ST. MAARTEN





TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015:


All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.

 It was a beautiful morning on Tuesday as we approached the island of St. Maarten.
Approaching St. Maarten Approaching St. Maarten Approaching St. Maarten

Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It encompasses the
southern 40% of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, while the northern 60% of the island
constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Martin.
Approaching St. Maarten Approaching St. Maarten Approaching St. Maarten

We were in port from 10:00AM to 6:00PM.
St. Maarten cruise port The Ruby Princess at the St. Maarten cruise port St. Maarten cruise port

I took a boat cruise across the Simpson Bay Lagoon from the Dutch side of the
island to the French side arriving at the French Capitol in Marigot.
Simpson Bay Lagoon in St. Maarten Simpson Bay Lagoon in St. Maarten Approaching Marigot on the Simpson Bay Lagoon in St. Maarten

There was a beautiful sunset after returning to the ship.
The Ruby Princess departing St. Maarten Sunset in St. Maarten Sunset in St. Maarten

The video below is 42 minutes long of my day in St. Maarten.

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON JANUARY 6, 2015
Hello folks,

Yesterday was a day at sea. I spent the day wandering about the ship. In the evening I watched a movie under the stars. It had Meryl Streep in it so I figured it couldn't be that bad. But it was indeed quite an awful movie. It was called "The Giver".

Today we arrived in St. Maarten. We sailed around the island before docking.



There were four other cruise ships already here before we arrived. I was in two different countries today. One side of the island belongs to the Netherlands and the other side to France.



I don't think I picked a very good tour. We took a boat ride but it stayed in this one small lagoon and you didn't get to see much of the island. We did pass the airport where the planes land right over the beach inches above the sunbathers heads. Unfortunately the beach is at the other end of the runway and all I got to see was a plane on the runway.



I think it is one of the world's most dangerous airports. Short runway and the planes have to climb fast to avoid the nearby hills. Below is a KLM 747 taking off from a distance.



After crossing the lagoon we were in the capitol city of the French side of the island, Marigot.



We had about an hour to walk around Marigot. The rest of the tour was spent on the bus. We went by several scenic spots with nice views of the island but we never stopped once to see any of them. It was really quite an awful tour and a complete waste of time and money. We sailed away just after sunset.



We will be in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands tomorrow.

Tim
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Click on the arrow above to continue to tomorrows adventures in St. Thomas!

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