December 5, 2025 – Marigot, Saint Martin – Mostly Sunny – 87F

December 5, 2025 – Marigot, Saint Martin – Mostly Sunny – 87F

For me, a disastrous night – up several times – little if any sleep. Can't attribute it to caffeine or alcohol today.  

Serenity is at anchor off the French Side of the island, St Martin.  

Ellen is on tour later but I went up to the Marketplace Buffet for breakfast. I went up during the “continental breakfast” interval so getting coffee was more difficult (not as many staff on duty yet).  I tried the French Toast today but I will go back to pancakes tomorrow.  Ellen ordered and got room service delivered at 8:15 AM (Pancakes and eggs).

I believe we have only been in the town on Marigot once before on a family cruise (we have been to Orient Beach a couple of times on ship excursions when docked in Philipsburg).  I am not on this excursion but I did take the tender to the city along with Ellen. It was a long and choppy ride to town – not for the easy queasy crowd – only smoothing out as we entered Marigot Bay.  We were about a half hour early so we walked a few blocks into town and checked out the shops and sites.  

I was thinking about just exploring the town when Ellen went on her tour but decided to return to the ship instead.

I did get a nice picture of the World's Best Escort before she joined her group.

I rode back with just a few passengers and the ride was just as bumpy, if not bumpier, than the way there.  

On the way back, I was able to get a shot of the superyacht, Olivia O, owned by an Israeli and worth $200 million.  

The jump from tender to pontoon wasn't easy (especially if you're dealing with a fussy leg) as the ship and pontoon went through rise and fall cycles.  I made the jump easily both times using the tender's grab bars. 

I had lunch in the Trident Grill/Marketplace venue.  

Gazpacho plus a salad from the salad bar (they had iceberg lettuce available today).  A Corona completed the meal and I had two small churros for dessert.  A word about the gazpacho - it is the best gazpacho I've had to date on land and sea (and I try them whenever I can).  Also, it is essentially a finely chopped salad so a good way to get those veggies. 

I went out on the sparsely populated Pool Deck to get a picture of the Sea Horses Statue.

At 3:30 PM, I went back to the Marketplace (it was closed) to attend the Odyseey at Sea Art Watercolor Class.  There were about 20 guests today sitting at tables of four.  Today's project involved creating a background using a clay tile (like a linoleum cutout) and then a Pilot Pen to put in additional details.  I used a blue watercolor to "ink" my clay board and the result was the ocean and some waves.  After the background was dry, the pen was used to add some sail boats to the picture (using the small photo as inspiration).  It tutned out to be better than I expected.  This one was a keeper. 

Ellen got back from her tour a little after five and we got ready to meet Gil and Arlene for Dinner at the Waterside Restaurant. We got a nice table with a window near the center of the dining room.  I actually asked for their white wine and drank about a glass, much more than my usual amount – it was from New Zealand and tasty.  I should mention that Crystal has thing about a different butter every night (along with standard butter).  The butters are like hockey pucks and served on a thick ceramic dish.  The specialty butter comes in garlic, mushroom, veggie, and all flavors and color in between.  It’s an interesting idea.

Tonight, I had the blackened salmon (no skin and perfectly seasoned) and mashed potatoes (just as good as the ones in the Beefbar).  I started off with a so-so Greek Salad but the main dish was wonderful – not too spicy.  Ellen had the non-blackened version but it looked like a totally different piece of fish.  She had the butternut squash soup, again poured into the soup bowl, which already has something in it (couldn’t tell what it was).  The dinner still took a while but the conversation was pleasant.  Ellen had to fill out her post-excursion report so we couldn’t stay for coffee and dessert. 

Before we left the restaurant, I placed a special order for two kosher rib-eye steaks for dinner tomorrow.

Ellen went to the tour office to work with Maria Bregles on the paperwork and I listened to piano in Crystal Cove. 

The report took a lot longer to complete so we missed the newly minted production show – “Club Nights”.  We went to the room instead and did get a feel for the show based on the noise at the 10 PM program.  It is another loud show with lots of drums.  We’ll see what we do about that on the next cruise.  Thankfully, the show ended at 11:15 PM and peace and quiet reigned.