Day 6 - Philipsburg

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Geo: 18.0303, -63.0488

Adventure slips into Philipsburg, St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles around 8am today. We are a late arrival. 5 other ships have arrived before us. Freedom of the Seas, Royal Princess, Norwegian Sun, Celebrity Summit & Carnival Ecstasy. It means we have a port load today of about 17,500 people...gulp.

Breakfast is again in the main dining room. Diamond, Diamond+, Pinnacle & Suite Guests have exclusive access to deck 5 of the main dining room so it is less busy than down on deck 3 and certainly more refined than the Windjammer. We love the Windjammer but it can be something of a scrum down at times, particularly on sea days. The reason I love breakfast in the main dining room is because its the only place where you can get Eggs Benedict which is always very good. Peter enjoys his eggs over medium and they are normally cooked to perfection here.

As its our last day on land for a while we are going ashore. We have been to St Maarten quite a few times before so there is nothing we really want or need to see. We decide to take the water-taxi across the bay into the centre of Philipsburg and just do a bit of sightseeing and shopping there. With all these cruise ships in the line for the water-taxis is very long. However, the boats are zipping back and cross the bay at a steady rate and we are aboard in no time.

There are 2 stops on the journey. We get off at the first one which is at the very end of the town (the next stop takes you to the pier in the centre). We stroll along the palm shaded streets and pass by all the souvenir and rum shops dotted here and there. Some guests are headed straight for the narrow beach that circles the bay. A lot of the hotels seem to be offering beach break packages where a sun-bed, umbrella and some drinks are all thrown in.

We reach the centre of town and head inland to Front Street which is full of some pretty exclusive shops, Tiffany's, Bulgari, Gucci etc. Diamond shops are everywhere with the patrons trying to entice you in with this or that discount. We are just happy window shopping at the moment. We swing back out onto the beach front and locate a lively bar playing Soca Music (it's playing everywhere). We enjoy some beers and watch the world go by for a while.

We continue along the beach front but swing back near the centre but this time to walk down the imaginatively named Back Street. We pop into a nice little shop that sells t-shirts and purchase a couple of those and Peter also gets some new swim-shorts. After that we head back to the water-taxi and return to the port. There is a large array of shops and bars near to where the ships are moored. We look around there before returning to our ship aware that this will be our last time on dry land for a while. We lunch in Windjammer and spend the rest of the afternoon on our balcony watching the sailboats and wave-runners ply across the bay. Peter decides he is going to venture to the gym this afternoon. I take a walk up to the pool deck and take some pictures before returning to the cabin to read some magazines.

Before we know it the ship is sounding its horns and the sea at the back of the ship begins to churn up as the giant azipod propellors spring into action. On leaving St Maarten we would normally turn westward to return to mainland USA. Today however we turn eastward and then north-easterly slipping quietly between St Maarten and St Barths and out into the Atlantic Ocean.

We shower and dress for dinner and meet Sue and Malcolm in the Imperial Lounge. Mhairi and Tam join us shortly afterwards. Brandy and Cokes, G&T's Jack and Diets are the order of the evening. We part company with Mhairi and Tam as they are on set dining at 8.30. We head to deck 5 as we are on my-time which means we can pretty much turn up when we like. I had a very enjoyable meal tonight. Salmon Carpaccio, Caesar Salad, Lamb Curry and Chocolate Banana Strudel.

After dinner we decide to be a little cultural and go to see the show in the theatre. The entertainer tonight is Analiza Ching, a Violinist. She was a contestant on Britain's Got Talent a couple of years ago. Not sure how well she did but think she made the finals. She is clearly very talented but think she would be more suited to the Bridgewater Hall rather than a cruise ship stage. I can tell Peter is struggling with it and so we duck out early and head up to the Blue Moon Lounge for a glass of wine. As soon as we finish I realise I have lost my glasses. We backtrack our movements of the evening finally tracking them down in the Theatre, we had ducked out in the dark so I had missed them.

Peter is keen to head down to the casino for a flutter but I am not in the mood and so we head to bed. We have about 2,200 miles to run before we reach the Azores next Wednesday. Lets hope the Atlantic is kind as we cross.

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