Awoke excited to taste a bit of another culture! I went up top to see the view from the ship- lovely and exciting! I didn't expect the hills. Soon another ship- RCCL I think- pulled into port- it was cool to see thier ship- a beauty- but I liked the island view better. Guess we had to get off to see it again!
After the challenging task of getting five people ready to disembark for the days adventure- and let me tell you it wasn't easy! Sunscreen for all, sea lice goopy stuff on top of that, everyone got your ID's, key cards, money, towels (disney only provides these itty bitty towels- not at all suitable for the beach but we were forewarned by the dis board so we had brought our own!), got your snorkeling equipment? don't forget to pack the sandwhiches ordered from room service, water and more sunscreen! Finally we seemed ready to get off and explore! "Are you sure you got your key card and ID?" Yahoo!
Getting off the boat was quick and easy- again I say nobody handles a crowd as well as Disney! We walked up to the information booth and asked about a good snorkeling spot. We decided to try Dawn Beach. Getting a taxi was easy although the ride there was a bit harrowing! Narrow streets with chickens and even goats sharing the road with us! Taxi driver was skilled and assertive though and we were at our destination pretty quickly! This was the first place (and really the worse place) that we encountered any sort of heavy handed selling. Hair braiders and hawkers of every sort quickly descended on us! No thank you's worked for a moment but they seemed to quickly forget that we had already said no so soon they were back.
We started into the water- it was a little rough and difficult for us amatuer snorkelers to adjust to. I swallowed a gallon or two of the very salty water before getting out without seeing a thing! Couldn't even really get into the water because the waves were lapping into my equipment. Decided that maybe we needed flippers to help so we rented these for $5 a pair. What a comedy that was!! So funny! Just getting them onto our feet was hilarious! Stumbling and falling about! I am sure I would have easily been mistaken for a big old beached whale a couple of times! Then trying to walk into the water was another story! I just could not put one flippered foot in front of the other! I thought I recalled seeing snorkelers on TV walking into the water backwards- maybe that's what we were doing wrong! hahaha!! This just meant falling backwards into the surf! Too funny! After about twnety minutes of flippered misadventure and another gallon of salty brine consumed I gave up. Children did get in a bit but they quickly gave up too. We decided this might be the time to get the much desired hair braiding done. Ruby was the first to approach us for hairbraiding and she was soft spoken and not at all pushy so we decided to search her out. Quickly found her and began the island cruisers traditional hair torture! DD13 went first and it took about an hour to do hers. I spent the time talking to Ruby and her sisters about Island life and life in the USA. I always enjoy talking to the real people where I visit and this was no exception. Ruby and her sisters had a lot to say about Americans. They viewed all Americans as rich. She found it interesting to hear that we were not at all rich- in fact we wouldn't even be here is dearest sis had not won the cruise. I think hearing that we are actually quite poor (although certainly not by island standards) Ruby opened up and we had a wonderful few hours together as four of us got braids. This was the highlight of my time in Saint Martin. I think it is great that my children got to hear about a different life style and also to hear what others thought of America was a learning experience. We Americans sometimes take our lives for granted. The kids were especially fascinated to hear that on this island a parent has to pay to send thier kids to school. Ruby and her sisters spoke of how hard it was to afford this. They spoke of wanting a better life for thier children- how universal is this notion? They talked of island politics and how even hair braiding is a challenge since there is (according to them) a lot of bribery involved with getting a license to do this. In fact, Ruby kept her eyes open the whole time looking for the "braiding regulators" who were apt to show up at any time and shoo her off the beach. So we were using a bootleg hair braider as it were! She did a fine job. Getting the braids out is much harder then getting them in!
Sometime mid afternoon we got a taxi back to the ship for a shower- the salt is heavy and crusty on our skin and our hair has turned to straw! Time to rinse off! We had expected to just stay aboard but felt renewed after the warm shower so DS and I headed out . The shops were calling us! We got another taxi to take us "off the beaten track" to some small alley ways for shopping. A flea market of sorts. many, many more natives then tourists here. We had a ball and got some very good deals! DS discovered he has a talent for bartering! We saw many of the same goods that we had seen in more well travelled shops for a quarter of the cost! We got tee shirts for a dollar and tropical outfits for the girls for under $5 an outfit! We knew it was time to head back to the ship soon because the locals were starting to close up shop. So we were off!
Back on board it was another shower and then snacks up top since dinner was not due till 8:30 Pm. We watched the Hercules show. This was funny and had some slightly off color humor in it that was missed by all the children. Off color by Disney standards of course is quite tame!
