Daily Herald link

Yikes! Symphony of the Seas can hold 6680 pax!! Wow...

6,680 guests. I had no idea it was that BIG. I would have guessed around 5,000 tops. I suppose it's a lot like airplanes where they keep shoving more rows of seats into them obliterating any leg room that people might have had. Why operate two ships when you can put everyone into just one? But, I'm glad RC is committed to St. Maarten. Nearly all of their Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean voyages make port in SXM, and that's a good thing. Next March they have a very interesting cruise departing San Juan, P.R. that will cover the the three 'ABC' islands (Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao) with extended ports-of-call into the evening hours at two of those locations. Then, the ship heads north to St. Maarten for it's final stop before returning to Puerto Rico. What a great way to explore the islands that represent the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

It does sound interesting. I have to think that the extended ports of call are in Aruba and Curacao, as there's barely anything going on in Bonaire during the day, let alone the night! I would rather they had an evening in SXM though..

Celebrity used to have a cruise with an overnight stop in SXM. It was really nice. Made port in the morning, but did not leave until late afternoon of the following day. So, people had almost two full days to enjoy the island. I wish more cruise lines would consider this. We also had this in Barcelona, Spain once and it helps eliminate the need to pick just one thing to do when making port, and it provides the ability to experience some 'night life' as well.