St Maarten Ships

[RichNY]

We will be in St Maarten on 12/15/04 on the NCL Dawn. It looks like there will be 6 additional ships there too.

Is this normal for this port and should we even bother to get off the ship. ??

[we3k9]

I will be on Caribbean Princess in port this same day and I was wondering the same thing. see my thread titled 8 ships in port under the Princess cruise thread

[kal]

The total passenger capacity of those ships is almost 18,000. On day's when there are <10,000 cruiseship passengers, Orient Beach, Front Street and the major island roadways are VERY crowded.

 

This will NOT be a good experience so you'll need to plan your activities very carefully to avoid the crowds. Shop early in the day and go to the beach early. If possible, go to an beach that is not a major cruiser destination. Plan on getting back to Philipsburg well before 4:00pm as traffic will be in gridlock.

 

Unless you know the island roads and bypasses, you might not want to rent a car.

[RichNY]

Thanks Kal

 

Another problem we have is that we arrive at 11 am and will have to tender in...

 

more wasted time..it looks like a shop and drink stop.:D