We were up in time to watch our arrival into St. Maarten. We were the first ship into port and watched four other massive ships pull in. The island is pretty by the water but very desert like away from the coast.

We learned that the Dutch side of the island, which is where we are docked, is spelled St. Maarten and the French side is spelled St. Martin. You can't tell when you go from one to the other except for the signs along the road...most of the Dutch signs are in English but the French ones are in French. Go figure!

We met our excursion at 8:30 for a scoot coupe adventure. We got a brief instruction on how to operate the car and away we went for a tour of the island. What they didn't tell us is the cars fishtail some kind of bad and you constantly feel like you're going to lose control. The roads are very narrow and with cars coming right at you, a deep ditch on my side and having to watch the rear end of the car in front of us, I was a nervous wreck! Kathi was also scared to death altho she was a trooper and didn't complain because she could see the white knuckles on my hands as well as feel how tense I was. All the driving and controls are done using your hands, and we had a couple of close calls because the guy in front of me was not paying attention...he finally got pulled out of the line, sent to the back, and then it was okay after that.

We stopped along the way where we learned about some sea creatures, specifically sea urchins. We got to hold several that were alive...it was kind of freaky and cool all at the same time! See our pictures. The instructor then showed us each creature alive and dead and the teeth that they have...definitely something different!

We eventually made it to a "clothing optional" place called Orient Beach and parked. We were on the not-nude side, although there were quite a few topless women. The weather was just beautiful with sunny skies and a nice breeze. We were served a fruit punch drink and found a couple of beach chairs where we relaxed for about an hour. The drink was obviously not spiked with anything since we would be driving again, although I could've used a little something at that point to calm my nerves!

We had been told that the tour would get us back to our ship at 11:30, but we didn't return until almost 1:00!! Island time! We had to change into bathing suits and grab a quick lunch then race back outside to meet our next tour. Definitely stressful!

Next we walked with our group to board the catamaran. Along the way, we passed by several huge yachts--one had it's own helicopter and two speed boats on it's deck! There were also about 5 other cruise ships in port--one was ENORMOUS, called Allure of the Seas. A woman later told me that ship holds over 6,000 passengers and has a zip line down the center of the ship!

The catamaran was very full since we were almost last to board due to being late returning to the ship, and we had a bit of trouble finding a seat. After taking off, we were taken to a place offshore to snorkel, but we opted to stay on board and drink rum punch. :))

Next up was a boat ride over to a beach--the catamaran dropped anchor and we were able to get in the water which was VERY refreshing (read that as COLD)!! Kathi and I swam almost to shore and since my teeth were chattering by this time, we turned around and headed back to the boat. The drinks were flowing and they served us a small sandwich, more drinks and we started back for our ship. I was a little nervous about this because it was close to 5:15 and we were told to be back no later than 5:30. The ship set sail as soon as our group got aboard--we were the last ones to arrive!

We didn't have time for anything other than a quick change and made our way to the dining room so we could eat dinner and then go to the theater to see a comedian. The performer's name was Tom Briscoe and he was very good/funny. The cruise director was also quite funny and entertained us for about ten minutes after the headliner.

We could hardly wait to get back to the room for a shower and to watch another On Demand movie. They add movies to the list every day, so it's always a treat to see what's on. :))