was sunny and in the 80's- a beautiful day. We kayaked about 6 miles i think they said. We crossed into the french side and stopped at explorer island for a break and to swim. the water was pleasant, not cold. not as warm as bath water like in the summer, but nice. While we swam, the guides drew an elaborate map on the sand complete with little plastic animals. Then they showed us where we were on the map and how to get where we were heading and a little history. After we launched and headed on our way, one double kayak capsized and nobody seemed too concerned; DH and I headed in that direction, until the people appeared from under their boat and a guide finally went over to them. There wasnt a lot of concern for safety. We then kayaked along some mangroves and saw jelly fish and sea cucumbers. One of the guides picked up a sea cucumber, also known as donkey dung, and squeezed it; it squirted water out like a plastic pickle. (quite unique) We headed back to the beach at the hotel around 11:30 or 12 noon. They sold st. maarten kayaking t-shirts (2 for $30) and DS and DH each got one (assorted colors). It was time to board the bus and return to the ship. We thought about staying to shop as we had wanted on french side, but were wet and messy and decided to do that later in afternoon.
Back at ship, we ate lunch at topsiders (south of the border buffet) with custom made tacos, etc. and a great mexican pizza-- probably the best thing on the buffet. We went back to the room, cleaned up and headed out to the port. We easily found a taxi -- the walkway pillars are all marked with different destinations and we picked the french capital, "marigot." A mini van taxi was ready to go and for $5 each, took us to the french capital; i heard it was as close a french village or town as you could get. On the way we went through the back streets of st.
maarten because driver was dropping off a friend and there was a battle of marching bands and steel bands, along with a barbeque with a festival. Finally, in st. martin, we were dropped off at harbor. As we travelled up and down the hills to marigot, we saw some beautiful harbors and turquoise waters and gorgeous beaches. In marigot, we browsed the shops and new mini mall; saw the family that shared our table at dinner. We also visited the outside straw market and saw them roasting some kind of meat-- (could it be what we saw under a tree?) DH wouldnt let me sample any--- remember we are the dial soap fanatics. We stopped at a french candy shop to buy some gifts and I tried to tell them i wanted 1/2 pound of fruit slices (candy) and there was some miscommunciation because of the metric system and pounds and the language and I ended up paying over $27 and it felt more like 4 lbs. ! They gave me some french coins in change. On the way back to the harbor to catch a cab, DH saw a place selling bottled cokes and bought one for $1.25- paid with $1 and gave them a french coin thinking it was 30 cents and told them to keep the change. Turned out the coin was worth only about 20 cents- so no wonder the lady gave DH such a strange look! A lady cab driver picked us up at the harbor in her lincoln continental and for $6 each, returned us to the ship.
It was now time to dress for the show and our formal dinner in Lumiere's; the show was Hercules which I really like, but the Hades and Hercules characters were not same actors as before-- great show as always, especially the Muses. We then went to a special 7:30 jackpot bingo. We had purchase the internet package for $89 and whenever we wanted to check email or DS wanted to surf web, there was always a computer available. Of course we washed our hands afterwards with that good old dial soap. We had our formal dinner, but neither of our sets of dining companions showed up-- Jamming John was preparing for his show as DJ for the big new year's deck party.
There were bands and celebrations all over the ship. The main deck party had the charles marshall band and Jamming John. The Atrium, sessions, rockin bar d, promenade lounge, offbeat, and sudio sea all had music and parties too. There was the big band sound and dancing by the quiet cove pool. Lots going on. About 11:30 they handed out champagne in black souvenir champagne glasses and non-alcoholic for kids. We brought several glasses home to go with our red, white, and blue ones from the 4th of july cruise. At midnight, the captain wished us happy new year and father time goofy and new year baby donald struck a big gong bell at the deck party. They had this multinational feast being set up on deck 9 with foods from around the world, but we hit the bed as EVERYONE had to be to immigration at 6:30 am to be able to go ashore at st. thomas the next morning. So we set the alarm and went to bed. Just a note that as we left florida and headed east, we had a note slipped under our door I think on Monday to turn our clocks ahead one hour. More later on our new year's day in St. Thomas and St. John.
