The Two Nation Island Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and Marigot, St. Martin

PLEASE NOTE:

For the first time since we came on board, we are going to try to post our first three short blogs.  We have heard nothing but complaints about the quality of internet connection from others.  One friend has wasted over 60 minutes and has been able to send one email and has received none.  It seems to be a problem throughout the whole Holland America fleet since changing providers because of complaints with the previous one.  Apparently in trying to solve the issue, it has only compounded the problem.  Thus we may not be able to continue the blog or post pictures if we can do the blog. If these blogs go out, it will be a hopeful sign but this blog may be sporadic or non-existent if the situation with internet connection doesn’t improve.

 

Approaching border between (French) St. Martin and (Dutch) St. Maarten

The Two Nation Island:  Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and Marigot, St. Martin

As we pulled into port to another sunny day, we looked forward to a pleasant view of the island known as St. Maarten to the Dutch and St. Martin to the French until I notice one of the behemoth cruise ships, a Celebrity ship (Reflection) pulling in opposite us to fully block off any view.  Then we heard that, and later witnessed, one of the larger Holland America ships, the Westerdam had docked right behind us.  Needless to say it was a very busy day on the island!

Today was a two for the price of one day as we visited two brand new countries after two new destinations in the past two days.  This puts us into the upper 80s for number of destinations we have visited.  There is what is known as the Travel Century Club which lists over 250 world destinations and a person becomes eligible (on the honor system) for membership once he/she visits 100 destinations on their list.  Some destinations are within one country; for example, continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii are three separate destinations. Prince Edward Island, because of its small size, is a separate destination within Canada.  Just these five places give us 5 destinations.  Following strict rules, one has to set foot in the destination for it to count, so technically we have not visited Panama since we went through the Canal without stopping and touching land though we were close enough to touch it a time or two as we transited the Panama Canal last year.

We elected to do a short, easy tour called Under Two Flags Drive, so that Barb could enjoy the island without much walking being involved.  We met on the dock between our Prinsendam and the Celebrity ship and because Barb was in the wheelchair, we were put in the front of the line along with another wheelchair.  Barb never uses the chair on the ship and can walk a fair amount now but can’t stand in a line and then walk to where the buses loaded, all of which took about 45 minutes.

We boarded the bus and set off through Philipsburg on our way to French St. Martin and the tourist town and capital of that part of the island, Marigot.  Our driver explained that there had been rivalry between the French and Dutch and they finally agreed to just split the island between the two countries.  So while they can travel freely on the 37 square mile island without stopping at the border (a marker and flags designate which country one is in but there is no need to go through customs or stop), everything else is different.  While nearly everyone speaks English on the island and virtually everything else is in English, English is more prevalent on the Dutch side while French predominates on the French side (which by the way is the slightly larger part of the island geographically).  St. Maarten uses American dollars and St. Martin utilizes Euros.  License plates are different.  Children on the French side attend school with a much longer school day to around 4 PM while those on the Dutch side finish around 1:30 PM.  Our guide explained other changes such as the fact that there were casinos only on the Dutch side and no one was permitted to visit the casino any more than four times a week.

When we arrived in Marigot, capital of the French part of the island, we were given time to visit the markets filled with the typical souvenirs, tee shirts, and crafts.  Barb decided it was best to sit in her wheelchair rather than walk around the shops when she was already sure she was not likely to make purchases.  As she waited in a less trafficked but open area, I wandered the various stalls and made as many purchases as she did!  Even without buying, it’s always interesting to spend a few minutes checking out what the locals have to offer.

Back on the bus, we began our drive back to Philipsburg where the ship was docked.  Probably the most intriguing event occurred when our guide pointed out a couple large iguanas resting on a stone fence in front of someone’s home. Later he called our attention to several in some trees which quickly became photo opportunities for those that wanted them. 

So after three days in four new Caribbean venues was over and we were on our way to begin our five days at sea before we reach our next port in Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

CT