January 30, 2014

On our 5th day we docked at Philipsburg, St Maarten.  Ray and I have been here several times, taken the tours before, and explored the shopping, so this was another easy day.  We took our time and went to the restaurant for breakfast after most people had already left the ship.

After breakfast, we went out to browse the shops near the pier.  We remember the first time we visited this port many years ago, all the stores we in town a mile or 2 away and the area around the dock was mostly cargo. Over the years they have cleared the area around the pier, built additional piers to accommodate more ships, and built shops a short walk off the piers.  Most of the main shops that you can find in town now have smaller shops here as well.  There is also a water taxi now that will take you from the pier to the smaller docks in town if you want to do serious shopping.  Today there were 6 cruise ships in port - 2 Holland America, the Celebrity Summit, the Royal Princess, an MSC ship, and us (Freedom of the Seas), plus a Windjammer.

We really aren't into shopping much this trip.  I browsed the jewelry stores, but nothing excited me.  I did find a nice tablecloth at the Mr. Tablecloth store.  This has been one of my favorites over the years.  I'm not sure what the material is, but stains wash out of their material very easily and they have a beautiful selection in all sizes.

We came back on board for lunch and spent a quiet afternoon. After dinner we actually made it to a show! The Aussie Boys performed tonight. They weren't bad.  They reminded me of a 50's trio with 21st century dance moves.  Ray, whose ears are much more attuned than mine says their harmony was lacking - 2 of the guys singing the same notes. The house backup band was pretty good and larger than we've seen on cruise ships lately - a whole 7 instruments.

We will be at sea the next 2 days as we head for home, so it should be a couple of relaxing days.