Dinner was another joy! Joel and Sylvester by this time knew us by name and had our favorite beverages waiting for us! Salt water ingestion makes one VERY thirsty! This was a tropical night themed dinner so we had all donned our most colorful new outfits! The hair braids just added to the effect! We were congratulated on not getting sunburned- not everyone could boast the same! We saw a lot of cherry red noses that night! Even with SPF 30 applied twice we got a little red but bearable and not painful at all- just the right amount to soon turn into the golden glow our friends would be jealous of when we returned home!
This was the night of the DD13's big meltdown! I could tell something was bothering her at dinner and it soon exploded! She is allergic to artificial colorings and the breakfast strawberries had looked a little too red to me- it was a compote- not just plain strawberries and I suspect this is what tipped her over the edge. After bickering with siblings and auntie and Mom I tried to talk to her. She stated that she did not like the teens program- she hated Common Grounds- " all they do is hang around and flirt with each other" and "couldn't I please get her into the kids program before her cruise was ruined?" Now when the DD has this sort of allergic reaction she is miserable and is quite apt to make everyone around her miserable. Poor kid- I don;t think she even thought twice about the strawberries- I know I didn't- I make strawberries like this at home using all natural ingredients so she probably assumed they were fine. Well, DD did not take kindly to being brought back to her room. After shouting and stating that she WAS NOT going to bed I took away her room key and told her she just had to stay in sleep this off. She told me I was putting her "under house arrest" and that it was not legal to do so to ones child! I told her I loved her, took the key and went in search of rest of family. Fortunately this was the only real blow up I saw out of her on the trip.
DD17 was involved in a Common Ground activity of some sort- scheduled to last until after 1 AM so we parted ways, DS was going back to the room to watch a movie and chill out as he put it. I cautioned him about waking his dear sister but I hadn't of feared. He would not have woken her for a fire! He didn't want to deal with that mess!
Dearest sis and I went to the clubs for a bit- saw another portion of the dueling pianos- those guys are so funny! One of these days I hope to catch a whole set of them! Took in a bit of the night life in the clubs and then headed back to our room. We knew we had to get up early for the immigration people the next morning. I admit to being a little apprehensive about the whole process. Why did we have to get up so early for it? Seems like there ought to be a better way. How long would it take? What would they ask? What if we slept thru it? A few anxious thoughts for this compulsive personality. But not enough to disturb another peaceful night of Disney dreams.
After the challenging task of getting five people ready to disembark for the days adventure- and let me tell you it wasn't easy! Sunscreen for all, sea lice goopy stuff on top of that, everyone got your ID's, key cards, money, towels (disney only provides these itty bitty towels- not at all suitable for the beach but we were forewarned by the dis board so we had brought our own!), got your snorkeling equipment? don't forget to pack the sandwhiches ordered from room service, water and more sunscreen! Finally we seemed ready to get off and explore! "Are you sure you got your key card and ID?" Yahoo!
Getting off the boat was quick and easy- again I say nobody handles a crowd as well as Disney! We walked up to the information booth and asked about a good snorkeling spot. We decided to try Dawn Beach. Getting a taxi was easy although the ride there was a bit harrowing! Narrow streets with chickens and even goats sharing the road with us! Taxi driver was skilled and assertive though and we were at our destination pretty quickly! This was the first place (and really the worse place) that we encountered any sort of heavy handed selling. Hair braiders and hawkers of every sort quickly descended on us! No thank you's worked for a moment but they seemed to quickly forget that we had already said no so soon they were back.
