TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Avoiding cruising crowds

1st trip to SXM...2 weeks 5/5 Simpson Bay Marina, 1 wk Oyster Bay. What is the best way / best time to explore the island and go into the city when we can avoid the cruising crowds? Are ships in port every day? Thanks.

There is a link to the port cruise schedule at the top of TTOL. Check that and plan accordingly. 1-2 ships is not a big deal, 5-6 and it is a different story but usually concentrated in town and the more touristy locations. Sunset comes to mind as does Orient.

JD hit it on the nail--check out the cruise schedule and plan around that. But in general, by May, the cruise ship crowds are much less, as many ships are leaving for the Med or Alaska by then. Even in dead high season, there are really only a few places where you even need to worry about them. Sunset I would say is number 1. Do NOT go there before about 3 PM if there are several ships in. After 3 PM, they are basically all gone anyway. As far as town, 1 or 2 ships in town just makes the town seem not empty. As far as Orient, cruise ship people make almost no difference, except there are a few restaurants that have concessions to provide lunch as a part of an excursion. In general, plan your day however you want, as I see only one day for the whole month in which there are even three ships in.

i do have to disagree with jd a bit.....one or two ships IS a big deal...especially when they are two of the monster ships....the 5 thousand passenger type. Our opinion, is if one is going into town...best time is around 3 or 4. many ships gone already.....and the ones that arent gone, most people are back at them. Also, the later in the day...the better the pricing!!!!! I noticed last month, that Orient didn't seem as crowded this year with cruisers... I think a lot our using Great Bay as their destination beach....

You guys are great...so glad I found you! Thanks.

Well here's my two cents worth.

If we want to go into P'berg, we usually go in very early, say eight-ish or thereabout and by the time we get there, we are still usually able to find parking in the mid-town lot across from KFC, and then have breakfast in town at Holland House or Pasanggrahan (used to love Barefoot Terrace but now gone....) but if no parking there, we head down to Chesterfields for breakfast and then do 'whatever' in town.

As far as seeing around the island, we usually find Sunday mid-mornings to midday to be the best times since there's not generally a huge back-up of workers and so many are heading to the beaches or Church and not so many just out and about site-seeing.

And all that said, and knowing better, we're about to head out now and take a ride to who knows where or when or why?! Go figger.....!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

We carry a copy of the bridge / causeway times in the rental car - helps not getting caught in a line up

Bobcat posted a link on the Thoughts on this Marina thread

J&B

Thanks so much. I lived on a barrier island in south Florida for 60 years....knew from the time I rode my first bike bridge closings were a pain.