5 ships in port

[brookeq]

We will be in St. Maarten in January with 5 other ships. We are there from 8am to 5pm. We just want to go to Dawn's Beach. How hard will it be to get a taxi. I am mainly wondering about the return trip.

[rjrpar]

Not hard either way. 5 ships in port is not uncommon

[gtaylor]

Would be interested in knowing why you have absolutely selected Dawn Beach??

 

gary

[brookeq]

Thanks that is what I thought. Some people seemed stressed about it so I figured I would check.

[brookeq]

Would be interested in knowing why you have absolutely selected Dawn Beach??

 

gary

 

We went there for our honeymoon and loved it and want to go back

[caribsun]

We went to Mr. Busby's Beach Bar at Dawn Beach a few times and there where cabs waiting for the return.

[OCruisers]

It's rather normal to have 5 ships in St. Maarten in January. You'll be fine. :)

 

You could always ask the taxi driver who takes you to return to take you back.

[janie315]

We will be in St. Maarten in January with 5 other ships. We are there from 8am to 5pm. We just want to go to Dawn's Beach. How hard will it be to get a taxi. I am mainly wondering about the return trip.[/quote

 

I was just came back spending a week in St. Maartin. We wanted to spend the day at Mr. Busby's on Dawn Beach but the seaweed problem is still horrible. We ended up eating at Mr. Busby's and leaving. You may want to try the other side of the island....Mullet Bay perhaps!

[sharonlacey]

Was not impressed with Dawn Beach, very dirty and lots of sea weed.

[brookeq]

Was not impressed with Dawn Beach, very dirty and lots of sea weed.

 

I have been reading about the seaweed. It seems like lots of the islands are having that problem lately. When we went it was so clean and beautiful and not too crowded

[BillOh]

Not hard either way. 5 ships in port is not uncommon

 

5 ships in port may make it easier to get a cab as the driver's smell Money. When we got off the Allure in 2013 we were the only ship and we wanted to go to Orient. They made us wait almost 30 minutes till more people came along even though I was willing to pay the greater fare for just 2 people.

[JuliaMS]

Where do you find out how many ships will be in port?

[SnorkelAway]

To check how many ships are coming to Philipsburg, check this:

 

http://201.220.14.28/sxm/MainMenu.aspx?ShipScheduleType=2

 

Small cruise ships also come to Marigot on French-side but their passenger numbers hardly make any difference.

[navybankerteacher]

I've heard that major efforts are under way to remove the seaweed from Dawn during the key winter season - December through March. I have not heard how it is just now, but am interested as we will spend a couple of weeks there starting January 12. Last year there were reports of how the beach was not usable, but when we were there it was cleared every morning and the beach was fine.

 

Like on other CC threads, there is often second hand mis-information posted. (See Global Entry kiosks at Port Everglades -- diametrically opposed statements.)

[Karysa]

I have been reading about the seaweed. It seems like lots of the islands are having that problem lately. When we went it was so clean and beautiful and not too crowded

 

Last May and July/August it was very bad on the eastern beaches. You could even see large amounts floating when on a boat excursion. I did not make it to an eastern side beach on St Maarten in November but we did not see any seaweed floating by while on a catamaran trip to St. Bart's and Shell beach had only a small amount of dry seaweed pulled up far from the water in November but in May there was large amounts of seaweed at the shore and the beach was closed for a week or so do to the seaweed problem.

 

If you are not reading posts about seaweed being a problem then I think things should be fine.

[Tom O.]

I was concerned about 5 ships too, for our January 2017 cruise. What is more, one of the ships is the Norwegian Breakaway with 4,500 passengers - double the passengers of other large ships. So it is really like 6 ships at port.

I have never been to St. Martin and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of what to do with so many other tourists that day. I figure there will be 13,500 cruise ship passengers in port that day.

Should I just walk around, book an excursion, or just stay on the ship?

[Alabaster Cruiser]

I was concerned about 5 ships too, for our January 2017 cruise. What is more, one of the ships is the Norwegian Breakaway with 4,500 passengers - double the passengers of other large ships. So it is really like 6 ships at port.

