Day Four - St. Martin
Today was our first shore excursion, St. Martin/ St. Marteen (who knows how you are truly suppose to spell it, I've seen it both ways. Probably one depends if you are on the Dutch side and the other on the French side.
We were suppose to meet at 9 am right off the boat for our tour of the Island with Bernard's Tours. It was a trip I had booked on the Internet. Good decision. I will talk about the tour more, but I really thing we got a deal for our $35 each.
So, we decided to let room service wake us up. Bad idea. I checked 7 am to 7:30 for the delivery. The phone rings at 6:30! Just a call to let us know the guy was headed to our room with our breakfast, which came promptly at 7. Not really what I envisioned when setting it up.
So off to an early start we ate breakfast in our room, then went up to watch the ship dock in St. Martin. After that kids club. Sianna did not want to go, she wanted to stay in the kid's club. Probably for the best. The kids on our tour were exhausted by the end, and though we did make frequent stops, for very active kids like Sianna, boredom would have probably set in. This of course leads to whiny, irritating behavior which may have ruined our trip. So we explained to her she could check herself out for a better lunch on the deck, but to come straight back to the kid's club when she was done. We also talked to the counselors that we would be on shore, without beeper access. They were fine with this, and of course by this time knew her well enough after 3 days to know she would be fine.
We left the ship for a nice docking area. It was very clean, well kept and no one soliciting you to buy or ride anything. In fact that is why you have to book the tour with Bernard BEFORE you arrive. He can only take passengers on his prearranged list on the tour, to assure he is not soliciting passengers as they exit the ship.
We found tour location and check in, it was only a few minutes walk off of the ship dock. Our driver basically took us over the entire island, something that I heard not many of the tours did through the ship. I was also run but locals who shared the history of the island, the politics, told us about the social aspects, school systems, and tourism places and history. It was fascinating and when I left I felt like I really learned alot about the culture, not just made a tourist stop.
Our first stop was for bananas. Yep, one minute for the driver to pop out and get a small bunch of bananas. They were for the 2nd stop. An out of the way spot of land that looked like a cross between a chicken farm and dump with a little lake with swans. At first I'm thinking "Not off to a good start. The driver forgot his lunch and his idea of a tour is a chicken coop."
Well the stop was actually to see the iguana. Now my husband had a HUGE iguana when I first met him. He found a good home for him when the baby was due, so iguanas really aren't a novelty for us. But this was a bit different.
When we arrived there was a huge male near the lake so the driver threw him some of the bananas. Then he started scattering the ground with banana chunks. Guess who came to visit? Tons of iguanas. Smaller females about 1 or 2 ft in length running EVERYWHERE snatching up bananas. They were all wild, but had learned 'not to bite the hand that feeds you' and would come when the driver and the bananas came. Even some of the small girls on the tour fed them pieces of banana. I think for the kids it was the highlight of the trip.
The highlights for the adults. Free beer and rum. Yep. He handed around a bottle island rum that could have put grain alcohol to shame, and encourage all adults to try a shot or two. He also had a cooler full of beer called "Caribe" It was a light lager and Mike enjoyed several of them throughout the trip. No extra charge. The kids and non-drinking adults had a full cooler of fruit punch pouch drinks, water, and soda. Again, no extra cost besides the tour.
The next stop was an overlook on the French side the Island. It was windy and overcast, but we still had a good view. Next was a stop by Orient beach on the French side of the Island. It is right next to a nudist resort. We were given an option of going to the area next to the nudist beach, where clothing was optional or going to a 'fun' beach where clothes had to be worn. He did let us know all the restaurants and bars were at the main beach. We got off there. Except seeing the backside of one man when we drove up in the nudist resort beach area, I didn't see anyone else unclothed. Obviously you are taking your chances, but mostly the people I saw were from the cruise ships.
Mike and I walked down the beach, checking out various menus. We finally figured out that for that part of the island the dollar equaled the Euro. Weird, but they probably catered to a large American market and did not want to loose the tourist money bartering out an exchange rate. We found a nice 'outdoor' tiki hut that was actually a series of tiki huts strung together with 2 restaurants, showers, and loungers. Since Mike was hungry we started with a pizza. Very Good. Then they gave us free shot of rum mixed with sugar and mint. One dip in with my finger told me it was too sweet and strong for me, so Mike drank both of ours. He said it was an 'after meal' refresher that was like shooting mint Scope.
We had coffee with a little challenge. Being French they started to make me a shot of expresso, but someone who spoke English better at the bar explained to her how to make it like "American Coffee". The result was a big strong cup of coffee that was not bitter and went down very smooth. If I could get that in America, I probably would not have to creamerize/sugarize every cup I drink. I think that was the only coffee I've ever drank with no cream.
