Friday, April 22, 2016

Saint Maarten



(My theme is places I have visited or lived)

In 2005 my employer awarded my wife and I a seven (7) day Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Cruise Lines as a Christmas gift for helping her start and establish a brand new business. We had to wait until May to take the trip but what a fantastic gift.

 We worked 14-18 hour days in late 2003 and 2004. She thought we gave it our all and worked hard and gave us a great reward.

Our ports of call included Puerto Rico, St, Maarten, and St Thomas Islands. It was great to tour the old fort and the downtown section of San Juan. The islands were gorgeous. I could live in St Thomas without ever giving it a thought. I wonder if they need a church down there?

We sailed out of Miami and had the best time ever. My boss "popped" for a balcony state room. There is nothing like sitting on the balcony on the side of a ship, in the evenong with the moonloght bouncing off the ocean waves! The ship at the bottom of the post was our ship, it was the Carnival Triumph. Everyone should take at least one cruise in their lifetime!

St. Maarten is the Dutch side of an eastern Caribbean island with two distinct cultures--Dutch and French. 

The two countries on the island even have different spellings, with the French half spelled St. Martin. 

Most large cruise ships dock at Philipsburg, the capital of St. Maarten, while smaller ships anchor at Marigot, the French capital. 

Although St. Maarten/St. Martin is small, it takes a couple of hours to ride between the two cities

Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin), officially the Collectivity of Saint Martin (Collectivité de Saint-Martin) is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean

With a population of 36,286 (as of Jan. 2011) on an area of 53.2 square kilometres (20.5 sq mi), it encompasses the northern 60% of the divided island of Saint Martin, and some neighbouring islets, the largest of which is Île Tintamarre

The southern 40% of the island of Saint Martin constitute Sint Maarten, since 2010 a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Before 2007, the French part of Saint Martin formed a part of the French overseas région and département of Guadeloupe. Saint Martin is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel. Its capital is Marigot

3 comments:

shortybear said...

great post

Arlee Bird said...

This sounds like a wonderful place. I've never been on a cruise nor in the Caribbean and I probably never will unless I win a trip or become obscenely wealthy.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out

nashvillecats2 said...

That was some cruise Gregg and all for nothing.
Wonderful memories I'm sure.
Yvonne.