I like to shop but opt more for seeing as much as I can in a short period of time. It did take a little time to get off the ship. We stood in line for about 20 minutes. From town we took a van to Crown Bay. That gave us an opportunity to see a little of the island. At Crown Bay we were a little late for the ferry and had to sit and wait at Tickles where we drank a few beers and talked to the locals. There was a gourmet grocery store nearby so we got the stuff for a picnic. Finally took a water taxi to Water Island and hiked to Honeymoon beach. Our captain gave us a tour and told us a lot about the neighboring islands. It was well worth the hike. The beach was beautiful. No waves just clear water. Getting back to the port was uneventful. The transportation is less than in other ports we've traveled to. We were able to talk to several people that lived there and I think we learned a little about the local history that some people don't.
This time we were right off the ship. No waiting at all. We did an excursion this time to be able to see both sides of the island. It was the Sunsational tour and beach break. We took a short walk to our cool chartered bus. There were a couple of people on the tour that had a hard time walking as fast as the tour guide did. Our tour guide was very informative and gave us plenty of time to take pictures. The scenery was so beautiful. We had a short time to shop on the French side and then got back on the bus to go to Orient Beach. I'm from north Florida and our beaches are gorgeous but there was no comparison to this one. The water was beautiful turquoise with nice relaxing waves. We had chairs but had to pay extra for umbrellas. Lunch was provided and it was OK but not anything extraordinary. We were warned about nudity and a topless lady did walk by but it just seemed natural. After getting back to Phillipsburg we did have a little while to shop. Make sure you find the chocolate chop in Sint Marten. It was sooooo good.
people were friendly and everything moved along quickly. We were up at 6:15 and driving out of the parking garage at 7:57. By the time we got to the Crown and Anchor lounge area and had coffee our color was called. I believe we were the first ones out of the garage. We were very lucky finding our luggage quickly. Lets face it when it's over it's over and time to go.
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