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What Have you done in St. Martin?

Georgia_Peaches

By Georgia_Peaches,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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Hello all,

 

We will be on the Equinox in March and one of the ports of call is Phillipsburg, St. Martin. We've been there before but only walked around the boardwalk. We are interested in visiting the French side of the island this time around, I think...not sure. But we do have some leftover Euros to spend so was thinking about the French side...

What have you done in St. Martin? What should be avoided? Have you ever rented bicycles to tour around the island?

Thanks in advance for tips and suggestions.

Christina

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jcpc

jcpc

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Agree with Orator. For now, avoid the French side and stay on the Dutch side. The French side has been very slow to re-build (as evidenced by Celebrity changing their beach shore excursion to a beach on the Dutch side!)

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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Celebrity has only returned to St. Maarten this week, so I'm hoping to start seeing some updated reports on conditions. In the mean time, you might want to consider taking a tour with Bernard's Tours http://www.bernardstours.com. Very highly rated and gives you a full island tour. You'd have to check to see what they've done to modify the tours since the hurricanes.

Edited by Fouremco
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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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Agree with Orator. For now, avoid the French side and stay on the Dutch side. The French side has been very slow to re-build (as evidenced by Celebrity changing their beach shore excursion to a beach on the Dutch side!)

 

Wow, how insensitive of me not to think about the hurricane impacts on the island. Was wondering if Celebrity would change the itinerary but since they haven't, I made the assumption that things were OK.

Thank you for all the suggestions...perhaps tourist dollars will help speed up the recovery.

 

Christina

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Orator

Orator

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Wow, how insensitive of me not to think about the hurricane impacts on the island. Was wondering if Celebrity would change the itinerary but since they haven't, I made the assumption that things were OK.

Thank you for all the suggestions...perhaps tourist dollars will help speed up the recovery.

 

Christina

You might find some bargains in the smaller shops as they need cash.

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hcat "Live from...." Rare

hcat

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We were looking forward to a food tour that included Grand Case. Heard that area was in bad shape..

 

We enjoyed the bucaneer beach excursion with X...not sure if that area was affected...maybe doing something on the water would work better..

Or shopping on the boardwalk and local lunch...

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ClaudiaB

ClaudiaB

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We have taken the food tour, same as the one Celebrity offers, same company, but a good bit less $$ and one more stop, and less people if you schedule it independently. However, much of the tour is/was in restaurants and places on the French side. I think it's called Taste of St. Maarten.

Check out the Amsterdam shop on the walk between the pier and the town - it's a nice walk, great way to avoid that bumpy and noisy water taxi.

Not sure the America's Cup race is up and running again, but if it is, it's really fun. We'd do it again.

Going to watch the big planes arrive at Maho Beach is fun - once - but the bar next door may not be rebuilt yet and who knows if watching planes is going to be a "thing" still.

We're scheduled for an overnight March 8-9 on Reflection but some port sites show us elsewhere so who knows. No real confirmation yet. If we do go, we'll head on out and try and spread some $$ to the local shops and whatever restaurants/bars are open, as I know they can use the tourist money. Sad that France isn't as forthcoming in fixing their sweet little island.

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oneputt18

oneputt18

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[quote) =

Going to watch the big planes arrive at Maho Beach is fun - once - but the bar next door may not be rebuilt yet and who knows if watching planes is going to be a "thing" still. .

 

Planes are still the thing, beach still needs some work. Sunset Bar is open and remodeled including a pool.

 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

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shukapaw

shukapaw

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https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147347-d2083816-Reviews-Soualiga_Destinations_Boat_Tours-Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Martin_St_Maarten.html

 

This is THE BEST thing you will ever do. We went 2 years ago. Going again in March. Highly recommend captain bob and his son Brett.

 

I couldn't agree more! Captain Bob is consistently rated #1 on tripadvisor. This is an outstanding way to spend the day!

 

~Brian

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hcat "Live from...." Rare

hcat

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Grand Case was mostly destroyed. Very few buildings have been repaired and none replaced. The restaurants in Grand Case were nearly all destroyed.

 

So sad...Grand Case was charming with good spots for food,,...Hope they rebuild and come back strong

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

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We have never done any ship sponsored tours in St. Martin on our many visits there but have rented cars twice to explore the island, have gone to Orient Beach, Maho, Marigot, as well as spent time in Philipsburg. Very easy island to see on your own through taxi's, car rentals, or if you prefer, private tour companies.

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miched

miched

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On our first visit there we did the tour to Orient Beach.

 

It was rather windy that day, fairly cool and a little rain.

 

The bus pulled into the parking area near a “designated space” and as we were getting off a resident appeared out of a nearby bush slowly strolling by strutting his stuff with his middle leg sweeping the ground and then disappearing into another bush. I was expecting him or the driver to solicit tips after that performance or at least come back and pose for photos 🤗. He was also the only person at the beach because of the weather.

 

We didn’t have a chance to enjoy any of the beach because of blowing sand and the bad weather.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited by miched
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luvincruising

luvincruising

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Just booked the island tour. The tour takes in the Dutch and French sides including the open air market in Marigot. We did this tour before but I doubt that we will be going to Orient beach, this time. Celebrity has some of the tours up-to 20% off [for the next 24 hours] for our cruise next month.

:)

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dcyonce

dcyonce

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Best thing we ever did on St Maarten was make our own perfume at Tijon Perfumery. Great folks and very fun excursion !

 

The perfume shop/factory didn't suffer much damage from hurricane Irma (other than some looting), but the owner's home was completely destroyed. So ... if you want to do the perfumery tour or make you own perfumes, contact John at Tijon first ! They may or may not be able to accommodate your group.

 

-- Don

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