About 1/2 way through the meal, it started to rain. Not a heavy downpour like you get in the afternoon in Puerto Vallarta, mostly a light drizzle, but many flocked in from the beach. We had already decided we weren't going to swim. It was just too windy and chilly for me.
So as I was leaving I got another first. Using the restroom in the rain. The bathrooms don't have roofs. 3 walls and a door with a standard toilet, but no roof. So I got to sit in the rain, and all I could think of was "I've got to tell Sianna I got to pee in the rain".
After our 2 hour beach stop we went to meet the bus and move on around the island. I think the next stop was the 'flea market'. I'm not sure if it was on the French or Dutch side, but we looked around a bit and got a shot glass and a few post cards.
We also went to the #3 Extreme Airport in the World. I'm not sure if it was the airport or the 'extreme' spectators that made it an interesting stop. We watched a 747 land a few feet above our heads, and another big plane take off with the jets blasting right at the people standing on the beach. There are signs with people and 'things' being blown right into the ocean from the jets as they take off. The planes lane so close to the beach and road that a rental car lost their windshield into the ocean when the tourist tried to drive down the road when a plane was taking off.
So we stopped by the bar that is literally right next door. The bar caters to all the 'nuts' wanting to get 'buzzed' by a 747 and has a huge surf board where they write down the times in and out for all the major planes. (fyi - the board doesn't list all the flights and we got buzzed by a 747 that wasn't even listed)
This is also the stop where you 'pay for your trip'. We got to meet Bernard at the flea market stop, and from what I could tell he works the vans along with several others and they had at least 3 on the road that day. To pay, someone from his office comes on the van and takes your payment (cash or credit card). We tipped the driver cash at the last stop.
Anyway, after the airport we head down to the town near the cruise terminal. It looked like a 20 minute walk back (through a shopping district), and we were already tired, so we opted not to get out. The driver took us into the port terminal area and dropped the remaining few of us off right beside the ship. The tour started at 9 and lasted until 2:30. We saw the whole island and had unlimited alcohol and drinks for $35 each. Beat that on a ship tour!
So we get up on the ship and run to the kids area. After all, we had been gone all day, our little one probably missed us. Wrong. "Are you back already? I'm having fun, I don't want to leave. Another hour please?" I'm glad she is an independent child - but it would have been nice to be missed!
We get her an hour later, after Mike and I are dressed and ready to go for Pirate night. She changes, we grab snacks from deck 9 and run down to the big theatre to watch Tangled in 3 D. Boy has 3D changed! I'm not sure if it is the big techie things Disney has done to THEIR theatre but Tangled in 3D was awesome.
Mike never saw it. His eyes were closing/closed while waiting for it to start. So I sent him to the room to rest versus his snoring disturbing the movie. Afterwards we ran out of the theatre to the main lobby for pictures with Captain Hook and Smee. I had to call Mike and wake him up to tell him where to meet us and to bring the autograph book. We even had Sianna's new Duffy Bear dressed in an eye patch and red head scarf, just like Sianna. Of course, Captain Hook had to mess with him, and pull of all his gear, so that picture did not come out too well. We tried to get a picture with Pirate Mickey, but the line was huge, so we opted to go upstairs to get a shot with Jack Sparrow.
Next we hoped to go to Studio Sea to play a pirate game show as a family. Who knew, this year it was only for kids, so Sianna ran in and deserted her dear family again. Mike and I grabbed some rum and drinks and headed to the top for some alone time before dinner.
The pirate dinner has my favorite food yet. A very good conch soup, jerk chicken, and grilled well seasoned scallops and shrimp. Yummy. We ran out before desert to get Sianna (who only made it 1/2 way through the meal - because she wanted to play in the kids area).
After dinner we went up, got Sianna out of the kid's club and headed to the deck for the pirate party. I took with me about 50 beaded necklaces from New Orleans and other places, 20 or so glow sticks and some tattoos. I gave them away to the kids who weren't dressed for Pirate night, or hadn't bought glow things from the 'sales cart on wheels'. It felt like Christmas. Most kids and parents really appreciated the generosity, and it was probably one of my favorite parts of the evening.
There was dancing, Mickey flying down on a wire to get Captain Hook, and fireworks. Lots of fun. Afterwords, for those not already stuffed from dinner..another late night buffet with huge turkey legs, meat, crepes, and tons of cheese cakes and deserts. Then Pirates of the Caribbean on the big screen on deck. Sianna checked herself into the club for another 1/2 hour after the main show, then we pulled her out for bed. Another late night.
Not having much experience watching little chipmunks, Tanya and Mike weren't sure how to entertain the new little addition in their lives. They decided to take Chip back to their rooms to finish up getting ready to leave the ship. On the way there they bumped into their friend P, who is from Thailand. P had spent all week making sure they were comfortable in their rooms and cleaning up after them. Chip wanted his picture taken with P. Chip was also able to help out with getting the luggage into the hallway.
