I'm playing catch-up today. We're anchored off the little town of Marigot, the capita; of the French side of the island. The other side is Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, which is Dutch. Here's a little about the history of this place and how it came to be divided. The island was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage and the story is that he named it St. Martin because it was on the day of the feast of St. Martin. There was a lot of confusion on charts because so many little islands had been found and it's thought that what he actually saw on that date was the island of Nevis, but on the charts the name was given to this place. So here we are today. The Dutch arrived on the scene and began mining the island's ponds for salt in the 1620's. The Spanish were busy occupying other islands. Back in Europe the French were fighting the Netherlands and some French had made their way to the island. In 1648 France and the Netherlands concluded a peace agreement and under the terms of the agreement the island of Saint Martin was to be divided. The local story of how the dividing line was drawn goes like this. Each side selected a walker and the two men were placed back-to-back on one shore and began walking in opposite directions along the shore. They weren't allowed to run. When they met again on the coast that was deemed to be the second point and a line was drawn between the two thus dividing the island. The Frenchman must have taken bigger strides because the division is roughly 60-40 France to Netherlands but the population is approximately equal. Most of the cruise ships that come here go to the Dutch side at Philipsburg. In fact I think there are a Celebrity and a Royal Caribbean ship on the other side but we're here in pretty sleepy Marigot.
I didn't book any kind of shore trip today. The majority of them involved sun and sand, two things I don't do much of anymore. I waited until most of the people went ashore and then took the tender. The drop-off place was next to a pop-up market. I walked through and saw the usual Caribbean souvenirs. Colorful pareos, postcards, shell necklaces,and t-shirts. You get the picture. Away from the water it was blisteringly hot with not a hint of breeze. I felt like I would wilt any moment so after a very brief walkabout I went back and waited in the shade for the next tender. A group arrived from their walking tour. They looked hot and tired. They had made a stop at a French bakery which sounded good, but on the other hand it was the last thing I needed. So I'm back on the ship, catching up on my blog and cooling off. I set off on this cruise thinking I didn't care if I got off anywhere and I'm still okay with that. Being pampered is so nice.
I forgot to mention that Seabourn is definitely taking care of me. Every night of this leg I've been invited to dine with one of the officers. One night I was at the Cruise Director's table and one night at the Staff Captain's. I've declined some because I was dining with new friends. Tonight I'me eating with some of my trivia team members, one of whom is the cruise lecturer. The dinner with the Staff Captain, a Bulgarian, was very interesting and enjoyable. There were five of us at the table and we closed the restaurant down. He gave us a lot of insights into how Seabourn learns about what its passengers like and dislike. They note things like whether you take cream with your tea or coffee or what kind of cocktail you usually order and sometimes the latter will magically appear when you sit down. For us repeat cruisers the likes get put in our profiles for the next time we come aboard. Since things like cocktails are all included, there's no problem if I've suddenly changed my favorite drink or have an urge for something else. I find it amazing that every single crew member (not the sea crew, but the ones who come in contact with passengers) greets me by name when I walk by or go in a venue and this has been going on for many days now. I have trouble remembering names so they astound me.
There wasn't much to report today. It's a lazy. laid back cruise which I confess is wonderful. More later. It's almost time for trivia and I think a nice boat drink sounds good.
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