4 December Monday
Other ships scheduled are Marella Discovery (2,000) and Celebrity Beyond (3,900). Eeek.
This place is new to us, so we'll give it a good going-over. The airport here is visited frequently since one end abuts a road and beach. People on the beach get the impression an arriving plane will land on them. The lower half of the island is a constituent part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands while the upper half is the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Our tour here is Accessible Phillipsburg" which, despite its name, covers attractions in both countries.
We found yet another ship at the pier - Fred. Olson's Borealis. That makes four of us here today at the two piers. Actually five since the sailing ship Sea Cloud Spirit was ahead of us on the pier. We were by far the smallest ship.
Continental breakfast in cabin. Then loaf until tour time of 0830.
Off ship at 0830, tour started at 0845 with driver/guide Eddie. Eddie talked almost the entire trip about his island. He was born on the French side, went to school on the Dutch side, and works both sides. The tour bus was just the right size, capacity 16 and group of 15..
Eddie took us on the road up the middle of the island into the French territory. We stopped to photo the sign separating the two countries. There are two separate administrations here, two sets of schools, about six languages, and very poor roads everywhere due to the 2017 hurricane, the effects of which can be seen everywhere. The administrations get together once a year at the border to shake hands and congratulate each other on another year of peace between them.
We went on, with photo stops at a pretty ocean site and to photograph a large iguana, to Marigot, the French capital. We got out there for 40 minutes to play and visit the facilities. There were many stands inside a traffic circle with schlock for the visitors with money. D found a French St Martin pin for her collection and brilliantly colored shirts for the grandsons.
The island's population is 60,000 on the Dutch side and 50,000 on the French side. There are a dozen casinos on the Dutch side, none on the French side. Phillipsburg on the Dutch side is the seaport.
We drove on, re-entering the Dutch side. We bypassed the international airport with its runway foot only a few meters across the street to the ocean. We stopped at another viewpoint (with a statue in bronze of William Henry Bell II, who died in 1950 at the age of 33 after buying 300 acres of sugar cane land. I'm not sure that rates a statue, but pictures of it and the plaque are in the photo link.
We crawled through Phillipsburg on our way back to the ship.
Photo Link
The area in front of the pier was another duty-free nightmare, but D found a St Martin pin for the Dutch side to complete her collection. We boarded after that, and went to the cabin. Up then to Patio for Bratwursts and drinks (nice), and return to the cabin to rest.
After taking it easy for a while we went to the Living Room to set up for Trivia. First Marilyn joined us, then she wandered away to join others. Then "Cruiser Bill" joined us with two of his friends. We (with their help) did well but not enough to win. The lady remembered O from the short Mexican trip two years back.
Then Dave & MaryKay stopped to chat. They're doing a Sydney to Singapore thing next year, but before that they got into a cheap fare on Pursuit (Canaries to Lisbon B2B Lisbon to Lisbon) in March 2024. They're thinking about joining our Montreal to Reykjavik trip in mid-2025.
We sat in the LR for a bit listening to the live music. Then we went to the cabin to dress for dinner. We were seated next to a couple from Boynton Beach & Montreal - made for some interesting chatting.
After that, it was time for the nightcap at the Living Room bar, and to bed.