Oasis of the Seas - St Maarten

We are not sure what time we left St Thomas, but in the morning on Thursday, we arrived in Sint Maarten.
The island is the smallest piece of land in the world that is governed by two countries.  The bottom 40% is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern 60% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Martin. We docked at Philipsburg, which is the capital, on the south side of the island.
Map of St Martin/Sint Maarten
 This is a satellite image of the city of Philipsburg...
Satellite View of Philipsburg in Sint Maarten
The docks are located on the right peninsula. We backed into the left dock with our starboard side toward the dock. On our arrival, there were three other ships in dock. One more arrived while we were ashore.
Ship off our port side while backing into the dock in Sint Maarten
Again, I had gone to the Sun Deck on 14 for the pictures. I got the first glimpse of Philipsburg while we were still docking...
Philipsburg as seen from the Sun Deck of Oasis of the Seas
The plan was to spend a day shopping and probably have lunch ashore. From the ship, it looked like a quaint little town. No big high rises or condominiums.
Philipsburg Sint Maarten (Dutch)
Did I mention our ship has a pad for helicopters? I looked the length of the Navy Aircraft Carriers, they are 1,092 feet long, 95 feet shorter than the Oasis of the Seas.
Helipad on Oasis of the Seas
There are parts of the island where there are no houses....
Sint Maarten
Nancy and I waited about an hour after docking before disembarking. I figure we let the excursion crowd leave first. Our plan was to walk into town and avoid the water and land taxis. It did not look far from the boat, I measured after we got back and it is about 2/3 of a mile hike before you hit shopping.

There was a large ship while we were on the docks. I think it was some kind of training ship
Training ship on dock at Sint Maarten
As we were on the dock, a tall ship was setting sail and out of the harbor. I caught this great shot as it was leaving. Sailing on a boat like that is still on my bucket list.
Tall ship setting sail in the harbor at Sint Maarten
I took a picture of our ship with Nancy....
Nancy on the dock by the Oasis of the Seas
Then I had Nancy take a photo of me by the ship. I had my dock rock camouflage clothes on.
BJ in front of the Oasis of the Seas in Sint Maarten
Oasis of the Seas....
Oasis of the Seas in Sint Maarten
Although we were just arriving, I caught a picture of the sign in the taxicab circle....
St Maarten Farewell
There was a cool statue....no, it was not St Maarten...
Statue inside Dock Terminal
Nancy and I did a lot of walking and shopping. We visited a couple art museums and many different types of stores. Nancy had to pay 50 cents to go to the bathroom in an underground sauna. I was talking to a couple from Ohio who said they heard you had to pay at all restrooms.

We were not into the jewelry that seemed to be half the stores. This particular store had a guard dog or just a stray that had found a nice place to sleep...
Guard dog in Sint Maarten
The streets were very old and skinny.  Some of them were closed off to traffic but cars would still pass by. There were lots of liquor stores too. But everyone knows I do not drink anymore.
Front Street in Philipsburg of Sint Maarten
Nancy caught this picture of me with my camera showing the Boardwalk and town behind me.
BJ in Philipsburg Sint Maarten
You could tell by my shirt it was quite hot and humid. The bathroom on the docks was only 25 cents. I caught this photo of a short rain storm while I was waiting for Nancy. It lasted less than five minutes...
Rainstorm while waiting at Restrooms in Sint Maarten
I caught this last picture of Philipsburg as we started our trek back to the ship.
Philipsburg Sint Maarten
We stopped at the Greenhouse for lunch and a drink. I wrote about that in a previous post. I was having trouble finding the greenhouse and Nancy said we should try the green house. It was the place!
Greenhouse on Sint Maarten

The walk back to the ship was uneventful and we did miss the rain. I got a few free samples of rums and liquors. We had to pass through customs and get back on the ship.
The tall ship returned to the dock in Philipsburg
I went up to get a late afternoon drink at the Wipe Out Bar...There as a beautiful rainbow...
Rainbow over Sint Maarten
That was the end of our port of calls. We were about 1300 miles away from Port Canaveral and we would cruise for two straight days and arrive home early Sunday morning. Another post is to come....

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