Trip report 12/26

Day 3 St. Maarten 12/26/17

What a wonderful day! We picked this itinerary because it included St. Maarten. We loved Orient Beach, so the hurricane had us feeling really sad about the whole thing.

Our neighbor on the Jewel owns a timeshare on St. Maarten. He said that only people with French passports were allowed onto the French side. We didn’t try, so I can’t confirm or deny that.

There ended up being three ships in Philipsburg that day. That made us the 8th, 9th and 10th ships to come since the hurricane.

Like San Juan (I don’t say Puerto Rico because we only saw San Juan) and St. Thomas, St. Maarten was completely green. DD saw happy birds in all the undergrowth. Apparently, they were a type of finch that really prefers that type of habitat. So that was nice to hear!

We decided that from what we heard, Philipsburg was where most of the recovery had taken place, so we were going to stay there. We walked, 15 minutes, to the town and wound our way to the boardwalk and onto the beach. The first restaurant we saw open was the Lazy Lizard. I thought I had read on CC that it was open and people were happy. I’d never been to the boardwalk, so I didn’t know anything. We stayed right there all day. We got our four loungers with one umbrella and ate our lunch at the Lazy Lizard. Holey Cow! That food was great! The best chicken curry of our lives. We were not compromising on our fun because of the hurricanes. This was just a wonderful day. They also have delicious Mango Mojitos. I recommend this restaurant.

There were women walking along the beach selling things or offering massages. They were not aggressive.

I would estimate that not quite half of the restaurants/hotels along the boardwalk in Philipsburg were operable. DH has pictures that I can add later.

Thank you for the info. We were looking to see if we could just find a bar on the boardwalk, I guess we will look for this one. Did you try snorkeling?

Thank you for the info. We were looking to see if we could just find a bar on the boardwalk, I guess we will look for this one. Did you try snorkeling?

No, we didn't. Honestly, it didn't look like a likely snorkel spot. It was just sand and water. Don't let that discourage you though!

Renee

Thank you for the info. We were looking to see if we could just find a bar on the boardwalk, I guess we will look for this one. Did you try snorkeling?

DW and I go to the Blue Bitch Bar on the Boardwalk

Day 3 St. Maarten 12/26/17

 

 

What a wonderful day! We picked this itinerary because it included St. Maarten. We loved Orient Beach' date=' so the hurricane had us feeling really sad about the whole thing. [/font']

 

 

Our neighbor on the Jewel owns a timeshare on St. Maarten. He said that only people with French passports were allowed onto the French side. We didn’t try, so I can’t confirm or deny that.

 

 

There ended up being three ships in Philipsburg that day. That made us the 8th, 9th and 10th ships to come since the hurricane.

 

 

Like San Juan (I don’t say Puerto Rico because we only saw San Juan) and St. Thomas, St. Maarten was completely green. DD saw happy birds in all the undergrowth. Apparently, they were a type of finch that really prefers that type of habitat. So that was nice to hear!

 

 

We decided that from what we heard, Philipsburg was where most of the recovery had taken place, so we were going to stay there. We walked, 15 minutes, to the town and wound our way to the boardwalk and onto the beach. The first restaurant we saw open was the Lazy Lizard. I thought I had read on CC that it was open and people were happy. I’d never been to the boardwalk, so I didn’t know anything. We stayed right there all day. We got our four loungers with one umbrella and ate our lunch at the Lazy Lizard. Holey Cow! That food was great! The best chicken curry of our lives. We were not compromising on our fun because of the hurricanes. This was just a wonderful day. They also have delicious Mango Mojitos. I recommend this restaurant.

 

 

There were women walking along the beach selling things or offering massages. They were not aggressive.

 

 

I would estimate that not quite half of the restaurants/hotels along the boardwalk in Philipsburg were operable. DH has pictures that I can add later.

We did a ship's tour with Azamara Quest 12/22 sailing and did travel to the French side. There were no barriers/stations where passports had to be produced.

We went to the Marigot open air market. It is nothing as expansive as it was but there were more then 10 vendors all with interesting items for sale. One vendor has exceptional purses. She thanked us for visiting and helping to support their recovery.

Buildings surrounding the vendor sqare were in various states of refurbishment.

Throughout the island, we saw numerous ship containers in the water. Our guide said during the storm these containers were flying through the air like match sticks. Same with so many sunken or partially sunken boats of all sizes yet to be removed.

There is much work to do but much progress is evident. They have much to be proud of!

We did a ship's tour with Azamara Quest 12/22 sailing and did travel to the French side. There were no barriers/stations where passports had to be produced.

We went to the Marigot open air market. It is nothing as expansive as it was but there were more then 10 vendors all with interesting items for sale. One vendor has exceptional purses. She thanked us for visiting and helping to support their recovery.

Buildings surrounding the vendor sqare were in various states of refurbishment.

Throughout the island, we saw numerous ship containers in the water. Our guide said during the storm these containers were flying through the air like match sticks. Same with so many sunken or partially sunken boats of all sizes yet to be removed.

There is much work to do but much progress is evident. They have much to be proud of!

Wow! Thanks for adding your experiences to give people more information!

Renee