My wife had an onboard medical conference. Thus, we decided to make it a family vacation for my wife, myself, and our 14 month old daughter.
The beds were horrible. My wife (30 years old) and I (37 years old), who are both young and extremely healthy, woke up every morning with aching backs. The beds were stiff and we would have been better off sleeping on the floor and having more space in the cabins.
Because our daughter was 14 months old, we were not allowed to book any shore excursions (children needed to be 3+ years old). Thus, for us the benefit of the shore excursion program and being able to pick and choose what to do on the port calls was a bust. However, with the help of local taxi drivers, we were able to find some awesome beaches. Thus, it turned into a DIY vacation.
Extremely uncomfortable beds. My wife (30 years old) and I (37 years old) woke up every morning with aching beds from the extremely stiff beds. Better off sleeping on the floor.
Here we walked to the Boatyard. Super fun; especially if you are young and on spring break. The day pass is $20 per person but includes a free drink, umbrella and chair. They have ready made water activities (an iceberg, two trampolines, and rope pole to swing off the peer). At 1pm they also gave out free shots for 15 minutes by means of the bartender running up and down the bar pour alcohol people's mouths. Food options were great as they had burgers and delicious fish wraps. They also had great bathrooms and fresh water showers.
Thus, we got off the ship and walked along their hurricane devastated boardwalk and settled on a nice beach with some chairs and umbrella. St. Maarten has definitely seen better days and its best days are still ahead. The Hurricane did a lot of damage to the island and most stores and shops are still recovering.
On the island we went to North Fregate Bay. Very relaxing beach, located not far from a Marriott Resort that appeared to have a golf course. The bay was soothing and relaxing with free wifi, and three food vendors. The food service was slow, but the water was great and calm for our daughter to enjoy too.
Here we went to Jolly Beach and bought some umbrella and chairs at Castaway Bay Beach resort. There was also a pineapple vendor selling pineapples with rum on the beach. There is also a resort on Jolly Beach where fro $75 you can buy an all inclusive day pass and then have free drinks, showers and use of their beach side pool. We didn't do this because we were only there for 4 hours and weren't boozing, but it could foreseeably be a great option for some. Personally, had we had more than 4 hours, I would have enjoyed playing a round of golf and doing the all inclusive Marriott Resort. Again, waters were crystal clear, warm, and beautiful. Castaway Bay Beach Bar had good food too.