Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
Part 2
The tour continued visiting the smaller parts of Marigot. Including some rivers with removable bridges.
Also the most famous hotels of the zone.
There areas that were definitively Gettho, very poor. It was weird to see most citizens (both white and natives) waving to all the bus tours. I suppose because they know they depend a lot by tourists.
Once we got out of marigot, we were on our way to another famous part of the Island. The Princess Julianna Airport.
View attachment 167794
Aviation fanatics definitively are delighted.. maniacs and adrenaline junkies too. Nothing like stand right next to a 747 quad engine exhaust powered wind to get them crazy.
Unfortunately, my dearest mother cant even take photos even with her point and shot (despite gifting her of the camera almost 7 years ago and she still rarely uses it or even read the manual ).
So she failed to take a photo of me with the 747 flying so close. oh dear..
Id say the separation was less than 10 meters. to the wingtip (not a fan of being in the exhaust line lol, im not a madman)
The beach itself is also gorgeous, but very crowded. Lots of restaurants there as well. Same as bars and discos and some Casinos as well...
We managed to see 2 planes landing. We only had 40 minutes again.. so we noticed that everyone from our group was leaving, so we followed them.
It was good because everyone was boarding already.
It was time to check the Dutch Quarter area... which is the most crowded area of the island, including some awesome lakes and swamps on both sides.
It was interesting to see that only the dutch area side of the quarter, had american fastfood areas. Including McDonalds, burger King, Pizza huts, etc.. Didnt see that on the rest of the island or in the french side.
Also noticed the second power plant of Sint Maarten. I remember hearing (not very well) that all the power comes from 2 gas power plants. both close to Phillipsburg.
Heres our bus tour on the panoramic "bar" (which was closed) and sightseeing area.
Once done, we boarded and were returning to our ship general area towards Phillipsburg.
Note the voting flags on the bottom, the oasis of the seas on the left and the gorgeous private areas on the right.
Have some panoramas!
I apologize again for the black spots in the pictures. My sensor had attracted a lot of dust in Miami beach.
We asked our driver if we could stop there for shopping and said no problem. But that he would not be doing another loop.
We agreed as we could just take a taxi.
The entrance to Phillipsburg is completely filled with restaurants and stores of all kinds, mostly jewerly and watches.
The whole area is very pleasant. Still was kinda weird being watched all the time as you strolled by (all the town folk seem to check you like you were alien.. cue aliens guy .jpg )
The whole front area was pretty empty.
There were more people in the luxury stores near the center of the town and behind the building row on the right.
We stopped at one of the recommended stores, because my mother wanted to buy some jewerly.
My mother unfortunately had suffered many thieving from "trusted" cleaning ladies in the past.
She pretty much lost a fortune of jewerly my dad had gifted her. And then unfortunately my father passed away.
So it was her time to "treat" herself. And get real jewerly (and stop using her fake ones during her reunions with friends).
These people were very nice, but also pushy with sales tactics.
They are going to "drop" the price (keep pushing as most of the times they are still selling above the discount prices you can get online).
The store owner also said that we shouldnt worry, that since my mother purchased with them and was nice.. they were going to drive us to the cruise. (No surprise since this was one of the most recommended stores by the store expert in the Oasis)
My mother finally finished purchasing and we decided to check other stores deeper.
We didn't wade very far. my mother just wanted to check REAL pearls and to see if they could fix her Watch.
We wandered for a bit, my mother made more purchases... and then.. we were VERY hungry.
We havent had anything to eat since the breakfast and it was almost 4:00 pm by then.
So we decided to return to the store area where a restaurant was nearby. Its pricey but good.
Id say the popcorn style Caribbean shrimp "bang bang" or something like that. It was the best combination of sweet, sour and spices I've ever had with shrimp. The burger was ok. Mother was disappointed by her curry but loved the shrimp as well.
The restaurant is called ":the greenhouse" its impossible to miss if you come from the cruise as its right by the entrance to the beachfront road.
After eating, we went to return to the store and we made our "invitation" valid.
The son of the owner was to drive us, but lol.. the owner left with that car.. so the son paid a taxi which wasn't that expensive (5 USD)
We thanked him and towards the cruise we went!
We took some photos and my mother did review some last stores before going for the ship.
View attachment 167796
Tip.. the view from top of the cruise makes it looks like you're very close to the cruise.. hint.. Its not.
Its a looong walk specially if you're tired of walking all day lol.
