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For the second time in two days, we had another early morning arrival at a hilly island sitting in clear green water. St. Maarten is the Dutch part of this small island, and St. Martin is the French part on the other side. The Dutch side is supposed to be pronounced "Sint Mare Tin," although everyone we heard just called it "Saint Martin." The cruise ships visit the small town of Philipsburg, its capital. Breakfast was on the deck again. We discovered that Century’s french toast is superb. St. Maarten is the only port that, having no docks, required passengers to go ashore via tender. These small boats transferred passengers from Century to land. We knew it would take time to get all the passengers ashore, so we took our time and went onshore a couple of hours after the first group. We thought St. Maarten was prettier and more colorful than St. Thomas. Shops were similar, unfortunately. We bought tee shirts again (seven for $20, giving us a big stack to take home.) The beach was beautiful and relaxing, especially considering it is barely off the main street of Philipsburg. It had small casinos on the main drag, even with nickel slots which my wife enjoyed a lot. The streets were narrow, with alleys and hills, and we saw more restaurants than in Charlotte Amalie (although they were expensive.) |
After a bit of walking and the obligatory souvenir shopping, we went back to the ship for lunch, in the main dining room. I had liver pate, black bean soup, fried chicken breast (with fried bananas, grilled tomato, potato sticks, and corn fritters) and baba rhum for dessert (a small cake with a healthy kick of rum soaked in, very tasty.) Then, we made our way up on deck to enjoy the view of Philipsburg and the steep green hills jutting out of the tropical water. We sat in the deck chairs and read. Century pulled out of St. Maarten at 3:15 as Vibz again played on deck to celebrate our departure. Several passengers participated in pool games and a TV themes trivia contest. We were so comfortable we forgot to attend the formal tea in the Crystal Room, which looked very elegant through the open door. Next time, we won’t miss that. For dinner, I had scallops with salsa sauce and a fried potato cake, New England clam chowder, shrimp pasta with herbs and chiles, and an apricot strudel with ice cream. In case I forgot to mention it earlier, all ice creams and sherbets served on Century are handmade on the ship. After listening to the bands for awhile and reading, it was time for the midnight buffet (you are likely beginning to appreciate the blurring of lines between one meal and the next!). The theme was Tex-Mex, featuring a taco station, beans, rice, baked dishes, breads, salads, and desserts. Not as good as the Italian buffet, but it was pretty good. Off to bed at our now-usual hour of 1:30.<< Previous page >> Next page |
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