We started into the water- it was a little rough and difficult for us amatuer snorkelers to adjust to. I swallowed a gallon or two of the very salty water before getting out without seeing a thing! Couldn't even really get into the water because the waves were lapping into my equipment. Decided that maybe we needed flippers to help so we rented these for $5 a pair. What a comedy that was!! So funny! Just getting them onto our feet was hilarious! Stumbling and falling about! I am sure I would have easily been mistaken for a big old beached whale a couple of times! Then trying to walk into the water was another story! I just could not put one flippered foot in front of the other! I thought I recalled seeing snorkelers on TV walking into the water backwards- maybe that's what we were doing wrong! hahaha!! This just meant falling backwards into the surf! Too funny! After about twnety minutes of flippered misadventure and another gallon of salty brine consumed I gave up. Children did get in a bit but they quickly gave up too. We decided this might be the time to get the much desired hair braiding done. Ruby was the first to approach us for hairbraiding and she was soft spoken and not at all pushy so we decided to search her out. Quickly found her and began the island cruisers traditional hair torture! DD13 went first and it took about an hour to do hers. I spent the time talking to Ruby and her sisters about Island life and life in the USA. I always enjoy talking to the real people where I visit and this was no exception. Ruby and her sisters had a lot to say about Americans. They viewed all Americans as rich. She found it interesting to hear that we were not at all rich- in fact we wouldn't even be here is dearest sis had not won the cruise. I think hearing that we are actually quite poor (although certainly not by island standards) Ruby opened up and we had a wonderful few hours together as four of us got braids. This was the highlight of my time in Saint Martin. I think it is great that my children got to hear about a different life style and also to hear what others thought of America was a learning experience. We Americans sometimes take our lives for granted. The kids were especially fascinated to hear that on this island a parent has to pay to send thier kids to school. Ruby and her sisters spoke of how hard it was to afford this. They spoke of wanting a better life for thier children- how universal is this notion? They talked of island politics and how even hair braiding is a challenge since there is (according to them) a lot of bribery involved with getting a license to do this. In fact, Ruby kept her eyes open the whole time looking for the "braiding regulators" who were apt to show up at any time and shoo her off the beach. So we were using a bootleg hair braider as it were! She did a fine job. Getting the braids out is much harder then getting them in!
Sometime mid afternoon we got a taxi back to the ship for a shower- the salt is heavy and crusty on our skin and our hair has turned to straw! Time to rinse off! We had expected to just stay aboard but felt renewed after the warm shower so DS and I headed out . The shops were calling us! We got another taxi to take us "off the beaten track" to some small alley ways for shopping. A flea market of sorts. many, many more natives then tourists here. We had a ball and got some very good deals! DS discovered he has a talent for bartering! We saw many of the same goods that we had seen in more well travelled shops for a quarter of the cost! We got tee shirts for a dollar and tropical outfits for the girls for under $5 an outfit! We knew it was time to head back to the ship soon because the locals were starting to close up shop. So we were off!
Back on board it was another shower and then snacks up top since dinner was not due till 8:30 Pm. We watched the Hercules show. This was funny and had some slightly off color humor in it that was missed by all the children. Off color by Disney standards of course is quite tame!
Dinner was another joy! Joel and Sylvester by this time knew us by name and had our favorite beverages waiting for us! Salt water ingestion makes one VERY thirsty! This was a tropical night themed dinner so we had all donned our most colorful new outfits! The hair braids just added to the effect! We were congratulated on not getting sunburned- not everyone could boast the same! We saw a lot of cherry red noses that night! Even with SPF 30 applied twice we got a little red but bearable and not painful at all- just the right amount to soon turn into the golden glow our friends would be jealous of when we returned home!
This was the night of the DD13's big meltdown! I could tell something was bothering her at dinner and it soon exploded! She is allergic to artificial colorings and the breakfast strawberries had looked a little too red to me- it was a compote- not just plain strawberries and I suspect this is what tipped her over the edge. After bickering with siblings and auntie and Mom I tried to talk to her. She stated that she did not like the teens program- she hated Common Grounds- " all they do is hang around and flirt with each other" and "couldn't I please get her into the kids program before her cruise was ruined?" Now when the DD has this sort of allergic reaction she is miserable and is quite apt to make everyone around her miserable. Poor kid- I don;t think she even thought twice about the strawberries- I know I didn't- I make strawberries like this at home using all natural ingredients so she probably assumed they were fine. Well, DD did not take kindly to being brought back to her room. After shouting and stating that she WAS NOT going to bed I took away her room key and told her she just had to stay in sleep this off. She told me I was putting her "under house arrest" and that it was not legal to do so to ones child! I told her I loved her, took the key and went in search of rest of family. Fortunately this was the only real blow up I saw out of her on the trip.
DD17 was involved in a Common Ground activity of some sort- scheduled to last until after 1 AM so we parted ways, DS was going back to the room to watch a movie and chill out as he put it. I cautioned him about waking his dear sister but I hadn't of feared. He would not have woken her for a fire! He didn't want to deal with that mess!
Dearest sis and I went to the clubs for a bit- saw another portion of the dueling pianos- those guys are so funny! One of these days I hope to catch a whole set of them! Took in a bit of the night life in the clubs and then headed back to our room. We knew we had to get up early for the immigration people the next morning. I admit to being a little apprehensive about the whole process. Why did we have to get up so early for it? Seems like there ought to be a better way. How long would it take? What would they ask? What if we slept thru it? A few anxious thoughts for this compulsive personality. But not enough to disturb another peaceful night of Disney dreams.