Continuing in Part 3
The tour continued visiting the smaller parts of Marigot. Including some rivers with removable bridges.
Also the most famous hotels of the zone.
There areas that were definitively Gettho, very poor. It was weird to see most citizens (both white and natives) waving to all the bus tours. I suppose because they know they depend a lot by tourists.
Once we got out of marigot, we were on our way to another famous part of the Island. The Princess Julianna Airport.
View attachment 167794
Aviation fanatics definitively are delighted.. maniacs and adrenaline junkies too. Nothing like stand right next to a 747 quad engine exhaust powered wind to get them crazy.
Unfortunately, my dearest mother cant even take photos even with her point and shot (despite gifting her of the camera almost 7 years ago and she still rarely uses it or even read the manual ).
So she failed to take a photo of me with the 747 flying so close. oh dear..
Id say the separation was less than 10 meters. to the wingtip (not a fan of being in the exhaust line lol, im not a madman)
The beach itself is also gorgeous, but very crowded. Lots of restaurants there as well. Same as bars and discos and some Casinos as well...
We managed to see 2 planes landing. We only had 40 minutes again.. so we noticed that everyone from our group was leaving, so we followed them.
It was good because everyone was boarding already.
It was time to check the Dutch Quarter area... which is the most crowded area of the island, including some awesome lakes and swamps on both sides.
It was interesting to see that only the dutch area side of the quarter, had american fastfood areas. Including McDonalds, burger King, Pizza huts, etc.. Didnt see that on the rest of the island or in the french side.
Also noticed the second power plant of Sint Maarten. I remember hearing (not very well) that all the power comes from 2 gas power plants. both close to Phillipsburg.
Heres our bus tour on the panoramic "bar" (which was closed) and sightseeing area.
Once done, we boarded and were returning to our ship general area towards Phillipsburg.
Note the voting flags on the bottom, the oasis of the seas on the left and the gorgeous private areas on the right.
Have some panoramas!
I apologize again for the black spots in the pictures. My sensor had attracted a lot of dust in Miami beach.
We asked our driver if we could stop there for shopping and said no problem. But that he would not be doing another loop.
We agreed as we could just take a taxi.
The entrance to Phillipsburg is completely filled with restaurants and stores of all kinds, mostly jewerly and watches.
The whole area is very pleasant. Still was kinda weird being watched all the time as you strolled by (all the town folk seem to check you like you were alien.. cue aliens guy .jpg )
The whole front area was pretty empty.
There were more people in the luxury stores near the center of the town and behind the building row on the right.
We stopped at one of the recommended stores, because my mother wanted to buy some jewerly.
My mother unfortunately had suffered many thieving from "trusted" cleaning ladies in the past.
She pretty much lost a fortune of jewerly my dad had gifted her. And then unfortunately my father passed away.
So it was her time to "treat" herself. And get real jewerly (and stop using her fake ones during her reunions with friends).
These people were very nice, but also pushy with sales tactics.
They are going to "drop" the price (keep pushing as most of the times they are still selling above the discount prices you can get online).
The store owner also said that we shouldnt worry, that since my mother purchased with them and was nice.. they were going to drive us to the cruise. (No surprise since this was one of the most recommended stores by the store expert in the Oasis)
My mother finally finished purchasing and we decided to check other stores deeper.
We didn't wade very far. my mother just wanted to check REAL pearls and to see if they could fix her Watch.
We wandered for a bit, my mother made more purchases... and then.. we were VERY hungry.
We havent had anything to eat since the breakfast and it was almost 4:00 pm by then.
So we decided to return to the store area where a restaurant was nearby. Its pricey but good.
Id say the popcorn style Caribbean shrimp "bang bang" or something like that. It was the best combination of sweet, sour and spices I've ever had with shrimp. The burger was ok. Mother was disappointed by her curry but loved the shrimp as well.
The restaurant is called ":the greenhouse" its impossible to miss if you come from the cruise as its right by the entrance to the beachfront road.
After eating, we went to return to the store and we made our "invitation" valid.
The son of the owner was to drive us, but lol.. the owner left with that car.. so the son paid a taxi which wasn't that expensive (5 USD)
We thanked him and towards the cruise we went!
We took some photos and my mother did review some last stores before going for the ship.
View attachment 167796
Tip.. the view from top of the cruise makes it looks like you're very close to the cruise.. hint.. Its not.
Its a looong walk specially if you're tired of walking all day lol.
Continuing in Part 3