Wednesday, January 15, 2025

December 14, 2024 – Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherland Antilles – Mostly Sunny – 81F

The room was quiet all night and no plugs needed. At around 6 AM, there was some banging going on either on top of the room or outside – most likely, the ship was getting ready to dock and some preparation was needed.  It quieted down quickly. Along with the noise some kind of thick metal cable appeared horizontally in my cabin window.  Again, something to do with the docking process.  

You can see where Onward is docked (the blue dot) on the map below. The terrain map shows the downtown area of Philipsburg.  Some of those water features to the north of town are actually left over salt-drying pools - St Maarten used to be big in the salt business back in the day when salt was in high demand in Europe.

  














I was up early enough to take a shower before the Windows Café opened at 7:00 AM today.  The good news is that the water pressure from the hand held shower head in my new room is super good and the water is nice and hot. 

It’s another beautiful day in Philipsburg, probably my favorite Caribbean port of call. The last two times we have been here were post pandemic and we went to Orient Beach to stay away from people.  The last time we were here pre-pandemic was in December 2019 (three months before shutdown).   

I watched the sunrise from my cabin window as we approached the port.

I had breakfast in the Windows Café.  A suit brought me some cottage cheese and sour cream so I had my pancake combo this morning.  The eggs still don’t cut it so I just had a teaspoon of scrambled eggs.  The coffee was good this morning and the outside deck was comfortable and scenic.  Onward, at least when I was having breakfast, was the only cruise ship here – the Sea Dream I, which is more of a yacht than cruise ship was docked a couple of berths across from us.  Maybe, larger ships will come in later today.  We have been here when there were eight ships (some Monster of the Seas) docked here.

The breakfast was good and I stayed out there until guests needed the table.  I am planning to go into the city today around 10:00 AM to see if there are any spa deals around.  Checking the internet, I discovered that Prestige Spa, the place I used to go to, was now D’Lisbe Spa and Salon and the prices had almost doubled. I texted them to see if they were still open but I received no response. It might turn out to be just a "walk around" kind of day.  I’m all sun-screened coated and will leave soon (when the bulk of passengers have disembarked). 

At about 9:30 AM, I disembarked and walked past the St. Maarten port sign 

toward where the tours pick up their busses and where the taxis were last time I was here. Onward is still the only cruise ship here – as I mentioned earlier, Sea Dream I is also here but those 40 passengers hardly make a dent (our dent is not much either). I stopped for a moment to get a very nice picture of the Onward docked.

 

While there are no cruise ships here, there are some pretty amazing yachts – The Renaissance ($200 million dollars) and the Lady Moura ($140 million dollars). Besides these two beasts, there are a whole bunch of smaller yachts in the bay or docked. I looked into the history of the Lady Moura - she was originally purchased by a Saudi, who sold her to an Mexican billionaire.  Each transaction involved a loss of value.  She's still worth a lot and looks in great shape.

The taxi dispatch area is now clearly marked.  I was told it would be $3 to the town and I jumped into a van as it was about to leave.  I sat in the way back.  The van let us off next to the Flea Market on Back Street

There’s not much to see on that street (a bunch of churches mostly) so I walked one block south (I think) to Front Street (or Vorstratte ), which is the main drag.  The town was, due to the absence of ships, essentially deserted.  

I took a little detour and went through an alley that led to the beach.  From there I could get a pretty good picture of the cruise port and our ship. Again, very few people on the beach.

I started walking east (I think) toward the beginning of Front Street where at #44 I would, according to the internet, find a couple of spas.  If I didn’t find anything, at least I would be close to where a lot of taxis are and I could head back to the ship.

On my way, I passed a place called “Old Street”, one of the many little side streets in Philipsburg that are jammed with little shops and restaurants.  

What caught my eye was a railway locomotive and a giant wooden shoe (Netherland Antilles). 

I walked into the courtyard and noticed a bright yellow vintage car – reminded me of Havana.

I didn’t get all the way to #44 because I noticed a sign in the street that said that there was a spa in the courtyard (“Sherayah’s”). 

I went in and spoke to a woman (I found out later that her name was Peggy and she and another lady owned the salon).  I asked her what an hour massage cost and she said $100.  I leveled with her and told her that that was higher than what upscale spas charge back in the US.  She asked me what I thought was a good price and I told her $60 (that was all I had with me because historically I've paid $50 for an hour session) or what we pay back home.  She didn’t hesitate a bit, smiled, and said that would be fine.  

The place, was a little native – no rooms just tables separated by cloth walls.  The place didn’t smell (a key requirement) and the bathroom was pretty good for St. Maarten. I was the only one there so she locked up.  I thought it would be hot but there was a large fan blowing cool air into the room.

