5 Ships in Port

[isleschick3]

I just noticed that there are going to be 5 ships in port the day I am here! Does anybody think we could run into any problems anywhere with all of these people on the island? I haven't decided what we are going to be doing for our day here and I am just curious if this should impact my decision.

[Langley Cruisers]

What problems are you anticipating? Some of those passengers stay in the pier area and shop; some of them take excursions, I assume most of them take the water taxi into town but some do walk. This year we rented a car and went to Maho Beach and the airport by ourselves.

 

In town, you will notice the congestion (the streets are narrow), but if it gets to be too much, you can either head back to the ship or do what we did last year and drink copious amounts of alcohol and beers (waaaay cheaper in port, BTW!) and just enjoy the fact that you are on vacation. :)

[isleschick3]

Last time we were in St Martin we just enjoyed drinks on the beach near the ship and walked the shops. We had a great time but this time we would like to see more. I have read on some other post about traffic being congested in certain areas and I am also curious of how crowed Orient beach will be with that many people on the island. We are there from 8-5 and I am thinking about going to Margiot first thing in the morning, then Orient beach for a few hours and then back to Philipsburg with hopefully a little time to shop. What do you think? I would also like to go see a plane land at Maho beach but I think that might be stretching us thin.

[Langley Cruisers]

Actually, renting a car and driving ourselves to Maho Beach (which was incredible, BTW - something we had planned for over 2 years!) was pretty much an all-day trip. We had lunch at the Sunset Beach Bar at the beach, and definitely wanted to get back to the pier before the traffic started and before the bridge went up. We left early enough in the morning and got back around 2, I'd say. We shopped a little at the pier and went back to the ship. It was SOOO hot that day... we were done like dinner, anyway. :p

 

Have never gone to Orient, but there are lots of threads on this board about it. I think all those things would stretch you in the one day; maybe plan for only one beach and stay there longer, instead of trying to make it to three. JMO.

[kal]

...I am thinking about going to Margiot first thing in the morning, then Orient beach for a few hours and then back to Philipsburg with hopefully a little time to shop. What do you think? I would also like to go see a plane land at Maho beach but I think that might be stretching us thin.

 

The plan should be fine but if you try to add in Maho airplane spotting it's just too much. The problem is the big jet activity doesn't start until mid-day. Couple that with Marigot shops being closed in the early afternoon and the schedule falls apart. Leave Marigot by about 11:00am and have lunch at Orient. Leave Orient by 1:30p and you'll have 2.5 hours to shop in Philipsburg.

[isleschick3]

Thanks guys. I think we will go to margiot in the morning and then Orient beach. Now I just need to decide how we want to do our transportation :)