Today was our last port of call in beautiful St. Maarten, docking at 8am-5pm.
We didn’t have any plans today, so we started off with some shopping. Once you get off the ship they have water taxi’s that will take you over to their boardwalk for $7pp round-trip. This is where all the shopping, restaurants, bars, and beach are located.
If you are looking for a great port to shop, St. Maarten is the place. I picked up two new lenses for my Canon 60D camera; of course I justified it for the blog posts.
Lunch
For lunch we decided to eat at a very famous restaurant in St. Maarten, called The Blue Bitch. I discovered this restaurant around a decade ago and have lunch there every time I get to visit. They have free wifi you just ask for the password (blueb921).
They also have a live band playing on the boardwalk, which makes it fun while you are having lunch. I should have inquired how they came up with the name, because it’s not wild by any means.
For those wondering were it’s located, once you get off the water taxi turn right down the boardwalk and it’s about the 5th restaurant down.
Swimming
After a few hours of shopping and lunch my sister and I decided to part ways from the group and go swimming in the ocean. The price for two padded chairs and an umbrella is $15 for the day.
The water here is so clear and the beach is very soft, talk about some combination. We only stayed out there swimming for an hour or so and headed back to the ship. The water taxi was at the dock waiting on us and off we went.
Once I was back on board I just walked around and explored the ship. I came across Guinness world records certificate for the largest passenger liner in the world. This was located right beside the R Bar on the Royal Promenade deck.
In 2006 when the Freedom launched it was the largest ship, but we now have Oasis class, which surpass her by 70,000 gross tons. To put that into scale for you, the Titanic was only 46,000 gross tons.
Dinner
Tonight we headed back to the main dining room.
I just kept looking up thinking how beautiful this dining room is. It almost made me sad to think about the new dynamic dining because this is such a trademark of cruising.
The service in the dining room is absolutely outstanding, perhaps the best I’ve seen.
Tonight we had an officer come over and talk to those who are sailing next week and said, “you tell me what table you want next week and I’ll make it happen.” Once again, above and beyond service from Royal Caribbean, it’s what keeps me coming back.
After dinner all the waiters got up and danced all around the dining room and invited us to join them. So you already know, I grabbed my little sister and off we went. I must say, this was the first time I had danced in the middle of the dining room, but we had a blast.
Post Dinner
After dinner we had our usual gathering at R Bar, but tonight we had the 70’s street parade. This started at 10:30pm and they played all the classics from the 1970’s.
I’ve mentioned this before on the podcast with Matt, but I’m ready for a new decade of music, the 1980’s. Sure I enjoy all the songs, but I think it’s time for something new, and well it’s my decade. I’ll just have to keep cruising until they change it up, because I know it’s coming!
Everyone was pretty tired and we called it a night early, after my usual pizza pit stop.
Up next is two sea days! These days go by too fast when you are at sea. Our plan is just relax and make the most of them.
