Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Caribbean Cruise (2006)--Day 4
4/25/2006
St. Maarten
We were early to rise today at 5 a.m.; no particular reason for this other than Patty left a wakeup call, so when she got up...I got up. 
There is just something neat about setting sail from an island one evening and seeing the next island approach as you eat breakfast at a window table at the Windjammer Cafe. Today's island was St. Maarten, the largest island in the world which is owned by two nations. The port of Philipsburg is in the part owned by the Dutch. Today's bus tour took us to the other side of the island and the town of Marigot, on the French-owned portion.
A few other observations from today's tour:
The West Indies dialect spoken by today's driver was tough to understand but eventually we got used to how he spoke.
The people of this island appear to be very poor. The housing looks extremely run-down and there was a lot of junk in many of the yards we passed. I haven't done the research but what we could visibly see suggested that the standard of living is very low here.
We were sitting on the right side of the bus which turned out to be a mistake as the overwhelming number of scenic spots were on the left side of the bus. There wasn't any way for us to know this, of course, but it did detract from the quality of the tour.
Many clothing items are very cheap here. At a market in Marigot, I landed a Hard Rock Cafe/St. Maarten t-shirt for just $4 and a St. Maarten cap for another $5.
It wasn't a bad tour, but it was one which we'd do only once. Likewise for St. Maarten; this isn't an island which we'd desire staying on in the future.
St Maarten rating: 5
Back on the J.O.S., we watched the Adventure Of The Seas leave port a half hour ahead of us, and then watched another great sunset. The theme onboard tonight was Caribbean, and the jerk chicken they served up at the Windjammer Cafe was phenomenal! Once again, too much to eat, but this is becoming the standard. I'm not sure what's up with the food thing; is it that we're busy every day and working up an appetite? Is the food really that good? Is there an unconscious desire to get our "money's worth" out of this cruise? I'm not sure but I strongly suspect the answer to all three questions is "yes".
Arrival in St. Maarten
Arrival in St. Maarten
Phillipsburg Harbor from the shipdeck
Deck 13 of our ship
Rock climbing wall
Miniature Golf Course
St. Maarten tour
St. Maarten tour-Marigot
Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas
Another view of our ship, the Jewel of the Seas
Departure from St. Maarten
Another beautiful Caribbean sunset!
Previous: 4/24/2006--Our Caribbean Cruise (2006)--Day 3
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