suggestions

We will be at St Martin on April 2 when 8 cruise ships will be in port. Any suggestions of what to do when the port is busy.

We were there a few years ago with several ships in port - did Bernard's Tours and had a great day. We did sightseeing and beach time- didn't spend much time shopping as Phillipsburg was packed when we returned.

We'll be at Orient Beach. That's got to be less crowded than Phillipsburg will be. :)

Has anyone rented a car and just drove around the island, seeing the sights?In fact, are there car rentals available? thanks....

We will be at St Martin on April 2 when 8 cruise ships will be in port. Any suggestions of what to do when the port is busy.

We'll also be there on April 2 with 8 ships in port :eek: The town of Philipsburg will be packed with people so we're booking Bernard's tours once again and have them deal with the traffic.

The Golden Eagle Catamaran is offered by most cruise lines and is a favorite of ours! :)

LuLu

We'll also be there on April 2 with 8 ships in port :eek: The town of Philipsburg will be packed with people so we're booking Bernard's tours once again and have them deal with the traffic.

Another option is to rent a car and go to Anse Marcel. The one area that I would avoid on a day like yours is Maho.

We will be at St Martin on April 2 when 8 cruise ships will be in port. Any suggestions of what to do when the port is busy.

My family will be there on the 2nd of April with all our other cruising friends. Our plan is to take a taxi to a beach, (I'm still debating whether to go to Mullet or Simpson Bay), hit the french bakery and then head back to port for some crazy busy shopping. That's the plan at least...we've done Bernard's Tours before and the Golden Eagle...loved them both, but wanted to try something new.

Another option is to rent a car and go to Anse Marcel. The one area that I would avoid on a day like yours is Maho.

Karysa,

I know Maho is going to be crazy. Not thrilled with 8 ships in port, the most I think we've had was 6. I agree with you we should be doing something else, as we're always doing Bernard's tour. We may have already been to Anse Marcel many, many years ago, not quite sure, but since you mentioned it, I'll look into it at another time. We do occasionally take a taxi to Marigot, as I enjoy shopping in the boutique stores and having lunch at Tropicana or taxi to Grand Case and enjoy lunch there. When we're the only ship in port, sometimes we'll just hang in Philipsburg, walk the boardwalk and have lunch at L'Escargot in town.

Neither one of us is into renting a car on vacation in the islands. Some people have no problems renting a car, which is fine, but it's not for us. You see, I love the beach and spent many summers at the Jersey shore. DH is definitely not a beach person at all, but he enjoys Maho with the planes. It's also highly unlikely DH will ever do a land vacation in the Caribbean. We are ex-boaters (sail & motor) and both of us love the sea and love to cruise. We have seen a lot of the island over the 20+ years of cruising and have done many catamaran excursions over the years. RCI use to have an excursion many years ago by boat, from Philipsburg to Marigot, which we enjoyed. Now we get the best of both worlds and do Bernard's, which has Orient Beach for me and Maho for him. It may be kind of boring for some people to do the same thing over and over, but we enjoy our time in St. Maarten with Bernard's. We're fortunate next month to be in St. Maarten twice and the second time we'll be the only ship in port so we can possible try to go to Anse Marcel or at a later time this year when we return once again.

Thank you for your suggestion, I appreciate it. :)

Karysa,

I know Maho is going to be crazy. Not thrilled with 8 ships in port, the most I think we've had was 6. I agree with you we should be doing something else, as we're always doing Bernard's tour. We may have already been to Anse Marcel many, many years ago, not quite sure, but since you mentioned it, I'll look into it at another time. We do occasionally take a taxi to Marigot, as I enjoy shopping in the boutique stores and having lunch at Tropicana or taxi to Grand Case and enjoy lunch there. When we're the only ship in port, sometimes we'll just hang in Philipsburg, walk the boardwalk and have lunch at L'Escargot in town.

 

Neither one of us is into renting a car on vacation in the islands. Some people have no problems renting a car, which is fine, but it's not for us. You see, I love the beach and spent many summers at the Jersey shore. DH is definitely not a beach person at all, but he enjoys Maho with the planes. It's also highly unlikely DH will ever do a land vacation in the Caribbean. We are ex-boaters (sail & motor) and both of us love the sea and love to cruise. We have seen a lot of the island over the 20+ years of cruising and have done many catamaran excursions over the years. RCI use to have an excursion many years ago by boat, from Philipsburg to Marigot, which we enjoyed. Now we get the best of both worlds and do Bernard's, which has Orient Beach for me and Maho for him. It may be kind of boring for some people to do the same thing over and over, but we enjoy our time in St. Maarten with Bernard's. We're fortunate next month to be in St. Maarten twice and the second time we'll be the only ship in port so we can possible try to go to Anse Marcel or at a later time this year when we return once again.

Thank you for your suggestion, I appreciate it. :)

I can see how the Orient / Maho combo would work for the two of you. Makes sense. I just don't like the traffic that comes with 8 ships especially the congestion from Maho in the afternoon. I agree that having a great meal is also a wonderful way to spend part of your day on St. Maarten. :)

Just returned from the Getaway and I think there were 5 ships in port that day. I would strongly suggest a tour with Soualiga Destinations. This was an all day trip on a high speed boat that involved multiple snorkel stops, beach breaks, lunch, drinks, and watching planes.

Just returned from the Getaway and I think there were 5 ships in port that day. I would strongly suggest a tour with Soualiga Destinations. This was an all day trip on a high speed boat that involved multiple snorkel stops, beach breaks, lunch, drinks, and watching planes.

Did they take you to Maho beach to watch the planes or did you see them while out in the bay?

We're on one of those 8 ships too... We booked the Beach Bum tour with Amigo... 1/2 time at Orient and 1/2 at Maho... Maho could be crazy!!! Did Bernards last time...

Another option is to rent a car and go to Anse Marcel. The one area that I would avoid on a day like yours is Maho.

AGREED! I was there last week on Regal Princess when both Allure of the Seas and Celebrity Silhouette where in port. 3 huge ships made for a VERY crowded Maho Beach. It was our first time to St Maarten and I really wanted to see Maho so we took a taxi there but it was so crowded we just snapped a few pics of some of the smaller planes coming in and then left. The planes are a cool sight but I don't think I would go back to Maho [at least not in prime cruise season with several large ships in port]. We ended up going back to Philipsburg and rented chairs at Great Bay Beach right by the Boardwalk. It, too, had a lot of people but it is much bigger than Maho so getting a prime spot was not an issue. The water and sand were still very nice there and it was great to be close to the center of town.

AGREED! I was there last week on Regal Princess when both Allure of the Seas and Celebrity Silhouette where in port. 3 huge ships made for a VERY crowded Maho Beach. It was our first time to St Maarten and I really wanted to see Maho so we took a taxi there but it was so crowded we just snapped a few pics of some of the smaller planes coming in and then left. The planes are a cool sight but I don't think I would go back to Maho [at least not in prime cruise season with several large ships in port]. We ended up going back to Philipsburg and rented chairs at Great Bay Beach right by the Boardwalk. It, too, had a lot of people but it is much bigger than Maho so getting a prime spot was not an issue. The water and sand were still very nice there and it was great to be close to the center of town.

Actually Great Bay ( the water not the boardwalk) is somewhere I always avoid no matter how many ships are in. I would take a crowded Maho and congested roads over swimming in Great Bay due to the ongoing documented ( nice that it looked clean) pollution concerns.