I have never been to St. Martin and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of what to do with so many other tourists that day. I figure there will be 13,500 cruise ship passengers in port that day.

Should I just walk around, book an excursion, or just stay on the ship?

 

We did an excursion with Capt. Bob when there were that many ships in before. Now that Mahoo beach has become so popular and crowded seeing the airplanes from the boat is best access. Plenty of comments on the forums if you want other opinions. Have a good day at St Marteen. Susan

[Tom O.]

We did an excursion with Capt. Bob when there were that many ships in before. Now that Mahoo beach has become so popular and crowded seeing the airplanes from the boat is best access. Plenty of comments on the forums if you want other opinions. Have a good day at St Marteen. Susan

 

Thanks for the advice. We looked at Capt. Bob and decided it was a little too strenuous for us - we are senior citizens. So we ended up booking the Explorer Cruise on the party boat with a little shopping in Marigot.

[navybankerteacher]

I was concerned about 5 ships too, for our January 2017 cruise. What is more, one of the ships is the Norwegian Breakaway with 4,500 passengers - double the passengers of other large ships. So it is really like 6 ships at port.

I have never been to St. Martin and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of what to do with so many other tourists that day. I figure there will be 13,500 cruise ship passengers in port that day.

Should I just walk around, book an excursion, or just stay on the ship?

 

On a five-ship day, particularly if one of them is an NCL or Royal Caribbean behemoth, you are looking at about 20,000 passengers in port. Your Explorer Cruise (on later post) sounds like a good idea. We spend two weeks each January at Dawn Beach - and always check cruise activity levels in advance so we know those days to just hunker down until 5:00 PM.

[Karysa]

We went there for our honeymoon and loved it and want to go back

 

Was your honeymoon before or after the millennium. If it was before then you may not want to see how this beach was developed. We first went to Dawn beach on our honeymoon in 1992 to see the sunrise. We had to park on a road and walk through a field covered hill for about 5 minutes. It was a breathtaking site when we saw the glorious beach. There is a Westin Hotel, condos and villas amongst other development so its a little sad now when I see that beach as I remember how beautiful it was on that day back in'92. It's a fine beach but if you saw it before it was developed you would not recognize it now.

[squiffynimrod]

Jan 19, 2017 when I arrive on the Allure we're looking at 6 ships and 17,850 passengers. How bad will Maho beach be with that number of people when 5 out of 6 ships are there from 8 to 5? The 6th ship is there a bit earlier.

 

I may have to change my plans if it's a total zoo.

[caribsun]

Jan 19, 2017 when I arrive on the Allure we're looking at 6 ships and 17,850 passengers. How bad will Maho beach be with that number of people when 5 out of 6 ships are there from 8 to 5? The 6th ship is there a bit earlier.

 

I may have to change my plans if it's a total zoo.

 

Most important thing to check is if there is sand on the beach. Storms can diminish the beach down to the rocks. I would go to Mullet Bay in the AM to enjoy a good beach and then walk over to Maho in the afternoon when the big jets arrive.

[BillOh]

I was concerned about 5 ships too, for our January 2017 cruise. What is more, one of the ships is the Norwegian Breakaway with 4,500 passengers - double the passengers of other large ships. So it is really like 6 ships at port.

I have never been to St. Martin and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of what to do with so many other tourists that day. I figure there will be 13,500 cruise ship passengers in port that day.

Should I just walk around, book an excursion, or just stay on the ship?

 

Any or all of the above, with lots of ships in port just be mindful of travel time. Most notably coming back from Maho. Also be mindful of the day of the week.

[BoozeCruiser83]

we were there last week with 5 big ships in port and they handled it fine...huge port....don't worry and enjoy your cruise!

[Karysa]

we were there last week with 5 big ships in port and they handled it fine...huge port....don't worry and enjoy your cruise!

 

The port is huge but Maho beach is not. OP I would plan to get to Maho early and stake a claim because with 5 ships in port it is bound to be busy.