It was the best massage I have ever had in St. Maarten and I have been coming to this island for a decade or more and have been to several spas in town.  What made it so good was Peggy’s Island charm (happy and smiling), her concern (she was worried about a pinched nerve in my neck and told me to let her know if there was something she could do, the stuff she used – “massage cream” – it felt like oil and it was so smooth and relaxing.  She told me not to get up so quickly but take it slow.  It was just a great experience.  I don't know if the session ran a full hour but it actually didn't matter.  I took her card (I doubt I can swing a $60 deal the next time I am here and who knows when that might be).  I also met her co-owner, who came in as I was leaving.  Seemed nice also.

Peggy told me how to find a taxi home and after a little confusion, I did get a ride back to the pier.  I paid the guy $5 because he was off duty and the cabby next in line had left his cab and could not be found.

I did not lose anything on this trip into town.  This time out I wore the shorts from my convertible pants so more pockets and more secure pockets. I did a lot of mid trip checking to make sure I had everything with me.

I had lunch up in the Windows Café.  I kept it simple today – tuna and egg salad on some nice bread and a salad.  The highlight of lunch was the Grolsch Beer and the views of the bay and Philipsburg.








Here's a panoramic shot of the same area.







Windows Cafe now offers vegan options on the buffet.  They have pseudo chicken (tastes too much like the real thing) and myriad variations using Beyond Meat for other dishes.  The problem with Beyond Meat is that it has a distinctive taste of its own and influences the taste of an entire dish.  The ship also offers some vegan takes on other items - cheeses and dressings (how is vinaigrette dressing not vegan).

After lunch, I went out on Deck 5 (in the shade of the huge yacht) and read my book. I hope to finish the book in a few days.  I had a chance to watch the activity on the Lady Moura - I noticed that there was an all female crew (at least from what I could see) and they all looked to be college age.  

After a while I went back to the room for a shower and some cool air.  We are up to date at 5:01 PM AST.

I had originally wanted to go up to The Patio at around 4:30 PM and get a Beyond Burger for Dinner (they stay open until 5 PM) but I checked out the menu in the Discoveries Dining Room and saw they had something called Eggplant Parmigiana Cannelloni along with and Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Blue Cheese Dressing.  I changed plans and went to the Discoveries Bar to wait for dinner. While there I ordered an Apricot Sour.  The bartender seemed unfamiliar with this drink and had to go in the back room to get the apricot liquor.  The drink was smallish but good – I could barely taste any alcohol.

I got in line and asked for Table 11, which is against the front wall and where we usually sit.  There are a bunch of tables for two in that section.  I sat down and checked out the menu when the waiter told me that the woman behind me wanted to talk to me.  The woman, I think her name was Phyllis, asked if I was alone and would I like to join her (she was alone as well).  I said thanks but I was going to eat fast and she said that was OK as she was going to do that too.  Before I could say anything the waiter moved my water to a table for two by the window and we were now eating together.  She did most of the talking – she was from Florida by way of Texas and a lot of other places.  She was a model and then an Admin for Ross Perot.  She was widowed recently and was traveling with friends but tonight she was dining alone.  She had attended my first talk (came in late, she said because of a beauty appointment).  She had tired of Prime C and Aqualina and wanted to give the dining room a shot.

A Welsh couple was seated at the table next to us and the four of us chatted through dinner.  Again, Phyllis, did most of the talking. 

My Eggplant was a total bust – I guess they had lots of Cannelloni shells left over from Italian Night and decided to shove some eggplant (I barely detected any) into those shells. The spaghetti pesto on the plate was good and that was what I ate. The lettuce wedge was not a wedge and the salad was not great. What was good was the Cream of Ratatouille Soup, a kind of very fancy cream of vegetable soup.  Dessert was phyllo dough stuffed with chocolate – so hard I couldn’t cut it with a fork and they had taken away my knife.  I should have stayed with my Beyond Burger strategy.

 Phyllis was pleasant and it was a most interesting dinner, a new experience for me.  

Tonight was the Azamazing Evening – featuring the Rhythms of the Caribbean with local Calypso legends performing - and because of the long range threat of rain, the event was moved to the Cabaret Lounge.  I had missed the 6:15 PM Show and really wasn’t excited about going to the 8:15 PM show – it was about 8:00 PM now.  The best part of the Evening was usually the fireworks but because of the rain, there were no pyrotechnics tonight.

Instead I went out on Deck 5 and even though the chairs had been collected and roped off, I spent a little while out there.  The Lady Moura was all lit up and looked like a few million bucks even in the dark.

And then it was the room for the night.

It turned out that I missed Darren doing a set in The Den (Azamara doesn’t have an app so you have to carry around the Insider).  We’ll catch his show on the next cruise.

The ship was scheduled to depart at 10 PM so I waited until Onward was well on her way to call it a day.

Lights out at 10:45 PM.



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