Unfortunately, the easygoing nature was most prevalent in their bartenders, who did not seem in a hurry to serve us drinks even when my wife and I were the only customers in the bar.

Furthermore, you could not even walk on the beach without being accosted to rent two chairs, an umbrella, and a bucket of beer for $15.

I definitely did not feel like a welcome visitor to the island; it was more like I was wading through a vat of leeches and horseflies.

St. Maarten gave off the impression that, SOMEWHERE on the island, there was peace, quiet, and natural beauty. I can only assume that these things were located far, far away from the port and the downtown area. However, the hassle and expense involved in getting that far from the ship was prohibitive.

The lack of personal space and a sense of humanity made it overall a negative experience for me and for my wife. I would not deliberately return to St. Maarten again.

Castaway Cay is a place I wish every Disney cruise spent more time. The layout was perfect; an adult beach separated by quite a bit of distance from the family and kids' beaches, each section having its own bar and barbecue restaurant. And there were frequent trams to cart people back and forth. The snorkeling was great, the water was warm, and the setting was serene. If I had a complaint it would be that there were not enough beach chairs at Serenity Bay.

Even though we only had about two hours here before it thunderstormed, cutting our best port of call far short of what it could have been, my wife and I had a great time and would gladly go back to Castaway Cay. I would rather spend three days here and skip all the other ports of call.