Cruise Critic heads to St. Maarten!

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Hi everyone -

 

I'm the Destinations Editor here at Cruise Critic. Later this month, I'll be heading down to St. Maarten to board Sagitta, a tall sailing ship run by Island Windjammers. I'll be in St. Maarten/St. Martin for a few days before and after the trip, and hope to do as much reporting as I can for our site. Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything specific that you'd like me to check out while in port.

[IpadEnthusiast]

Chris, thank you for asking as I have many questions about the ports for my upcoming Gem cruise.

 

Can you describe the shopping at Marigot and phillipsburg, specifically what shops are there, how many shops, best shopping near cruise port?

[rtdiva]

Hi Chris,

We have been to St. Maartin twice. The first time was with a local tour van, where we rode around the island, stopping for beach refreshments, on our second visit we wandered around the port taking pictures.

 

We are not interested in shopping, or finding a restaurant.

What other perhaps historical interest are there?

Ann

[Coastcruisers]

Hello Chris,

We have been to St. Maarten/St.Martin frequently on cruise stops since 2001, have seen more changes in Marigot than Phillipsburg. We will be spending a week in the Cupecoy Beach/Maho area next May and renting a car. We will be back and forth a couple of nights between the French side and the Dutch side and are concerned about safety issues driving back after midnight. Recent reports have not been favorable. Any information you can provide will be appreciated.

 

Have a wonderful time . . . we look forward to your report about your experience on Sagitta.

[gmacruiser418]

We'll be going there in January with RCCL. I've heard about going to the beach near the airport and how nice it is but have no clue about the best way to travel there from the pier. if you could help us with this, I'd appreciate that! thank you

[jazzydoors]

Take a taxi.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for doing this! There has been a lot of specualtion as to whether the shops on Front Street will be open on Sunday when we are there in May. some say they close at 2 PM, others say some are open and others say it is random. I am guessing the last in the answer, but I would appreciate it if you could find out what the Sunday shopping hours are. We are on the Jewel of the Seas and I know there is one other ship in port with us.

[JaniceB]

Wish I had your report before I go but have a great trip.

[mitsugirly]

Subscribing. :)

[cruiserxray]

I have heard rumors that the Sunset Beach Bar has closed? Is this true? We are on the Carnival Breeze in February, and are planning to go there.

Have fun :D

[gtaylor]

I have heard rumors that the Sunset Beach Bar has closed? Is this true? We are on the Carnival Breeze in February, and are planning to go there.

Have fun :D

 

Would love to know the source(s) of your rumor, but the short answer is: NO.

 

gary

 

p.s. I'd suggest you take at Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar, just in case.

[cruiserxray]

Actually was mentioned on the roll call for Carnival Breeze 2-1-14. Glad to know that it isn't closed. That is why I posted. Wanted to know if so. Thanks for the other information though.

[jgoulart1978]

I would also like to get more information about shopping in Marigot and Phillipsburg. Also is it best to take a tour of the city so see the main sites, or just use taxis? Trying to figure out the logistics to see attractions on both the french and dutch side?

 

Thanks

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Hi everyone -

 

I'm back, and wrote up a short review of my time on the island. You can read it on our Lido Deck here: http://*******/1ewYhsL

 

Now I'll try to answer some questions:

 

Shopping: I went to both Philipsburg and Marigot. P-burg is mostly typical beach souvenirs plus LOTS of duty free. Major brands have stores there: Tiffany's, Furla, Tag Heuer, etc. Plus the usual assortment of Diamonds Intl and jewelry stores. You can also get really good rum and Cuban cigars. I didn't look for electronics, so can't answer that. The stores seemed to stay open as long as the cruise ships were there, although they do open at 11 a.m. on Sundays instead of weekdays.

 

Marigot is calmer, and (obviously) has more French flair. I stopped in the West Indies mall, which has fashion from Paris, L'Occitane, a fab French food store and such. I bought my mother a lovely coverup there. Marigot also has a market near the dock, where you can buy T-shirts, sundresses, etc. Most vendors take 1 dollar to 1 Euro, which is a good deal. If you go up there, stop at Sarafina's Bakery. Pastries are out of this world. All in all, I liked the feel of Marigot better than P-burg, but that's because I'm not into duty free shopping.

 

Tour vs. Taxi vs. Car: On our first weekend, we took taxis. They were easy to find, but added up after a while. It's $20 from P-burg to Maho Beach, where the Sunset Bar is, for ex. So $40 round-trip.

 

In contrast, we rented a car from Rodael Car Rental (http://www.rodaelcarrental.com), which has an office right near the cruise terminal (they will come and pick you up). A Toyota Corolla for an overnight was $55, a Jeep was $90. Guy is Elton Jacobus. Email is reservations@rodaelcarrental.com.

 

I didn't do a tour because we didn't have time. It all depends if you want to do your own thing or take the more established route. We saw everything we wanted to on our own, plus got to eat at the lolos in Grand Case.

 

Safety: I had read reports on TA about cars being broken into, so I made sure we didn't have any valuables with us. We didn't meet any shady characters or have any problems. Rental vehicles do have a "R" on the license plate, so people can tell if you are a tourist.

 

Historical Sites: We didn't spend much of our time seeking these out, to be honest. There were too many beaches to see and restaurants to try!

 

Beaches: We went to Orient Beach, just to check it out. The nude side wasn't too exciting, mostly men (with a few obviously parading for tourists). The huge majority of the beach is clothed, with a ton of beach bars, water activities and such. It wasn't my favorite, to be honest.

 

We much preferred Mullet Bay. Nice sand, less crowds, barbecue right there. The chairs and umbrellas are pretty cheap too ($5 for each, so $15 for two + umbrella). It would be a bit of a hike from the cruise ship, but it would be a nice way to spend the day. Parking is free.

 

P-burg has Great Bay beach and a pedestrian boardwalk (not raised) that's nice if you don't want to go too far (you can see your ship from the beach). Lots of chairs for rent, bars for drinks, etc.

 

Sunset Bar: Definitely open! We went twice. There's a surfboard out front that tells you when the planes are scheduled to land. It gets crowded right before the 747s, but not in an unmanageable way. I could spend hours here, just hanging out and watching planes and people. :)

 

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the report, Chris! Unfortunately, your link didn't work to the Lido Deck report, so I'm off to look for it.:)

 

Thank you for the shopping report. If the stores don't open until 11:00 on Sundays that would work for our group as we were going to shop after going to Maho. Did you happen to notice how late they stayed open on Sundays. We are in port until 7 PM. However, like you I'm not into the duty free shopping. I just like to browse a bit for handcrafts, etc. I do like the Marigot Market, but I doubt if we'll get there this time.

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Oops, sorry. Here's the link!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2013/11/25/destination-spotlight-6-things-to-love-about-st-maartenst-martin/

[IpadEnthusiast]

Chris, this is just the type of info I was looking for...thank you so much!

[rtdiva]

thanks chris,

Looks like the beach won!

Ann

[goldn02grl]

Would love to know the source(s) of your rumor, but the short answer is: NO.

 

gary

 

p.s. I'd suggest you take at Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar, just in case.

 

there isn't a menu…what kind of food?