Six ships docked in port, one after the other and very slowly, as the wind was blowing hard and the huge monsters had trouble 'kissing the dock' and be tied up, whilst their superstructure shuddered under the impact of windage.
Monsters, for sure. The largest vessels in the Fleets of Holland America (Nieuw Amsterdam - 2100 guests), Royal Caribbean (Allure of the Seas - 6000 guests), P&O Cruises (Azura - 2500?? guests) and Celebrity (Solstice - 3000??) lined the docks, and two European Superships from MSC and Aida filled up the remaining dock space.
I headed for town via water taxi (empty) and once there passed by the courthouse to the 'Back Street' of Philipsburg and caught a local bus to Marigot, the French Capital on the island of St. Maarten. It set me back $2 one way, the bus started out empty. Locals flagged it down along the way. It passed without further ado across the 'border' and the only difference was, that embarking riders greeted everyone with a 'Bon Jour' instead of a 'Good Morning'.
Last stop in Marigot, one got off on 'the back street' again, without a tourist in sight. Most of the latter, when on their Marigot sightseeing tour, stop at Marigot Harbour, visit the open air souvenir market alongside it, wander about a block away and re-bord their tour bus. Ergo - Marigot proper is pretty far from the tourist crowd.
Enticing aromas from various boulangeries (freshly baked bread, croissants, coffee, patisserie etc etc) invite for a leisurely rest at a sidewalk cafe. Up-scale stores seduce with fashionable merchandise - but still very expensive.
Real Estate offices advertise properties priced anywhere between 60,000 and millions of Euros.
I just wandered around and about, people watching, yacht watching, traffic watching...and returned to Philipsburg via bus again.
It being hot, another $1 Budweiser was de rigeur, and then back to the ship via watertaxi for an early afternoon departure. All aboard by 14:30 or 2.30 p.m. - definitely clear in any language.
2:30 came and went, 3:00 came and went, and we were still 2 passengers short of a ful load. Several announcements, and a few blasts from the ship's horn would have woken up anybody slumbering on the beach nearby. But - no one turned up.
3:15 - the gangway is stored, and some of the hawsers cast off, and here come the delinquents, easily recognizable by their blue ship's beach towels. Dressed in shorts and flipflops and carrying nothing but a beach bag, they looked rather stunned standing there and being unable to jump aboard.
Oles, Cheers, Applause etc etc from many of the decks and verandas of the surrounding cruisers for the two lost souls must have softened our Captain's heart. Cast-off was suspended, the gangway lowered again, and the two slow-pokes came aboard. The day - and the rest of the cruise - was safe for them.
One more sea-day, and one more beach day in Half Moon Cay...then it's all off-board again for me.
